fall photo recap

I have about 5 uncompleted projects in the craft room and just as many back logged posts for this blog.  I'm about to take the easy way out and up date you all at once...here's what the mr. and I have been up to this fall.

I accepted a promotion, which meant leaving views like this...

and sweet dance sessions like these...

the mr. and I traveled to Vegas for some adult time...

then headed off to Yosemite for our anniversary get away...

as well as enjoyed a slice of our wedding cake, 1 year later.  Nice wrap job mom, it tasted great!

I enjoyed watching the mr. learn how to rock climb!

we hosted a backyard movie night that included a s'more bar...

and we fully embraced Halloween...

used a power tool to carve a pumpkin...

I hosted my first event at the new job and the mr. took amazing photos of it...

filmed my nephews first steps!

crafted and decorated our porch for fall and completely forgot to post about it...

enjoyed a short stay in San Francisco for a conference...

and caught mr. and mrs. claus having a moment (another work event)

children of nepal

While camping in a village in Nepal we were fortunate to meet the local children.  The girls were very friendly and came up to me and another female camper.  They were very interested in 1. any books we had with pictures 2. our cameras and the pictures on them 3. they loved to pose for pictures and perform for us.  Funny thing was as soon as a male would approach our circle they would dash.

looking at photos in a book

looking at photos on a camera

Here's the boys on the other side of camp wanting nothing to do with the girls!

p.s. Thank you for your patience with the videos. I'm still a beginner blogger and hope to make better videos one day!

the honeymoon

The mr. and I returned from our honeymoon in Nepal last week.  We've had a very busy week unpacking, catching up at work and preparing for our nephews baby shower.  Here's one of my favorite photos; there will be more to come after we sort through all 3,000 of them.

{bouddahanath stupa} Kathmandu, Nepal

turkey and trails

The mr. and I were very thankful for the invitation to share thanksgiving with friends, so we made this hostess gift.

I used my embossing gun to make the "thanks" tag.  I love embossing!

And that is my first cheese ball (thank you Cece)!  Here's the recipe in case you want to give it a try.

{olive cheese ball}

ingredients

8 oz. cream cheese

4 to 5 ounces crumbled blue cheese

1/2 stick of butter (I may omit this next time)

can chopped black olives

2 tablespoons chopped chives

1/4 cup chopped walnut

crackers

steps

1.  Take cream cheese, blue cheese and butter out of the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for awhile.  

2.  Cream the first three ingredients in a bowl until they are mixed well (I used my kitchen aid mixer).  Add the well drained chopped olives and chives and mix well.  

3.  Put the bowl in the refrigerator and chill for an hour or until firm.  

4.  Place chopped nuts on a plate. Form a ball with the chilled cheese using a spatula or your hand.  

5.  Roll the ball in the chopped nuts and place the ball back in the refrigerator to chill for a few more hours. 

6.  Serve with crackers.

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The following day we skipped black friday shopping and hit the trail.  This particular trip was rather cold so we were able to test out some gear for Nepal (12 days!).

dutch oven recipes

mr. roundy and I are headed to this San Diego County park for the weekend.  Thought you might like to know what we are eating on the trip…

{Heart Attack in a Pot} 

a dinner recipe

ingredients
30 corn tortillas
16oz sour cream
2 cans diced green chillies
2 cans corn
2 pounds shredded cheese
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 cans chicken


steps
1. Combine soup, sour cream, chicken, green chillies and corn in a bowl.
2. Grease the Dutch oven and lid with oil -or- line the Dutch oven with foil for an easy clean-up.
3. Layer the bottom of the oven with tortillas, sauce {step 1} and cheese. Continue layering.
4. Sprinkle the remainder of the cheese on the surface.
5. Cook for 45 minutes or until brown and bubbly.


note: For less of a heart attack opt for low fat cheese and sour cream.

{Monkey Balls} 

a breakfast recipe

ingredients
2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
4 cans flaky canned biscuits


steps
1. Grease Dutch oven and lid -or- line the Dutch oven with foil for and easy clean-up.
2. Cut the biscuits into fourths and ball up.
3. Melt butter, add nuts and brown sugar together.
4. Place half the balls of dough in the bottom of the Dutch oven and drizzle half the sugar mixture on top.
5. Place the remaining balls of dough as the second layer and top with remaining sugar mixture.
6. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the dough is thoroughly cooked.
7. Pull apart and enjoy!


note: I reduce the butter and sugar by quite a bit and still enjoy the same great taste. I do however enjoy the traditional biscuits over the low fat.