The Place Where Plants Come To.... Live!

Our little patio garden has finally started to gain some ground. Matt has worked super hard on all these little guys. He had to plant seeds several times to get anything in some cases... I hope we get some tomatoes and peppers sometime soon!

The begonias are coming along beautifully:)

The plants in the upsy-downsy haven't died.... 

The tiny basil plant is the only survivor of the herbs so far...

Gardening is apparently a lot harder than one might think!

Good job Matt:)

New Addition to Our Little Family:)

Everyone I'd like you to meet the latest addition to the family, Charlie! I've been really wanting another cat. I really just wanted Oliver to have a friend. We keep Oliver strictly indoors, which makes me feel constant pains of guilt. We live in such a busy area that I just don't think it's safe for him to roam around.... I wanted him to have someone to share with and play with and generally cause mayhem with. We finally decided to go ahead and we went to the SPCA and feel in love with this little guy. There were so many sweet little faces in need of homes that it just broke our hearts to leave them all there. You can only do what you can do though, right? 

Charlie is a tiny little ball of sweetness and playfulness. He has more energy than he knows what to do with. I couldn't be happier that we brought him here to live with us:) He makes Oliver look like a giant! Oliver was very apprehensive at first. I think he thought we were punishing him or something. He would hardly come near me... After a couple days he really warmed up to him and now they are best friends forever! All is back to normal with Oliver and me and they both fight for a spot on my lap when they're sleepy. They have soooo much fun together. I can't wait until we can move somewhere with more room for them to play in, and maybe even let them outside. Do any of you have cats? What are your thoughts on letting them outside? I go back and forth in my philosophy... This is the last addition until children of course. My dad teases me and calls me a crazy cat lady. I don't really think two is all that crazy... 

I hope you enjoy the photos. Happy Tuesday!

Doesn't he look like a baby bobcat?

This one is blurry but I just love it:)

Oliver is such a fatty! They are obsessed with this chair. They do all their cuddling and napping together on it:)

My little love bugs:)

Peach Cobbler and Strawberry Cake!

Matt and I had a great Father's Day with his family! Dan loves pie and loves peaches. We don't have a pie pan so I decided to make him the next best thing, a peach cobbler:) My mom makes peach cobbler all the time so I called her for the recipe, which was her grandmother's. This cobbler is always a big hit because it's delicious beyond words, and it is so unbelievably easy and quick! You could make it with any fruit and you could make more crust or add a larger portion of fruit depending on your preference:) Here's the recipe and directions. I hope you try it and love it as much as we do!

Grandmother's Peach Cobbler

Ingredients:

3 32 oz. cans of sliced peaches (or 96 oz. of frozen or fresh peaches)

lemon juice

cinnamon

1 1/2 c. self-rising flour

1 1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 cube butter

Directions:

Grease a 9x13" baking dish. Drain and discard syrup from canned peaches and distribute the peaches evenly at the bottom of the dish. Lightly sprinkle lemon juice over the peaches. Liberally sprinkle cinnamon over the peaches as well. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar and eggs. Hand knead until the dough is crumbly. Pour dough evenly over the peaches. Evenly place pads of butter on top of the dough. Bake at 375º for approx. 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Eat with vanilla ice cream:)

You may remember the beautiful strawberry cake Mona made Matt and me for our anniversary... I made the same cake last weekend for my Mom's birthday:) It turned out just as delicious but not nearly as pretty. The recipe is a Paula Dean one from Foodnetwork.com. I promised to share this yummy recipe so here it is! 

Ingredients:

• 1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix
• 1 (3-ounce) box strawberry-flavored instant gelatin
• 1 (15-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup water
• Strawberry cream cheese frosting, recipe follows
• Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
• 1/2 teaspoon strawberry extract
• 7 cups confectioners' sugar
• Freshly sliced strawberries, for garnish, optional
• 
  
• Directions:
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and gelatin. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil, and water; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into prepared pans, and bake for 20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

For the frosting:

In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in 1/4 cup of the strawberry puree and the vanilla extract. (The rest of the puree is leftover but can be used in smoothies or on ice cream for a delicious treat.) Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating until smooth. Spread frosting in between layers and on top and sides of cake. Garnish with sliced fresh strawberries, if desired.

Memorial Day Hike

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend! We had such a nice three days off. Yesterday my mom came to Davis and we went on a hike at Cold Canyon, which is about twenty minutes from where we live. It was a gorgeous day and such a beautiful hike. Here are a few pictures from our day:) 

There was the coolest ring around the sun. I'm not sure what caused it, but it was sure pretty:)

Cheers to the First of Many!

Yesterday was Matt's and my first wedding anniversary:) It is hard to believe that we said our vows a whole year ago. I feel like I'm still recovering from all the wedding planning! Being married to Matt has been the happiest time of my life. I can't wait to see what God has in store for our future together. I cannot even tell you how many times I heard "the first year is always the hardest." I'm guessing that isn't the truth. The first years are supposed to be the easiest right? I guess living together for the first time has been a bit of an adjustment:) Living with a roommate is quite different than living with a spouse. But, even with all the farting and toilet seats left up I still absolutely love it!

Because we have been so busy lately we decided to just relax for our anniversary. Like pig out and lay in bed all day and listen to an audiobook relax. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest came out last week and we saved starting it for yesterday. We are such dorks, I know. In the morning we went for a long walk, stopping at the Farmer's Market and to pick up a bottle of wine. 

Matt's sister brought us the world's best basket of goodies ever!!! Mona (Matt's mom) had baked us a cake, made us dinner, got us a little gift, and the whole family got us a card! Isn't that the nicest thing anyone could ever do?! Literally we didn't have to lift a finger on our special day. It was the perfect gift to us:) Thank you so much Mona. You're the best!

Matt and I ate the top layer of our wedding cake after the wedding:) Our wedding cake we just too good to freeze and save. It wouldn't have been good anymore, and I didn't want to waste it. Our wedding cake was champagne cake with strawberry cream filling so Mona made us a similar strawberry cake with strawberry cream cheese frosting. It was out of control. I don't know if I've ever had a more delicious strawberry... anything!!! It was unbelievable! Yummmm. I will post the recipe she used later so you can all try it:)

And it was pretty:)

I just had to post a picture of our wedding cake! Wasn't it adorable? I loved it:)

Here's our little gift from Mona:) I just love the saying. It couldn't be more true to Matt and me.

Oh, and Danny (Matt's brother) gave us this bouquet of pretty flowers:) What a sweetie!

I love this card. It is totally us when we're old. I wont tell you what everyone wrote inside, but I have to share what Danny put because it was so funny.

"Happy Anniversary, because it's like you spent a year on JV but then the old ball coach picked you to be the star of the team and now you won the State Championship. That's a simile. Go Bayside Tigers! -Danny"

Matt and I were friends for a while before we finally got together so that's what he's referring to. I love the Saved by the Bell reference too. Classic.

Our dinner was crab and shrimp enchiladas and Mexican rice. I don't even have the words. It was like being in heaven. The enchiladas had ricotta cheese in them... I don't even think I need to say more than that. :)

Because your first anniversary is traditionally supposed to be a "paper anniversary" we decided to get a journal. We each wrote a letter to one another in it and then read them last night. We thought it would be a fun idea to make this a tradition and write a letter to each other on our anniversary every year in our little journal. It may seem silly now, but I think we will be so glad we did it in years to come. 

Obviously no anniversary is complete without a toast:) We used the same toasting glasses that we used at our wedding. After Matt said all the mushy stuff, as I was about to take a drink he stopped me. He added, "Also, lets toast to Roy Halladay for pitching the second perfect baseball game this year. The 20th perfect game thrown in major league history." I guess it can't all be about romance:)