October 6, 2013 by Stephanie

Autumn on My Mind-Autumn Activities

Here is today’s prompt!

“Autumn Activities Outside”

With the ever changing scenery, it is hard not to want to spend time outside admiring nature. What are you up to outside? Do you have a fun fall activity to share?

Rules of the Link-up:

1. Do one entry or all! It’s up to you!

2. Add your entry’s link below, and be sure to put the button in your post!

3. If you do link up, check out a couple fellow bloggers to see something new.

4. Your hosts (Elizabeth and Stephanie) would love a following on Bloglovin, but it is not required! We are just glad you stopped by for “Autumn on My Mind!”

These pictures are from last year. This came up faster than I realized and wasn’t able to get something from this fall in time for the link up date, but these are just right anyway.

I went with my in-laws to the Hartsburg Pumpkin Festival last year in Missouri. This is something that happens here every year. Isn’t it beautiful?

I like the little girl in the background.

It is a sweet small town festival with booths with food and crafts galore.

Just playing some fall tunes.

And of course pumpkins!

Our niece is the cutest little kid!

This little lady turns 4 this week!

What kind of activities have you all had in your area? Link up here and share!

We hope to see you return on Thursday for an Autumn Creation! You can see the full schedule for our Autumn link up here.

Check out my lovely partner!

October 4, 2013 by Stephanie

Friday Filter-TV Premiere Week 3

Here is round three of my initial reactions to season openers!

The Crazy Ones

This is a new comedy staring Sarah Michelle Geller and Robin Williams who run an advertising firm. I was intrigued because of Robin Williams being on a prime time show. I figured I would give it a whirl. It’s not horrible, but it is not a hit yet. There were some pretty funny moments which is to be expected with Robin Williams. But also to be expected the story was kind of all over the place. The concept is fresh, so I liked that it was something new on TV. It’s not about the law or doctors, so it is something different from my usual shows. I am hoping the banter picks up and gets an even flow. I have a three time rule of thumb when it comes to to new experiences, so I will watch again for the next couple weeks to see if I get sucked in or not.

Parenthood

Parenthood

I love everything about this show. The cast, the story, the emotion. I feel like it is the most real show that I watch. There are real problems and the reactions are as real as they can be in Hollywood. There are some dramatic moments, but for the most part they don’t go overboard with the theatrics. I also love the family dynamic going on. You really see how one life can affect a whole bundle of people. It shows the web of family and the quirkiness when they overlap and intersect. I envision my family like the Bravermans-someday. You miss out on this when you are in the military or are far away from family all the time. I am interested to see how this relationship with Amber and Ryan plays out. I wonder how true to the military lifestyle they will be. Naturally though, I was crying at the end of the episode with the homecoming ceremony. There really is nothing like that moment, and it brought me back to seeing Tom for the first time off the plane. If you don’t watch this, you should definitely add this to your list! Just trust me.

Glee

Much like Grey’s Anatomy, I am not really into this show anymore. I have watched it since the beginning, so I feel the obligation to stay until the end. I really only come back to see what covers they do. I love the music, but the story isn’t so hot. It is so unrealistic. I mean really they make it seem like Ohio and New York are a 5 minute drive from each other. They all just need to get over themselves and stop being primadonnas. The music though is phenomenal. I love some of their renditions better than the originals. I am interested to see what happens to Finn’s character, which I guess is revealed in the third episode of the season. So we’ll see how this goes.

Once Upon A Time

I constantly have to pick my jaw off the floor when I watch this show. I am in awe of what is happening on the screen, and have to ask myself what just happened all the time. This is such a magical show. They make the fairy tales I grew up with come alive again, but with a very different spin. I love how they are all intertwined. How they make up these storyboards is beyond me. So creative and original. Every week it is like they are peeling off a new layer of an onion, and you aren’t really sure how thick it actually is. It is weirding me out that Pan is bad though. Peter Pan was never my favorite story, but he was always portrayed as a happy boy, not a sadistic lying kidnapper. They have sucked me into Storybrooke, and I want to see them have a happy ending. I don’t even know what to say about the awesomeness that is this show. I still haven’t been able to wrap my head around what is happening, but I know in my heart it is marvelous and addicting.

Scandal

The Gladiators are back! The show is full of sharp turns showing the deception and corruption in politics. I heard it described once that West Wing is how we want the White House to look like and Scandal is how we fear the White house actually is. Pretty much. First of all, I love Olivia Pope. Her clothes, her smarts, her can-do attitude. I could live in her closet and be a happy camper. We were left off last season thinking that her dad wanted to kill her, at least that’s what I thought. After the premiere, I am still not really sure what his role is in everything. All I know is that he has a funny way of showing his affection for his daughter. It seems as though she has been a burden to him ever since her mom died. This first episode was full of people trying to cover things up and how to make the media believe something new to make the American people look the other way. It is full of word play and how powerful the display is, which I find facsinating This is a show that you can’t blink otherwise you will miss something. It’s like I am in a trance for an hour while watching all the scandals and Olivia’s team trying to be fixers. What do you think Cyrus saw in that folder in the last 5 seconds? President Grant might not be the dreamboat I had always thought. Bummer.

I am still trying to find a balance with not controlling the TV every night. The bonus with Tom committed to the hunting season is that I can watch all the shows he doesn’t like while he is out sitting in his new tree stand. The downside, I have to avoid social media so things don’t get ruined before I watch them. Problems of a T.V. junkie.

Friday Filters offer a review that are my own opinions. I was not contacted by anyone associated with these works or compensated for my review. My review has not been influenced by anything other than my love for entertainment and art.

Come back on Sunday for “Autumn on My Mind.” Sunday’s episode is about fall date activities that you can do in your community. You can see the full schedule here.

October 3, 2013 by Stephanie

Autumn on My Mind-Fall Food Must

We have a few more episodes of Autumn on My Mind! We hope that you enjoy!

Today is about the yummies in the tummies!

“A Fall Food Must”

We love fall foods! Let’s expand our recipe books by sharing go to foods that we have at fall get-togethers or tailgates!

Rules of the Link-up:

1. Do one entry or all! It’s up to you!

2. Add your entry’s link below, and be sure to put the button in your post!

3. If you do link up, check out a couple fellow bloggers to see something new.

4. Your hosts (Elizabeth and Stephanie) would love a following on Bloglovin, but it is not required! We are just glad you stopped by for “Autumn on My Mind!”

So here we go.

I think most people associate pies with fall.

I am going to let you in on a little secret. I am not a big fan of pie. Actually, I am not a fan at all. The texture of pie crusts is just icky to me, and I just can’t get over it enough to eat it. I know most of you are probably shaking your head.

But.

I do love pie filling.

So whether it is pie or cheesecake, I usually scrape all the guts out and leave the crust.

I was in search of finding a recipe that I could make a “pie” without the gross crust part.

Enter “apple pie sugar cookie cake.” Or what I am calling Everything It’s Not cake.

I saw something similar to this on Pinterest and made some adjustments to make it my own recipe.

Everything It Is Not Cake

Ingredients:

4 packages of pre-made sugar cookies

2 cans of apple pie filling

4 tsp of cinnamon

1/4 cup of sugar

a whole lot of sugar

You will mix the Cinnamon and sugar together to “dust” the layers you are about to make.

you may not use all of this

I couldn’t find my cake pan, so I used a bundt cake pan. I think my rectangle pan may have disappeared in the move…

The cookies in my package looked like this but you can use the ones that come in rolls too.

I may have eaten a few of these raw…

You will take approximately one package of cookies and knead it into one layer on the bottom of the pan.

Smooshed cookies

Then you take the cinnamon/sugar mix and sprinkle it over the dough.

Take one can of apple pie filling and layer it on top.

Then dust another layer of cin/sugar mix on top of the apples.

pie filling

Then you put another layer off the sugar cookie dough on top of this. You will have to flatten out the dough and lightly smoosh or just lay it on top. It doesn’t need to be perfectly covered.

second dough layer

Then you repeat with the “dusting” and apple pie filling.

Once you have two layers of the dough and apples, then you put on your remaining layer of sugar cookies.

On this one, I just sort of flattened the cookies. This made for a thicker layer of sugar cookie. Then you add a final layer of the cinnamon/sugar mix.

ready for the oven.

You will keep this in the oven for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Your oven may vary so check it at 35 minutes.

The top layer will harden faster than the rest of the layers. I also don’t recommend using the bundt pan if you have a regular pan.

This is definitely not a healthy recipe, but it will satisfy any sweet tooth.

The middle layers will be gooey so just be aware of that. I like it because there are a variety of textures, and not one that resembles pie crust.

This is a treat that would be great with ice cream.

This is a yummy recipe and super easy to do. You can only do one layer if you want, which will change the consistency of the middle layers. You would just need to cut the recipe in half.

As I said, you shouldn’t do this is a bundt pan. The filling will seep through. Just so you know our fire alarm does work in our house. Whoops.

Do you have a go to fall recipe or something you were itching to try? Link it up here!

We hope to see you return on Sunday for your Autumn Activities! You can see the full schedule for our Autumn link up here.

Check out my lovely partner!

October 1, 2013 by Stephanie

There is dog hair EVERYWHERE

Literally.

There is dog hair everywhere.

Even in my foot.

You read that correctly.

I have gotten dog hair splinters several times.

Yes, I feel absolutely ridiculous saying that I get dog hair stuck in the heel of my foot.

This weekend I got one so bad that it was starting to bruise my foot.

It looked like Tom was doing surgery on my foot to get it out. He had a head lamp, tweezers, nail clippers, and a needle to dig that sucker out of my foot. That single piece of hair was half an inch. That little bugger.

Doing rudimentary surgery on your significant others foot is love.

Trusting your significant other with above items to dig out a dog hair is love. (Although he did live in a place without doctors for 6 months)

This is love.

These are the moments we see right before we go to sleep now. A beautiful embrace in their slumber.

I love them so much.

Even if it means I have a dirty house with the never ending layer of dog hair no matter how much we sweep and wipe things down.

Even if it means that we now have two full size comforters on the bed because only one means that Tom and I are never comfortable sleeping.

Even if it means on a regular basis I have a dog hair splinters.

Those rare moments seen here make me love them despite all that.

I am taking in these moments of love.

September 29, 2013 by Stephanie

Autumn on My Mind-Fall Date Night

“A Date With Autumn”

What would be the perfect date night you can only do in fall in your area? Are there go to places for couples?

Rules of the Link-up:

1. Do one entry or all! It’s up to you!

2. Add your entry’s link below, and be sure to put the button in your post!

3. If you do link up, check out a couple fellow bloggers to see something new.

4. Your hosts (Elizabeth and Stephanie) would love a following on Bloglovin, but it is not required! We are just glad you stopped by for “Autumn on My Mind!”

Ok so I didn’t exactly follow the prompt with an activity that you can only do in the fall. I just think it is better done during the fall because of the cooler weather and scenery.

We went horseback riding last week. I have not been since high school, so it was a little nerve-wracking when they gave me the horse that is usually skittish and likes to bite people. Awesome…

But Sue (mine) and Ranger (Tom’s) were our pals for our hour long ride. It was a fun afternoon doing something a little bit different. Although my legs were not happy with me for several days after. Sue made sure that I remembered her long after I got off.

There are riding stables here on base that provides trail rides every weekend from March until December. They also do carriage rides every Friday and advertise that as date night. Tom and I wanted to be part of the “action” instead of just sitting there, so we opted to actually ride and control the horses.

The stables are two minutes from our house, and I drive by them every day to work. I have been pining over the opportunity to ride.

It is $20 to ride, which is a little more than we spend on our average date nights. We did make a deal that once a month we would do something “bigger” and not just a dinner date night, so this fit the bill.

It was perfect weather since you really want to wear long pants and shirt when riding. We rode all through the back woods of base, which Tom continued to scout for deer tracks. (I have become a hunter’s wife…)

We stopped by the horse pasture on afternoon too. We got permission to go inside and get pretty close to the horses. This was so much fun to watch these beautiful animals up close.

What do you think they are thinking?

Do those people have food?

So pretty.

I love watching them gallop past us.

This guy was really curious about us.

Such a gorgeous horse, and really friendly.

And then he didn’t want anything to do with us once he realized that we didn’t have food.

I loved the patches on this one.

Dating is really important even when you are married. We try to do one thing each week to focus on our marriage and relationship. Each date is new adventure for us.

Just this week we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant for date night. Right beside us was an old couple on their date night. While Tom was in the little boys room, they leaned over and asked how the daiquiri was that I was drinking. They were thinking about switching over from the margaritas they were downing. This sparked up a conversation that just really made the night for me. They told me how they met after their first spouses had passed. The man told me that the woman was making him try new things and getting him out the door as they both giggled and winked at each other. Adorable. The man had been a medic in the Navy, and the woman had been an Army wife for 30 years. We ended up talking for awhile and had a sweet and endearing conversation. It was delightful. When Tom and I left, we were so touched by this couple.

Never stop dating. There are always new things to experience, and relationships to deepen. So whether it is dinner out or game night in, it is really important to make time for each other and your relationship.

So what do your date nights look like?