Happy New Year and an Update

Dear blogging community,

I have been absent from writing my blog for quite some time, 174 days to be exact.  Since then I have had some good times and some bad times, but for now, lets focus on the good:

My husband Kevin and I celebrated our 1 Year Wedding Anniversary.

I went on a weekend trip to Montana see my sister-in-law, Katie, for a girls weekend while my brother was out of town.  We had a great time going floating down the river, soaking in hot springs, enjoying a few bars in Bozemans quaint downtown, and watching roller derby. (I think the unintentional photo-bomb in the picture below is pretty funny.)

Kevin and I took a trip with some wonderful friends to Leavenworth, WA for Oktoberfest.

I moved from being a temporary employee to a full time permanent employee at my company (with killer benefits!)

My offer letter!

Kevin started student teaching for his Masters in Secondary Education and will be fully done with his masters program in two weeks. 

Cheers to that!

We found out that my oldest brothers wife is expecting twin boys in April/May, and my mom and I threw her a High Tea Baby Shower while they were in town for Christmas.  I made her two knitted foxes like this one.

Really!  What DOES the fox say?!

We moved from our tiny (seriously, tiny) one bedroom, dark, half basement apartment into a lovely third floor, two bedroom apartment with tons of windows, a laundry room (room! not laundry closet! room!), a large pantry, plenty of kitchen storage, a real-sized fridge, room for my yarn storage, and nearly twice the square footage of our previous place.  Did I mention that it comes with an indoor lap pool and hot-tub, all for only $15 more than we were paying at our last place?  Needless to say, I am much more relaxed and happy in our new place.

Kevin and I traveled to his hometown of Sequim, WA to have Thanksgiving with his family.  I successfully avoided cutting any of my digits like two years ago.

I finally made a homemade Christmas wreath that I can use for years to come.  I got all of the supplies from Michaels while all of their Christmas decor was 50%-60% off.  I put together the wreath myself and it cost about $18 (compared to the pre-made ones that go for $30+).

My biggest Christmas present this year was a surprise from Kevin for a Western Caribbean Cruise for our belated Honeymoon in May.  We are so excited to have something so fun to look forward to... 136 days cant go by fast enough!

Lastly, I had a wonderful Christmas and New Years with Kevin, and our friends and family.  We are so excited for the upcoming year to welcome two nephews, to go on a Honeymoon, and to go to Oktoberfest again.  We are also grateful for the friendships we have made this year.

Bring it on 2014!  This year is going to be great!

Please note that I hope to get back into a blogging routine of one or two posts a week.  I havent had too much time to seriously cook or make up recipes over the last few months, but Im beginning to be inspired again!  Thank you all for your patience in waiting for me to return.

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Happy Fall from Amys Nutritarian Kitchen!

I have mentioned probably about a million times on this blog how much I love fall... I love pumpkins and apples and crisp temperatures and cozy blankets and rainy days.  But, before I start sounding too much like a "Basic B*tch", Id like to share some of our new houses fall/Halloween decor I have recently put up.

Last Wednesdays decorating started with stopping by my favorite farm stand for some pumpkins.  The three big pumpkins were $10, while each set of three little pumpkins were $1.  $12.  Not bad for so much fall color!  I sent this picture to my husband before heading home.  
I bet he was thinking "So it has begun..."

The mini pumpkins went perfectly on our front living room mantle.  This room doesnt have much in it to begin with (which I am currently working on, but that is a post for another day).  The one extra white (pokemon) pumpkin went on a coffee table for decoration.  In case you are wondering, the three pictures above are of old Tacoma, WA (30 minutes from where we live).  Kevin estimates that the two on the right are early 1900s, while the left is a bit later around the 1930s.  Several months ago my work was going to get rid of these out of someones office who had left the company years ago.  I snagged them and they fit our front room perfectly.  

Here is where the three larger pumpkins went along with some purple string lights, spider web net, a metal pumpkin patch sign, and a scarecrow.  Other people on our block go all-out for Halloween with fake gravestones in their yards, strobe lights, and black lights, but I think for our first year owning a home, this will do.

Here is bit of a better view with our porch light on.  Poor Kevin that first night after I put up decorations.  We were cozy in bed when I remembered that I forgot to turn off the purple lights.  I wasnt sure how warm they might get against the spiderweb and if that could be a fire hazard, so Kevin went out and turned them on.  What a gentleman!  Hehe!  I think I will work on getting a timer for the lights that we can use later for Christmas lights this winter.

Here is a closer view of the fall wreath that I made for the house a few weeks ago.  I purchased all of my supplies from Michaels for only $20 and put it together myself.  Not bad when the pre-made wreaths at craft stores go for $30-$75 depending on their size.

What things are you doing around your place to enjoy the spirit of fall?


Health and Happiness,

Amy

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Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone is having a great week.  At my work we are celebrating Halloween today (Thursday) with a pot-luck because we dont work this Friday.  To the pot luck, I am bringing my Three Bean Chili (picture and link below).  Several other people have brought meat and SAD dishes, so hopefully my chili will bring some much needed veggies and beans for aided digestion!

For actual Halloween, Im planning on wearing my witchs hat to a small yarn store nearby and joining in their afternoon sit-and-knit session.  Since moving to the west side of the state, it has been hard to make new friends, so this is my effort to be bold and meet some new people.  Oh well if they have a decade or two more knitting under their belt... or lace shawls!

Anyways, I thought I would stop in real quick and share a few of my old and not so old blog recipes that would go well with however you are celebrating Halloween.  These recipes did have original names noted below, but I have renamed them on this post in the spirit of Halloween. :)

Start off your Halloween with some delicious and nutritious snacks!

Spicy Ghostly Trees
(Roasted Cajun Cauliflower Snack)

Dragons Blood Cocktail
(Immune-Boosting Juice - no alcohol)

Load those ghouls and goblins with their veggies:

Roasted Goblin Toes
(Roasted Brussels Sprouts)

Howl at the Moon Pizza
(Get it?  Like a pizza looks like a full moon.  Ok, it was a stretch, but I thought it was creative!)

Warm up those Trick-o-Treaters with some soup or chili:

The Great Pumpkin Soup
(Pumpkin Basil Soup)

Devils Halloween Chili
(Three-Bean Chili - add cayenne to make "Devil-spicy")

Finish off the night with a better-than-candy dessert:

Cemetery Mud Chocolate Dip
(Brownie Batter Dip)

Happy Healthy Halloween,

Amy

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