Fall Is Here

Our landlords have an apple tree and a plum tree in their backyard. Both of them have the most delicious fruit on them. I have eaten a bunch of sweet plums and made apple crisp and baked pork chops with apple slices! It has been great!

It is definitely fall and going to be winter soon. Today the weather is quite cold. It is like 40 degrees and we have seen a few snow flakes on our travels today to get groceries. Among out travels today we got a pumpkin from the Provo Farmers Market. It is the biggest pumpkin. It probably weighs 20 pounds and we only paid $5 for it! Look at it. Isn't it going to be a great jack'o lantern!

Peaches

We bought a big box of peaches from Costco so I decided to make my first peach pie. Here is the recipe I used:

Fresh Peach Pie

• Dough for 9" Double Crust Pie Crust
• 5 cups peach slices, peeled and pitted (or frozen, see above)
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon or nutmeg to taste
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons cold butter, cut in small pieces
• 1 Tablespoon milk or cream for brushing the top crust
• 1 Tablespoon sugar and 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon for dusting the crust

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Roll out the pie crust bottom and tops according to directions leaving enough overhang to fold underneath. Place the bottom pie crust evenly in a 9" pie pan or ceramic pie dish and set aside. Fold the top crust in half and place a towel over it so it doesn't dry out.
3. Toss together gently in a large bowl; peaches, sugar, flour, spices if desired and lemon juice.
4. Fold into prepared pie crust and dot with cold butter.
5. Choose either double crust or lattice crust and follow directions below.
6. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling from vent holes. If the edges start to brown too quickly, place a piece of aluminum foil around the rim.
7. Remove to cooling rack and let cool for 30-60 minutes.
8. Serve Peach Pie à la mode with ice cream or sweetened whipped cream.
9. Refrigerate leftovers if there are any!
10. Makes 1 double crusted pie. Serves 8.

It turned out great, except that when I make it again, I would use one more peach than the recipe calls for.

End of Summer

STUART FALLS


On August 25, 2008 we hiked Stuart Falls with Nate and Alisa. We ended up running the last quarter of the way and on our run, we heard a moose! We never saw the moose, but it was cool to hear it! Here are the pictures we took on our hike.




PRAYING MANTIS

We found this on our handrail outside of our apartment one evening. It was huge!


SILVER LAKE



Damien and I decided to go for a hike one Sunday towards the end of August. Silver Lake was a lot smaller than we thought it would be.




The weather started out nice, but then the clouds rolled in and it started lightening. We just happened to be on top of the mountain on a hike at this time and we had to run down the hill in the rain.

Security Cracks Down at Smith's

Damien and I go grocery shopping every week at Smith's because it is the closest non-ghetto grocery store (unlike Allen's). Usually we go grocery shopping on Saturdays so we always have the same cashiers. But two weeks ago when we went we had this new guy that was missing one of his front teeth. The first thing he says to me is, "What are you eating?" I was chewing gum that I had bought from Costco. I was not stealing food by eating it before we got to the checkout. So then he tries to cover up this accusation by saying that he was just wondering what I couldn't wait to eat before we checked out. But wait, it gets better.

(image courtesy of cartoonstock.com)

Last weekend we did our usual grocery shopping routine. We are going through checkout and we even had a cashier that we have had many times before. The first thing she says to me is, "Do you have any items left in your cart?" Why is she asking me after I have loaded everything onto the moving belt and would have said if I had something large underneath my cart. And she or the bagger could have also just looked at our cart and seen that nothing was left in it. Does she think college students are buying large cases of items?

Both of these situations were a little on the rude side I would say. I think that they could have asked these same questions in a much nicer way instead of being so rude and then trying to explain themselves although I knew that the first guy was accusing me of stealing. It is a good thing that I don't get offended easily but just prepare yourself if you plan on shopping at Smith's anytime soon.

Conclusion: I think they have had recent problems with moral-lacking customers who decide to eat or hide goods in the bottom of their carts and not pay for them. This is also known as stealing and is not legal.

Muti-tasking While Exercising

(image courtesy of cartoonstock.com)

The other evening Damien and I went for a run and ran past a girl dressed in workout clothes, but she was slowly walking down the street talking on her cell phone. I have seen so many people doing this lately. I have probably seen 10 people doing this and none of them are out of breath or breathing heavily. I don't think you can count that as working out. The only thing on your body that is working is your mouth, which doesn't need to be worked more.

A really funny siting of this was at the BYU gym. This girl was laying stomach down on the weight machine to work her hamstrings. At first she looked like she was there to work out, but with a closer look I realized that she had her feet up and was enjoying just chatting on the phone. There was no exercise involved, but nice try!

I should start carrying my camera around so that I could get a collection of these crazy people. They need to learn what working out really is.

A Note About Toy Stores

Right now at work I am in the process of calling children's stores to get their marketing director's information so that we can send them information to see if they want to advertise in between children's programs. While making calls to stores today I came across a store called Incredible Toys. I called and asked for the name and e-mail address of the marketing director and the guy who answered the phone said that he could give me that information, but I might want to note that they only sell adult toys at this store. That was the end of the conversation. I don't think BYU would appreciate this company advertising around children's programing, although it would definitely liven it up a bit!

The Biggest Loser

One of my new favorite shows is The Biggest Loser. I have been watching previous seasons of it and it has been so motivational! Most of the people on the show weigh between 250 and 400 pounds at the beginning of the show. Fitness gurus teach all of the contestants how to work out and eat correctly. It is a great show and has reminded me of a few tips for losing weight and staying healthy, so I thought I would share a few with you.

1. Cardio is great, but lifting weights is just as important. Lifting weights will increase the muscle in your body. The more muscle you have the more calories it takes to keep those muscles alive, thus raising your resting metabolism.

2. Make sure that you are eating enough protein to feed your muscles. Making whey protein shakes is a great way to get extra protein in your diet.

3. When lifting weights, remember to give your muscles 48 hours worth of rest between workouts.

4. When doing cardio, make sure it lasts between 20 and 30 minutes. Once you reach longer than 30 minutes, your body starts to use muscle to fuel the exercise. Don't over do it.

5. If you aren't building a muscle up then it is deteriorating. You have to keep using them.

6. Remember to work on your core! Yoga is a great way to do this. An hour yoga workout can burn up to 600 calories.

7. Remember portion control. Eat one serving size.

8. If you find that you like to snack sometimes just for the taste of the food, but you aren't really hungry than chew a piece of gum.

9. Have fun and do things that you enjoy doing.

10. Try new exercise routines, you might find something you enjoy and helps burn calories.

If you are wanting a really good book to read about exercise and eating healthy I would recommend The Abs Diet or The Abs Diet for Women by David Zinczenko.

I Want A Kitten!

I am a cat lover and when I found out that my family found these two kittens I was so excited! My family keeps sending me pictures of them so I thought I would show you how cute they are!


The boy's name is Rory and the girl's name is Tootsie. They are about six weeks old right now. They are so cute and little! My favorite thing is that they try to play with our other cat, Bailey, and she hates it so she jumps up on top of whatever is closest to get away from them!

I can't wait to see them in December when we go to Spokane for Christmas and Bean's wedding!

Also, I have been telling Damien how much I want a kitten. He is allergic to cats though, but he said he would let me get one if it didn't bother him. So we would have to make it an outdoor cat, but I am okay with that.

I can't wait to get a cat someday!

Garage Construction

As many of you know, we live above our landlord's garage. They have been "improving" the garage below us and so there has been a lot of construction going on. One of the great things they did was get rid of a huge wasp nest. Here it is!

Damien was sad when we came home and they had already demolished it because he wanted to watch! ha

Another "improvement" that our landlords have added to the garage is a toilet. Yes, a toilet for them to use while they are out gardening or puttering around. As you can see in the picture, there are no walls or dividers for privacy around it. I hope we don't happen to walk by when the garage door is open and someone is using the toilet. Damien and I just laughed when we saw it! Who puts a toilet in their garage and still plans on using it as a garage?



Also, we have this cherry tree in our yard. These cherries look so good, but they aren't ripe quite yet.

Speed Bumps

So yesterday on my way to work, the car ran out of gas. The gas gauge on our car isn't working and we thought we had the mileage calculated, but apparently that mileage is only if for times when we aren't have a hundred degree weather and having to use the air conditioning all of the time. I was almost to work thank goodness when the car stopped. On my walk to work some strange man asked me if I wanted a ride. I made it to work safely and on time for my meeting!

Today should have been a better day, or that is what I thought. After taking Damien to work this morning I came back to the tree house and began taking a shower when the power was turned off by the workman who are working on the garage below our home. The water turned ice cold and I had to jump out of the shower after trying to rinse off. So I haven't washed my hair yet today and I had to put my makeup on from the light that comes in through the tiny window in our bathroom. But I made it to work on time!

I wonder what will happen tomorrow?

The Damien

Last weekend Nate, Alisa, Travis, Rachel, Damien, and I hiked to the hot springs up Spanish Fork canyon. It was a 2.5 mile hike each way, but besides the long hike it was quite fun. There are six different pools and a waterfall. You can see the pools on the right side of the picture.

After we had played in the hot springs and stream for a couple hours, we decided to start the hike home before it got dark. Damien decided not to change back into his clean underwear and pants and stay in his board shorts for the hike back.

We got back to the car and drove to Carl's Jr. for milkshakes. Damien gets out of the car and is walking a little funny. We order our food and go to sit down at a table when I notice something red on the front of Damien's board shorts. Yes, indeed it was blood! Lets just say he had a little chafing problem because of a lack of support from his swim trunks.

On the way out of the restaurant Damien was hunched over like a 90 year old man with a limp. I had to leave the restaurant because I was laughing so hard!

Needless to say, this is now known as the Damien.

Below is Alisa, Nate, and Damien climbing to get behind the waterfall.
And on the right is Damien's head sticking out of the middle of the waterfall!
















That is Damien's head sticking out of the middle of the waterfall!

What's Wrong With Your Face

So I was talking to my mom today and she told me the funniest story. John, a friend of Bean's (my brother) came back into town and one day while he was over my mom showed him a picture of Damien and I. When my mom showed him the picture he got this really strange look on his face and his eyes started to well up with tears. Bean, being especially sensitive, said, "What's wrong with your face"? And John responded with, "I am still in love with Natalya". My mom was trying not to laugh, but the whole situation was so funny. When I told Damien he and I about died laughing!