So Good, It Must Be Shared!

A friend of mine shared a recipe with me recently that ROCKED MY WORLD and is perfect for this time of year! I am not exactly sure where it originated from, but it's so good, it must be shared!

Pumpkin Waffles and (Sugar) Cinnamon Syrup

Waffles:

Mix well, no lumps:
-1 1/2 c. flour
-1/4 c. brown sugar
-2 tsp. baking powder
-1 tsp. cinnamon
-1 tsp. salt

Stir in a separate bowl:
-1 egg
-1 1/4 c. milk
-1/2 c. canned pumpkin
-2 tbs. oil

Combine the two groups until batter is smooth. Spray waffle maker with Pam. Use 1/2 c. of batter at a time. Cook for 4 minutes.

Syrup:

-1 c. sugar
-slightly less than 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
-1/2 c. light corn syrup
-1/4 c. water
-1/2 c. evaporated milk

In a saucepan, combine sugar and cinnamon. Pour in corn syrup and water and stir to dissolve. Boil, stirring constantly, 2-3 minutes. Cool. Stir in evaporated milk and serve. Refrigerate leftovers.

We ate these for dinner tonight, and let me just say, it was HEAVEN.

Good Things To Come

I have mentioned in earlier posts that our move to Texas two years ago was quite a bit more difficult than we expected. We had spent well over a year planning the details of our move and looking into all of our options. Originally Marcus wanted to move back "home" where the economy seemed better for finding a first job, after graduating with a health science degree, and certainly would be a less expensive place for us to buy our fist home.

Well, after months of applying and interviewing for jobs in the Dallas/Fort Worth area it became obvious that we were wrong. Every job offer came with a much smaller salary than we hoped for or paid commission... something we were not comfortable accepting. We also discovered there was very little room for growth in any of the companies with his current degree. We felt hugely disappointed.

Hours and days and weeks of talking lead us to a point where we felt it was in our best interest for Marcus to pursue his dream of applying to medical schools. We knew it would mean a great deal of work just for him to bring himself to a point where he was a qualified and competitive applicant, let alone all the cost of time and money that would come if he actually got in. We decided, though, that as long as he was able to support our family and go back to school for the classes he needed without going into further educational debt that we really had nothing to lose. So, Marcus started looking for jobs that would provide what we needed financially as well as allow him the flexibility to go to school. And guess what? A job fell right into his lap.

With everything in place we moved to Texas in August of 2008, just 3 weeks after our little James was born. We knew we were going to have a challenging few years, but we had no idea just how difficult they were truly going to be.

I'll spare you most of the details. After all, there was good reason to not blog all about them in the first place. Let me just say, though, that Marcus and I found ourselves feeling very alone shortly after our move and our hearts ached for the love we had felt from family and friends when we lived in Utah. On top of that, our apartment was a dump. The area was full of crime and our neighbors were quite contentious and aggressive. We put our 60 day notice in as soon as we could and found a place we loved about 30 minutes away.

Just a week after Marcus started his new job he was offered a management position for another company. It had a better schedule and a nice salary, so he left the first job and excitedly took the second. Unfortunately, after about eight months the owner did away with his position. He allowed him to continue working for a smaller wage, but Marcus was forced to find other employment. We were relieved when he was hired to do marketing for a home care company. Five months later, though, they nearly went under and everyone was suddenly out of work.

We were blessed to have a good friend who owns a pest control company offer Marcus a job as a technician. We were especially happy that he was willing to put him on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday schedule so he could go to school full-time on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s. This last summer Marcus joined the sales team and was able to boost our income quite a bit. In August, he was offered a position as the office manager and he has greatly enjoyed it.

School has been challenging, but pretty much what we expected. Marcus successfully completed 35 credits of hard science classes last school year and is currently taking 14 more, with 12 to come this next spring. He studied for and took the MCAT last summer and is preparing for a second test date to improve his score in the coming months. He completed his first round of medical school applications but anticipates having to apply again this next year. In addition to his work and studies, Marus has been shadowing a family physician for six months as well as serving as an assistant scout master for our church’s troop of Boy Scouts.

Our life has certainly been filled with a lot of ups and downs since our move, but I am certain each challenge has ultimately strengthened us. I truly believe that there is bright reason for us to hope for better days ahead, and that makes it easy to feel joy in the more difficult times we occasionally face now.

I wanted to share a clip that I love called “Good Things To Come”. I have watched this over and over and over… and it always encourages me to just keep moving forward. I truly believe there is always reason to hope for good things to come, GREAT things even.

Watching for Elves

One of the greatest things about the holiday season is watching Connor and James try with all their might to behave so they can be on Santa's "nice list". I love it.

Well, last Sunday morning Connor woke up in a terrible mood and his willingness to be nice was completely gone. He was grumpy and mean and refused to snap out of it. Marcus and I told him that if he would not apologize and at least try to be kind that we would have to call the north pole and let them know he was acting naughty. He crossed his arms, looked right at us and yelled "FINE"! So I picked up my phone and made the magic call. Santa told me he would send an Elf to keep an eye on Connor that morning and asked me to encourage Connor to change his attitude so the Elf would see him behaving (at least that's what we told him).

WORKED. LIKE. A. CHARM.

Here's a picture of the two little guys watching faithfully out our window to try and catch a peek of the Elf.

Blogging for the Holidays

I regret not posting more the past two years. Honestly, our move to Texas proved to be far more difficult than we could have imagined, and I had a hard time posting anything if I couldn't post everything. That's the tough thing about blogging for me. I am a pretty open book, but my experiences obviously do not just involve me, and I never want to share anything involving someone else that my judgement tells me they might not appreciate having shared. So I fell off the blogging bandwagon and I've missed posting a lot of things that I wish I would have... and that's about to change. I have a private blog set up for the more private posts and I'm ready to bring this one back to life for the Holidays.

Marcus and I live for this time of year. We are Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years FANATICS. So stay tuned for all the fun we're bound to have these next few weeks and for a whole lot of catch-up!

Go Rangers!

In light of the Rangers making history tonight and winning their first ever play-off series, I thought it might be time to post some pictures of the fun we had at one of their games just a week and a half ago.

Marcus got some tickets for his 33rd birthday and the two of us went with Connor while James hung out at his grandparents house watching all the action on tv with his Boppa. Connor may have wished he was somewhere else when the Rangers hit a few home runs and fireworks went off in the stadium (he sat with his hands over his ears for a solid half-hour afterwards) but all in all he had a GREAT time. I think he enjoyed it almost as much as his dad!

This Is What Happened

While I was taking my shower this morning. James dumped an entire bag of flour all over my living room floor and sofa. When I asked him what happened, he just laughed... with a mouth full of goldfish crackers and pretzles. I should have known better than to leave this little guy alone. And yes, those were clean clothes on the loveseat.

Just Because I Feel Like It

I'm writing this post just because I feel like it. I don't have anything too exciting to share, just haven't been on here for a while.

I feel like Connor starting school 5 days a week (only 3 1/2 hours in the mornings, though) has shot our life in a whole new direction, and I AM LOVING IT!

It is amazing what a difference it makes to HAVE to wake up at a certain time and get the day going every morning. I used to cringe every time my alarm went off in college (including while I was in classes after being married and having Connor). I would dream of the day I could just be a stay at home mom and rid my life of that awful morning alarm. Well, after a few years of just waking up whenever the kids did, and then slowly getting breakfast, getting dressed probably no earlier than lunch time, and basically spending the morning lounging around trying to pick away at a few random house chores between playing with the little guys, being forced to wake up, get ready, and get out of the door by 7:10 has been heaven sent. Sounds crazy, right? I know, but it's true. I'm starting to believe there really is something to the whole "early to bed, early to rise" thing.

Well, that's it for my random posting for now. It's just past 6:00 and I need to hurry and get dinner on the table. I think the little guys are getting hungry.

First Week of School

Last Monday Connor started Pre-Kindergarten. He was SO excited (and I'm not gonna lie, I was too)! He has LOVED going each morning this week and is a little bummed that it's the weekend now and can't go back for two days.

Here's a few pictures of the little guy on his first few days of school..


Yeah, this is how he chose to pose for his "first day of school" photo.


I tried for a better shot but he was far too distracted looking at all the other kids in the hallway.


He RAN once he saw the playground.


I was able to get a better picture of him leaving for his second day of school... now that some of the excitement had died down.

Maybe it is just because it is only Pre-K, but I haven't had any of the feelings of "my baby isn't such a baby anymore" or "I'm so sad I don't get to have him home all day"... I think I have loved him going to school just as much as he has loved going! NOT because I don't want him here with me, but because I truly truly know he is ready for the experience and I know he is beyond excited about it. I am just so happy for him and it is so much fun seeing him doing new things that build his self-esteem.

Here's to hoping the entire school year is as good as this first week!

I Can Hardly Believe It's August...

This month means a lot of different things for our family.

-August is the last month of Marcus' CRAZY summer schedule! He has worked full time (6 days a week) doing summer sales, gone to school, applied to Medical Schools, studied for and taken the MCAT, and job shadowed a general physician a few days a week. We haven't seen him nearly as much as we would have liked to and are SO EXCITED for that to change on September 1!

-Connor starts Pre-Kindergarten this month... in 20 days to be exact. He will be going 4 mornings a week and although I am looking forward to it, I am also wondering if I am really ready for it. Where did the time go?

-Marcus gets his MCAT results the week of the 16th. He feels like he did a good job, but it's incredibly hard to really guage. We're nervous, and excited, and it drives me crazy to think about it so let's move on...

I guess those really are the only things going on this month. It seems like there was a lot more, but I guess a few big things together can feel a bit bigger than maybe they really are. I am REALLY looking forward to starting a new schedule this September. It will still be busy, but Marcus will be home every evening (well, for the most part) and we will be able to feel like our life is slightly more normal. I can hardly wait!

I Think It's About Time

I update this blog... man oh man I just keep getting farther and farther behind!

I keep hearing my friends talk about how they are going to try to spend less time on the computer every day. I feel like I need to set a goal to spend more time online everyday. Dorky, I know, but I feel so disconnected when I'm only on the computer 10-15 minutes a day like I have been lately.

Anyway, to start things off, here's a quick update on everyone:

Marcus did get his applications in to the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service and the Texas Medical and Dental School Application Service. He applied to a total of six schools (but may be adding three more as he's been told that he applied to way too little). He has currently been invited by three of those schools to fill out their secondary application and he is thrilled about that. He takes the MCAT this Friday and we definitely have our fingers crossed that he will do well on it.

I have it way too easy. I get to spend every day playing with our boys, swimming, meeting friends for play dates, etc. We are having a fun summer!

Connor is OBSESSED with Toy Story 3 since he saw it a few weeks ago. He loves playing with his trains lately and giving rides to his mini Buzz, Woody, Bulls Eye, and Slinky Dog actions figures.

James is talking up a storm and looks less and less like a baby every day. He is totally a typical little boy. He loves fighting, looking at bugs, and collecting sticks... random, I know.

I'll try to sit down sometime soon and do a major catch-up with all the photo's sitting on my camera! Stay tuned!