It's Almost Thanksgiving!!!

So.... it's almost Thanksgiving!!!! And you know what that means, right? NO SCHOOL!!!! Yay!!! I can't tell you how excited I am to finally have a little break from school!! This semester has just been KILLER! It's quite probably the hardest semester I have left to complete, so in 4 more weeks I am just going to be in heaven! Erik and I are both set to graduate in July of 2012, so we are looking forward to that.
Back to Thanksgiving... (sorry, I got sidetracked ;P) I am just so excited for all the fun things we are going to do! (Not to mention the food.... mmm 8P) We are going to Wendell for the break to see my family. We would love to see Erik's parents too, but since he's from Washington... It's not really in our budget to make a trip like that for only a few days off from school. :(
So far during the break we have plans to go shooting shotguns and .22s with my siblings and dad- that will be fun! I don't think any of them have ever seen me shoot since I officially learned how a few years ago working at a scout camp for the summer, (I got to teach shooting sports there!) so I'm kinda excited to show off my new skills. :) The first time Erik took me shooting while we were dating last winter, I out-shot all the guys. I still say I just got lucky... either that, or they were just nervous. :P
And our other plans are to go see a movie on Thanksgiving! Every year that I'm with my family we always go to the movies on Thanksgiving. It has been such a fun tradition! I love it! :)
Alrighty! Well that's all I have for you right now! Sorry if my thoughts were just rambled out in no specific order. I only have one more day of classes til break (mine are cancelled tuesday), so I can't think straight! My brain is taking a vacation. =D
Til next time!

This is us shooting sometime in September! :)

My Broken Windshield

Well hello there!!! So you'll never guess what happened to me!!! That is, unless you've already heard about it through me or Facebook or whatever... ;)
Anyways! So Erik and I were driving out toward the livestock center on the 3rd to go shooting shotguns and pistols with a couple friends (we were meeting Greg at the livestock center--since that's where he finishes with class, and the place we go shooting at is out past there.), when out of nowhere my hood flies up and slams back into my windshield!!!!! Now just think about it... I was driving at a speed between 50-60mph, and I all of a sudden couldn't see anything!!! Just luckily enough, I had Erik in the car with me. He was able to guide me to a safe spot on the shoulder where we could check out what was wrong and fix our visibility situation. ;)
Turns out we'll never know why it flew up like that... I could have sworn that the hood was latched all the way, but who knows?! It might not have been... Either way, I'm so thankful that nothing happened to us, and that the worst result was a broken windshield and a dented in hood. This scenario could have gone so many different ways, possibly resulting in severe injury or even death. I'm surprised I didn't jerk the wheel when the hood flew up... but I didn't. I did slam on my breaks, but luckily I kept my arms steady. Had I swerved left, we could have crashed head-on into the oncoming traffic. Had I swerved right, we would have ended up nose-down in the ditch. And going nearly 60mph, that wouldn't have been pretty.
I'm thankful for a Heavenly Father that knows and loves us. He is always watching over us whether we know it or not. Everything that happens, happens for a reason--and everything is a blessing. Even our trials. They are meant to teach us something, so it's time we dig and find out what it is so we may return to live with Him again. :)
We now have a new windshield, and it is all for the better. My windshield was already on the verge of being unsafe; cracked in too many places and no rear-view mirror. I think this was a way of telling us we better get a new windshield before something worse happens. Not exactly the way we wanted to spend a chunk of our wedding money, but hey... in the end it will have been worth it. :)

We're Real Good at This...

Well hey there! It's been a while... I know. What can I say though?! School is back in session... AND we're newlyweds! We're still trying to figure everything out and get situated while taking on the load of never-ending homework our teachers pile on us.

When we first moved into our apartment, it seemed like we would never get it unpacked. There was just so much stuff!!! It was everywhere!!! Well... I'm here today to tell you now that it got unpacked. It took a few days...er, weeks, I mean... but it's finally done! Yeah, there are still things that we don't know where to put or what to do with right now, but who cares about that stuff? That's not important right now. ;)
It just feels so NICE to not have to worry about it anymore! Can I get an amen?! =D

Well... other than that, I really don't know what to write about tonight...
Erik and I are going to make cookies!! Guess what they're called??....

Secret Kiss Cookies!

They are from our brand spankin' new Hershey's cookbook that we got for our wedding. And it's your lucky day! Because I'm going to share the recipe with all of you to make these delectable treats too!! :)

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

 1 cup finely chopped walnuts (optional)

1 bag (6 oz.) HERSHEY'S KISSES Milk Chocolates

Powdered sugar

*In large mixer bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add flour and walnuts; beat on low speed of electric mixer until well blended. Cover; refrigerate dough 1 to 2 hours or until firm enough to handle.

*Remove wrappers from chocolate pieces. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Using approximately 1 tablespoon of dough for each cookie, shape dough around each chocolate piece; roll to make ball. (Be sure to cover each chocolate piece completely.) Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

*Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are set but not brown. Cool slightly; remove from  cookie sheet to wire rack.

*While still slightly warm, roll in powdered sugar. Cool completely. Store in tightly covered container. Roll again in powdered sugar just before serving. About 3 dozen cookies.

*Note: For variety, sift together 1 tablesppon HERSHEY'S Cocoa with 1/3 cup powdered sugar. Roll warm cookies in cocoa mixture.

I hope you like them! Erik and I are going to add a little bit of peanut butter to the dough to make it more like Reese's. Happy cooking!! =)