ITS BEEN SO LONG!

I know it has been so long... life gets crazy... shattered legs... family visiting... trips to the states... marriages... phew... so now I am catching my breath! Dont get me wrong, I love it... well maybe not shattered legs... but I love being busy, but sometimes blogs fall by the wayside : (

SO an update... We got a new desktop computer that makes uploading pictures to facebook WAY faster then before so thats why I have been keeping up there... but dont worry all you facebook haters I am going to post links for all my old albums (too many to go to make up posts for) onto the blog... so you just have to click and you can see all the pictures!

AND... we are busily planning our next BIG adventure... NEW ZEALAND! We are SOOOOO excited!

We are still not pregnent... for all you crazys out there that want that to be true!

We have two years left in Japan... we leave May 2012... tentatively

We would still love visitors!

Oh yeah and my Mom and Dad are coming out in February to go to the Ice Festival and Skiing!

So thats about all... I will get those pictures up soon... I promise!

Love you!

Lisa

Beach Bonfire

So when I heard we were going to a beach bonfire I was excited... and not just because it was a bonfire on a beach!!!! which is awesome all on its own... but I had been wanting to take nighttime photos of a fire... to practice my long exposures... I brought by tri-pod and this is what I came out with...

I think this one turned out really cool especially with the sparks and that pink streak in the sky

The couch we put in the fire... before we put it in the fire

The couch in the fire... you can the back and the armrestSparks from the fire!

Dressing Up & Going Out

We have had alot of opportunities to dress up and go hang out with our friends lately. I LOVE dressing up so I have had a super good time...

The first was a surprise birthday party for our friend Swat with an Anchorman theme of "Stay Classy" so we all dressed up super classy and went to the O Club.

Here we are with the gorgeous pregnant Sharon taking an "awkward belly prom photo"... little did we know Anna was pregnant too... a geeze... so many babys!

Anna (who threw the party for her husband) was so classy she had cigars as table decorations... Kendall and I did not actually smoke them... just posed with them!

One of Swats birthday presents caught my eye... I loved how the bottle was glowing with the candles behind it.

THEN... a week later we went to the Army Spring Formal. Our neighbor is the commander of one of the army detachments... or whatever its called... so we went to the Army Ball they were throwing.
Man Derick looks great in his mess dress!

He hates having his photo taken so when I get one like this I am so happy!

Kat did so good with the table decorations... I just had to snap some pictures of them!

SPRING!

Kona and I went for a hike on the nature trail to see how the spring was going... it was going pretty good, I think these vines growing up the trees were super cool!
AND THEN WE FOUND THESE CRAZY PURPLE THINGS... Caitlyn I feel like these should have been growning at the graveyard you should have been married at. They were everywhere

BRIGHT GREEN! These were really bright, they grew alongside those crazy purple things!
And of course Kona had the time of her life... like she always does!

MOSC Planters

So I planned my last event for MOSC! YAY I am glad to be done! but for the centerpieces in honor of spring we did some cute little spring planters! I love spending other peoples money especially on something I have so much fun doing... so I ended up going to two different green houses and got these plants individually and put them all together into these planter. I think they turned out super cute and it was fun having so many flowers around my house!

Simple Syrup Mistake

So... I decided to make some simple syrup, just equal parts sugar and water that you dissolve on the stove and chill to add to drinks later... you know so I could make some old school amaretto sours and stuff and not use nasty sour mix. So I put my sugar water on the stove on low... forgot about it... and went to bed. This is what I woke up to the next day!

I cant believe I didn't burn the house down! I cracked and popped for like two hours after I pulled it off the stove. But I just soaked it all day and it came right off when I got home from work... CRAZY!

Crisp and Chewy Whole Wheat and Honey Sweetened Chocolate Chip Cookies

Crisp and Chewy Whole Wheat and Honey Sweetened Cookies

(adapted from a Martha Stuart Recipe)

Makes 20

3 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoon baking soda

2 sticks butter, softened

1 1/2 cups honey (I prefer raw)

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips (I do half chunks and half mini chips)

1. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

2. Preheat oven to 325. Beat butter and honey with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; beat until combined. Mix in chocolate chips.

3. Using a 2 1/4 inch ice cream scoop (about 3 tablespoons), drop dough onto parchment lined baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake until golden around edges but soft in middle, about 13-15 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack, and let cool completely.

Make Ahead Dough can be refrigerated for up to 5 days. Cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.