Velvet Fudge sauce:

2 c. powdered sugar

1c evaporated Milk

½ cup butter

1TB light corn syrup

1c choc chips

1tsp vanilla

Directions:

cook medium heat, boil, reduce to low, cook 8 min, remove from heat. stir in vanilla

2 Months of Marital Bliss!

Wednesday was our 2 month anniversary of getting married! I had been trying to think of something to do to celebrate all week, but didn't know what to do! I also wanted to completely surprise Richard. So, I called Rochelle Wednesday morning to get some ideas. We came up with the perfect plan: I would go do laundry at her house while Richard was in class - a good cover, because it actually needed to be done. But, while at her house, I would also put together a dinner that I could bring back to my apartment. Rochelle had the best idea ever: a heart-shaped pizza! It was sooo yummy! here are some pictures of the delicious food we ate! (the bowl has fruit salad with heart-shaped apples in it!)


The most difficult part about this, was that Richard's class got out an hour earlier than usual, so I got a call from him, telling me he was ready to go home, way sooner than expected. I told him that he would at least have to wait until the load of laundry got done in the washer. That bought me about 40 minutes. I was frantic! How was I going to prepare a whole dinner and dessert and get home to get it all set up in 40 minutes?? Luckily, Rochelle had totally come through for me - she had premade the pizza dough, and some brownies for dessert, so all I had to do was put the pizza together! I got home as soon as I could, to set up the dinner table, clean up the house a bit, and put the Pizza in the oven. No sooner had I got home and begun to do this, Richard called me to ask where I was. "You haven't even left yet, have you?" and, carefully choosing my words, I said, "actually, yes I have..." (trying not to let him hear the keys make noise - dangling from my neck) Then he asked me how long I would take, and (trying not to tell too much of a white lie) I answered I was on my way, and would be there in about 15 minutes. That bought me a few extra minutes to get things all situated.
When I picked Richard up, it was all I could do not to blurt out my secret. I tried hard to keep the conversation on him, asking him how his class was, and what he'd been doing, etc. When we got home, I (trying to buy more time) asked him to take the wet laundry straight to the laundry room at our apartments and put them in the dryer. He suggested I come with him, and I said no. Kind of taken aback, he asked why, and I just said I didn't want to...(kind of out of character for me). So, I rushed up to our apartment, and hurriedly lit some candles and started making final food preparations. He walked in about 5 minutes later, and was completely surprised and pleased (as was I)! I was soo intensely proud of myself that things had still gone so smoothly, despite the minor change in plan.

Best Date Ever!

Richard Took me on the most amazing date last weekend! The greatest part about it, is that I had NO idea what was going on. Let me explain:
It all started at the beginning of last week, when Richard told me he had gotten a call from the ward secretary, wanting to set up an interview on Saturday, at the bishops house - church dress. We wondered what it was all about - I was convinced that Richard was going to get a calling or something serious like that. So, later on in the week, I reminded Richard about it, just to make sure he wouldn't forget, "Oh yeah, thanks Honey." I had it in my planner and everything: "Interview at Bishop's 1:00." After that, I forgot about it, and the week went on.
Saturday morning, Richard had a meeting to go to, and we had plans to go running after, so he told me to just eat a small breakfast, and then we'd eat a real breakfast after we went running. When he got home, sat around for awhile just talking, and debating whether or not we actually wanted to go running after all. Then all of the sudden, he looked at the clock, "Oh NO! We have to be at the bishop's in an hour!" I couldn't believe I'd forgotten! So, I jumped up and hurried to get ready. I barely had time to shower and dress, so I skipped drying my hair or doing anything fancy with it. I walked out and informed Richard that I was ready, and Richard, seeing the despicable condition of my hair, told me that luckily, the ward secretary had called him and told him the bishop was running late with his other interviews. He thought we could come about 15 minutes later than planned. So, I was grateful to hear that, and hurried to do my hair.
As we were driving, Richard said he wasn't sure if he knew exactly where the bishop's house was, but hopefully, we could find it in time. We drove around for a bit, and then frustrated, he tried calling the secretary and the bishop for directions. Neither of them answered. Uggh how frustrating! He told me some of the directions he had been given, and decided to pull over in a nearby parking lot, and ask some of the people at one of the businesses if they knew where a certain landmark was. The parking lot happened to be that of an Indian Restaurant, which was very convenient because Richard had been wanting to go there ever since we came to Provo, and what better time than now to get some information about prices and whatnot. I was reluctant to go in, because I just thought it would make us even more late for our appointment. But, Richard insisted. So, we walked in and the host asked, "Two?" and I, fully expecting Richard to say something like, "No, actually, I was just wondering if you could give me some directions," was stunned when he actually said, "Yes, just two." I was thinking he was going to ask him once we sat down or something, which I thought was very uncouth. I just stood there for a second, trying to figure out what was going on, and Richard looked back, laughed, and said "Marissa, there never was a bishop's appointment today." I was so confused! There was no way that all that earlier in the week could have been fake! It was too real! But alas, he convinced me that it really had all been a setup, he had never talked to anyone about an interview, and it had all been so that we could go out on a date. He had told me earlier in the week as well, that he was going to take me on a date, but wouldn't tell me a thing about it. I had been trying to get details out of him ever since.
After our delicious and amazing lunch of Indian curry, rice, and naan bread, we headed for home. Or so I thought... Richard started driving toward the freeway, and got onto I-15 N... Salt Lake City?! I tried to guess what we were doing, and asked him if we were going to watch the Joseph Smith movie, (I think that kind of stole his thunder...oops) and he laughed and said yes. He said we were also going to watch a play that evening too, and I had no idea what it could be. That's not like him to want to go to play, so I was totally lost. Once we got to SLC, we got out of the car, and before I knew it, he was pulling our temple clothes out of the trunk! He said that we were going to do a session at the Salt Lake Temple, and since it is a live session, that was the "play" we were going to watch. I was so surprised! I couldn't believe how well everything worked out - I had absolutely no clue what he had up his sleeve!
Anyway, we had an amazing time together in Salt Lake City around Temple Square. It was a perfect day!(Photo by Richard)

Nauvoo Syrup

1 cube butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup yogurt (strawberry is really good) or buttermilk

BOIL 1 minute (I usually go a little longer, so it really caramelizes)

add 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla


This is Richard & My new favorite syrup - it can go on waffles, pancakes, french toast, oatmeal, cream of wheat..etc. Try it! Its so good!

MMMMmmm...cookie recipe

The other day I made some pretty darn good cookies (per Richard's request for snickerdoodles) and after tasting one, Rochelle suggested I start putting recipes on here that are recommendable. So, here goes (credit goes to Betty Crocker):


Stir-n'-Drop Sugar Cookies

3/4	cup sugar
2/3	cup vegetable oil
2	teaspoons baking powder
2	teaspoons vanilla
1/2	teaspoon salt
2	eggs
2	cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
	Additional sugar, if desired

1.	Heat oven to 400ºF. In large bowl, mix 3/4 cup sugar, the oil, baking powder, vanilla, salt and eggs with spoon. Stir in flour.
2.	Drop dough by teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Press bottom of glass onto dough to grease, then dip into additional sugar; press on balls until 1/4-inch thickness. Dip bottom of glass onto a wet paper towel, then dip into dry gelatin; press onto dough. Repeat until desired color appears.
3.	Bake 8 to 10 minutes until light brown. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

ENJOY!

AHHH!

For the past 48 hours, my life has been absolutely crazy. Mostly due to the fact that I have had this 7-page paper for anthropology hanging over my head, and I've been absolutely dreading it. I have never successfully written a paper that long - Usually I get so overwhelmed by it that I either:
a. don't do it,
b. turn it in late, or
c. work on it until I run out of time, and then it is usually shorter than is required.
Anyway, today I just want to announce that:
a. I actually wrote the paper,
b. I turned it in on time, and
c. I wrote ALL 7 pages of that paper!
I'm pretty sure that Richard played a huge part in my success - if he hadn't been sitting next to me, encouraging me, I think it would have been even harder.
Anyhow, I am extremely proud of myself, and extremely drained...(4 hours of sleep will do that to you)
Now, I just have a midterm and one more paper to write, and I'll be done with the craziness of this week!

Richard's MTC Job...

After waiting, wondering and wishing for the past few days (since Richard's interview on Thursday) Richard got an email a couple nights ago, saying that he has been recommended for a teaching position at the MTC! They said that he showed the qualities that they were looking for in a teacher there, and they said they would like him to come back for a 2nd interview. The only drawback is that they won't be able to do that until a position opens up... So, its likely that Richard may not be working there until January. But, I guess you never know. On the up side though, that gives richard a couple months to get into his job with Primerica - including getting his license, and starting to make contacts and appointments.

So, here is the official wedding slide show!
Credit goes to Richard and his amazing slide show making skills

Wedding Slideshow

this may or may not work, but I wanted to post Richard's amazing wedding slide show that he made for our wedding luncheon. If it doesn't work, then we will figure out another way to get it on here!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1291141987&ref=ts#/video/video.php?v=1047702394742

This Weekend...

Tayler came down from BYUI to visit us (Rochelle, BJ, Richard and me) for the weekend - I have been so excited all week! Richard and I picked him up after our social dance class Friday night, and then went to have dinner at Rochelle and BJ's house. On saturday, the boys played racquetball, then we got together to watch the BYU football game (we won!), and after that, we decided to go to the dollar theater to watch a movie! We were planning on watching Kung Fu Panda, but that got sold out, so we ended up watching Hancock. I don't think any of us would recommend seeing that... We all realized that we really should have read some reviews before going to that one. But oh well.


Today, Richard and I went to church with Rochelle and BJ at 9 AM so we could hang out with them and Tayler all day. We were glad we did, even though it was hard to get up so early (we normally have church at 1:2o). It was fun to just be together today. We got to take Gabe during the 2nd and 3rd hours while Rochelle and BJ were in Primary, and that was fun. He is such a precious baby! I think today he smiled and laughed more than I have ever seen! Tayler was making him crack up while he was packing up his things - he had Gabe laid down on his air mattress and was shaking it, and Gabe was just really getting a kick out of that. Anyway, We've had a fun time visiting, reminiscing, and sharing funny stories this weekend. I have thoroughly enjoyed myself! It's been a "hoot."


Anyway, now I am kind of sad to face the reality of the week before me - Richard and I both have a 7-8 page paper for Anthropology due on Wednesday, and I am starting to get stressed, because I haven't gotten much done on it. I also have a group essay midterm due thursday for my Consumer Health class, and yet another research paper that I have to start working on for my chronic disease prevention class. I think I have a few late-nighters ahead of me...

First Blog Entry Ever!

Inspired by friends and family, (well, mostly by Rochelle and BJ) I have finally decided to start a blog!

I'll just start by saying that life has never been sweeter, happier or better, since Richard and I got married (50 days ago tommorrow!). We are loving our life together!