Winter Wonderland

The D.C. area is known for their overreactions to coming snow fall. Everyone will get very nervous, scared even. The streets are full of worried adults that have gone into hording mode. On Friday we knew snow was in the forecast. I thought I would pick up a snow shovel, just in case. Four stores later I did not have a snow shovel. At the grocery store we were lucky to find milk. I saw one woman with five cartons of milk. Five? Do you really think you'll need that much? I thought this storm would be like all the other storms where we would end up with a few inches. Your classic overreaction. By Saturday morning this was the scene out our door:

We already had 11 inches of white, powdery snow!

Today we went outside and started to shovel our way out of the 18 inches of snow accumulation.

Good thing we have these peppermint marshmallows. They will be perfect in some hot chocolate!

Changing of the Seasons

Trent and I said goodbye to Fall by a visit to Cox Farms.  They were having a pumpkin smash, throw, drop, and crush.  The farm was full of slides, animals, hayrides, barns, and all the apple cider you could drink.  What a dream! 

Pumpkin Drop

Apple Cider!!!

As we said goodbye to Fall we say "Hello!" to winter.  Winter is always exciting...in the beginning. It is full of wonder as the first snow falls and excitement for the possibility of that first snowball fight or snow angel that you can make.  It reminds me of my youth that was spent sledding, drinking my mother's hot chocolate, and getting warm by the fire.  The day after Thanksgiving I spent two hours at Michael's dreaming about how we could decorate our little place.  I decided to cap myself at two wreaths, a table centerpiece, and a tree.  Our home is all ready for Christmas baking, singing carols, and nights by the fire. 

Well almost... I have wanted to start the tradition of the advent calendar for our little family.  I found the perfect one at Pottery Barn Kids.  Of course, I could not stop thinking about it.  The other day we got home and there was a package at our door.  Trent started to laugh and asked if I had bought something. I said no and then saw it was from Pottery Barn Kids.  My mother had sent us the advent calendar!!!  I was jumping up and down and went to work to make envelopes for every door.  I love it!!  Thank you mom!

Super Halloween World!

As the leaves began to fall and we sat down to watch General Conference a few weeks ago, I discovered that the time had begun to gear up for the Halloween season.  Mandy loves Autumn, and she especially loves Halloween.  I could tell from the craft supplies she'd been gathering that she was very excited to greet the holiday, and I couldn't help but catch the spirit as our house was transformed into a halloween wonderland.  We nabbed us a quality pumpkin to complete the ambiance, and we were set!

Awesome Halloween atmosphere (shout out to Derek's mom for having similarly cool rats).

Carving the traditional jack-o-lantern with college football on in the background.  Gotta love fall...

The finished product!

Mandy took the festivities to a whole new level when she found out about our ward's Trunk-or-Treat and a party Ryan and Kaylyn were kind enough to give us the scoop on.  Costumes were in order, and how could I refuse when I was offered the role of Mario?  He's a classic; a man on a mission, who can force coins out of solid brick!  We gathered materials for our costumes from as far away as Arco (thanks Tina!) and I helped Mandy find some creatures for a coordinating-yet-still-Halloweeny trunk.  For once in my life, knowing how to spell things like Goomba and Koopa was a valuable skill.

The Bowens' "haunted Mario world" trunk.

Mario, pre- and post-mushroom.

We had a great time at the Trunk-or-Treat and at the party too, where we were the surprised but happy recipients of two movie tickets for our costumes!  And as you can see in all the photos this weekend, I give the Mario seal of approval to all Mandy did to make this season so much fun.

Congratulations!  You win!

Congratulations

Congrats to Trent for passing the bar!!! It has been months since Trent took the bar and we have been anxiously waiting to hear how he did. We knew he would do well but every once in a while we'd get worried about the "what ifs." I am so proud of him! He has worked so hard to be able to call himself Trenton Jack Bowen, Esquire.

Having a husband that is an attorney has its perks. Below are a few that I have discovered.
1- He always reads the fine print to contracts and then explains to me how the contract is completely unfair to the consumer.
2- He has taught me about negotiable instruments which could come in handy if I need to write a check and only have a napkin.
3- He writes extremely well... much better than I (I am a little annoyed about this perk.)
4- He is great at researching so he can help me figure out what is wrong with me when I am feeling sick.
5- He follows the law and keeps reminding me that I am not following the law since I have not registered the Alero in the state of Virginia.

Congratulations to my in-house legal counsel!!!

National Apple Harvest Festival

Trent was gone this weekend to his friend Adam's wedding. Since it was going to be such a fast trip he went alone and I stayed in DC. Mary was quite excited when she heard that I would be flying solo this weekend. We decided to go up to Pennsylvania to the National Apple Harvest Fest. I am a sucker for a festival, especially if it includes lots of food.

Here are some of the scenes on the way up. Notice the second picture: the street lights are apples!

The plan was simple: eat as many apple products as possible. We started with homemade apple sauce. It was still warm and quite wonderful!

Next we checked out the crafts and exhibits. We found a great scarecrow making station. The scarecrow heads were placed on a line and created a really freaky effect.

There were steam engines!

Lots of photo opportunities!

For a mid-day snack we all shared a pumpkin funnel cake with cream cheese frosting!

The best surprise of the whole festival was the tractor square dance. Words can not explain the delight of a tractor square dance. Watch for yourself!

Next we went for a lovely hay ride through the woods!

Goodbye Apple Harvest Festival. You treated me well!

Cupcake Crawl

We started last Saturday at the Alexandria Old Town farmer's market.  There were stands fillled with delicous baked goods, fresh fruit, and one cup cake stand.  This is where we gathered with other yelp community members to begin our cupcake crawl.  Our cupcake crawl had fifteen total bakeries we were going to try and then pick the best cupcake in the Alexandria-DC area.

We had our first cupcakes at a stand in the farmers market.   The flavors were oreo and pinnapple upside down cupcakes.  They were good but we knew there had to be something better out there.  We all walked over to Lavender Moon Cupcakes.  It is such a cute little shop.  All the cupcakes were presented in a beautiful display.  We waited anxiously to try these cupcakes.  Trent ordered the Orange Cream cupcake that had a blood red frosting.  I had the Buttermilk Chocolate with Mexican filling - the filling had cinnamon in the mix!

The cupcakes werer AMAZING!  No really, the best cupcakes I have had.  You should all make the trip to Alexandria and get one of these treats.

The group we went with was cooperating with Yelp - the restraunt review site.  We had official score cards to fill out.  We gave Lavender Moon 5 stars!  To see the final results watch here.

Up

We just saw the cutest movie: Up.  It is about an old man that goes out to make his late wife's wishes come true.  It was funny, sweet, sentimental, and animated.  This is not a post saying "Oh my gosh.  You HAVE to see this."  It is worse.  This is a "I love my husband more than chocolate, ice cream and brownies" post. 

As we were watching this movie, I began to tear up.  This is a usual scene.  One thing that I love about Trent is his response when I begin to tear during a movie.  He will cuddle up to me, put his arm around me, and just hold me.  It is so sweet.  During the movie, this was happening often.  At the end, I looked over (he will kill me for this) and he had a few tears in his eyes as well.  Adorable.  We both became teary-eyed at the thought of not having each other. 

Yeap, this was a sickning post but I don't care.  I adore him.

Destination PA

Trent and I both love Pennsylvania.  We are captured by the green, rolling hills, small towns, and the Amish/Dutch culture.  About a month ago, we were trying to decide how to spend our Labor Day weekend.  I came across the Hamburger Festival.  It is held every year in Hamburg, PA.  It was an easy decision with such events as mooing contests, mold a mound of meet contest, burger eating competitions, and amazing hamburgers. 

We arrived in Hamburg at noon - just in time for lunch.  We went straight to the mooing contest.  I was trying to talk Trent into participating and he agreed if I would also enter the contest.  I agreed. We waited in line, next to a man dressed in a cow suit, for a turn to give our best moo over the airways. 

We walked through the exhibits, was handed free jerky, and met the Dairy Ambassador.  In order to give a proper vote for the best hamburger, Trent and I waited in seperate, long lines to get two very different hamburgers.  I ordered the A1- Peppercorn Hamburger and Trent ordered the Garlic Mushroom Hamburger with freshly fried sweet potato chips.  Our favorite was the Garlic Mushroom Hamburger.  It was the best hamburger either of has have eaten.  As we ate, we talked with some local folks about the area.

After eating, we drove to Lancaster County.  We went through an old Amish home.  The owners have opened it up to the public and have added other Amish style buildings.  It was interesting to learn about the Amish lifestyle.  We also bought some very yummy pear butter.

My wonderful husband had set up our accomadations for that night.  He wanted it to be a surprise so he did not tell me where we were staying.  I love surprises! I love trying to figure out the surprise even more.  I did a little homework and found a few possibilities.  I ended up being correct but it was still a surprise.  We pulled up to a wonderful Bed and Breakfast that was in the middle of a cute town named Pottsville.  The three-story victorian homee was built on a hill and is the oldest gothic revival home in the USA.  It was gorgeous.  The house has been remodeled to include jacuzzi baths and comfortable beds. 

The Partridge Bed and Breakfast also comes with a great assett: the owners Willey and Rose.  They were both very welcoming and talkative.  They gave us a suggestion to go to Maroon's Bar and Grill to watch the BYU game.  As we were driving to Maroon's, my fantastic husband read to me the history of the Maroon's national football team and champions.  It was quite a contraversy back in the day.  We watched the game while eating a very good crab cake.  As we were leaving, we saw Willey and Rose there and we stopped by to say hi and see if they had a recommendation for ice cream.  They suggested that we get a dessert that was not on the menu.  It was vanilla ice cream with rasberry sauce and came with funnell cake fries.  The owner came over and met us and friend the funnell cake himself.   Oh my gosh...it was amazing!!!!!  We took it back to the Partridge House and watched the rest of the BYU game in the living room, which had chairs that gave you a heated massage.  Then BYU WON!!!! 

One of the best days ever!!!

The second day we woke up and had a great breakfast made by Rose.  We said goodbye and made our way to the Pottsville Branch for church.  Then we were off to Gettysburg. My wonderful mother sent us a CD of a driving tour of the battle ground.  It was fascinating and touching to think about all the men that died during that one battle.  It reminded me of the brutalities of war and the sadness that must have filled these men's and thier families lives.