March/April....BUSY BUSY BUSY!!!

I know I have been MIA lately.
Life has decided to see how far we can stretch.
But let me fill you in on a few highlights of the past few weeks:

1. Spending free time at the parks

Nick and I are definitely fortunate to live near and work for Disney. We love to go and play in the parks on our days off together. We go to Magic Kingdom to catch the fireworks. We indulge in international cuisine at EPCOT. We  take a ride on Tower of Terror and Rockin' Rollercoaster at Hollywood Studios.

  We always take a safari ride at Animal Kingdom (plus, Expedition Everest is Nick's favorite).

We go mini golfing on at Disney's Fantasia Gardens Mini Golf.

2. Rilo is growing fast. I took her to the vet last week to find out she is 17 pounds heavy and perfectly healthy. 17 POUNDS?!?!?! I swear she doubles in size every week. We have been patiently addressing her puppy-biting problem. She is potty trained, crate trained, she sits and is learning to walk nicely on a leash.

3. My 22nd Birthday!!! Nick and I both had to work on the actual day of my birth, so when both of us were off we went to EPCOT and had dinner at Biergarten in Germany. It was Sooooo great!! I loved it! Then on Thursday, when both of us were off of work, we had some real fun! Breakfast in bed was followed by a little shopping and then a trip to the Bob Carr Theatre to see WICKED! It was a really thoughtful day and I love my husband for taking the time to make my birthday special. You really can't go wrong if you take me to the theatre. And Nick loved the show as well!

I received the sweetest card from my littlest sister-in-law.

Nick and I came home from dinner to find a cake and decorations made for me by our roommates.

Princess!!

 I love my Disney Birthday Pin!

 We are swamped and struggling, but we are making the best of it. School and full-time work, puppy and a house to keep clean, etc. are really challenging our patience. But we are taking everything one day at a time....and finding ways to enjoy life!

Thanksgiving In January!!

        Nick and I have three other roommates living in our new house. So, there are five of us total...and we are all pretty spontaneous/crazy. Yesterday we woke up to find one of them, Melanie, had just come home from W*lmart with enough food to feed more than a few households. She explained that it was her day off and since everyone was going to be off of work and home by four, she was making a Thanksgiving dinner. And she did! 12-pound turkey, mashed potatoes, two kinds of stuffing (plain and with cranberries and walnuts), green bean casserole, gravy, sweet potatoes with pineapple and marshmallows, biscuits, and cornbread. Oh my goodness, YUM! We all sat down to the dining room table and enjoyed dinner with some friends. It was really nice to feel like a little family. Melanie turned to me at one point and said, "You guys are my family. I hope you enjoy the food." So sweet. Needless to say, we love her.

After dinner, we cleaned up and sat down to watch a little TV. Since everyone knows I prefer to bake, I was in charge of dessert. When you think Thanksgiving, you think pies. Yes? But I needed something simpler since Mel had commandeered the kitchen for the day. So I decided to make individual apple pies instead. It is SUCH an easy recipe, and pretty popular! Here you go!

Fried Apple Pies

Ingredients

-2 tablespoons butter

-4 apples peeled, cored, and sliced or 1 can apple pie filling

-1/2 cup sugar

-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

-1 teaspoon lemon juice

-1 (8-piece) container refrigerated flaky biscuit dough

-2 tablespoons water

-powdered sugar

Directions

Filling: add butter to large saucepan and melt. Add the apples, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until apples are soft (about 15 minutes). Remove and cool.

Once apples are cool, roll biscuits out to 7-8inch circular rounds on a lightly floured surface. Place 2-3 tablespoons of filling onto each round. Brush edges with water. Fold circle over filling to make a half-moon. Seal by pressing edges with tines of a fork.

Pre-heat deep fryer with oil to 350 degrees F. 

Add pies to oil one at a time. Fry until golden brown. Turn as necessary (approx. 5-8mins)

Drain with paper towels and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with vanilla ice cream. 

*I don't own a deep fryer. We are NOT huge fans of fried food. So I simply heated oil in a pot. 

*Be careful with the sugar. These pies are sweet. I recommend Granny Smith apples to ease the sweetness. 

*If you like your pies bulging with apples (I definitely do), I would use 5-6 apples.

Roommates and friends after dinner (minus Erik)