House Hunting

Brad and I have started this past week to search online for a home to rent. We are mostly looking in the Surprise area, which is close to Luke AFB and close to some schools I am in the process of applying to (ugh for having to job search again! ha!).

Anyway, I'm writing to vent about our first disappointment in searching for a home. We both found one we absolutely LOVED and was within our price range. Tonight we got a call back from the realtor that's renting it, and someone signed a lease for it last week. Of course.

If anyone has any friends/relatives/acquaintances in the Surprise, AZ area and can recommend anything, give us a shout.

In the meantime, we will continue our searching... and leave you with the house that was almost ours to rent.

-D

Corn Dog Muffins

So, I've seen these before on Pinterest (?) and while searching new recipes on the web. I finally decided to try out a recipe for them, which I found on tasteofhome.com.

Corn Dog Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 packages (8.5 oz each) corn muffin mix
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 can (11 oz) whole kernel corn, drained
• 5 hot dogs, chopped

Directions:

• Combine corn muffin mix and brown sugar in large bowl.
• Combine eggs and milk; stir into dry ingredients until moistened.

 

• Stir in corn and hot dogs (the batter will be thin).

• Fill paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full.

• Bake at 400 degrees for 14-18 minutes or until golden brown.

• ENJOY!

Hubs and I completed ours with tator tots! Yum!

Approval!



The recipe says it makes about 18 of these little guys, but I was able to squeeze 20 out of it. To be honest, you could even get 2 dozen out of it if you pour a pinch less in each cup. But its just how far you want to make it go!

The next time I make them, I think I'll cut the hotdogs up a little smaller, and probably bake them a little longer. I didn't bake them for the whole 18 minutes this first time though. Aside from that we loved this recipe. It's the perfect way to get a corn dog without it being frozen from the store or fried at the fair!

I hope you enjoy them as much as we did! It's quick, super easy and a great kid's meal (in my opinon!)


-D

Lookin' back now...

Two Thousand Eleven

It was a year of firsts and a year of changes! Here we go at a brief-ish (?) glimpse:

• I finished out my first year of teaching (1st grade) out in the small town of Kinston, North Carolina

• Bradford graduated from NC State AND was commissioned into the Air Force as a 2Lt the weekend of May 14th.

• Brad and I got MARRIED (!!!) on May 21, 2011

• We traveled... a lot.
• Enjoyed our honeymoon in the Bahamas!

• Greenville became a memory as we moved all of our belongings up to Boone to live with Brad's Grandmother.

• Went with our Church to Port Henry, NY on a mission trip. (met some super people!)

• Brad met my Dad's side of the family in Ohio at the Martin Family Reunion in August.

• Oscar came to live with us.

• The Air Force moved Brad's dates from October to April then back to March.
• A friend of mine and I went to Autumn at Oz out at Beech Mountain! (a first for me)
• Brad left Boone for 2 months to go work on Hurricane clean up out at the coast. (So we had many a Skype dates!)

• I got a job substituting in Watauga (not steady, but it was better than my many failed attempts at finding a place of work).
• I got a J-O-B tutoring K-5 students at a small school in Watauga.
• My niece turned 2 years old.

• My sister is having another baby! (this time a boy, due in May!)
• A wonderful trip to our nation's capitol.

• Sarah got ENGAGED!

• Celebrating our first birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Years as a MARRIED COUPLE!
• McKenna called Brad "Uncle Brad" for the first time when she needed help putting her swing together. Brad was very excited!

Was everyone else's year as eventful?! :)
-D

Congratulations Sarah & Jeff!!

This is a bit belated, but toward the end of December, a few days before the celebration of the birth of our Savior, my beautiful sister-in-law got engaged to the love of her life!

Brad and I are so excited to be gaining a brother-in-law this year in September! It will probably be our first time back in NC after moving out to Arizona (which is only a couple months away!). Anyway, congratulations Sarah & Jeff! We are so very happy for you and will be praying for you as you begin your lives together!

This post wouldn't be complete
without a nice shot of the bling!

We Love You!

-Brad & Dani

Puppy Popcorn

One of the Christmas presents Oscar got from Nana and Papaw Martin was a pack of microwave popcorn flavored like roast beef. WHAT?! Brad and I had never seen anything like this before!

So after a little shopping today, we popped up the bag for Oscar and let him go at it!

Microwaving

Finished!

Om nom nom

Yep... convinced hubs to try it.
(He had a Coke on hand just in case!)

I was obligated to take part as well...

Being a roast beef flavored treat, it tasted predominately like normal popcorn... with a funky aftertaste. I don't think hubs and I will venture to sample any more of it.

Just to be curious, has anyone else seen or heard of any other unusual dog treats like this?!

-D