Yummies!

I made these homemade oreo cookies the other night. Danny was out doing church meetings and I really wanted to do some easy baking. You have NO idea how thrilled he was when he came home to hot fresh cookies waiting for him. It made me happy too. They are super easy, and are really yummy with or without the frosting in the center. I got the recipe from Danny's family actually. It's a family favorite there, so I get brownie points for continuing it at our house :) Find the recipe below!


Homemade Oreo's

1 box Devil Food Cake Mix
2 eggs
2/3 cup shortening (Crisco)

Mix eggs and shortening together on low speed
Add half of cake mix, mix until creamy
Add second half of cake mix, mix until creamy
Roll into 1 inch balls

Bake at 300 degrees for about 10 mins (don't over bake or they won't be as soft)

Once cooled, spread with cream cheese frosting and top with another cookie

=YUMMY!

PS: Make sure you have lots of cold milk!!

We made it!

I think it's funny that people have said "Congratulations, you made it!" when I told them we were going to be celebrating our one year anniversary this last weekend. Really? How many people do you know that don't make it to one year? We've had so much fun being married this first year, it's been pretty ridiculous. We both are so happy and in love and are so grateful for all the many wonderful things we have, and have been able to do together. Everything is an adventure for us, and we laugh a lot. It has really helped to make the little frustrations seem trivial and short-lived when we focus more on the good and make each other laugh. Yes, we may seem more childish than many other married couples, but we're probably laughing a lot more :)

We celebrated by going to dinner at Fish House Vera Cruz in Carlsbad. It was where Danny surprised me with his proposal, so it was a special place for us. We had mentioned to the waiter that we were celebrating our anniversary, and he surprised us with a free dessert after our dinner (awesome!). We then took a short drive along the coast before heading home. We didn't want to have bad luck, so we went ahead and defrosted our cake topper from the wedding and sliced into that. We only took our obliged one bite and decided that it wasn't worth going back for more. The flowers you see in the background were a surprise Danny gave me the night before. Yes, we were both in our pj's at this point. We're both all about being comfy and warm, and it was right before going to bed that we decided to cut into the cake.

Another fun thing that happened this month: we finally bought a grill. We've known we wanted one for a while now, and have finally had the money come up in the right places. We didn't want anything too big, so as to not have to lug it around small apartments when we move. And didn't want to pay too much either, but wanted something sturdy and reliable. We went browsing one Monday night for family home evening, but weren't really impressed with what we found. The randomly we were shopping at Costco and walked right into almost the exact one we wanted, AND it was cheaper than the other flimsy options that we had seen earlier at Lowe's and Home Depot. We were so excited and used it the next day. Now Danny doesn't have to walk across the complex to use the community grills that don't work very well. We also can start including fish in our diet since neither of us wanted to cook it inside the house (we've both had bad experiences with cooking fish in the house and having to deal with the smell). Needless to say we are very happy and looking forward to more yummy food options, especially as summer is approaching.

This month we also got memberships to the rock climbing gym that we went to for Danny's birthday. We've already gone about every other day for the last week and LOVE IT. Our bodies have been a little sore, but we already feel stronger and have gotten better at many of the climbs. It's all bouldering, so no ropes or harnesses, just free climbing with padded floors. It's such an awesome place and we're really looking forward to the exercise and relaxation it provides. As you can tell....we are really happy about it.

What day is it today?

The last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy in the Warren household. Both of our jobs are keeping us really busy we often have to think twice about what day it is and what's supposed to be going on. On a brighter note the weather has been beautiful (classic SoCal winter). We usually don't see much rain until March and April, so I'm sure we have it coming. It's also starting to stay lighter longer and we're really excited about that. (Common Daylight Savings!)
We've scheduled our yearly trip to Utah for the summer (June) which will also include a brief excursion to Idaho. I'm excited to show Danny around my college campus and the few local attractions that used to entertain us. We are both super stoked about seeing friends and family, and enjoying a full week of exciting adventures.
Other than that, life has just been flowing along. Nothing over-the-top exciting going on yet. I've slacked this month at taking pictures, so we don't really have anything to show, but that will definitely change before the end of the month. Check back again for a more exciting post!

Danny's Birthday

We celebrated Danny's 26th birthday last weekend. He reports that it was possibly one of the most exciting birthdays he's ever had. The credit for that goes to the fact that we've been wanting to do these specific activities for quite a while now, and I thought it was good to use his birthday celebration as an excuse to finally go do them. Nothing was a surprise to him that day, but he was excited that we were finally making time to do them.
We first started the wonderful day by sleeping in; something we don't always get to do on Saturday's. When we were ready to get out of bed we got ready for the day and made some oatmeal for breakfast (Danny's really liking oatmeal for breakfast nowadays).

Our first stop for the day was at K1 Racing. It's an indoor electric go-kart race track. Danny had gone there for a company trip once and loved it! Later on his company had an egg drop competition (sounds like a fun company huh?) and his team won, so we were lucky enough to get two free race passes. Going super fast really isn't my thing, but Danny was really excited. He was worried that I was going to end up crashing and crying (unfortunately, he knows me pretty well and this was a possibility). I decided to go at my own comfortable pace and stay out of everyone's way. It made the experience a lot more enjoyable and we had a lot of fun!

Next on our list was a place we'd been wanting to check out for a while. It's called Vital Climbing Gym and is an indoor bouldering gym. Bouldering is rock climbing without harnesses or ropes, but using a soft "crash pad" underneath you. In this case, the gym floor was mostly all crash pad. The gym is really smart and lets you climb for free your first time there. It has a very relaxing atmosphere and is really an awesome concept.We were both amazed at how tall the walls actually were. Going up wasn't that bad, but realizing that you actually had to climb down instead of just letting the ropes bring you down was honestly a little scarier. Rock climbing is such an amazing workout. You have to use muscles you never realized you could work, like in your hands, forearms and fingers. We're really excited to go there again and get into climbing. Danny especially is excited. He used to be an avid climber and had a membership to a gym in Utah when he was in college, so finding out how awesome this place is was a really exciting concept for him.

Our last birthday adventure was to Vigiluccis Restaurant. Danny has talked about wanting to eat here since before we started dating. It's across the street from the beach in Carlsbad where we used to go running during the week (and where we had our first kiss). Eating here was the reward Danny gave himself for passing his certifications for work last September. Then the holidays came and we were just too busy to go when we wanted. We had a beautiful sunset view of the ocean and had fun reminiscing on our adventures together. The food was delicious and was presented beautifully. It's a very fancy place and was a well-deserved reward. After dinner we walked across the street to watch the ocean for a little bit, until it got too cold. This was not the end of our adventure, however. We still had to do our weekly grocery shopping, which is one of our favorite pasttimes.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the new year! It's going to be a very exciting year full of adventures and changes in the Warren home. Instead of sharing our resolutions, we want to play catch up and share the many wonderful adventures we've had together in 2011. Thank you for being a part of our adventures, and for letting us be a part of yours.

January:

• We spent four days in Utah, attended a friend's wedding reception, went snowboarding at, and shared 16+ hours in the car together.
• Danny celebrated his quarter century birthday (25 years old!)
• We mourned the passing of Danny's Grandma Warren
• We celebrated our 6 month of dating
• We celebrated Danny's Grandpa Chalk's 80th birthday

February:

• We were married for time and all eternity in the San Diego, California Temple!!!
• Did anything else happen during this month? We wouldn't know.

March:

• Enjoyed our honeymoon (partially in Utah, mostly at home relaxing)
• Holly turned 26
• Danny returns to his Wednesday evening "guys night" after being married
• Our apartment is infested with ants and we have to "bomb" the place
• Danny takes (and passes) his first of four certification tests for work

April:

• Organized our first game of ultimate frisbee since being married
• Holly buys a new (her first) mountain bike
• Holly is called to the Relief Society Presidency (Secretary) in church
• We attend the Mormon Helping Hands service project (Danny gets to machete bamboo)

May:

• Danny takes another certification test (and passes)
• We take a camping trip to Lake Dixon (Escondido) and go mountain biking at Daley Ranch
• Danny gets new tires on his truck
• Danny is called to be Second Counselor in the Elders Quorum at church
• We have the missionaries over for dinner for the first time
• We attend the wedding of one of Danny's coworkers, at the Encinitas Botanical Gardens

June:

• Another ultimate Frisbee game is played
• We attened a wedding reception of a mutual friend in Oceanside
• Danny takes his last two certification tests (passes one, but not the other)
• We go to the Del Mar Fair (San Diego County Fair) and eat too much mexican funnel cake
• Make a trip to the Los Angeles, California Temple and go to a wedding reception for one of Holly's friends
• Danny takes his last test again (no luck)

July:

• We go to BSA Camp Whitsett for a (long) 4th of July weekend (where Holly used to work) and do mountain biking, hiking, kayaking, rock climbing, shotgun & rifle shooting, archery, and hiked the Trail of 100 Giants.
• Went to a bonfire and movie with some awesome friends
• Helped Danny's brother PJ with his eagle project
• Saw Harry Potter 7 part 2

August:

• Visited Holly's Grandma Kutcher in Hemet, California
• Celebrated the wedding of another mutual friend

September:

• Danny takes his third attempt at his last certification test (still no luck)
• We celebrate Labor Day by cooking dutch oven with both families (at the Anderson's)
• We experience a 10-hour power outage that affects Southern California, and parts of Arizona and Mexico
• We attend our local Harbor Days celebration in Oceanside
• Danny takes his fourth attempt at his last certification test (YAY! HE PASSES!)

October:

• Holly surprises Danny with a trip to Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park
• We go pumpkin hunting at Bates Nut Farm
• We show our Pirate Pride and go to the Oceanside High School Homecoming Football game
• We participate in the Oceanside S.U.N community service project

November:

• Celebrate yet another wedding of mutual friends
• Danny attends his first "Code (nerd) Camp" of the year
• We vist Holly's Grandma Kutcher for the last time before she passes away
• Holly is called to be the Secretary for the Stake Public Affairs for church
• We attend the wedding of a friend of Holly's and afterwards go to the Redlands, California Temple
• We spend Thanksgiving in Chandler, Arizona with Holly's family where we visit the Mesa, Arizona Temple

December:

• We get to do all of our Christmas gift shopping together
• We celebrate TWO weddings this month of mutual friends
• We spend quality family time with both families during the holidays
• We visit the Newport Beach, California Temple
• We have an AWESOME New Years Eve together as husband and wife

Tis' the Season

It's our first Christmas as a married couple and we're really enjoying the excitement of starting our own family traditions, as well as bringing together some of our favorite traditions from our own families. This is the first year (at least that I can ever remember) that we got a REAL Christmas tree!
After Thanksgiving, Danny and I bundled up, bought a hot Caramel Apple Spice from Starbucks (delicious!), and went in search of our first family tree. It was so exciting as I had never gone shopping for a tree before. We were a little astonished by the prices at first. I guess that's what you get for unknowingly starting in Noble Fir section. We were relieved to come to the end of the line where the $20 price tags were. I was surprised at how good they looked for only $20 (again, I'm new to this, so I had no idea of good or bad prices). Although I was a newbie, I was still smart and measured the space we had before going to the tree lot. We poked around a bit, but ended up liking one that was sitting right in front, calling our names. We named him Doug. We both agreed that it was really nice having Danny's truck to just throw it in the bed, as opposed to roping it to the roof and worrying about sap and rope. Among this I also learned that real trees are messy (but still worth it) and smell reeeaaally good when you walk into the house.
I've also had a lot of fun this year decorating our small apartment for the first time. We didn't really have any decorations, but going to our local dollar store helped a little, plus my parents were gracious enough to "thin out" some of their decorations as well. It didn't take much, but we're definitely feeling the Christmas spirit in our home. We finally started some Christmas shopping this weekend (but of course aren't finished yet) and we had a blast! It's a wonderful season for giving and we're having so much fun planning gifts, finding great deals, and putting the wrapped gifts under our first Christmas tree. Now we're looking forward to a week off work with lots of family time and sleeping in.

Pumpkins!!

Last weekend Danny and I drove out to Valley Center to the pumpkin patch (Bates Nut Farm). This is the same pumpkin patch that my parents have been taking my siblings and me since we were tiny kids. I love that we still make it a yearly tradition. My Mom, Dad and sister Joelle came also. The pumpkin patch has lots of different attractions (animals, hay rides, food, face painting, and so on) and yet each year we always do the same exact thing: walk through the gift shop, buy pistachios, and pick out a pumpkin. It's not a pumpkin patch in the Anderson family if we don't have pistachios.
Apparently we'd usually go earlier in the morning to avoid crowds and traffic. This year (because of other events) we came in the late afternoon/evening. BAD idea! The crowds weren't so bad. It was actually kind of fun having so many people to watch. But the traffic was crazy! The line of cars to get into the patch was ridiculous and took almost an hour. But alas, we eventually got into the park and did everything we hoped we would.
I love walking through their store/gift shop. They usually have more Christmas items than Halloween and it always makes me that much more excited about the Holidays. Ornaments, table cloths, magnets, toys, decorated trees, candles, and lots of other fun nick knacks. Even the candy store has barrels "full" of candy and it really does look like a  kids dream come true. Such a wonderful place to bring your family and make memories.
After sitting on a hay bale and snacking on our yummy goods we took off in search of the perfect pumpkin. I was a little disappointed with how small the pumpkins looked this year. There are a lot of things to consider when finding a suitable pumpkin: large carving area, lays flat when placed on a table or floor, long stem to hold. It's a very precise science. I found one that was "good enough" and Danny kept looking for the "perfect" pumpkin, always carrying at least one in his arms until he found a better one to replace it with. Finally we both were pleased with what we had.
Here is the bounty of our search: