"Happy Birthday to You"...Clint is now 27...

Clint is officially 27 years old. Like a good wife, I keep teasing him that he is well on his way to thirty now! ;) haha.  Unfortunately, he had to work most of his birthday. (I think everyone should have their birthday off, but his work didn't agree.)  Before he went to work though, I made sure we went out to breakfast to start the day out right. After work, we went and did a little wining and dinning (ok, no wining but we did dine.) Because I don't like seafood that much, I hinder Clint's experiences to have seafood. He loves seafood and would like it if we ate it more. I decided to indulge him for his birthday. I took him to Max's Oyster Bar in West Hartford. It was a nice restaurant and even though it smelt of fish, it was tasty and I survived. Clint splurged and got a WHOLE lobster, body and all. I asked him how he can eat something that sits there and stares at him while he eats it. He said it didn't bother him. It bothered me and I wasn't even eating the lobster. It was crazy. He said it was really good. I rebelled and ordered one of the four things on the whole menu that weren't fish. I got chicken and mashed potatoes (my favorite) and it was delicious. I had planned on going bowling afterwords, but it ended up being the bowling leagues night. So Clint asked to go to Cabellas (he is a true man. haha). So we hung out there and then came home and ate Clint's cake. I must say this cake turned out better than the one last year. (Last year I turned it pink and it didn't taste that great. haha) This year it looked better and tasted better! Goal accomplished!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Clint's birthday cake!! It looks much better than the one I did last year. Yippee!

The gifts

Oreo wasn't sure what to think about the balloons (as evident by the look on his face)

After awhile, he decided he liked them (at least until they popped).

The homemade jerky I made for Clint's birthday.

The WHOLE lobster!

It looked really pretty on the plate.

My yummy chicken

Cabellas

The birthday boy!!!

Blow baby blow!

(Oreo is sooo funny! We enjoy watching him experience new things. Below are two little videos. The first one he is trying to get to the birthday cake on the counter. He wanted it soooo bad!! The second one is him figuring out that the balloons are actually fun to play with.)

How to satisfy those Cafe Rio cravings...

One of the hardest things about moving away from Utah (besides leaving our family), was moving away from Cafe Rio and Durangos. They have nothing comparable to it here in Connecticut. We crave Cafe Rio often so we had to do something about it.  I found tons of Cafe Rio copy cats online and we have Cafe Rio nights ever couple of months or so. The recipes never disappoint. For those that are interested here are the recipes: 

Cafe Rio Chicken
1 small bottle Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing
1 T chili powder
1 T cumin
3 cloves garlic (minced)
5 lbs chicken breast  

Directions: Cook all together in a crock pot for 4 hours, shred meat and cook for 1 additional hour.

Café Rio Rice
6 c water
4 t chicken bouillon
4 t garlic (minced)
½ bunch cilantro
1 can green chiles
¾ t salt
1 T butter
½ onion
3 c rice (see note)
Directions: Blend cilantro, green chiles and onion together. Bring water to a boil and add all ingredients, simmer covered 30 minutes.
 
Café Rio Tomatillo Dressing
1 buttermilk ranch dressing packet (make as to the recipe)
2 tomatillos
½ bunch of cilantro
1 clove garlic
Juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeño (without seeds unless you like it spicy)
Directions: Use a food processor to blend all the ingredients well. Refrigerate.  

Café Rio Black/Pinto Beans 

2 Tablespoons Onion, finely chopped 

2 cloves Garlic, Finely Chopped

1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil 

½ teaspoons Cumin 

1 can (15-16oz) Black Beans or Pinto Beans

8 Tablespoons Tomato Sauce 

3 Tablespoons Cilantro, Chopped

Directions: Chop onions and garlic. Heat extra virgin olive oil on medium high heat and cook onions and garlic with cumin until soft. Add all other ingredients and simmer at least ten 
minutes. 

We like to make homemade tortillas too and place everything on top of them with romaine lettuce. Some of the toppings we like are shredded cheese, sour cream, homemade guacamole, homemade pico de gallo, and homemade salsa. Can't forget the tortilla strips either. We were soooo excited to find them at the grocery store! :) That's how you do Cafe Rio homemade! Kind of fattening but sooooo worth it.
 

 Muy bueno!!!! 

Halloween Traditions...

 

Halloween is less than a week away and I am getting really excited. I love Halloween and all the creativity it inspires in people. Last night Clint and I continued with our tradition that we started when we were dating.  We went and bought two pumpkins and carved them while we watched a Halloween movie. This year the Halloween movie was Lost Boys that Clint bought for me for my birthday. It is quite a cheesy 80's movie, but I love it.  We snacked on some whoppers and butterfingers and a couple hours later we ended up with our masterpieces. I must say that we are improving each year.  Oreo wasn't sure what to think of it, but he got brave enough near the end to sniff the pumpkins (proof up above). My favorite part is roasting the pumpkin seeds after carving the pumpkins.  This year we rolled them in melted butter and salt and they were delicious. I love Halloween.  

Our supplies (got to have the chocolate!)

The finished product

Doesn't he look happy? He sooo did not want to be near the pumpkins

He loves Clint

Clint's pumpkin

My pumpkin

Mmmm.... pumpkin seeds

How much is that doggy in the window...

Oreo has figured out that he is as tall as the window. He loves standing up to the window and growling at all the neighborhood dogs that walk by. (Lovely I know)  I just think he looks so cute when he stands up to the window. I have never seen a dog before that stands straight up on their back legs like Oreo does. He is like a little human sometimes when he stands up and starts walking next to you on his back legs. I took these pictures the other day and I thought they were cute. Clint makes fun of me for taking more pictures of Oreo than anything else. What can I say? I love my little puppy! :)

Soon to be homeowners...(hopefully)

After six weeks of looking for a house, we found one that we liked and in our price range. (not an easy thing for us to do) So we put an offer down on the house yesterday morning and by 8pm that night our offer was accepted. We are so excited!!! Next week we will start all the inspections. If all goes well there, then we will be homeowners by mid-December. **fingers crossed** (Here are some pictures of the house that I pulled off the web)

Official Connecticut Residents Now...

After a hairy three hours at the DMV, we are officially Connecticut residents now! Got the plates and got the licenses. (Gosh they do not come cheap!)

Providence, RI...2nd Anniversary...

Clint and I had our second wedding anniversary this past weekend.  We were both blown away at how fast time has flown by. It feels like just yesterday that we were in the middle of wedding planning craziness.  We decided to go to Rhode Island this year for our anniversary. We took a quick 48 hour trip up there and had tons of fun. When we rolled into town they had a really cool presentation going on down by the water. They had bonfires that were floating in the river and then people canoeing around them with glowing fish. It was such a neat thing to experience.  We had dinner that night on a dock overlooking this bonfire event and it was really charming and fun.  We spent the two days exploring Providence and then for our anniversary dinner we went to The Melting Pot. It is a fondue restaurant. We did the whole four course meal which consisted of a cheese fondue, salad, meat fondue, and then a dessert fondue. Needless to say we were stuffed, but it was so fun to do something out of the norm for dinner. Clint spoiled me again, even though he spoiled me last week for my birthday. He got me a foot spa and an really cool foot stool/bench. He is always way too good to me.   We had a good anniversary.  The past two years we have been so blessed and I can't wait to see what the future holds for us.I am so grateful for Clint in my life and if the last two years are any indication of how our life is going to be, I think we are going to have a very good life. :)

Beautiful bonfire on the water.

Bonfires down the river

Really cool glowing fish.

All the bonfires

Yummy guacamole with fried plantains.

View from our balcony at the restaurant.

Japanese garden

Yep! Stop taking pictures of me!

Providence!

Beautiful Providence!!

The restaurant that we ate at on the waterfront.

Cheese fondue

Broth fondue

The raw meat that would cooked ourselves in the broth. It was yummy!

My favorite course. Our white and dark chocolate ying yang fondue.

The chocolate fondue dippings. **mouth watering**

What a great way to celebrate two years.

TWO CHEERS FOR TWO YEARS!!! (Don't worry we didn't drink them.  The chef gave us a complementary glass of wine for our anniversary. We didn't have the heart to tell him we don't drink.)

Happy two years to my man! Can't wait for many more to come! :)