What to do when your mother-in-law gives you squash

My parents and my in-laws are great for many, many reasons.

One of which is their self-sustainability.

Seriously... 

between my parents food storage, and my in-laws' garden,

I think we could feed the entire world.

Twice.

So naturally, 

every time the husband and I take a trip down to visit,

we come back with some kind of food or another,

and this time, it was fresh squash from the in-laws.

Last week I made a butternut squash and cream cheese soup 

(oh so tasty...) 

and I had some butternut squash left over that needed a home.

 Lucky for me, 

my trusty HowSweetEats gal, Jessica, 

managed to pull through, yet again!

I have yet to discover a recipe of hers that I didn't like. 

This one included.

It's a butternut squash and shells with cheese skillet. 

(Ha. Try saying that 10 times fast!)

It ended up looking something like this: 

Picture courtesty of HowSweetEats

Along with the meal, I served some 

browned butter chicken with sage, 

which was basically the most simple thing on planet earth.

Brown the butter.

Add the chicken.

Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and rubbed sage, 

(and fresh parmesan, if you're a cheese freak like me.)

Cook til no longer pink, and voila.

And, if you, like me, lack confidence in your abilities to do any cooking without a recipe, then you, like me, can follow this recipe that teaches you how to brown butter successfully. 

Don't you just love the internet??

So now the next time your mother-in-law loads you up with fresh squash from the garden, you will have an easy meal 

with which to impress your hubby. 

Unless, of course, he doesn't like squash. 

Then you're just plain outta luck.

100 pictures, again?

Since I really have no way of turning every current event into a story without causing a loss of any and all interest on your end, I have succumbed to yet another picture overload.

Feast yer eyes.

First of all...we moved. 

(And I know you're all envying the act of packing/unpacking all of those boxes, so I just thought I'd let you know that there are still some left if you really need a fix...)

Then the husband turned 24,

and my sister-in-law made yet another one of her delicious cakes!

Then my parents one-upped themselves 

and got my husband a manly birthday gift...

 ...which we obviously had to christen right away.

We decorated. 

 Kind of.

And we continued working on our project.

  Kind of.

(As you can see, I "worked" really hard...)

   Then one day I went to a shower and 

got some much needed catch up time with friends. 

(So excited for ya, Britt!)

And if all of that wasn't enough, my soul sista came and made an ever-welcome appearance in my neck of the woods. 

THANK YOU TIMES 1000 

to my favorite person ever for making the trek 

all the way up from the southern parts of our state. 

 One day is not long enough, 

but we still got in some good chats and

good eats while she and our other friends were here!

The visit made my entire year.

Love you, Court. You da best!

Why being a hipster is OH so unique!

My feelings precisely.

However, I think the princesses forgot their bikes....

That awkward moment

when you have a cold and your nose whistles and you look around and remember you're at the public library.

Not your couch.

Cool.

(Or not...)

P.S. Here's Sardine Canyon for ya. 

Oh, what? 

You're coming up to visit on Sunday

 so that you can drive through the canyon 

and see all the pretty leaves? 

Okay, sure. 

I'll make you cookies.

Moving on

We have an announcement to make...

Dun dun dun duuunn!

We're moving.

No seriously though... that's my announcement.

Are you surprised? Because I sure am!

Mostly because it is 100%, completely and utterly out of the blue.

It went from "oh hey, let's go check out this complex"

to "okay, so like where am I going to put all my shoes?" 

and "hey, the future dog can sleep there!"

Things have weirdly fallen into place, and since it is in true Jake Mulford family fashion to just up and move with no forethought

--Need I remind you of the time when we found our first apartment just four (FOUR) days before we were married, or how the last time we moved, we decided to start looking and were in our current apartment within a week--

  we figured... why not?

But as the decision is starting to sink in, I'm beginning to realize... 

you never know what you've got until it's gone. 

I'll miss the way our sink has to be turned to the right for hot instead of cold, and how our light switches are upside down, and how the drawers in the fridge have to be propped up just right in order for everything not to come tumbling down.

But I don't think the AC, the dishwasher, the washer/dryer hook-ups, the back porch and the garage (which means no window scraping in the depths of Logan's snow) will have much of a problem winning me over pretty quick.

Not to mention the fact that I won't have to worry about ants crawling into my kitchen sink anymore.

Yeah. I really don't think I will miss that.

Okay, maybe a little.

Wait for it... 

nope.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'll miss our current home, but I'm excited to make new memories as we move on to this next little adventure in our lives.

Now...

Does anyone have a spare cardboard box? Or 5...

Home-making

Sometimes I obsess over the thought 

of a beautifully decorated home.

'One day' I remind myself.... One day....

And then I get to work, pinning all of my latest 

"must haves" 

that I find floating around in cyber space. 

(While wearing my make-believe shirt that says,

 "I loved Pinterest before it was cool...")

Something good did come out of my latest hankering to have 

a picture-perfect house, though... 

that is a little project we like to call "Dresser re-vamp 101." 

Okay, we don't like to call it that. 

In fact, we have never called it that. 

I just thought it would sound nicer than calling it our, 

"why-the-heck-did-we-decide-to-take-this-on-in-the-middle-of-september-rather-than-starting-in-june" project. 

But whatever. 

It'll all be worth it in the end.... right? 

(Those were my never-ending words to the husband (and myself) during our 2 hour sanding sesh yesterday.... especially at the point when it had, in fact, been 2 hours and we were not even close to being halfway done. hmm.)

If life goes perfectly, 

we will have a DIY'd dresser by next September. 

(As you can see, 

my perfect life includes plenty of room for procrastination...)

As for now, here's what yesterday looked like...

  {And I can just imagine the excitement you must be feeling 

as you look at this oh-so-exciting picture.

You're welcome.}

Aside from a new dresser, 

I am also currently obsessing over these things:

Just as soon as I find the perfect mirror, 

this little beauty will be the Mulford family's newest addition!

And you can bet your bottom I would have already bought this 

$25 (twenty-five. that's it!) distressed pitcher, 

If it weren't for the big fat 

"Sold Out" 

that I found plastered across it. 

*frown*

If you are looking to flatter me 

(you know, because imitation is the highest form of flattery...), 

you can purchase any of these items 

(except for the antiqued mirror, which can be found here)

 at One Kings Lane.

 Enjoy!

Noogie time

Sometimes I want a baby.

Like.... REAAAALLLYYY want a baby.

Then I remind myself of all the reasons 

I'm okay with being selfish right now, 

and I'm like "Yeah. It can wait."

Besides,

I have hilarious cousins who can fill in all the gaps 

for the time being.

*5-year-old Max running around giving everyone noogies* 

(Seriously though. What ever happened to "noogie time"??)

Jake: Hey Max, why don't you go give Grandpa a noogie?

Max: No! (with a look of disgust)

Jake: Why not??

Max: Cuz he's old....... and doesn't clean out his ears!

Jake: What? How do you know that?!

Max: Cuz I looked. And I saw them!

Childhood.

Back when honesty really was the best policy...