End of Summer Madness

The last few weeks have been filled with tons of fun!  Andrew and I had the chance to hang out with some great friends and family, cook some tasty treats and spend a little time, one on one.  Hang on because this is going to be a whirlwind!!!

First off, do you remember that baby that Andrew got to meet and hold, while I was out of town?!?!?!  Here, I'll remind you.  His name is Knox!

Well, I finally got to meet him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like to think we bonded.  He is quite the sweetie and I can't wait until I get to see him again.

A few days later, I made my very first loaf of bread.  And...it was so good!  Now, we've talked about how sometimes when I cook it is a disaster.  I'm proud to say that I mastered this bread.  You don't believe me?  Check it out for yourself!

The dough.

This is the bread after the first turn in the oven.  P.S. I used my grandmother's old orange pot to make this bread.  I remember her making rice pilaf in that pot.  It is similar to a Le Cruset but some other brand.  I love having this pot because it brings back so many memories of her and her kitchen.  Maybe I had some help making this bread and that is why it turned out so good?!?!  Thanks Grammy!

Finished product!!!  Tasty, crusty bread!!!!  Oh and did I mention this was the simplest recipe I've ever made?  Well, it was.  Check it out, here!  I think my next endeavor will be to try one of the spiced loaves.

For now, go make this bread and then make this sandwich using it!

Hummus, herby cheese and cherry tomatoes.

Andrew and I love taking the pups to the dog park.  Ellie eats it up.  Luha on the other hand...

sticks pretty close to mom.  

We always start off at the little dog park but we want our pups to know how to interact with little and big dogs so we end up taking them to the big dog park as well. You may be wondering why I don't have a picture of Ellie at the park and that is because SHE NEVER STANDS STILL!  But, I don't want her to feel left out so here is a different picture of her, just because.

Look at her, she is even smiling for the camera.  What a ham!

I don't know about you but I am ready for Fall.  I'm ready for colder weather, football, pumpkin and gingerbread spices and fall fashion.  In fact, in the hopes that it would inspire some cooler weather, I wore my first fall outfit today.  

Here's hoping!

Much love,

Rachel Elizabeth

Home on the Range

A while back, Andrew bought us a groupon for a gun range experience.  We've had the groupon for a long time and always found some reason not to use it.  Well, we finally decided to head on over and try it out and man am I glad we did.  The groupon included a shooting package for two people.  We got one .22 caliber hand gun, 50 rounds each and two targets.  Of course, if you know Andrew and I at all, it immediately became a competition.

I was quite timid because guns scare the you-know-what out of me but the staff at the gun range were amazing and they walked us through how you load the gun, how to hold it when you fire and then how to aim for the target.  Of course, my first couple of rounds were slightly off but as soon as I got the hang of it, that target was in trouble.

Here are some bullets and our targets at the end of the range.

Andrew was a natural as well.  It was quite scary how two people, who had never shot a .22 before, could pick it up so quickly.  That realization just made me more afraid of guns.

We took turns shooting 10 rounds each.  For the first twenty rounds we aimed for the center bullseye, then for the head, then for the small red targets to the side of the head and finally for the red targets in the bottom corners.  Can you spot the shell casing flying in the above picture?

This is a picture of my target after we shot at his head.  My poor guy didn't make it.  Better luck next time, sir.

We had a fantastic time and hopefully we'll go back again someday.  I think we'll probably pick different targets next time.  They had zombie targets.  I want to shoot at zombies!!  All in all, it was a fun Saturday morning.