Valentine's Day Goodness.

Finally Carsen and I get to spend Valentine's Day together! It's been 3 years since our last V-day date... and that didn't go down as well as I would have like it to. I won't go into much detail but I will say that Carsen learned from his mistakes and today was much better. I just wanted to share a few things about this love filled holiday.

First off, I made the best dang cookies I have ever made in my life and I just had to share them with the world. I got the recipe from a Crisco can and I don't think I will use another recipe again. I have been searching for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe for years... and here it is.

 

DANG DANG DANG DANG DANG GOOD COOKIES

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup Crisco (any kind)

2 Tbls milk

1 Tbls vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 3/4 cup flour

1 tsp salt 

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 cup chocolate chips

HEAT oven to 375. Combine brown sugar, shortening, milk and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat egg into creamed mixture.

COMBINE flour, salt and baking soda. Mix into creamed mixture until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips. 

BAKE for 8-10 minutes for chewy cookies (the best) or 11-13 minutes for crispy cookies

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Well this morning Carsen woke me up to breakfast in bed, he made delicious omelet styled scrambled eggs with toast and orange juice. It was very sweet, and I had never had that happen to me before.

After his classes he surprised me with a few gifts...

First of all, Pudder surprised me with a letter from Carsen inviting me to dinner. We ended up going to Applebees because it is one of the 3 restaurants in town... but always good.

I was also surprised with some of my favorite treats. And a new little surprise...

Please meet Pinker Bear (kinda sounds like Tinker Bell... haha cute right???). Carsen won her from the claw machine at Walmart for 25 cents... just like he did with Pudder. He won her on his first try, so of course we feel as if she was meant to be part of this family. I had to patch up a few holes because her previous home didn't show much tender love and care with her.

 

I started and completed my first Pinterest project. It took me a month in all... but that's because I had to keep it a secret from Carsen.

I was pretty proud of the final product... and so was Carsen.

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Love you all.

The Newest Dumas Family

Our 1st Home.

I am starting a blog. I figure there are certain things I want to share with my friends and family that Facebook doesn't care to know about. So... here we go.

Probably the most exciting thing that has happened since Carsen and I got married is that we were able to move into our own apartment in Rexburg. Although we may not have much, being able to decorate our first home was a BLAST! And after several hours of cleaning I have taken several pictures... mostly to update my family, but also to keep a record of how awesome being a newlywed is. 

This is in our front room. The TV was donated to us by Carsen's older brother Cameron and his wife Krystal... Thank you! Our lovely bookshelf is also a gift from a one of Carsen's friends/converts from the mission (pretty much everything in our house is a gift from a friend or family member... we are seriously so thankful for you guys). The "DUMAS" license plate is from Carsen's mission in Germany. Carsen put together the book shelf with his "man tools" and then decorated it all by himself with his "womanly touch".

This is our chair. No... we do not have a couch, just this one chair which Carsen and I share. We have become pros at fitting in this chair together. We can't sit side by side so we have to be a little creative... back to back, spooning, one in front of the other. For now, I can live with just a chair but I can see myself getting pretty sick of it pretty soon.

Our first family portrait displayed on the wall. 

The kitchen. Now that I think about it I probably should have turned on some lights to take these pictures, but to save energy the lights are never on during the day and I pretty much live in my electric blanket to stay warm.

Adorable... right?

I am very much still learning how to cook like a real wife... I think Carsen is still losing weight despite my efforts. After almost every meal I have to ask is he is full... and sometimes he is... sometimes.

Our lovely kitchen table. 

This is the bonus room/study/storage room. Carsen usually studies at the desk and I built myself a make-shift bed/chair so that I can be next to Carsen when he is studying. Also this is the only room in which we can have internet.

And this is everything we can't decide what to do with. We are moving in just two months so we wanted to keep some boxes and this is my best attempt at organizing them.

Our bathroom.

... with our awesome shower curtain. 

Carsen's side of the bed (our Christmas gift from my parents... thank you Mom and Dad). And that would be our newest addition to the family (the mousy looking elephant in the middle of the bed) Pudder. Carsen won him from a claw machine on the first try and now believes he was meant to be in our family... and that he deserve a spot on the bed.

 

My side of the bed. We didn't have another bedside table so I took one of then many boxes we had lying around and got creative. Do you like my table cloth made out of a towel??? Me too.

And our closet... those plastic drawers would be our dresser. 

I hope you enjoyed the tour. Hopefully there will be more blogs to come. Love you all.

The Newest Dumas Family