Flip flops in December?!

I like the weather, but it doesn't exactly make it feel like Christmas! Last week of classes, and then I'm off for a full 5 weeks!! In just over 2 weeks we'll be in Wisconsin, and we'll hopefully get all the cold weather we want!

Halloween 2012

I have to say, Halloween is not something I look forward to every year. In college, and still today, it was always kind of a pain coming up with a costume every year. Last minute-don't want to buy a nice costume-i'll look in my closet to see what I can make-kind of thing. Last year Edwin and I set the bar high with our homemade Flinstones costumes. This year we moved the bar back down. Last night we went to our friend Alan's party- hence the need for costumes.  I have to say I was pretty pleased with our last minute, low budget costumes. 

  I was a deviled egg. Edwin was a geek. 

Leigh is amazingly crafty and made these costumes!!!! WITH NO SEWING MACHINE!!! 

Just iron on tape. That is skill. 

Edwin and I had a lot of fun taking pictures of him in character. Please enjoy :) 

That's all folks! We have not bought any candy, nor do we expect any trick or treaters. 

I'd say our Halloween is over for this year! 

super easy no-bake energy bites

I interrupt this regularly scheduled lull in our blog to bring you a great recipe!! I found this gem on Pinterest (where else) and have made them a few times. They are best cold and work great as a mid-morning snack! Best of all, they taste like they should be dessert! I've changed up the recipe a bit depending on what we have, but here's the original (via http://gimmesomeoven.com/no-bake-energy-bites/)

1 cup dry oatmeal
2/3 cup toasted coconut flakes (I don't add these)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I'm out of these now so I use craisins)
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix everything up, refrigerate for 1/2 hour, and then form into little balls. Easy, peasy!!

Catch-up

Time to play catch up! Here's a sampling of the past few weeks: 

Sweet Brady at Andrea's band concert

In Wisconsin, I got to celebrate my birthday which was very exciting!! 26! Can you believe it??? That sounds dangerously close to 30 :) 

When I came back from Wisconsin, I found these beautiful flowers! My wonderful husband planned a fabulous birthday for me. The day after I got back, on Saturday, I went to get pampered, ala Edwin's planning. When I arrived at the boutique they said they had something for me. Edwin had left me a bottle of wine to enjoy with a sweet note. Don't worry, I didn't drink it all! I got my eyebrows threaded (amazing), a facial and my makeup done. So fun. 

Edwin got his wisdom teeth taken out on August 24th. He started at the dentist, where they took out 2 1/2 wisdom teeth. The 3rd tooth broke off and Edwin saw it fly across the room. He knew he was in for a long evening. They sent him to the closest oral surgeon to finish the job. I was at training for my new internship, so our wonderful friends Ted & Leigh brought Edwin to the surgeon and kept him company until I got there. That Friday night was pretty rough on the pain front, but things gradually improved. Lots of mashed potatoes, chicken broth, jello and pudding. Edwin is now nearly fully healed and the doc says things are lookin good.  

Over Labor Day weekend, we went to Houston to visit Edwin's family. We spent lots of time with Jafet, who is a very sweet and energetic little boy. On Saturday Edwin's mom made pupusas, which are a Salvadorian treat, and we all went to a park. 

The semester started last week, and I'm easing into my fall schedule. I am loving my new internship as a Career Counseling Intern. I'm currently observing the other counselors, and am confident that I'm in the right spot. 

That's all for now! We've been watching the DNC the past 2 nights- Michelle was pretty great last night, huh?! Toodles!

Week in Wisconsin

I'm back in Texas, y'all!! I spent last week in Wisconsin and had a wonderful week. Here are some pics from Saturday and Sunday. I'll post the rest of the week later! 

The B man turned 3, which is just crazy. I just adore this little boy. So much joy and personality packed into one little body! 

During the week I kept Edwin up to date with lots of iphone pics. Here's one I sent of Adam and our delicious taco dinner. 

Grandma and Kate. This picture is so sweet! 

CATAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jenna came out as the victor. 

The fam 

The kiddos and the grandmas 

Chicken Rollatini

Edwin and I get a lot of our recipes from skinnytaste.com. Last night we made Chicken Rollatini Stuffed with Zucchini and Mozzarella. It was SO GOOD!!! Here's the link: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/08/chicken-rollatini-stuffed-with-zucchini.html

Seriously, it was amazing. You roll up the chicken cutlet with shredded zucchini and mozzarella, then dip it in a mix of lemon juice and olive oil, and then in breadcrumbs. It tasted like restaurant quality!!

Around Austin

Last night Edwin and I went down to Auditorium Shores, which is a big park across the lake from downtown. We recently bought baseball gloves, and this was our second time playing catch. There were lots of people out with their dogs and on the trail.

Today I was at the stadium for a staff meeting/retreat day. Got lost on the way to the UT club and found myself in the stadium!




























Walking to the bus stop I snapped this picture of the tower. Pretty day!

Workday

Working hard or hardly working? You be the judge! T- minus 3 hours until the bachelorette finale! Team Jef!!

Brownie in a Mug

This recipe is for a brownie in a mug- you can make it in the microwave in one minute!!!! The perfect quick dessert if you're craving chocolate!

Ingredients:
4 Tablespoons Flour
4 Tablespoons Sugar
2 Tablespoons Cocoa powder (Note: don't use cocoa mix or quik, it shouldn't have any sugar)
2 Tablepsoons Vegetable Oil (Don't use one with a strong flavor, eg olive, sesame, etc)
2 Tablespoons Water
Dash of salt
Mug
Microwave

Add the sugar, flour, cocoa and salt to the mug and mix up. Then add oil and water. Mix it up. Microwave for about one minute. Enjoy!

Recipe from
http://www.instructables.com/id/Mug-Brownie/#step1

New do

Got my haircut! Officially decided that I am a short hair person.

Fourth of July

Wow! Hello old friends!! I have a new iphone, which I love and keeps me connected to all the things I love (instagram pictures of Kate and Brady, People.com, and ABC.com.). Newest discovery? I just got the Blogger app, which lets me post from my phone. I've been taking a lot of pics with my phone, so this makes it super easy to get them on the blog!! No transferring photos from camera to computer, etc. Here's hoping this means you see more posts! Also, I got Instagram, which is so fun. My username is chelo1612, so you should follow me!!

On the 4th of July, we spent the day with our great friends Ted and Leigh. They gave us a meat grinder attachment for our wedding, and Edwin has been itching to use it. He says he thinks about it during his runs. I daydream about the outcome of the Bachelorette, he daydreams about grinding meat.... to each their own!! Anyways, we bought 1.5 pounds of brisket and mixed it with 2/3 pounds of top sirloin. The result was a very delicious and juicy burger!

Working hard to make the meat for our burgers. 

Ted and Edwin grilled the burgers and some delicious hot dogs. Leigh made ratatouille and pasta salad. I made baked beans and cheesecake! 

What a spread! We used sandwich thins instead of hamburger buns to cut down on the amount of bread and taste the meat more. Our toppings included: jalapenos, lettuce, tomatoes, relish, ketchup, and mustard. 

Look at this cheesecake!! Recipe from Skinny Taste, one of our favorite websites for healthy recipes. It is a no-bake cheesecake that used reduced-fat cream cheese and cool whip. AND FRESH STRAWBERRIES!! I like using exclamation marks.

Of course we played CATAN!!!!!!!!!!! Ted came out as the victor!! But Edwin won the good looks competition. He's been on a pretty long Catan losing streak. HANG IN THERE HONEY!

Ted and Leigh have a fun chocolate lab, Gus. They got him when he was a puppy, and now he is so big!!! 

Stay tuned for pictures of our staycation. 3 months ago, Ted, Leigh and us talked about taking a vacation but then realized that there was still a lot about Austin that we haven't experienced, so we decided to have a staycation. It was pretty epic and was filled with so much good food. Until next time friends!

The party continues

We are 2 weeks shy of nearly 2 months without a post. It's like we're doing the opposite of what we set out to do at the beginning of the year. The truth is we've both been a little busy this spring (at least Chelsea has for sure). As a recap, we offer you, our dear readers whom we love for your patience, the events that have transpired over the last (almost) 2 months.

After our trip to Costa Rica we enjoyed a solid 3 weeks of semi-leisure. I had a 10K in late March which I felt went well. Chelsea worked on Saturdays but only for a couple of hours. The month of April was pretty hectic. Chelsea was coming down the homestretch of her first year in grad school. She worked so hard in the month of April and I was not surprised when she received all A's this semester! As for me, my immediate supervisor left for Singapore to find a permanent HR person in the Asia Business Unit. That meant I got a chance to take over some of her responsibilities which I found really exciting. I celebrated my 25th birthday in April with a nice steak dinner and lots of love and gifts from family and friends (the best a person could ever ask for). With my birthday money I bought running shorts, running socks, and running shirts and also received iTunes gift cards (which I've used to buy music that I run to) and Pizza Hut Giftcards. Unfortunately, on my birthday, my grandmother passed away. Candelaria Saravia Marquez passed away at the age of 78. She was a beautiful, strong, single mother of 4 who taught me how to cook and listen attentively. She is greatly missed by all and I take comfort in knowing that she is in a better place.

As soon as May 1st rolled around, Chel and I were really looking forward to the Eau Claire wedding reception for the family and friends who were unable to attend our ceremony and reception in Austin. Chelsea finished her classes and has been able to relax for a few weeks before her first summer school class, which is tomorrow. She passed her time by watching Glee, The Bachelorette, cooking, napping, and watching Revenge (which is a great show by the way...so I've read...) All well deserved I should say, considering her days started at 6:30 AM and ended at 8:30 PM on most days during the semester. Before our trip to Eau Claire, we went to Houston to visit my family and celebrate my mom's birthday/Mother's day. We went out to the Schlitterbahn Water Park in Galveston and got to spend time with my dad, my sister, the babies, and my mom. For dinner we went to the Olive Garden where we decided it was best to never ever look at the nutritional information of their food.

ON TO THE RECEPTION. What an amazing weekend it was. Mary and Greg picked us up on Thursday morning after our 6:30 AM flight (we woke up at 3:40 AM and couldn't really sleep because we were both really excited). We went to Hot Plate in Minneapolis where we enjoyed an amazing breakfast. Afterwards, we drove through the University of Minnesota campus which was beautiful. Once in Eau Claire we relaxed for a few hours before Adam, Andrea, Brady and Kate arrived. Kate is so beautiful! Her eyes are precious and her noises are endearing. Meanwhile, Brady and Tia began their 5-day long adventure in which Tia would join Brady on his van rides across the country and on the swing, among other activities.

Tim, Grandma Goessling, and Uncle Hugh joined us Thursday and we ate Brats with fruit salad. I also discovered Jalapeno mustard. Bless the person who invented this! We played Settlers of Catan and Adam won by a landslide. My strategy failed miserably but I was happy to be spending time with everyone. I especially enjoy the laughter that is guaranteed to happen at the Barnes household. Friday we prepared for the reception and even took the boat out on the lake. Adam and Chel water skied and I swam. Friday night we had No Name steaks (which Chelsea has told me is her favorite meal of all time) and relaxed. Saturday was our big day!

We had all kinds of dessert, potato salad, baked beans, and chicken. Folks began to arrive at 4 PM and so did the storms! Luckily, the storms were not a deterrent for people. We are extremely grateful for everyone who came by considering the weather. It was an excellent time where I got a chance to meet a lot of people from Chelsea's life before we met. I ever introduced myself twice to a couple people I'm sure. But everyone was so nice and cheerful. We definitely felt the love! The chicken was grilled by Dan and Nancy who did an excellent job. And to the party planning committee (Greg and Mary/Mom and Dad) thank you very much for putting this together!

By now, you've invested a lot of time in this post, so a couple more paragraphs won't be too much! Sunday we went over to Fanny Hill where Grandma Goessling invited us, Auntie June, Cousin Debbie, Cousin Sandy, the A Team and Mary and Greg to a nice brunch. The omelettes were everything they should be: full of ingredients, cooked on the spot, and with lots of cheese! The beef was incredible as well. Best of all, we had an excellent view and got another chance to spend time with family. The rest of the day was very relaxing. We ended our day with a trip to the lake where Chel, Adam, and Greg skied and I tubed! My arms do not hurt, but my shoulder does feel a bit weird. I can't wait to tube again! Sunday night we played Catan again and Chelsea won this time. Watch out world, she's coming for you... just not on Monday's from 7 PM to 9 PM when the Bachelorette is on. We both learned some new strategy tips to use against Ted and Leigh- they won't know what hit em.

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful, loving, humorous, generous, and caring family. We really couldn't ask for anything more. We do want to say thanks again to those who came to the party and overjoyed us with not only your presence but also your presents. Below are some pictures from the weekend. Until next time friends!

Little Kate!

Grandma Goessling and Kate

Kate!!!

Tia... She really is the best!

Grandma, Andrea, and Kate

Tia and Brady reading a book

Brady push-ups... the new fad in fitness.

The Fam posing for a picture!

Tia and the B-Man swinging

Here it is folks!

...Hanging out and waiting for a post??

After a 2 month hiatus, we are back! After some gentle reminders from our readers, we decided to update you all on what's been happening at the Ochoa household. Since our last blogpost, I got a new job (woo whoo!), Chelsea continued being a rockstar in grad school, and we went on our honeymoon! This past weekend we celebrated our first Easter together. This month, I celebrate my 25th birthday and next month we will be in Wisconsin for a long-awaited Eau Claire Wedding Reception and a meeting with Lady B! In this post, we'll show you some pictures of our honeymoon along with a brief overview of our eventful and amazing honeymoon.

It all began at the Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on March 10th. We arrived 2.5 hours before out flight and the airport was so busy that it took us 2 hours and 20 minutes to get to the counter! We were able to get on standby for a flight an hour after our original flight. When we got through security and arrived at our gate, we heard an announcement for 2 passengers for our original flight. The names weren't ours, but we sprinted anyways and got on our original flight! Costa Rica was as beautiful as we left it a year ago. For our honeymoon, we stayed at Hotel Banana Azul. The hotel was excellent, the staff was friendly, the food and drinks were great. We took a trip to Bocas del Toro which was quite the adventure! By the end of the trip, we were ready to come home. In the future, we'd like to travel either Belize, the U.S. British Islands, or any Caribbean island. We don't know when our next trip will be, but we always welcome good company!

On Easter Sunday, Chelsea and I celebrated with a mini ham, scalloped potatoes, Kansas corn, and blueberry pie (from Whole Foods). We are still eating the leftovers for lunch and by we I mean me. The next couple of weekends are going to be filled with school work (Chelsea has a big paper to turn in for one of her classes...she's 25% done), bike riding, running, BBQ smoking, beer brewing (we hope this one tastes better), and birthday-celebrating.



We got to hold a starfish!



This was my snorkel gear. The coral was very beautiful.



On arrival, our hotel put a mini bottle of wine in our room with a banana (Costa Rica bananas taste very differently from the bananas in the States), and 2 bars of homemade chocolate from the BriBri indigenous group that first inhabited the area where we stayed.



Just a couple love birds hanging out by the pool!




This was the view from our boat in Panama



This is from the pond in our hotel.



Heading out to dinner at night!



This is a picture of the coast line of the area we visited



The beautiful Red Frog beach in Panama



Chels posing by the outskirts of Puerto Viejo



The man in this picture was our guide (the guy who drove us to the border of Panama and Costa Rica and back). He was really nice and funny. This is also a picture of the bridge that we crossed to get to Panama. Heck of a trip!



This sign is right outside of Banana Azul on our way to the beach.



The lovely Missus relaxing on the hammock



This was Chelsea's favorite meal. It's a pretty typical Tican meal. The chicken was cooked with a Caribbean sauce and served with fried plantains and rice and an Imperial beer on the side. Imperial is the national beer of Costa Rica and is owned by the Costa Rican government. It is also illegal to brew any other beer in Costa Rica we found out. You can find Imperial in the states as well.

Well folks, it's way past our bed time and Chelsea is snoring on the couch next to me. WE DO EVERYTHING TOGETHER!!