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!!

Wine & Cheese Tasting at Whole Foods

Our good friend Hannah (from TFA) got us a Wine & Cheese tasting at Whole Foods as part of our wedding gift! It was on Friday night, and lots of fun. We got to try 5 different cheeses and 5 different wines. Two of our favorite things :) Thanks Hannah!!

The rest of our weekend was pretty low key- very relaxing! This upcoming week is pretty busy and I (Chelsea) am officially back into the swing of things with work and school. Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who makes me breakfast and coffee in the morning! Have a great week!

Post Wedding

We got married!! And we got a hutch... one might even say we got "hutched"!!! It's been 17 days since our last post, so far we haven't been the best at keeping our New Year's Resolution of blogging more. In an effort to try and salvage our resolution we bring you our second blog post of the year!

So much has happened since our last post! We tried some new recipes, saw some good movies, kept the apartment really clean. Oh, AND WE GOT MARRIED! We don't have many pictures on our computer from the wedding, but you'll just have to believe us that it was a wonderful time! Our families met for the first time and it went swimmingly. The ceremony was a tearjerker and our minister reminded us that we were getting married on the Day of Epiphany. Chelsea looked stunningly beautiful and everyone complemented me on my tie. The reception was great, we had fajitas and cupcakes! Oh and let's not forget all the dancing. It was a great time, both of our families were out on the dance floor and at one point our moms were dancing! And it being a celebration of love, there might have been sparks flying between two of our friends! The gift opening was also a blast and we spent the rest of the weekend relaxing.

So right around Christmas time we discovered this store called World Market. It's similar to a Pier One Imports store, except World Market also sells food! Anywho, they have really nice looking furniture in their store and with so many awesome gifts that we got from the wedding, we were in the market for a place to store our cool stuff. We ended up finding a hutch and buffet that has a "farm house" look to it. It's pretty sturdy and we bought it during their 50% off sale event which means that we got it for a steal! I spent Sunday evening watching the game and putting the hutch together. It was a pain in the butt to put together, but once it was finished the frustration was worth it. Sunday was also bottling day for our beer which is currently finishing fermenting in the bottle.

Below are pictures of the hutch and our dining room table with place mats that our friends Anne and Alyssa got for us.

Here's a picture of our hutch fully built.

Hutch!

HUTCH!!

The lovely Chelsea in Packer gear. During the game, while I was bottling, Chelsea was watching the game and I could hear her yelling at the TV from the kitchen. For a second I thought she had bet some money! (JK she's just a big Packers fan)

This is me putting the hutch together. Putting the doors on the buffet was the hardest because they weren't cut precisely.

This is our dining room table with the place mats.

Until next time friends!

Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years

Hey all! Just wanted to say, Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. We realize we have been slacking on the blog front. Fear not, it is my New Years Resolution to blog more (goal- biweekly). Here's to starting the New Year on the right foot!!! (Although I think I got out of bed with my left foot first....)

We are getting married in 5 days!!!!!!!!! 5 days!!!!! We're pretty pumped. We are celebrating the New Year by playing Boggle (I just beat Edwin- I really like 2012 so far). Last night we hung out with our great friends Ted, Leigh & Chris. The boys brewed beer and then we played games!

The Barnes fam gets here tomorrow which we are very excited about. The rest of our friends and family arrive throughout the week!!! We can't wait to celebrate with everyone! The weather is going to cooperate it looks like- high of 69 for the wedding day!!!

Happy New Year from the almost Mr & Mrs Ochoa

Here is a picture of a goat eating Uncle Bill's jacket during our Christmas visit to the Houston Zoo

Here's a picture of Chelsea and Hannah.

We got to see a giraffe really close up!

This is a picture of my sister's dog. She became Chelsea's best friend... Her name is Angel

This picture is from Thanksgiving. We ran the Turkey Trot in Eau Claire on Thanksgiving Day, and later had an AMAZING meal at the Barnes household.

Happy 2012!!

Homemade Halloween

Happy Halloween!!! Personally, Halloween is not my favorite holiday. Edwin has the same sentiment. Not that I dislike it- I just haven't gotten super into costumes as an adult. Maybe the magic died when I stopped trick-or-treating. This year was different! A few weeks ago Ted and Leigh suggested that we make costumes and dress up as the Flintstones. A craft project, you say? We were in.

This past Wednesday the four of us made a trip to JoAnn fabrics, which, along with Michael's is Edwin's favorite place on earth. Anybody buying it? nope. He claims both stores smell weird. I, on the other hand, rank them up there with Target. Which is saying a lot. Michael's still comes in a distant second to Target, but anyways. Beside the point. Back to JoAnn. We picked up brown felt for Edwin and blue stretchy cotton for me. The real trick would prove to be making them, since we don't have a sewing machine. Cue the iron on hem tape and super fabric glue.

Making both costumes turned out to be a fairly simple process. I was able to use iron-on hem tape for my dress, and the super glue for Edwin's costume. I was pretty impressed with myself- usually I get pretty frustrated if things don't go well with a craft. Well, with anything. (I may or may not have thrown a ball of yarn at the wall when a question on my take home exam was proving difficult last week.) Back to the story. The costumes turned out great!!! We were Barney and Betty Rubble, if you can't tell. Ted and Leigh were Fred and Wilma. Leigh also did an amazing job with their costumes (also sans sewing machine). We went to our friend (who we meet through Ted and Leigh) Alan's house for his Halloween party on Friday night. The costumes were a hit!

What is everyone else being for Halloween? Mom, how did your Pumpkin Caroling costume turn out? Happy Halloween!!!

San Antonio

Edwin and I took a quick trip to San Antonio this weekend, which gave us a much needed relaxing getaway. Edwin has tomorrow off, which is just plain awesome. We drove to San Antonio yesterday afternoon and checked into our hotel, which was just a few blocks from the Alamo. We walked around the Riverwalk and enjoyed people watching- Texas has some interesting people. Below is a picture of me at this great (and way overpriced) Italian restaurant. We had originally wanted to explore beyond downtown and the Riverwalk, but when it came down to it, you can't beat a great view! So we decided to have an appetizer before dinner, which turned out to be almost a meal in and of itself. We had some cheesy garlic bread before heading out on the town.

Because Edwin is such a huge fan of the Alamo (he actually held a grudge against the city itself because as a child his family would routinely visit San Antonio and always and only visit the Alamo), we took a picture on Edwin's iPhone (did we mention he got an iPhone!). Edwin really likes his iPhone and it has come in handy when trying to find directions and also for listening to Pandora in the car.

After the Italian restaurant we discovered a Mexican restaurant by the name of Acenar. It was trendy and on the Riverwalk, but the greatest part of it was that you didn't really have to wait for a table to eat. Their bar had seating at the bar counter and also in lounge-type sofas scattered throughout. We ordered Mushroom Crepes with salsa verde and beef skewers with a Chimi-Churri sauce (it's a sauce made from olive oil, rosemary, and lots of garlic). We were beyond stuffed but very happy to have a nice night out. Below are the pictures of our appetizers.

We went back after our dinner to our hotel room and were exhausted from a long week. Unfortunately, there was a dance club RIGHT DOWN the street and they were blaring their music at 12:30 am. Edwin was was really irritated and called the front desk, who were really nice and moved us to the opposite side of the hotel. We got a good night's rest and were happy that the Marriott was quick to help us out. Edwin's dad used to work for Marriott and was able to get us a really good rate for the weekend.

In the morning, we got up and ate the hotel breakfast which consisted of delicious Jimmy Dean sandwiches and Texas-shaped waffles...(we ate the "South Texas" part first!). On our way back to Austin we stopped by the San Marcos outlet to find a suit for Edwin for the wedding! We found some good ideas and will hopefully have something within the next 3 weeks. We had lunch at Whole Foods and shared a delicious burger with sweet potato fries.

The past week just cried for a good getaway. Edwin had a really tough week at school and had hit a major roadblock emotionally. He did have a very good conversation with his principal and assistant principal which will hopefully make things better for the next 2 weeks. He always expresses that no matter how crappy his days are, he's always grateful for the love and support from family (meaning you readers!) It has definitely been a big transition for both of us, and although we may not blog as often as we used to (2 maybe 3 times a month), we get by with a little help from each other and God. Stay tuned readers because coming soon is a trip to Houston with Edwin's family and his college roommate (who just moved back to the states from the Middle East) and a visit from my parents!

Amazing Stuffed Bell Peppers

We're back with another fabulous recipe! Thinking about these stuffed bell peppers makes my mouth water, they are that good. The recipe is from Dr. Oz's website, but I found it from a former co-worker's facebook page.

Ingredients: (This makes 4 servings (2 halves per person))

8 red, yellow, or orange bell peppers

2 Tbsp. canola or olive oil, divided

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1 Tbsp. chili powder

1 Tbsp. cumin

16 oz. italian sausage

1 16 oz. jar salsa

2 c. spinach, chopped

1 c. cooked brown rice

1 c. cheddar cheese

2 large avocados, peeled and sliced

1/2 c. low-fat greek yogurt

1/4 c. chopped basil

Preheat oven to 375. Cut the peppers in half, lengthwise (removing stems). Remove the white stuff and seeds from the insides. Place peppers in a baking dish and drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil. Cover the dish with foil and bake the peppers 15-20 min or until they start to soften.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, salt, black pepper, chili powder, and cumin; cook until the vegetables are softened, about 3 minutes. Add the sausage to the skillet. Cook, breaking it up with a slotted spoon or potato masher, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the salsa and the spinach, and cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the cooked brown rice.

Carefully fill the pepper halves with the turkey mixture. Cover the dish with foil, and bake until the filling is hot and the peppers are tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove foil, and sprinkle the cheese over the top of the peppers. Return to oven; bake, uncovered, until cheese has melted, about 7 to 10 minutes. Top the peppers with a heaping tablespoon of the yogurt. Place slices of the avocado on top of each pepper. Sprinkle with the basil. Serve immediately.

Picture is from my old co-worker's facebook- although ours looked similar.

MMM so good!!!