Favorite Fall Desserts!

Fall brings so much happiness. Colorful leaves, crisp air, bonfires, cooler nights and DESSERT! Lots and lots of dessert. I wanted to narrow down a few of my faves for today's post! None of these are healthy, but hey, life is all about balance, am I right?

1 || One of my absolute favorites that I found from Lisa's blog a few years back (and have made it about 3 times since then) is the amazing Pumpkin Pull Apart Bread. Holy wow, you guys. so darn easy, and it goes QUICKLY! So be sure to be the one to pull it out of the oven so you get first dibs.

2 || Pumpkin Pie Twists. These look like the EASIEST, most delicious little snacks ever! How perfectly Fall themed, too!?

3 || Cinnamon Apple Crumb Cake. YUM! I feel like Pumpkin always "takes the cake" when it comes to this time of year, but what about apple?! I love apple flavored things (give me all the apple pie, and all the warm cider)!!

4 || Oreo Acorn Balls. I think I like this one best because its so darn cute. Seriously, how fun would these be to make for a party/random get together with friends?!

5 || Slow Cooker Caramel Apple Cider. You know I had to include a drink because to me, drinks can be just as much of a dessert as food. That's basically how I look at Starbucks! Dessert, not caffeine, ha!

A few other favorite Pinterest finds? Reeses Peanut Butter Cheeseball, Cinnamon and Spice Sweet Potato Bread, and these adorable Pumpkin Cupcakes! I hope you guys enjoy! Let me know if you try any of these and what you thought!

Hope everyone had a great week and has a fun weekend ahead of them. We have a wedding tomorrow, and we're very much looking forward to the Bengals game on Sunday! WHO DEY!? I'd also like for the temperatures to get with it, and cool the heck down. I'm ready for REAL Fall weather. My scarves are just dying to see the light of day!

Friday {feeling good}!!

I'm so thankful it's Friday! Not particularly for any reason other than everyone is SO friendly in the office on Friday's. We have to work a wedding tomorrow, so its really like my Thursday, but regardless. Friday's always bring a certain happiness to the world so I'll embrace it!

This week I started trying to treat myself better than I have been. I've been so negligent. Eating whatever I want, whenever I craved it, staying up too late, exercising halfheartedly and just feeling kinda down. So I decided to change it. When we first got married, we kept up with our healthier lifestyle so well so we decided to get back to that!

I started Insanity on Monday, and my goal for Caleb and I this week was to pack our lunches together every night. I'm happy to say we did this! We also didn't spend a dime this week!

Some of my lunches in the below pictures wasn't all of it... this was more of a lunch/snack combo - not pictured are protein shakes, tuna, and almonds - yumm!

I also bought this tracking notebook earlier in the year called "Fit Happens", and I really love how it breaks down your days. It makes you list 3 things you're grateful for, what inspired you that day, what your eating was like, your mood, and energy levels - there is also an entire page for notes (where I write my specific exercises/numbers down) and a fun little tip/quote on each page. It's really holding me accountable. It's crazy because you can find it here on Amazon for $34 (what the what?!!?) but I got it regularly priced at Target for approx $8.

original image from here

Monday's Insanity prompt for Day 1 was the "Fit Test". This is something you're supposed to do every 2 weeks to track your progress and I'm really excited to see where I am by then!

Something seems different this time. I am ready to be better to myself. Of course, life is all about balance...and you know I love me some donuts...but I'm excited that I've started making better choices the majority of the time!

In other news, is it Sunday yet?!?! I'm ready to watch my Bengals to beat up on our biggest rivals - the Steelers!! Have a fun weekend, everybody!

Mostly productive weekend!

Friday evening was the perfect date-night in. I made spaghetti and meatballs and then we popped a ton of popcorn for all the movies we were about to watch!

Saturday, we woke up earlier and I got a tough workout in (I also finished with a 90's video called "8 minute abs" - ouch). Caleb had to leave to help his Dad with some things, so I took it upon myself to basically finish all of our laundry (seriously, it never ends) and organize our bedroom. For a few days there, you could hardly see the floor. It was giving me serious anxiety (and a few stubbed toes).

After a few hours of cleaning (I also scrubbed that kitchen - woo!), I cleaned up and we got ready for one of our favorite little girls birthday parties! If you recall, last month, she was in the hospital with pneumonia, so her original party got cancelled...so this was finally her day to celebrate! She makes me so darn happy I can't stand it!

Sunday we heard an INCREDIBLE message from our pastor at church. Then went over to Erin and Jared's for a day full of Disney games (#nevergrowup), KFC, and football. To be honest? My favorite part of that Superbowl was Bruno Mars. I love that man, and am reminded how badly I want to see him in concert! The game as a whole was kind of sloppy, and hard to watch! But overall, I'm ready for a break from football. My who-dey heart is still a little broken!

Did I mention the 4 of us nearly finished this bowl of "crack dip"?!! 

All in all it was an awesome weekend. Caleb and I are definitely NOT taking this free time for granted. This coming weekend we've also got NO obligations and are so looking forward to it! I hope everyone found some fun to get into! :)

Happy Weekend!!

I'm so thankful that its Friday. Caleb and I finally get to enjoy a weekend doing whatever the heck we want. It may sound crazy, but for us, those just don't come around that often. I'm so excited to get home tonight and figure out what the heck we'll do. Probably get crazy and begin a new Disney puzzle.... ;)

Obviously, Friday is reason enough to be happy. However, I also got the chance to go to Ruby Tuesdays with our receptionist. She's the sweetest...always so positive, optimistic, and genuine. So I grabbed her for lunch one day and realized how much she needed it. Her Dad was recently diagnosed with aggressive pancreatic cancer and they've given him less than 6 months to live. I hate that she's going through this, but I'd like to think that for even a few moments, she wasn't thinking about all the darkness in her world.

I've been utilizing the other perks of Amazon Prime, other than just the free shipping! If you don't have the Amazon Prime music app - you need it NOW! I came across a ton of Colbie Caillat and I forgot how much I used to love her. I've got a pretty killer playlist going!

My sweet Greta also picked me up with HER OWN CAR this week. She's like a little sister to me, and I'm thankful to be able to make these fun memories with her. She offered to take me to Starbucks one night, so of course, I obliged.

Last night I spent an hour watching another free webinar. I'm pretty much in love with Katelyn James and every image she's ever taken, so gaining insight for FREE from her is an opportunity I can't pass up. I really can't get enough!

We also took a stab at cauliflower pizza last night and totally transformed a Pinterest recipe from pepperoni to buffalo chicken! We really did love it. I have to be honest, it didn't satisfy that "pizza" craving, but it DID taste amazing. But man, I miss carbs. 

Hope everyone has a lot of fun for the weekend planned, or a lot of relaxing, which is just as awesome in my book. Happy Friday!!

Getting a grip on meal planning.

last nights stir fry with homemade sauce!!

I don't know what it was about meal planning that intimidated me. I've posted about it multiple times, asking for advice, getting suggestions on how you all do your shopping, how often, what you make, etc.! It was all almost overwhelming that I'd end up just going to the store with no real plan but a list full of crap that would hardly last 2 weeks, and spend way too much.

Don't get me wrong, its not like I've gone the last 2.5 years of marriage without ever cooking. It's just been sporadic, unplanned, and somehow a lot of pizza delivery men show up at our door... ?!?! Pretty much everything we made wasn't by following a recipe!

So one day last week at work, I decided to use my lunch break to give it another whirl. I sat down for a full hour, dusted off the digital cobwebs on my Pinterest boards and went to town. I even had my colored sharpies out, you guys! I decided I'd start small and instead of giving myself restrictions based on cost or nutrition, etc., I decided to have no limits and just make it delicious and somewhat easy! This is what I ended up with for next week:

Monday: Slow Cooker Cheesy Enchilada Bake...because holy yum.

Tuesday: Lemon Garlic Dump Chicken (probably the easiest looking "recipe" in the world) + glazed carrots for our side.

Wednesday: Chicken Enchilada Soup OR some new form of stuffed peppers again - because I may want a break from all the chicken I accidentally incorporated ;)

Thursday: One Pan Balsamic Chicken + Veggies -- I don't know about you but if it only includes ONE PAN? I'm in!!

Friday (and weekend leftovers): Quinoa Chicken Chili - Erin posted about this recipe earlier this week and I immediately knew I needed the recipe. 1) I love quinoa. 2) sounded like there would be lots of leftovers...and with this cold weather lately, its the perfect comfort food to have on hand so we can eat it for weekend lunches!

So now I'm curious to know - what is your FAVORITE meal to cook for yourself/your family?

Finding my groove again.

Somewhere between our move, the psycho months of Sep/Oct and many 12 hour work days, I lost my self control, and found about 9 pounds.

Yeah. I'm not very comfortable in these work pants today, but its my own fault. Slowly, but surely, I've eaten out way too much, over-indulged in the office treats, and loaded up on the sugary drinks. Oh, and did I mention I've only made time for about TWO workouts the past two months? It's pathetic, really. I know, I know, 'life happens, Kayla', but I've pretty much exhausted that excuse. It's time to get back into shape. I miss waking up before the sun to get my cardio in, and I miss how accomplished I felt after a great run. I forget what it feels like for my pants to actually button without a struggle, and I'm sick of feeling tired/groggy all the time. Not to mention, my face has been breaking out like crazy. I've got to make some changes!

I was scrolling through my (Motivation) Pinterest board yesterday and saw this and something really just clicked.

A huge thing for me is learning proper portion control. I suppose I KNOW what a "healthy portion" of something would be, but I tend to want to eat a lot of something when I like it, and then hate myself for it. So silly! I'm ready though. I'm ready to treat my body the way it truly deserves. Knowing that treats are okay, in moderation, and that exercise isn't a punishment, but a blessing. Something else Caleb and I have vowed to get better with - meal planning. I've asked you all for tips before so I'm revisiting those and we're going to come up with an action plan this weekend on lists/shopping dates. We can't wait!

So here are a few fitness related goals for what I'm calling "NO EXCUSE NOVEMBER":

1. Run 12 times. No mileage/etc. I'm easing back into this and don't want to get too crazy. I've already run twice, so we'll see what I can do!

2. Try Insanity again. Caleb bought it a few years ago and we did it together all the time during our engagement. I'm hoping for those days its too cold to run outside, I can pop that in the DVD player and knock it out!

3. Stop eating past 8pm. I think this is a huge part of my bad scheduling habits. Some nights, like last night, I don't get home until well after 7, which means I'm hungry pretty late. I keep eating after dinner, mindlessly, while I edit. It's awful! Time to change that habit!

4. The Squat Challenge. I'm starting today so I'm going to see how well I can do!!

5. Try a few new recipes for HEALTHY dinners. Now that life is slowing down (thank goodness, I need it!!!) I'm excited to become a little more handy in the kitchen department ;)

What are your November goals?! Looking forward to what this month has to offer!
In other news - WHO DEY!!!! Can't wait to watch those Bengals hit the field again tonight! 

Weekend, lets do this!

If you read my post yesterday, you know we have a crazy weekend ahead of us. It started last night when I met an adorable couple downtown for their engagement session. Not only do they share in our love of Mexican food, they also share our initials and they really, really like to laugh ;)

....those little dots are gnats. Cute, right? ;)

I was really tired when I got home, but perked up when I walked in the door. WHY? Oh, my freaking amazing husband just surprised me with a filet mignon dinner. No big deal.

Today, we're about to shoot another gorgeous wedding, then have one tomorrow as well, then an engagement session Sunday night. If you're bored, try crossing your fingers all day for me? Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow and as cute as dancing-in-the-rain photos can be, we'd like to enjoy some sunshine with the newlyweds we're photographing! ;) thanks! Happy weekend!

FriYAY

When its Monday and I still have the whole week ahead of me, it feels insanely slow...but when its Friday and I'm looking back at my week? It felt insane fast! I had my first week of free time...no consultations, no appointments...just a few phone calls with brides and a whole lot of editing but you know what? It was glorious. I think I needed a week like this to hit "reset" on my mind/body. Caleb and I took a few long walks hand-in-hand, watched a couple movies (and way too many episodes of The Office) I even cooked dinner!! ;)

We enjoyed one of Caleb's last softball games last night and I even made it home before 10...but for some reason we felt like staying up to watch game 1 of the NBA finals so I'm still feeling pretty dead today, which seems to be a recurring theme for Fridays lately.

We've been spending a good 30 minutes before bed each night reading, its been awesome. Of course, I chose a love story, and Caleb some sort of history novel...but his sounds like one I could actually get myself into! I might have to snag it from him when he's all done.

Our besties came over Wednesday and we had some of the yummiest food in all the land, and they also brought us a few goodies! Including the best saltwater taffy EVER!

The night before that I got to go Downtown to watch I Love Lucy "live" at the Aranoff with a co-worker, we had so much fun walking around downtown, eating sushi + getting $2 cones!

Overall it was a really great, relaxing week. We have our EIGHTH wedding of the year tomorrow with a rock star couple that I seriously can't wait to photograph again! I hope you all have some fun plans for the weekend! Enjoy!!

Wednesday night adventures

I can't tell you how many awesome things happened this week... but probably the highlight? Doing our first HUGE Jungle Jim's grocery-shopping trip together. We go there all the time for odds and ends and on random Friday nights, but have never done a full trip. It was awesome...and we didn't spend nearly as much as we thought we would! Before that though, we went to a cute little local diner that we'd never been too for some grub.

{Funny story}...right when I got home Caleb said he'd cook up some pork chops. He used an old cast iron skillet my grandma gave me (its amazing) and a bunch of random seasonings. Well, the chops were abnormally thick, like...it was weird. Then he starts complaining about how the fan above the stove doesn't actually suck in any smoke and just blows air around. All of a sudden, like clockwork, there goes our fire alarm... SERIOUSLY?! It took us about 5 minutes to get it to turn off...and he said "Forget this, we're going out.".... I've never loved you more, babe. Just kidding, but this gal does love weeknight dinner dates. So anyway, we ended up at a cute diner, then grocery shopping for about 2 hours. It was the perfect Wednesday night.

Pretty much everyone needs a Jungle Jim's in their town. It truly makes grocery shopping more fun. It's seriously an adventure, every time we go in!

I'm also really excited to say we bought a TON of food for a meal plan I've been working on! I plan on taking full advantage of my crock pot in the next couple weeks!

Smile, friends!!! It's almost the weekend!

Can a girl get some help?! Meal planning 101.

I feel like with all these resources out there, and the fact that I've been married well over a year now, I should be some sort of wizard at cooking for Caleb and I by now. I don't know what it is, I just haven't grasped onto the concept of cooking for two every single night, having all the right ingredients when I DO actually have the time to cook, and even just that, finding the time. I feel like I need to be better at making my time right after work specifically about my marriage. Half the time we cook together, and then we can enjoy a dinner together at the table! However, Caleb and I have crazy schedules (both with work + personal commitments) so some weeks, we're not home long enough to cook a giant meal and actually enjoy it.

Remember this post last year about how I'd never used my crock pot? Yeah, so I wrote that on August 29th, and here we are...nearly a year later. Still haven't used it. I will be honest, I'm getting MUCH better at cooking in general, everything I've made us, we've loved, and following a (hard) recipe is even proving to not be so terrible... its just the PREP-work that I need help with.

I will say though, last night I made Mediterranean stuffed zucchini and EEK, it was amazing. Guys, at one point I looked down and realized I had a towel on my shoulder, Caleb looked up and said "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, a CHEF!", we cracked up, but for real?? These things were so good we went back for seconds and thirds, and I don't care how silly it was that I'm still proud of myself. I have actual freak-outs about how I don't think I'm a great "housewife" so I'm giving myself 7 golden stars for last nights dinner ;)

Pampered Chef creates wonders. This made my job so much easier last night!

How do you ladies meal plan? Is Pinterest your best friend each Sunday afternoon? Or do you literally sit at your kitchen table and write down ingredients from your fav cookbooks and just go for it?! I just need a little direction because I feel like its my organizational process (the part before the a actual cooking) thats just NOT that great. Also, while you're at it, I could use some yummy side dish ideas. Thanks, in advance!!!

Drool worthy cookies.

Yeah you read that. Let me introduce to you...BANANA BUTTERSCOTCH COOKIES!

Yeah, you're welcome.

All you need are 4 ingredients, and you probably already have them all. I literally can't remember if I've blogged about this recipe before, but you know what? If I have, twice can't hurt. These cookies are insane...and by insane I mean so freaking tasty I can eat 8 of them in like a minute.

All you need;

A box of yellow cake mix (any brand is fine)

Butterscotch chips

2 cups oats (I used whole grain)

3 large, very mushy bananas

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Get out a large bowl and mush the bananas together until they are at a paste-like consistency.

Then, add in the yellow cake mix. Only do a LITTLE AT A TIME, its a little easier to stir that way!

Add in 2 cups of oats (also do a little at a time), and to answer your question, YES its going to get very, very, verrryyyy thick! Like, you'll have a serious arm workout...I much prefer doing it this way so I don't have to spend 30 minutes cleaning out my kitchen aid mixer!

Last, add in your butterscotch chips. Use half the bag, or use the whole bag. Honestly, I use almost ALL of it every time!!

Once you have that all mixed up, place teaspoon sized (or just slightly bigger) portions on a non-stick cookie sheet. 

Bake for ONLY 12-13 minutes. No longer or the butterscotch starts to burn to the pan (trust me). Don't keep them in longer waiting for them to "brown" either, remember these are cake cookies and are supposed to be moist (ugh, that's my least favorite word...but I had too).

Once finished, remove from the cookie sheet and place them on racks to cool for 5-10 minutes! Once they are cool, you'll immediately want to place them in a sealed container to keep them soft!

This makes a ton of little cookies, so be hungry when you make these. Can't wait to see what you guys think!

My night out!

So I'm currently typing this from my room...which is weird cause I should be at the office. I decided to take a half day, since I didn't get home until CRAZY late last night...and tonight we have a "lock in" with the youth group at church...which means NO SLEEP for Kayla until Saturday morning at 10AM. I'm excited, though! Just sleepy :)

Onto more important things besides my sleep deprived self.

Last night, a co worker and I scored free tickets to see The Sister Act from our office. We found out last minute the show didn't start until 8 so we decided we'd frolick around downtown and grab dinner first.

We went to a semi-fancy joint called Via Vite, luckily though it was happy hour so I scored this monster of a pizza for $6! I ate about half too, which means lunch for me will be quite delicious.

I decided to text my girl, Ashley yesterday morning when I put this outfit on...her immediate response "UM! OUTFIT POST, TOMORROW!" -- girl. is. crazy. ;) this is the closest thing you'll probably ever get from me to an "outfit post". I don't pose well...I get super awkward...so I decided to take a shot next to the ad for the show? 

Seriously though, dinner was amazing...and SUPER cheap. I love being downtown. I've never been to NYC, but I'd say we have our own little slice of heaven down here. The nightlife, the food, the atmosphere, its really amazing.

Something funny happened right before the show started... Dana (my co worker) bought some junior mints to enjoy during the show...she got one down her throat, and the entire box.... one by one...trickled down the descending aisle way... we tried to play it off like we had no idea what happened. All the while I cannot breathe from laughing so hard, and an innocent woman says to her "Ma'am, did you see? Your chocolates fell!" HA. It was adorable, and we had to be all "ohh nooo, shucks!" ... we are not good at faking.

I love the Aronoff center though, its beautiful and the seats are velvet like they were in the olden days. The show was amazing... a funny comedy that I'd DEFINITELY recommend. I love me a good musical.

I know, its unbelievably red in there, but this is the best we could get.

This weekend I am looking forward to the youth group "Lock in" at church....

getting some MUCH needed sleep...and BUYING OUR WEDDING BANDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a good one, friends :) 

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Drool alert.

Since its the week of love...

Yesterday I was on Ali's blog about my favorite Valentines Day everrrrrr, it reminded me of how awesome it is to have a man who can cook so well.

If you didn't happen to read what was on Ali's blog... I talked a little bit about the amazing seafood lasagna he made for me. I know what you're thinking, seafood lasagna?!?!! But no, there is NO red sauce in it. None allowed!!

& yes, we each made one on vacation for my family (this was a few short days after he proposed...!!!)

Yeah the recipe called for a whoooole lotta onion!

We had so much fun baking together that night. Hopefully its always that fun! It got me thinking about my favorite foods of ALL TIME. Since food is basically the way to my heart, & since Insanity won't allow me to eat TOO much of my favorite greasy/fatty foods, this blog post will have to suffice:

Obviously, ice cream. Preferably in the following flavors; peppermint stick, cake batter, chocolate chip cookie dough, mint chocolate chip, oooor cookies and cream.

Duh, chicken wings. In buffalo, or sweet bbq. Is your mouth watering yet!??!?

OMGGGG. Chick Fil A chicken nuggets. I truly believe these are sent from heaven. Add a little polynesian sauce and I've got it made.

Crab legs. Okay now I'm about to cheat on my "diet"... I was all over these like nobody's business. If you look closely, I even have some crab meat on my chest. Really?!

Cinnamon rolls. I'm not sure how you CAN'T love these.

In case you didn't get the hint up there... our amaazing seafood lasagna. MMM!

Again, with the ice cream...

& I may or may not have saved the BEST for last....

Cream cheese wontons!

My goodness. Enough with the food! I'm gaining weight just looking at all of it.

Happy FAT Tuesday everybodddyyy.. Stay healthy ;)