Pumpkin Cake

So as part of my thanksgiving contribution I made a pumpkin cake!

It is nothing fancy or difficult to make. But I figure I have not done a food post about something I have made in a while (and lets me honest cooking has not been my thing lately)

Anyways here we go:

The ingredients!

Pumpkin Cake Recipe

*This makes either two 9 inch square pans OR a 13 x 9 (+) a 5 x 9 pans. The one at the shower was a 13 x 9 and I got to keep the 5 x 9 cake at home :) Putting the batter in one 13 x 9 would be too much.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

3 cups sugar

1 TBL baking soda

1 TBL baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

Sift all dry ingredients together in one bowl

In a separate bowl combine:

6 eggs

1 1/2 cup vegi oil

3 cups pumpkin puree (you can use the whole can. It's the bigger size can)

Add wet ingrediens to dry in a mixer

Spread into greased pans

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45min

Frosting:

1 - 8oz bar of cream cheese

1 cube margarine

1 lb powedered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients in mixer

*Note: Make sure the cake is completely cool before frosting. I usually bake the cakes the night before and make the frosting the next morning.

The final product!

I am thankful for...

Thanksgiving is tomorrow which means a day filled with meaningful time with friends, family and loved ones oh and food coma!!

I am so blessed to have so many things to be thankful for!!! This holiday is great reminder that when things seem bad they could always always be worse!

Here is my list of things I am thankful for:

10. "I'm grateful for the earth... I'm grateful for the stars and the sky..." no no I kid, I am grateful my life and health!

9. My car it seems silly, but honestly I am so thankful that I am able to have one and not walk everywhere. If anyone comes to visit me out here you will understand 100% what I mean.

8. My doggies. They are my constant companions and source of continued entertainment while I live in no mans land!

7. Technology. I know lame, but the internet, phones, movies etc. are amazing without it I couldn't post these blogs and keep friends and family who live far away updated on whats going on over here! Plus internet shopping is a life saver!

6. For football. Again a tad cheesy but honestly Mr. G would be miserable without it! He lives for coaching football and he just LOVES finding that special kid who was over looked to bring onto the field. Plus he pays the bills doing what he loves! He makes me proud.

5. Love. I love love.

4. My sister. She is my best friend. And she is awesome I could go on and on but I will let be known she rocks! She is going to be the best auntie ever!

3. My family. Both sides. They. Are. Awesome. Even at times when I seem annoyed or ungrateful, I am so thankful for them.

2. This precious miracle I am carrying. I am so in love with her and I haven't even met her yet.

1. Most importantly my husband... I am beyond thankful for him so I decided to write a little ditty about it...this is, therefore,

Ode To My Husband

Thank you for being you

For getting up early to go to work to support us

For wanting a partner, not a pseudo mother figure as a wife

For spending hours listening to me ramble about nothing important when you get home

For having such a vivid way of telling stories and keeping me updated on the "drama"

For loving me, even when I'm being selfish and tired

For thinking things through first and being a voice of reason when I get irrational and just being the rock in my life.

For doing all the man jobs.... like killing the bugs, chasing after the dogs, lifting heavy things etc.

We will have been together for 5 years and married 11 months next week, I am so blessed to have you

I am grateful for you!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

Weekly Update: 34 Weeks

WEEK: 34!!! 6 more to go!

MONTH: 8

TRIMESTER: 3

GENDER: Girl!

THIS WEEK THE BABY IS: Precious baby girl you weigh about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and you are almost 18 inches long. You little itty bitty fat layers — which will help you regulate your body temperature once you are born — are filling you out yay, making you rounder. You beautiful skin is also smoother than ever. Your central nervous system is maturing and your lungs are continuing to mature as well. Mommy's not too nervous about preterm labor, but rest assure little one that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. You might need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, you will do as well as full-term babies, but again mommy's not nervous about that at all! You come when your ready little one :)

SYMPTOMS: Just general uncomfortableness... rolling over in bed sucks, getting out of bed sucks, sitting to standing up sucks, sitting down sucks lol you getting my flow here?

CURRENT MOOD: Excited but stressed

CURRENT CRAVING: APPLE CIDER! YUMMY!!! I can't get enough of it right now!

CURRENT WORRY: Will this little one get head down before the big day! As of last night she was head up!

BELLY PHOTO HERE:

This little camera I have does not do the trees and their amazing color justice! But lets just say whatever color you see....lets say multiply it by 10 in its vibrancy and beautiful-ness (yes I really did use that word! What you gonna do about it?!)

*Sigh* I really wish you can see how the real color of these leaves...oh well use your imagination.

I am a California girl at heart and don't get me wrong when I say I MISS "home". But I feel like I have honestly missed and been deprived from this thing called "seasons". Sure California, gets warm, cool, a tad cold, and hot. But there is nothing like completely clear cut season changes like they do here! WOW! It is breath taking and I will for sure be sad when the winter cold hits and all the trees become bare and are no longer, orange, red, yellow, and whatever luscious colors are on these trees at the moment. But for some visual stimuli this is is just what I see from my condo...some of the colors along the high way are more intense than these colors!

Weekly Update: 33 Weeks!

WEEK: 33!!! 7 more to go!

MONTH: 8

TRIMESTER: 3

GENDER: Girl!

THIS WEEK THE BABY IS: This week baby you weight a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark whoo hoo! Your rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and your skeleton is hardening. The bones in your precious skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for you to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that a lot of babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) It is ok baby, I think you will be the cutest conehead ever!These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

SYMPTOMS: Besides the usual pubic bone pain and lower back pain. I now have KILLER heart burn! It is different than pre-pregnancy heart burn though. Also I now have cankles (they are so cute... not!) Also, have some crazy crazy dreams that don't makes sense!

CURRENT MOOD: EXCITED!

CURRENT CRAVING: Bean and Cheese burritos and Hot Chocolate!

CURRENT WORRY: As of now I am working on the final touches and making sure I have EVERYTHING I need before Mr. G leaves town.


BELLY PHOTO HERE:

Weekly Update: 32 Weeks

I know I know I am late on this, please forgive me :)

WEEK: 32!!! 8 weeks to go!

MONTH: 8

TRIMESTER: 3

GENDER: Girl!

THIS WEEK THE BABY IS: By now, baby girl you weight around 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and you are about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in mommy's belly! Mommy is gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to you baby girl. In fact, you will gain a third to half of your birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. You now have toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz) this makes mommy giddy! I can't wait! Your skin is becoming soft and smooth as you plump up in preparation for birth.

SYMPTOMS: Pubic Bone pain and lower back pain so now exercising is out, sad.

CURRENT MOOD: The anticipation is killing me! So excited!

CURRENT CRAVING: Bean and Cheese burritos

CURRENT WORRY: Hoping Mr. G isn't out of town when Baby G is born!

BELLY PHOTO HERE:

Randomness of life...

So, I couldn't think of just one thing to write about today so I decide to write about a bunch of random stuff... starting with..

Here is the football game at Liberty University... the school was sooo nice and beautiful and this school has fans who are crazy! It was 35 degrees and these kids had their shirts off and body paint! Anyways, here is the start of the game where LU returned the ball for a touch down. It hurt inside to start the game like this...anyways lucky me got on video... enjoy the heart break! (btw we lost)



A controlled fire I saw which was super cool! Check out the fireman laying on the ground watching the house burn! Crazy!




Here is me and my BFF at my baby shower...we are a month apart! How fun is that? Too bad I live across country :(


Baby P is running out of room in my belly!!! I am really counting down for those of you who don't know that!!!

We love dogs!

Honestly, this was us and our good friends and their dogs on our tennis court!

Don't mind my obnoxious laugh...




This is a video of our full house for the weekend! It was fun and the dogs were all very well behaved...well ...one small exception for Sherman's small accident!

WEEK: 31!!! 9 weeks to go!

MONTH: 7

TRIMESTER: 3

GENDER: Girl!

THIS WEEK THE BABY IS: This week, baby girl you measure over 16 inches long!!! And now you weight about 3.3 pounds and you are heading into a growth spurt... oh boy! You can turn your head from side to side, and your little arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath your precious skin. Little girl you are moving a lot, too, fortunately i have been sleeping through your kicks so you are not keeping me up as much as the pain I feel.

SYMPTOMS: Pubic Bone pain and lower back pain so now exercising is out, sad.

CURRENT MOOD: Tired...just like the first trimester all over again, motivation is gone!

CURRENT CRAVING: Hot Chocolate!

CURRENT WORRY: No worries this week, hopefully we will make our next baby class we only have a few left!


BELLY PHOTO HERE: