Super Easy Yummy Pumpkin Spice Cake!!!

Ok so I made this super easy yummy pumpkin spice cake on Friday and man was it a hit! I was looking for a recipe to use more of my mom's yummy canned pumpkin and I think I found a winner. The recipe is sooooo easy; anyone can make it. You basically just put everything in, blend for 2-4 minutes, bake, and vhwalah, you're an amazing cook! Check it out!

Pumpkin Spice Cake II




Ingredients

* 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (I also added pumpkin spice)
* 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
* 1 cup vegetable oil (I only used 1/2 cup)
* 4 eggs
* 1 cup chopped pecans (I didn't add any)


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, stir together cake mix, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger. Make a well in the center and pour in pumpkin puree, oil, and eggs. Beat on low speed until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat 4 minutes on medium speed. Stir in chopped pecans. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes (mine didn't take that long), or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

I then put cream cheese frosting on top, but it's good w/out too ;)

FYI.............

Well, first thing is first, I have a new calling. I was sustained in sacrament meeting and set apart after church as our new branch Relief Society President. I was actually called a couple weeks ago, but it wasn't official until today. I also had 2 sisters called as my counselors, but still don't have a secretary. I had the opportunity to bear my testimony both in sacrament meeting and in Relief Society. Steve also is teaching our Gospel Principles class (now that we have an "investigator" and soon to be new member). He does a great job!

I met w/ my new counselors after church; we're going to work well together. I'm a little nervous, but mostly excited to serve in my new calling. I know the Lord qualifies whom he calls. Over the last couple weeks I have felt a great love for the sisters in our branch. Though we're in a branch, and a lot of us will be here only temporarily, we're really trying to get more unity and get people involved. I know we can get a more unified branch if we all just get involved and serve each other.

This evening we also had the Elders over to teach Ryan the 2nd lesson, the plan of salvation. The lesson went really well and Ryan is definitely ready for baptism. We are planning his baptism for this Saturday, the 20th at 11 am at our stake. We're really excited for him! Kind of funny, yesterday the Elders asked if Steve could just coordinate w/ the Relief Society president to make sure everything was taken care of. Steve said he definitely had it covered! Little did they know that I was actually going to be sustained today. So when they came over this evening, they were like, "Wow Steve you really have go it covered." Steve then let them know that I sustained today, so planning the baptism has actually been really easy. :)

Yesterday Steve and I went to the Worldwide Leadership Training meeting. It was good information and the new handbooks will definitely be helpful w/ our new presidency. Since my counselors weren't called til this morning, none of them came to the training. Afterwards, we went over to Steve's Grandma LuDean's w/ Rob. They helped put up the lights outside w/ Dave and I helped Diane w/ the decorations inside. It was fun spending time w/ them and working per say at the same time. Then last night we made some pizza and invited Rob over, along w/ our neighbors Dave and Melissa. We then played a couple games; it was a lot of fun.

Steve has been busy both at school and at work. He definitely liking his job and hopefully can start working full time come the new year. My work has been busy also. We have 2 weeks left of our campaign. So far so good, I just need to finish off strong and I'll qualify for another gift card, yeah ;)

Well, we hope all is well. We're praying for you. We are indeedly blessed. This is Christ's Church and He is definitely at the Head of it. The Lord works in mysterious ways. This is His Gospel! Here's a great quote by James B. Martino. "As we pass through the trials of life, let us keep an eternal perspective, let us not complain, let us become even more prayerful, let us serve others, and let us forgive one another. As we do this, 'all things [will] work together for good to [us] that love God' (Romans 8:28)." ("All Things Work Together for Good," Ensign, May 2010, 103)

Love ya,
Penny and Steve :)

It's November!!!!

Well can you believe it's November already? Man time sure is flying by. Here are some updates from this past weekend.

Friday Steve had to work late like usual. When I got home I cleaned and did laundry, then made some tacos and took them to Steve.

Saturday Steve had to work again from 9am to 10pm (long day I know). While he was gone I went to his cousin's kid's baptism w/ Dave and Joann. It was a really neat experience and the Spirit was strong. Afterwards, we went to lunch which was nice to spend more time together. When I got home I then did some grocery shopping, then went and dropped some dinner off for Steve on my way to the Temple. My sisters and I decided to go do a session together, but Pauline wasn't feeling too well, so just Rose and I went. We had a great time at the Temple; the Spirit was strong. We then went to Winco and did some grocery shopping. We then rented a Redbox and went home and watched it w/ Steve. Thankfully it was daylight savings, so we "gained" an hour.....since we stayed up til 2 am. :)

Yesterday we had church, which was also fast Sunday. It was a really good meeting. Steve and I both shared our testimonies. We also had an investigator, Ryan, there at church. He has actually been getting taught for about 4 months by other elders and just got turned over to our elders this week. He's been committed to baptism, so we're now just trying to work out the details. He started to study religion at school and his coworker suggested he read the Book of Mormon. Well after he started readying it, he felt the power of its message....and that's how it all started.

So, for Sunday school, we got together a group of people and had a Gospel Principle's class for him. It went really well. Steve and another branch missionary Otto taught the lesson; the 3rd lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then after church, we had Ryan over w/ the Elders. We just went over the baptismal questions. He really has a strong testimony of the Gospel it's amazing! The Lord really does work in miraculous ways. We're planning on the 20th for the baptism and are working on the details.

After the Elders left, I made some rolls and a chocolate cake. We then went up to Stacie and Phil's for dinner. They made a yummy roast, potatoes and carrots. We had dinner, played Blokus 3D, then watched Toy Story 3. It was fun to spend time w/ them and just enjoy hanging out. Here are some pics.

Here are the rolls


Chocolate cake w/ chocolate frosting w/ choc. chips, choc. sprinkles and choc. crunchies


So chocolaty delicious!


Stacie gave London a sprinkle and a little while after she was really fussy. We then realized that she was wanting more sprinkles. So instead of just giving her some sprinkles we gave her a small piece of cake. This we technically London's first piece of cake, but she definitely wasn't shy or afraid to get messy. Here are some pics of her adventure w/ cake.

Trying it, being a little conservative


Fistfuls


Both hands now


Then she got it in her hair


See! She did a great job eating it all up.....besides the parts on her face and in her hair! ;)


Steve is just about done w/ the kitchen, so I'll post those pics once we get it done. Hope you all had a great week and have an even better one this week! ;)

Halloween Weekend.....

Just wanted to post real quick and give a few updates. Work is going well for me. We're in the middle of our campaign and so far so good. I've been doing some over time every week to try and help with my numbers, which has paid off so far. I'm liking my new position and learning additional information on the workplace side. I also finished my Personal Finance class last week. I got full credit on my huge project and my final, which made me happy. Since I've taken 5 classes this year already and I can only be reimbursed up to $10,000/yr, I'll have to wait til January to take another class.

Steve started working as a Medical Assistant back where he did his intern a couple weeks ago. He works Mondays and Fridays from 3 or 4 til closing at 10 pm or until they get all the patients out. It's hard to have him gone, but it's definitely good for him to get the experience he needs and to keep up on his skills. We don't know how long he'll stay there, but it works with his schedule now so we're thankful for that. Steve's school is keeping him busy as well, which he'll be glad to finish up this semester with his Associates. We're still figuring out what he'll do next semester, maybe take a semester off and get a quick break.

Steve is still working on our kitchen ceiling, but hopefully he'll get that done this week. I'll post pics of before/after as soon as it gets done.

We met with the branch president last week to get our temple recommends renewed, then went over to meet with the stake as well. Steve and I got our recommends renewed together when we got engaged. I can't believe it's already been 2 years since we did that last! Man time sure does fly. We'll celebrate our 2 year anniversary in January as well, wow!

While I was meeting with the branch president he left he for a while, then came back and we finished our meeting. He then asked Steve to come in so he could talk to us. We just thought he wanted to talk to both of us about our temple recommends, but instead he extended a new calling to me. We were both a little surprised needless to say. I won't get sustained and set apart til November 14th though; I'll tell you more about it then.

Since Steve works Friday nights, I had Eve come over to hang out. I put in a Digornio Pizza and Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls for dinner, then we just talked the whole evening. It was really good to see her and visit.

Eve and I


Yesterday Steve and Rob helped Dave move stuff out of Jeff's garage and back into his. I went to the temple while they were doing this. We then went and took our mattress back (the one we bought right after we got married) since it's been giving both of us back problems for quite a while. They said it must be a defect in the mattress, so they're going to refund the whole amount. Unfortunately we had to order in a new mattress (different brand), so we'll have to deal with this one a little while longer.

After we got done with the mattress, Steve and I went and volunteered at the D.I. for a couple hours. We were supposed to be unloading the dock, but they didn't need us there, so we ended up sweeping under and rearranging the furniture section. We then came home, had dinner, and I helped Steve with some homework. Steve was really hoping we'd have some trick or treaters, but we didn't even get one...so sad ;(

Today after church, I made the Cafe Rio pork. It turned our really well actually. I put it in the crockpot last night and it was ready to go by this afternoon. We invited Rob and a couple from our branch to come over as well. I also made the lime rice, salad dressing, and had beans, tomatoes, cheese and lettuce to top the tortillas. All the pork was eaten up, so I guess it must have been good :)

Last week I cut my hair. I just wanted to change things up and try something new. Here are some pics.

My new hair cut



Another angle


Steve and I


A cute flower Steve got me a couple weeks ago when he left to go to the cabin

Cornbelly's Adventure

Last Saturday we went over to a couple in our branch for a "Halloween Party." We went over for dinner, then decided to go to Cornbelly's Corn Maze at Thanksgiving Point. It had been raining earlier in the day, so we went and changed into some boots since we figured it would be muddy. When we got down there, we went through the maze twice. First for "Phase 1" and second for "Phase 2." We got lost a couple times and went in circles, but we had a lot of fun. By the time we were done though, all of us had mud and corn husks stuck to the bottom of our feet. Here are some pics from our adventures.




Pig races


The boys playing in the corn box




Mud on our shoes after walking through the maze

Good times w/ the sisters.....

Last Saturday my sisters and I got together. Barbara and Rich came down w/ the kids on Thursday and stayed w/ Rich's uncle. They went to the zoo and stuff Thursday and Friday, then Saturday I met Barbara and we went shopping for a bit. That evening we met up w/ Rose and Pauline at Johnny Carino's Restaurant for dinner. It was great just chatting and hanging out. We then went to the mall for a bit, then Barb went and dropped off Abby and Brady once Rich got home (Rich was at Lagoon w/ the 2 other boys and his aunt/uncle). We then met at Target and again just had fun shopping, chatting, and playing around. Thanks for the good times sisters, and especially Barb for coming down. You're all the best! Here are some pics from our adventures.

Yes for some reason we decided to take a pic in the little boys section


"Trying on" big kid pjs


Yeehaw!!!!


Rose just had to try on the chicken outfit


Pauline in the banana outfit, Rose still a chicken ;)

More Condo Updates.....

This past week Steve decided to finally finish painting the bathroom, and while he was at it he painted the pantry shelves too. He had painted the first coat in the bathroom a year ago, but never finished because we were going to put up bead board, but changed our minds. I've been wanting to extend the shelves since we moved in (a little more space for food storage). So here are the updates.


The bathroom when we moved in


Added the shelf and 1st paint job


2nd paint job


Tadah!!!



Outside of pantry w/ ugly applesauce cake color on walls


New outside color and knobs (done last yr)


No paint


Adding the extra shelving


And paint...


Tadah!!!!!