Our Memorial Day Weekend

Hope you and yours had a great weekend spending time with each other and doing some fun stuff.  Matt is currently at an Army school and aside from this four day week end we don't get much time off, so we wanted to make the most of it.  We are thankful that my younger brother was able to come spend some time with us.

This is how we spent our weekend:

A few delish meals were made, and this was my favorite I wanted to share with y'all

 

Lasagna Cupcakes by way of Plain Chicken.  So clever, so easy, so good!

We went to the Pima County Air and Space  Museum

Took a hike along the San Pedro River

It isn't often you see big trees in AZ, so we decided on a photo op.

Duece went for a swim in the river.  He did not like it. 

He also got a new toy...meet "The Squirrel". 

Crafted a little bit (kinda).

More on this later. 

And after all of it we decided we needed patio furniture.  Brace yourself...

Isn't it just adorable.  Mom, don't be jealous.  I love our new retro green glider/chair combo.

Fabulous!

Again, hope your family time this weekend was as great as ours!

Something Fun

I added a poll the left hand side of my blog.  Take a guess at what sex you think little baby Langford will be!

The Noo (New) Monkey-Loo

It's the new and improved Monkey-Loo!  

I am so excited that finally moved up into the big leagues (yeah right) with a great new blog design all my own. Maybe now I can quit switching every couple of weeks from background to background.

I owe a big thank you to Bailey at B's Blog Boutique, she does such a great job.  Aside from designing this great new blog for me, she also did it fast and was easy to work with.  If you are thinking about using someone to design a template/background for you, check her out.

I hope everyone enjoy's the new look!

How to have a heart attack and excitement attack at the same time

Today I invested in our future.  

While vacuuming the nice little Hoover Matt's mom bought us when we got married finally quick sucking, literally.  Actually if I wanted to describe it properly, it started blowing dust and pet hair back in my face, and that isn't a quality you want in a vacuum.

After a blessing from my husband I bought:

 

That's right, a Dyson baby!  Like how I called it investing in our future?  Hey, I have to put a positive spin on it.  They were having a great sale on Dysons at Best Buy, lucky me!  I did kind of cringe when the cashier asked if I was interested in financing....um, the fact that it even qualifies is scary, and I got the base model.  

Even after vacuuming with it one time I am in love and know that it was the right choice.

Happy Wednesday everyone and I hope your vacuum sucks!

Ramsey Canyon otherwise known as Chelle's Death Trap

Matt and I decided to go on a nice "easy" hike as it had been described to me by friends.  Pfsht....it was nice and easy the first 1/2 mile, until we started the slow climb to my death.  I was sure that at any moment Matt was gonna leave me in the dust as I had to stop at every bench to reassure my body that I was not trying to kill it.  Imagine a stair stepper on steroids that screams at you for trying to breath all while throwing poop in your face, that was this hike.

We did make it to the top, and it was nice and breezy.  Thank goodness going down wasn't going up.  Would I do it again? That is to be determined.  But here are some great pictures from our hike and proof that I actually did it and did not die.

Movie Palooza!

This week has been movie palooza for the Langfords!  And Matt, sweet sweet Matt, bless his heart, all were chick flicks.  He really is a good sport when it comes to movies.  I will admit that in the past I am...how shall I say it, a little inept at picking out a movie that deserves a rating over D, but this week I was spot on. 

Bridesmaids and Something Borrowed were both really cute!

Bridesmaids

Can ya dig it?

I can!

I didn't have high expectation, see above about my movie picking abilities.  The funny, fabulous, and sometimes incredibly awkward ladies made me laugh over and over.

Brazilian food anyone?

Seriously, I won't ruin it, but go see it and take your man because he will survive.

And tonight we were invited to go see :

Two things I love:

A movie with Kate Hudson (she can do no wrong)

A movie based on a book

Yes, this was the quintessential chick flick that at times had me rolling my eyes.  It wasn't a tear jerker, but by the end of the movie I was satisfied. I was sad that we had to part with $15 to see it and Matt's eyes and ears did not start to bleed.

I say all around a win!

Some changes are going to be coming to the blog over the next week or so, so keep your eyes peeled!

Bookmarked

I am telling you, you need to do more than bookmark this book.  You need to run to the nearest bookstore and buy it:

Heaven Is For Real

Wow, just wow!

I started this book in the bathtub last night, thinking, "well it will be good to read for a few minutes.".  I was so wrong, I couldn't NOT put it down.  Matt even started to feel ignored, but it was that good.  It was so honest and gave me chills numerous times.  As a Christian, someone who believes in the power of God and of the existense of Heaven, I was just blown away.

Faith is such an important part of life and this book to me re-affirms why I have faith.  I definitely think that God had a hand in putting this book in my life at this exact moment, I need to read this, I need to hear the story of Colton and his family.

It isn't a long read, coming in at only 154, but I promise you will not be able to stop.  

Shhh...there are black beans in the brownie!

No, I did not stutter, I mean, it really is healthy....er healthier.  Matt is a connoisseur of all things brownie, and today at school he had a really hard test that took all day. Also the past couple of days have been kind of rough at the Langford house and he has been so sweet.  I thought he deserved a home baked treat, with a twist.

I am always looking for ways to make the things we love healthier, so when I stumbled across the Black Bean Brownie recipe and saw it was roughly 40% of the calories of a regular delish concoction I thought, "why the heck not."  

Black Bean Brownies

One 15 oz can of drained and rinsed black beans

Add three eggs 

1/4 cup Cocoa Powder 

Pinch of salt 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

3/4 cup of sugar and 1 tsp baking powder 

2 tsp instant coffee (The Barefoot Contessa swears that coffee brings out the flavor of chocolate)

and 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 

You don't need a ninja for this part but I highly recommend it,  I love my ninja and it does  a freaking awesome job at blending stuff.  So, just blend all of your ingredients up until smooth.  I did notice that the chocolate chips were still chunky, but they will melt.  I promise you, the beans will be pulverized.

Bake at 350 in a greased 8X8 pan. 

And...TADA!

Healthy Brownie goodness.

The verdict:  I told Matt about my little secret AFTER he ate some, he said they were good, but once he knew there were beans in them, he said he could tell they tasted different.  Still good, but different.  I think he felt better knowing they were better for him.  So I say, trick your kids and your men...don't ever tell them your secret ingredient!

Where have I been?

I know y'all have been playing a game of Where's Waldo with my blog.  I picture y'all sitting there on your couch in your pajamas constantly hitting the refresh button until you see that I have posted something new for you to read.  Oh wait...you haven't been doing that?  Well, darn.

Have I been busy?  No.  Have I been sick?  No.  Have I been lazy?  Of course, you can read my tag line can't you, I am a lay at home wife.  However, for now, I have decided to get off my lazy and ever expanding rump and blog.  I am not going to make excuses. PSYCH!  Of course I have an excuse.

I am pregnant.  Surprise!  Okay, not so much of a surprise anymore but this is my excuse.  I have been walking a fine line what to blog about, and so I just err on the side of not blogging at all.  It is obvious that Monkey-Loo has no defining purpose other than to update friends and family on the exciting, silly, and sometimes mundane things in the Langford house.  With twins on the way, things are bound to get A LOT crazier.  I don't want to become a blogger that only talks about being pregnant and what my Dr.'s appointments entail.  Trust me, you don't want all the boring details.    

So there, that is my excuse, and why I have been in a blogging funk.  But I just finished off the french onion dip, so I am in a great blogging mood.  And that brings me to my next point.

This is the world's greatest gift to me (as of this week).  I do not even feel a little guilty for eating it, because it was THAT good.  

So in summary:

Chelle is not dead, even though her blog seemed to be.

Chelle is pregnant and lazy, no surprise there.

Chelle is sorry.

Chelle loves french onion dip.

When I get to Heaven...

I know that when I get to Heaven there will be streets of gold, but I am also pretty positive that the walls of my mansion will be made out of seedless watermelon.  That would make it possible for me to have a bite anytime I want!

My little slice of Heaven on a Wednesday!

I will not forget May 1, 2011

I had another blog planned for tonight, however...I definitely think this outweighs anything else I could say.

I believe that this will go down as one of those "Where were you win moments?" in history.

It gives me chills.