my very favorites.

this recipe seriously is a treasure of mine. these cookies are such a treat and i can't wait to share the recipe with you. make them and you won't regret it.

chocolate crinkle cookies

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup cocoa

4 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

confectioners' sugar

in a large mixer bowl combine sugar and oil. add cocoa; blend well. beat in eggs and vanilla. combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. add to cocoa mixture blending well. cover; chill at least 6 hours* in the refrigerator.

*or 1-2 hours in the freezer - the dough needs to be firm so you can roll them into balls.

heat oven to 350 degrees. shape dough into 1 inch balls and roll into confectioners' sugar. place 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. bake 12 to 14 minutes or until almost no indentation remains when touched. remove from cookie sheet; cool on wire rack.
oh man. i want one (ten) right now. bake and munch them up. and if you're nice you'll share with friends.

new toy.

ike's dream birthday gift finally came in the mail a few weeks ago. he has been talking about this sweet thing for as long as i've known him. he loves music more than anyone i know and he always knows all the latest stuff.

and now he can officially dj!

so if you need him to make your party jammin' - get at us.

st. georgie.

our little getaway was perfect. ike and i both got a chance to forget about school and work and just relax. i love vacations that allow some relaxation.

we drove down on thursday night and saw this magical rainbow! it was the biggest i had ever seen. so big i couldn't get the whole thing with my camera.
friday morning we slept in and went and had a late lunch at the egg and i. i was a little weary at first because i don't love eggs, but of course they had lots of delicious things on their menu.
i love him. and take lots of pics of him like this.

this hot choco was top notch.
my aunt and uncle let us stay at their very fabulous condo for the weekend and we loved it. i think isaac and i should invest in one in our future.
after breakfast we hit the pool for the afternoon and swam for a few hours. we had it all to ourselves, it was fun actually swimming instead of laying out. laying out is overrated.
for dinner we went to our fav, in and out! i was really hungry and made the mistake of thinking that i could eat a double double. oh boy was i wrong. i ate like 4 bites and was done. too much beef. but still yummy as ever.
after dinner we did a little adventuring and went climbing on the red rocks.
st. george is the perfect place to come hang out and eat yummy food. we had a really fun first day and hit the sack early to prepare us for our day in vegas...more to come!

success.

in less than 10 hours i will be back in schoolio like a foolio. my break was well needed and so much fun! but waaay too short. a 2 week summer is not enough. luckily with the pool at my apartment and some pool time in st. george i managed to get a little color. very little, but still.

here is a little list of some fun things i did...

1. got the hair/eye/dmv appointments out of the way. i am now officially emma joy westwood and my hair no longer has 3 inch roots! i feel like a whole new woman.

2. our trip to st. george/vegas was soo much fun. i can't get enough of isaac. i love it when we have no school/work to distract our fun. pics to come from our trip...

3. our apartment is officially organized and clean. it feels so great. i don't have bags of unpacked t-shirts lying around anymore!

4. i got so much fabulous sleep. and exercise time.

5. my mom and i had a hay day. we lunched at zupas numerous times (our new fav, i dream about the nuts about berries salad) and did what we do best...find amazing deals shopping! we also saw julie and julia. loved it. i was so inspired! i want to really learn to cook.

6. so i read la candy on our trip to vegas and i'm not ashamed to say i enjoyed it! i know, it's bad. now i'm reading a book one of my bff's wrote and am loving it.

7. my girlfriends are so good to me. we met up for lots of lunches, pool time and girl talk. steph and i saw the times traveler's wife - when i got home i thanked isaac for not traveling time. i have a love/hate relationship with that movie.

8. i baked reese's chocolate cookies, easy ice cream sandwiches, lemon squares and peanut butter cupcakes. yum yum yum.

9. we got to spend lots of time with family and loved it. once you're married you realize how much you take advantage of the time you get to spend with them. we went to isaac's cabin, attended a family reunion, had my family over for dinner, spent time with my cousin brian, visited my sweet grandma, spent time with ike's family, and are planning a big sunday dinner for his fam next sunday...lets hope the food turns out!

10. went to the free twilight series iron and wine concert at the galivan center. mistake #1 -craving kfc's chicken legs (a very strange craving, we rarely eat any fast food) and munching them before the concert. not a good idea. never again will we eat you kfc. mistake #2 - not getting there super early to get a good spot so we could actually see...and hear for that matter. i decided i don't like things with a lot of people. i asked isaac, "if i don't think this is fun does it make me an un-fun person?" he said, "no, it just means you like a different type of fun." indeed, fun where you have to pay a little to get in so so many dang people don't show up. next time iron and wine, next time.

us in st. george.

the break was a true success. i can't wait for the next one...

i'm pretty sure i have to learn how to put an iv in this week. i'm nervous.

temple.

here are the first round of pics from our wedding day. there are so many that i love so i couldn't do it all in one post, so i decided to break it up into sections - the temple, isaac and emma, and our wedding dinner. i hope you like them!