Apples are all gone!

So as of Sunday, I have used up all of the apples that we picked. I made applesauce that strangely resembles apple pie filling. Ryan and I both do not like applesauce but for some reason we like this. (BTW it is great warmed up and served over ice cream!) Making the sauce was a great way to wind down Sunday afternoon and it made the house smell lovely!

It is really starting to cool down up here (with the exception of these last couple of days because of rain) and should be pretty chilly this weekend. I am excited to wear my new sweaters! I guess I should wear them as much as possible because soon enough they will be covered up by jackets and you will no longer be able to see their cuteness. Oh well. Ha!

The leaves are changing here! Its so beautiful. I am not use to seeing brightly colored leaves fill the yards. (since they are normally just brown when they fall off in FL) I feel like I am living on a movie set. All I can think about is the opening scene of Hokus Pokus. It just looks like the epitome of fall and THAT IS HOW IT LOOKS LIKE HERE! It seriously blows my mind. I really need to take some pictures so I can show all of my loyal readers (HA!) its beauty. But every time I see a beautiful tree there are power lines in the picture. Blah.

Oh, this past weekend we were invited over to watch football at our new friends' house. I met 2 more ladies! Yeehaw! I am so thankful to be meeting people. Everyone was so nice and welcoming. I felt like I had known them forever. Since then, I have been invited to go to a dessert party today and a soup swap this weekend. Soup swap you ask? Well each person that is coming is suppose to bring 5 cups each to give away and in return receive 5 cups of soup from everyone else. Yall, I am so excited! I just love soup and I am looking forward to getting new recipes. My freezer is going to be FULL! I am gonna bring taco soup. I just love it and I hope everyone else will too. Its inexpensive to make and it is sooooo good.

Here is the recipe if you are interested:

Taco Soup:

1 lb of ground beef, browned and drained

1 envelop taco seasoning

1 envelop ranch seasoning

1 can rotel (tomatoes and chilies)

1 can corn

1-2 cans of beans (pinto, kidney, black, whatever you have)

3-4 c of water depending on your taste

Combine all together and heat on stove until hot. Serve with sour cream, cheese, and tortilla chips!

Definitely try it, you wont be disappointed.

Anyways, I am counting down the days until we get to go home for 2 weeks! I cant wait. It has been way too long. I guess if I had a job, I would have already gone home before now. But maybe not having a job was just what I needed. I have had to solely rely on Ryan and because of it we have truly gotten stronger as a couple. I am very thankful for that, but a job would be nice too! I keep trying, so hopefully I will find something soon. The winter is fast approaching and it will be VERY long without something to do.

Apple picking

This past week, Ryan and I decided to go to the apple orchards and pick some apples. I thought that since it was pretty cool outside that it would be a good idea. We had a great time together searching for the best apples on the trees. We had a good thing going too. I would spot the prefect apple, Ryan would take a running leap into the tree, grab the apple and then hand it to me. This worked for awhile until Ryan started to get tired.

So we grabbed a apple picker and carried on. We ended up picking 17 pounds of apples. That folks is about 2 grocery bags of apples. I didnt realize how many we picked until we got them home and tried to put them away.

I quickly realized that we had a lot of apples to eat. Since then, I have made 2 pies and have eaten a lot of apples. But, we are running out, so we may be making another trip to the orchards very soon!

Happy Fall Yall!

Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall!

Hello to all of my loyal readers out there!

Summer here in Maine was beautiful. We had beautiful weather and we spent most of the days outside. Or at least I did because I spent as much time sitting on our deck reading in the sunshine. Whenever Ryan would be off duty, we would go to the lake or go hiking. We finally met some friends up here, so it made our outdoor adventures more exciting.

Yes, you heard me right, we met a great couple that Ryan and I both get along with! Meeting Sarah and Bret was an answered prayer. I thought we would never meet anyone! Since we met back in July, we have hung out together as much as we possibly can. We have similar interests and get along great.

Ryan is doing great at work. He is almost qualified on everything that he needed to be done. He is such a hard worker and people at work are noticing. I am so proud of him! He also put his name on the AET (aviation electronics technician) A school waiting list and he should be getting ready to head there this time next year. He is also pulling his OCS package together to submit by November 1. Maybe the 5th time will be the charm? Haha. God knows the perfect time for him to go so we are just patiently waiting.

Fall is arriving here in Bass Harbor. The leaves are starting to change and the weather is cooling down to the low to mid 70s. It feels wonderful outside. I cant wait to go apple and pumpkin picking. Ryan and I have enjoyed picking the seasonal fruits and veggies this summer. We also pick tomatoes off of our tomato plants that we have growing. It is a treat to see a little green blob on the plant turn red! Ryan and I get really excited when we see them! We are also growing bell peppers but they are not ripe yet. Ryan has totally blown me away with his green thumb this summer!

Here are some pictures from the summer...

Our gigantic tomato plants

The Blue Hill Fair

A rocky beach close to our house
I made this yummy blueberry pie from blueberries that we picked out of our backyard.
One of the many hiking trips. This trail was full climbing over boulders and going under them.

We made it to Maine

We are finally here. I cant believe it. The rollercoaster that Ryan and I have been on for the last year is finally letting us off. He is now a part of the United States Coast Guard. PTL! So we got orders to transfer to Southwest Harbor, ME. Once I found out where we were moving to, I started researching the area. I found out the Southwest Harbor (SWH) has a population of 2000. I was like "you have to be kidding me." But after the shock wore off, I realized that this is a beautiful location that people love to vacation to and I am get to live here. So I am trying to soak it all in and seize every opportunity to learn more about our new home.

So since we arrived on Sunday night, Ryan and I have been house hunting. I was so excited to see what our options were...at first. However, it has proven to be more of a chore than anything. It is hard to see all of these beautiful places to live and then see what our money will allow us to have. But I think that we have found some potentials.

From all of this house hunting, we have been able to check out the area. It has been nice to see all of the beauty around us. I have never lived in an area like this and I like the change of scenery. Ryan and I are excited to start hiking the moutains around us and start some water activities when the weather warms up. I guess we will never be bored here.

The pictures above were taken today in Bass Harbor. The weather cleared up and the skies turned blue so we took the opportunity to explore and take some pictures.

~Sarah

Update

We had a wonderful, joy filled Christmas and New Years! We tried to make it as normal as possible since we will be moving and have no idea where we will be this time next year. We started off Christmas by going to the Christmas Eve service at Flamingo Road Church. Wow! It was so awesome and totally blew Ryan and I away. After the service, we met my parents and went to my in laws for snacks and games. It was nice getting my parents and Ryan's parents together on the holidays. After that, Ryan and I went home and had our Christmas together. We figured that Christmas day was going to be too hectic to include our time so we did it the night before.

We stayed at my parents Christmas eve so that we could wake up super early and start the day. 6:45 came super early but we didnt mind getting up bc it was Christmas!!! After opening presents with my family, we had breakfast and headed to the in laws for lunch and presents. We had a great afternoon with them. Later on, we ventured back to my parents for dinner with my parents and grandparents. Overall, Christmas was a family shuffle, but good times were had by all.

News Years eve, our friends Brittany and Jonathan invited us to go to Destin and stay the night. We stayed at the Residence Inn SanDestin. It was sooo nice! We traveled down to Seaside and saw all of the beautiful homes and beautiful people! It was a nice day at a cool 70 degrees and going to the beach was the best way to spend the day. That night we went to P F Changs for dinner and then to the Baytowne Wharf for the evening. We hopped the shuttle back to the hotel and rang in the New Year there. The temperature dropped outside so we figured that we would rather be warm than freezing. NYE was nice and relaxing just like we like it.

2010 promises to bring about new changes for the Harrison family... Ryan is leaving for bootcamp on January 26th. He will be gone for 8 weeks and then we will be leaving Pensacola. :( We dont know where will be stationed yet, but we are hoping for South Florida. Ryan says that we will find out in the beginning of March. So for the next couple of weeks, he is packing up his belongings and I will pack up the rest after he leaves. I still have stuff at my parents house, so I have a big job ahead of me. But I am super excited about the changes coming...especially setting up our own house! Finally. This nesting urge is really getting to me.

I hope to upload some pictures soon.

~Sarah