Hummus!!

Hello lovely friends, family and blogging buddies! I hope you all are doing wonderful today!

Today I thought I'd share a recipe I recently found for something that I have just become very fond of... Hummus. Holy deliciousness! We recently went to dinner at a Lebanese restaurant and had hummus as an appetizer. I've had it several times before, but for some reasons my taste-buds just went bonkers (yup I said Bonkers) and now I can't get enough of the goodness that is hummus.

So here's whatcha need:

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2- 15oz cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained.

2/3 cup tahini

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup olive oil

and add salt if needed.

In a food processor add all following ingredients. Process until smooth.

I downsized this recipe and made exactly half,

added a little EVOO and lemon juice to top and voila!

YUMMY Hummus!

Not to mention this recipe is so darn easy and it's really good! You should try it!

And guess what! I'm so excited because:

ZOMBIELAND

just came out on DVD today, and you bet I've already purchased it! Jon and I LOVE zombie movies and this one is definitely a buyer. Not to mention Woody Harrelson is a hoot in the movie!

I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!

Weekend Update

Hello lovely friends, family and blogging buddies! How are all of you today?? I hope you had a fantastic weekend!

We here at The Adventure of Jon and Steph, had a pretty laid back weekend.

Friday night Jon and I spent the evening on the couch watching Chuck. Our friend just got us hooked on it, and now we can't be peeled away from the television. It's such an adorable show!

Saturday I did some hairdos and afterward Jon and I ventured to Ikea. WOW, that was a ginormous mistake, as I think it was the busiest I had ever seen Ikea before. But we had to get some things for the house and since they serve the BEST MEATBALLS EVER we couldn't pass those up either. Later that evening our neighbors invited us over for a full Greek dinner! The wife is actually Greek, born and raised in Greece, so she was very excited to make us a special dinner from her home country. And of course we were excited to Greek food, because Jon and I have never really eaten it food before, unless you consider a Doner/Gyro Greek. (Wow did I really just write Greek 5 times in the span of a couple of sentences...)

Sunday we barely moved from the couch. I think it had something to do with all of the Ouzo they kept pouring in our glasses the night before. Whew... But we really had a great time. It's nice to meet fun and exciting people in another country!

This week we will be training hard, as we slacked a little last week! It's just been so darn cold and hasn't stopped snowing in like two weeks. COME on already with this snow!!

Jon got me a crock pot/slow cooker a couple of weeks ago and I am loving it. Talk about making life easy!! Except I am running low on recipe ideas...

Any one have any suggestions of some yummy slow cooker recipes?? I'd LOVE any advice!

It is so much easier to put something in the crock pot, and have it ready by the time we get home from training. We usually don't get home until 7 or later so it really is a life saver!

Hope you all have a wonderful Monday!

New Favorite Show

Hello lovely friends, family and blogging buddies! Hope all is well on your end of the world.

Today I have to express my love for my new favorite television show..... Dexter!

I HEART Dexter!

Seriously, this has to be one of the best shows ever. My mother recommended it to Jon and me, but I really didn't think much about it, until she bought us the first three seasons of the show for Christmas. Now, I am COMPLETELY obsessed. Call me crazy, but I love it. Yes, he may be a serial killer, and a little off, but I love his character, LOTS. Not to mention I BIG HEART Michael C. Hall. (So glad to hear his cancer is in remission!!)

If you've never heard of or watched Dexter, basically:

"The series follows the day to day events of Dexter Morgan's life, a forensic blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department, who also happens to be a serial killer in his free time. He was taught by his adoptive father, Harry, only to kill those "who deserve it"; mainly, other killers who have escaped the traditional legal system or were never suspected in the first place. It shows him balancing an everyday life with his secret identity all while keeping up a facade of normalcy."

Fantastic show! Always keeps you on edge and always action packed.

Check it out for sure...

and if you haven't stopped by our Running For the Orangs! blog yet, please do! We'd love to have you follow along! There, you'll find updates of our daily training for our 1/2 Marathon in May.

I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!

Running For the Orangutans...

Hello lovely friends, family and blogging buddies! How was your weekend?? Wonderful I hope!

Ours was a nice weekend! We got a lot done this weekend, bought a new grill, an indoor plant and some other goodies. I had to work on Sunday, but it was the perfect day to do hairdos, seeing as how the entire country of Germany shuts down every Sunday. We grilled some chicken last night on the awesome new grill and it was delightful. We don't even care that it's 30 degrees and snowing outside, we were just so excited to finally be able to grill again! Last year we got scolded by our German neighbor about the smell of our charcoal grill; she told us it stunk and to stop grilling! WOW, let's hope the gas grill isn't a problem this year!

On a very cool note:

Jon and I have started training for the Edinburgh 1/2 Marathon in May. We are running on behalf of the Sumatran Orangutan Society, or SOS. I am so excited to be running in our very first race, and not only running for us, but for this organization, it makes me feel like we are running for a purpose. We have always been huge animal lovers and when Jon came across this charity for the orangutans, he knew it was the perfect group to run for. We've started a separate blog specifically as a fundraising website for the SOS. If you get a chance stop by and check it out!

Click on the picture to see our blog.

You can also click on the picture in the sidebar.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Lovin' Me Some Castles

Hello dear family, friends, and blogging buddies! How are you all today?

Thanks for stopping by The Adventures of Jon and Steph!

First, I wanted to say a big thank you for all of the sweet comments about my photographs! You guys are awesome. I love taking photos and sharing them with you all, so it makes my day when people appreciate them! THANKS Y'ALL!!

Second, I wanted to share with you all our second day in Garmisch. We got up early Sunday morning and headed out to see the Hohenschwangau and Neuschwantsein Castles located in Bavaria, about an hour away from Garmisch. Both castles were built in the 19th century for Ludwig II. We had a scheduled tour of both castles, but sadly were not allowed to take photographs inside. I did however get a gagillion of the outside of the castle and the scenery. Here are just a few...

The Neuschwanstein Castle

Jonny D! and some scenery

The Hohenschwangau Castle.

The view from the castle.

Next we made the hike to the Neuschwanstein Castle. It's about a 30 minute trek up hill, but thankfully there was a bratwurst stand once we hit the top. Here are photos of the castle and some lovely landscape shots.

The view from inside the castle.

The view of the Hohenschwangau Castle

from Neuschwanstein.

This pictures were taken on a lovely bridge FAR off the ground! It was quite frightening, especially since the bridge was covered in snow. But what a fantastic view huh?!?

I hope you all enjoyed the photographs from our trip to Garmisch! and I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!

Adventure Update

Hello everyone! How was your weekend? I hope it was wonderful!

Ours was great! We took a weekend trip to Garmisch, Germany, as you might have read in my last post. We got up early Saturday morning, met up with a couple of friends, and made the 5 hour drive to the mountains. When we first arrived in Garmisch, we checked into our hotel, and left immediately for the Zugspitze. The Zugspitze is the highest mountain in Germany, at almost 10,000 feet! Once we arrived there, we took a cable car to the very top so we could see the incredible panoramic view of the mountains below. Here are some of my pictures:

Below are some pictures on the drive to the Zugspitze.

One we reached the top, this was the view.

And sunset on the Zugzpitze

If you've been reading for a while, you know my love for photographs on this blog, which is why I always post way too many. But I was so excited to actually get the opportunity to visit Garmisch because of the mountains, so I became this crazy picture takin' fool. This Okie is not used to mountains and getting to see these was definitely a treat. I was so thankful to be able to make this trip, it was amazing, and I did not want to leave. I look forward to going again, hopefully in the spring and do some serious hiking!

I hope you enjoyed our pictures!

We'll be back tomorrow with pictures from our second day in Garmisch!

Hope you all have a fantastic Tuesday!

Heading Out On Another Adventure...

Well hello family, friends, and wonderful blogging buddies! How are you all on this awesome Friday?

We are great! Very happy that it is Friday, because tomorrow we are heading here:

to Garmisch, Germany!

This Okie girl finally gets to see some REAL mountains! And I am totally thrilled out of my mind about this. For all you Okies, I'm sure you understand my excitement since we live in a very flat state, besides the one mountain we have... Mt. Scott, (but I wouldn't really call a mountain with a parking lot on top of it a REAL mountain!) Hey, I'm not knockin' Mt. Scott, I've actually hiked around it and it is a very lovely area.... not to mention the awesome winery that helped rehydrate me after an 8 mile venture! I'm just sayin' REAL mountains folks....

My mom and dad both have been talking about Garmisch since Jon and I moved to Germany! They've told us how incredibly beautiful it is and how we really need to go. But we've planned it a little better than they did... we actually got a hotel instead of just leaving on a whim and having to spend the night in a vehicle, awaking the next morning completely trapped in a snow covered car! Good times I can imagine, but a nice warm hotel with a sauna is more my style.

I will be back soon with pictures and hopefully be back on a normal blogging schedule! I miss reading about your adventures!! So again, please bare with me and perrrrty please don't give up on The Adventures of Jon and Steph ;)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Stay warm.....

Training Day

Well hello family, friends, and dear bloggers! How are you all today on this lovely Monday?

I'm not too psyched that it's already Monday and that my vacation is over...... but I have to say I'm happy to be back to work. I've got a busy week ahead, full of hairdos, which I so look forward to!

Not only is it a busy work week, BUT Jon and I have started training for our 1/2 marathon that we are running in May! I am so excited/nervous to be doing this. I am not much of a runner but a couple of my friends have really gotten me into it and I'm hoping to keep up with it. I am super excited because the race is in Scotland, which Jon and I have never been to, and both are super stoked to see. We started training yesterday, and even though it was freezing cold and snowing, we got our butts out there and ran. Here are some pictures I snagged on our outing.

Everyone please wish us luck on our training!

I hope to stop by your blogs soon to catch up and see what you have been up to! Be patient with me pretty please ;)

Back in Deutschland!

Well hello lovely bloggers, friends, and family! We hope you all are doing well.

FIRST and most importantly, I have a big announcement:

It's Jon's birthday!!!! He is 29 years old today.

Jonny I love you so much. I am so thankful EVERYDAY for you. You are the most loving, caring, and kind husband, and I am so very blessed to be married to you. Thanks for everything you do for me and our little family. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Now.......It is 3:43 a.m. on this lovely Thursday morning in Germany. We made it back safe and sound yesterday morning (Thanks to Sarah for getting us from the airport!!) We are now possibly 10+ pounds heavier, thanks to all of the wonderful American food and every bite was worth it! We had a fantastic time in Oklahoma and San Antonio, and we look forward to our next trip home. We just about did everything we wanted to do on our list and jammed in every restaurant where we wanted to eat; it was perfection.

I wanted to say a HUGE thank you to all of our families and friends for making our trip so wonderful. We are so blessed to have you all in our lives and love you so very much! We'll be waiting for you all to come see us in Germany...... so hurry and get those passports.

The last half of our trip we visited Jon's grandparents, aunt, and cousins in San Antonio. We saw The Alamo and the River Walk. We had some AMAZING Mexican food and ate like kings at his grandparents' house. It was such a nice adventure and the weather really panned out for us. I wanted to share those pictures with you guys.

Thanks for stopping by the Adventures of Jon and Steph! I can't wait to finally start blogging again and catch up with you all. A BIG hello to my new followers!! I am so glad you stopped by and find our blog interesting enough to follow ;)

The rest of this week we'll be getting over jet lag and the ginormous time difference of 7 hours. Thankfully Jon doesn't have to work today or tomorrow which will give him plenty of time to get back into the swing of things.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday!!

Christmas With the Fam

Hello lovely friends and bloggers! How is everyone on this wonderful Sunday??

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas!! Our Christmas has been a little crazy, due to "Blizzard 2009." Christmas Eve a HUGE storm came through Oklahoma and dumped loads of snow and ice on us.

A 40 minute drive to my dad's, took us almost three hours!! There is still ice and snow on the ground, and the roads are still a little iffy! And because of the storms our Christmas plans got changed. We had Christmas at Jon's sister's house yesterday, and now we are heading to my grandparents' house to celebrate with them. Silly storm! But at least we are getting to drag Christmas out and make it a little longer this year ;)

I thought I'd share a couple more pictures before we head out:

After the storm......

Preslie, Paxton, my mom, stepdad, and Savannah

My nephew and niece, Paxton and Preslie

Jon, my nephew Paxton, me, my niece Preslie, and my brother Sean

My brother and me

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I'll leave y'all with a silly picture of our tacky Christmas sweaters we wore for Jon's office party.