Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Leadership


Wedded Wednesday is a collaboration
of married bloggers sharing their inspirations,
anecdotes, struggles and thoughts regarding
the amazing union of two separate people, as one.
Check out the other Wedded Wednesday bloggers at Marital-Bless


Today's Wedded Wednesday post comes out of some of the discussions that Hubs and I have been having lately. There have been a lot of talks of family and relationships and kids and the future and I've been convicted to really focus on building my husband up with words of respect, submitting to my husband and encouraging him to continue to lead our family without fear of being wrong and getting an "I-told-you-so" from me.

It just works SO WELL when one of us takes lead and we would both prefer it to be him-I much prefer behind the scenes action and we both lean towards the traditional biblical roles of marriage. As we talk about the future and decisions that need to be made, frankly some of them, I am more than happy to let him make, and others, while I know we will discuss and I will have a say in them, I am more than happy to let him implement them! It's so easy when the grumpiness takes over and we're both feeling drained, to start nitpicking at one another and being cross, shutting down the communication and stalling our relationship. When this happens I definitely have a tendency to be too hard on him and even downright mean (though that's not my intention). Hubs is such a patient man and so kind and loving towards me that sometimes I take it for granted and start thinking that he's so nice to me because really I'm just always right.....HAHAHAHAHAHA! Riiiiiiighhhht!

Currently, I am reading the book "The Power of A Woman's Words" and can I just say that I think that book was written for me? I'm not too far into the book yet but so far what I've read has made it abundantly clear to me that I need to be more careful with my words in order to respect and honor my husband. While I am always careful what I say about my husband to other's, I think I could do a better job with how I relate to my husband. Sarcasm is not ALWAYS necessary... I am excited to finish the book and draw as many nuggets of wisdom out of it as I can! Has anyone else read or heard of it? I believe the author is Sharon Jaynes.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Resolutions

As 2009 draws to a close and we begin to start the new year, the excitement begins to build for me, as it does every year. I love the chance at a fresh start, a new beginning, a chance to start from scratch and do it right, it just seems like the world is full of promise. While I realize you can make resolutions anytime of the year, something about getting through the holiday craziness and the need to clean out all the old junk to make room for the new prettier junk (and I mean this in the kindest way possible-I love ALL my beautiful gifts Babe!) seems to make the new year the perfect time to make goals for myself. Plus, add in the fact that January can seem pretty dreary otherwise, it seems like the perfect time to really focus on creating better habits or doing more/less with my time.

Last year this time, Hubs and I weren't even together, rather we were separated by work, flying all over the place and barely getting a phone call in to each other much less getting the chance to sit down and talk about our goals for the coming year. Really our only goal was to just get through life without drowning and try to hold on until we could leave to find jobs that allowed us to live. This year, things are drastically different and Hubs and I were super excited to talk about what worked this past year, what didn't, things we hoped to change and things we really liked. In many senses, 2009 was a looooooooong year, filled with A LOT of change and drama and things all over the place. This year, we're hoping for a little more stability. :) Here is the list we came up with as our "couple" goals:

Financial

  1. Pay down 2 more student loans.

  2. Increase savings up to specified amount.

  3. Institute 4 monthly spending fasts, guidelines to be specified before fast begins.

Spiritual
  1. Daily prayer time (individual & couple).

  2. Weekly bible study (couple).

  3. Weekly fellowship.

  4. Memorize 1 scripture each week as a couple.

Relational
  1. Go on a weekly date.

  2. Visit 3 different States/baseball stadiums.

  3. Create a family plan & update timeline accordingly.

  4. Make our living space (regardless of where it is) more of a home.

  5. Monthly Goal date.

Health
  1. Stick to new fitness routine.

  2. Run at least 2 5ks.

  3. Once a working kitchen is available, cook a minimum of 5 days a week (2 of which Hubs executes) & post menu each week!

  4. Create weekly Lunch Menu Gourmet Options.

Misc.
  1. Organize all photos digitally online & back up to external hard drive.

  2. Organize all music digitally & back up to external hard drive.

In addition to the above goals that we created as a couple, we also each made up our own individual goals. Some of the individual goals corresponded with the couple goals and some were separate. No need to post hubs goals, ;) but I'll post my own here and I hope you all will hold me accountable!

Individual:
  1. Change my name

  2. Blog 4-5 times a week

  3. Update my new style blog daily.

  4. Adopt better habits by following Hubs and my newly-created reward system!

  5. Create a photobook for 2009

  6. Finish scrapbooking past cross-country camping trips.

  7. Finish drafting cookbook.
*Phew* that's probably a lot but I am super super excited to begin! In fact, I may have already begun "practicing" some of the items on the list in an attempt to get in the groove early. Plus, Hubs and I are still deciding what book we want to tackle in our couple's study. We are thinking of using Gary Chapman's newly written "Marriage You've Always Wanted" but suggestions are welcome!

Anyone else making any resolutions or goals for the coming year? Anyone else get as excited as I do?

Monday, December 28, 2009

Mia Joie Giveaway winner

Annnnnnnnd the winner is.....

Meredith from Life Love Shopping (after you go back and add everyone's extra entries in)!!! Congratulations! Please send me an email at your convience with your address & which pair you would like! Thanks again to all those who participated, I have another giveaway coming up once we return home from our VT trip!

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Surprise!

Happy ACS! (otherwise known as After-Christmas sales) I will have a much longer Christmas post for you later but in the meantime I thought I'd leave a note letting you know that for those of you chomping at the bit to find out who won the Mia Joie giveaway, I will announce the winner tomorrow! I just need to go back and get a final count for those of you who had extra entries. Oh, and also to show you this:



Please excuse the lousy self-portraits as I was walking in the door from getting it styled!

I cut my hair! You all may remember this post a few months ago when I was throwing around the idea of chopping it off. Well, time has not been on my side since, I've been too busy running around all over the place and so it just stayed up and pulled back for most of the time. Today I just decided, to hell with it and took the scissors and chopped it off before I could change my mind. I figured once I chopped it off, I'd no longer be able to back out on going to get it styled and would actually do something about it. :) I should point out that while I did the hack job, I had someone else add some layers! It was a bold and gusty mood on my part-seeing how I usually do change a little bit more gradually. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, I cut off nearly 18 inches! I think I'm still in shock at this point...that and I feel like I look like I'm 12! I remember doing this when I was 13ish and I was depressed for about a week. Today I kept catching myself off guard every time I'd go to run my fingers through my hair or catch sight of my reflection. I'm just hoping this won't be one of those new years resolution/change types of decisions that I regret! I guess we'll see how long it takes me to get used to it!

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas!

Well I was one of the few that went into work this morning, I went in for an hour or two and does it make me sound like a workaholic to say that I'm so glad that I did? I went in a little later, there was NO traffic-the roads were empty, I was very productive because there was no one else around to interrupt my work and why waste a whole day of time off on an hour or two of work?

After work I had to run out and grab a replacement Angel Tree gift for one that was stolen, first time I've ever shopped on Christmas Eve and DEFINITELY the last, there was WAY to many men and sons out starting their Christmas shopping (I seriously thought this was a bit of an overdone stereotype but I have realized that I am just VERY VERY blessed to have the husband that I have-love you babe!).

With that, my family awaits-dinner is served, the fire is lit, the snow is on the ground, the board games and Christmas programmings are set-up and ready to go, so I will leave you with a picture of our scraggly little tree, Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to everyone! I hope you all have safe travels!


Monday, December 21, 2009

It's Gonna Be A White Christmas!

Well! This weekend was an absolute doozy! Friday night Hubs and I enjoyed a fondue Christmas party with friends. We did a white elephant exchange of sorts and Hubs and I walked away with a Texas Hold'em video game and a charger station of sorts (it was a "junk" exchange). At the end of the party, we walked out to snow already coming down but we were able to make it home before the roads became too dangerous. It was so nice to pull in and know that we weren't going to be going anywhere for awhile!

Saturday we slept in late (which was GLORIOUS! I intend to enjoy this to the greatest extent possible before we have kids!) and woke up to 14 inches of snow already on the ground with more snow continuing to fall fast. I went out and measured at lunch and we were up to 16 inches.


Our original plan had been to stay in all day and stay cuddled up in the blankets by the fire but I decided to go outside and take a couple of shots of the snow gorgeousness and while I was out, my little tag-along buddy (brother #4) and I decided to try out the sledding. The snow was so perfect that Hubs and all the other kiddies (brother #1-3 plus sisters #1-4), decided to come out and join us. We had several hours of very fun and fast sledding. I don't think I have laughed so hard in months! There was a whole of screaming, yelling, snow ball fights, snow angels and sledding crashes. I don't think I've gone out and played in the snow for years so it made for some lasting memories for all the little kiddies who are too young to remember me playing out in the snow with them back before I left for college. I don't have any pictures of the sledding action because we were sledding too hard and fast to be toting cameras around, it was too cold to keep the camera out and we have too many acres to be running back and forth from the house. But I do have pictures of the land and driveway, you can see our "main drag" in pictures 4 & 5 where we had the most amazing sledding (you can click on any of the photos to make them much larger).






In case you were wondering, this is not a road! It is actually approximately half of our driveway (all the way down to the pole sticking out in the middle of the photo there), the other half I didn't get any pictures of. Needless to say, that's A LOT of shoveling. The roots from all the trees in the woods have caused ruts and ridges in the driveway so that it can't be plowed effectively. The driveway is more than a quarter of a mile long, multiply that times the 2+ feet of snow, and you're looking at a doozy of a back workout.







This is some of the back acreage, the snow just looked so beautiful. This is only about half the snow we received overall, I took these pictures mid-morning on Saturday! It was so nice to come in after the snow, grab a cup of french vanilla hot chocolate with marshmallow fluff (my favorite!) Carmel cowtails and cuddle up and watch Christmas movies, which included White Christmas, an absolute classic Christmas movie and one my family and I always love to watch together. Anyone who has seen the movie knows of the famous "Sisters, Sisters" routine that is performed by Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen, as well as the mock routine done by Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye. Let's just say we've got several old home videos lying around of my sisters and I performing that song and then singing background while my brothers did their own mock routine. Yeah......definitely one of those blackmail home video types! The remainder of the day was spent playing cards (spit), board games (apples to apples), cooking a fabulous dinner of Chicken a'la king and beginning the '09 Digout!






As you can see, we had a lot of work ahead of us! Sunday was spent alternately shoveling, giving/receiving back massages for all the sore muscles shoveling left behind and checking on the Raven's football game. We ended up with 26+ inches, we eventually gave up measuring-it was too depressing when we started thinking about the shoveling. Our remaining Sunday evening we tackled all of the wood-filler for the hardwood floors so all that remains is the final sanding before the stain! *Phew* that was a busy weekend! How did everyong else fair during their weekends? Did you experience any big snow fall? Stay in? Big party plans?

Friday, December 18, 2009

TGIF

Well, the weekend is nearly here, *phew* can I say that I am so relieved? This week has seemed particularly long! I'm sort of sad that Christmas is a week away, I am not ready nor have had I had time to relax or enjoy the Christmas season one bit. I've felt like the Grinch but have been too tired to do anything about it. In some ways I think Christmas came too early this year. Retailers & radio stations started with the music and decor beginning of November and I loved it at first but kept telling myself I had plenty of time and should hold out on the movies, presents, etc. For the past week or so, I find I'm sick of Christmas music, whaaaat!?!? How is that even possible? I love Christmas music and sometimes will even sneak it in in July for a little half-year preview! During my commutes I end up constantly flipping through the radio to find stations NOT playing Christmas music. What a scrooge....

I had hoped that this weekend would get me in the mood as we had plans for Christmas with my Grandparents & tickets to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular (our annual tradition) but the MD/DC/VA area is expecting a foot of heavy snow starting midnight tonight and snowing all day tomorrow into Sunday morning...so we are now revamping our plans to include hot chocolate, a big pile of comfy blankets, a cozy fire, Christmas movies, cuddling & wrapping presents. Sounds nice doesn't it? I guess we'll see how it all pans out, I really don't like going out in bad weather, even if the roads are clear, people just drive too stupid around here. I'm also hoping to get the living room floor sanded so that the sanding is DONE! Wouldn't that be a nice Christmas present to have such a big job crossed off the remodel list? Of course, I don't think Santa is bringing me the 60 degree weather we need to polyurethane the floor but you never know!

Anyone have big plans for the weekend? Anyone else on the east coast expecting to be absolutely dumped on by this big storm? I suppose if you look on the bright side, it means we'll have a white Christmas!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Teamwork


Wedded Wednesday is a collaboration
of married bloggers sharing their inspirations,
anecdotes, struggles and thoughts regarding
the amazing union of two separate people, as one.
Check out the other Wedded Wednesday bloggers at Marital-Bless

The hubs has had a lot of hockey games as of late with playoffs and the championship wrapping up last night, so with all the teamwork I've been observing as of late I thought I'd discuss the topic for this week's Wedded Wednesday! Now you might be thinking I'm going to start discussing his team's teamwork to go all the way but I'm actually referring to the teamwork that it takes behind the scenes to make the hockey happen for him.

Now, first off I can in no way take any credit for his skills or how many goals he scores for me (side note, let me take a moment to brag on my husband: I asked for five goals Monday night and he gave me six PLUS three assists! So sexy babe!) but I was reflecting on how much effort and time it takes out of both of our "free time" to take part in all the hockey. Granted, I could choose to stay home and work on other things rather than attend but I know how much hubs loves having me there and cheering him on (I may have torn one of the stitches in my mouth with all the yelling I did over the last couple of games) and how important that is for him so I do everything I can to make it to his games. Plus he's so darn sexy on the ice that I love going and watching him play. However, his games can run very late....and I really do mean late, typically starting between 9:30-10:30 PM! Add approximately 2 hours for a game, 20 minutes cooling down and changing out of gear and 30 minutes drive home and it can make for some VERY late nights...please keep in mind we are both old fogies and our "normal" (read: hardly ever) bed time is 10:30. When you start adding back to back games, week nights and weekends in addition to all the other busyness of life (read: wisdom teeth, CHRISTMAS, birthdays & other such frivolities) it can be tough to get it all done.

Now, it used to be when we would get really busy we'd start to loose that close connection between the two of us that would lead to A LOT of miscommunication. It's an area that we've really worked hard on and I'm proud to say we're improving! Hubs is learning to relax on his need to be on time to everything and I am learning that if I can't get it all done in a day than maybe it's too much and I need to let some stuff go! With all of our craziness and late nights lately, I've been so grateful that we've been able to keep the lines of communication open and keep our relationship close. Having someone else working side by side with you towards the same goals is really fun! I find myself looking back and thinking I had no idea that marriage would be so fun in this area, I mean I knew it was going to be fun but who knew that chores & to-dos could be fun? Maybe I was the only ignorant one...

Anyway, I thought I'd give an example of our FANTASTIC teamwork this past hockey season/couple of months:

My role in our "marriage team" on hockey nights is:
1. Dress very very warmly (read: turtleneck, cashmere sweater, hoody dress, two jcrew sherpa hoodies with all three hoods up, thick scarf, gloves, thick blanket doubled & wrapped around body, etc.)
2. Remind hubs to tape his sticks BEFORE we leave for the rink while we're doing things at home like watching TV so he gets more stretching time.
3. Mix up a protein drink for him after he gets off the ice.
4. Give massages for all his gorgeous muscles before & after games. (I'm sorry is that TMI?)
5. Drive home after the game so hubs can relax.
6. Force the husband to spend money on new hockey equipment when he clearly needs it.
7. Threaten to buy pink sparkly skates if he doesn't buy a new pair within the next month (YOU HEARD ME BUSTER-YOUR TIME IS TICKING!)
8. Keep the 6-packs of sticks continually shipping to our house.
9. Make sure hubs has something good to eat long before his game.
9. Wear the Ugg boots that hubs bought me so my toes stop freezing at the rink.

Hubs role is:
1. Make our lunches for the next day of work to save us 5 minutes of sleeping in time the next morning when our bodies are screaming at us for staying up so late.
2. Reminding me that's time to go NOW and not in another five minutes after I put on three more layers.
3. Making sure that at least one blanket is packed in the car for me.
4. Packing up all his gear and loading it in the TRUNK so that the smell doesn't permeate the rest of the car.
5. Eating good food before his game.
6. Buying ugg boots for his poor wife's freezing numb toes.
7. Telling his wife that no, the ugg boots don't look like moon boots or ridiculous and that she looks cute in them.
8. Telling his wife that no, he is not embarrassed at all when she yells and cheers the whole game. (secretly he is either thrilled or humiliated...I haven't determined which yet)
9. Suffering through buying new equipment and having to break it in... (I know...pooooor baby)
10. Keeping wooden hockey sticks in style!
11. Scoring goals and making hockey the sexiest sport ever, oh yes, and making it look GRACEFUL & EASY at the same time.
11. Lastly, making the other teams very very afraid of his mad skillz.

See! We make a good team! :) Of course there are plenty of other areas where we are working on our teamwork but hockey has been about the only thing on my mind these days...that and my bed! Hubs and I are super excited to have a few date nights to discuss our goals individually & as a couple for the coming year, I think it'll be a great way to work on our teamwork together! But now, let's hear your favorite examples of teamwork in your relationships!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Mia Joie Giveaway!

Our next giveaway features some items from one of my favorite etsy discoveries and someone who I call a true friend! One of the loveliest people you could ever talk to and also the most talented and creative person I have ever had the pleasure of "meeting" (emails, phone conversations and blog reading/commenting back and forth count right?) Her name is Jessica & she is the creator & designer behind Mia Joie!

Now, I know not all of you have kids so this giveaway may feel a bit more limiting but I've really been wanting to giveaway a pair of Mia Joie couture baby shoes on here ever since I bought my first pair (and anyone can win so if you don't have any kids you can give them away or keep them for future years down the road)! The winner can pick one pair from the following selections! Your options include:


Faux Leather booties: size 3 (fits 6-12 month old)


Fuzzy boots: size 3 (fits 6-12 month old)


Ladies, this is hand's down my favorite place to buy baby gifts from and her items are AMAZING Quality. For those of you who don't have kids, her items make excellent gifts, I can definitely vouch for that! (seeing as how I don't actually have any kiddies yet but I buy & gift tons of her items-yes, I am guilty of keeping some for our future little ones too) And don't worry! I have even more giveaways coming your way! There may or may not be some cooking-related ones in the very near future!

To enter:
Leave me a comment telling me what you'd like to do with the shoes if you win them!

For Extra Entries:
Become a follower (you can also leave the extra comment if you are already a follower): leave 1 extra comment
Tweet the giveaway: leave 1 extra comment
Blog the giveaway: leave 2 extra comments

Make sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do! I'll keep the contest open until Midnight EST Wednesday, December 23rd.

*Just a small disclaimer, I did not ask Jessica to give me either of these pairs of shoes to giveaway, I purchased these items from her for the sole (haha, no pun intended) purpose to giveway and share the amazingness here!*

Monday, December 14, 2009

I Survived

Well folks, I survived...boy am I glad to have that over with! I ended up being put under but there's a little funny side story in all of this...

See, I wasn't originally supposed to be put under, they were just going to shoot me up with some laughing gas, I was just going to feel "pressure" and we'd call it a day....then they started talking cutting the gum and using stitches and asking how brave I was.....yeah, I said I was a chicken and put me under! :)

I couldn't eat for six hours before....well by the time they got around to getting me in there and getting the appointment started they were running very behind...nearly 3 hours behind in fact! So I was going on nine hours without a drop of liquid or a crumb of food in my system....plus since I wasn't able to eat or drink starting at 7:30AM, I'd only had time to eat an egg sandwich and a glass of water.....so I didn't have much to go on! Needless to say, they didn't even get that needle in all the way before I was passed out! :) They let hubs stay in with me until I was passed out and then when I woke up in the recovery room, he was already there, so that was super nice! He held my hand and made me cry when all I wanted to do was lay down and go back to sleep and he had to keep me from doing that....awwwwww, poor hubs ladies! I felt so bad later on, but I had so much trouble coming to, not eating for 9 hours will do that to you! Apparently though, my love of shopping doesn't leave me even when I'm under the influence of narcotics! :) I was apparently "spelling" words to the hubs in the air with my finger, telling him I wanted to go shopping through my tears. I believe I asked for Nordstroms, Anthropologie, Martin+Osa & Jcrew...how could he say no, right?

Haha, so the hubs took me down to the mall, my mouth was still stuffed with gauze because it took several hours for the bleeding to stop. We communicated via a series of grunts, hand motions, air "spellings", paper and muffled words, hehe, he did all the translating to the sales associates! Can I just say I have the most amazing husband EVER? So caring, so thoughtful, so understanding..... He got me a cardigan and shirt at Jcrew (they are fabulous and they were on sale!), two shirts that I've been in love with at Anthropologie, and six, SIX, GORGEOUS cashmere sweaters & cardigans at Martin+Osa, they are amazing and I love them! He also bought me colored tights and leggings at Martin+Osa that I've been wanting to try for awhile! We never made it to Nordstroms but I was content, getting tired, we needed to get my prescriptions filled and I needed to figure out substance....needless to say, I giggle every time I think about the story of my "air spellings" and I just have to call my husband and tell him I love him every time I think about it!

*Edited to add some pictures of what hubs bought me:*

Jcrew items he purchased for me (my cardigan is a bit more burgundy/winish color but I love the long length, it's perfect for leggings!!!)



One of the two Michael Stars College Ruled tees he bought me (comfiest t-shirts ever!)


Some of the Martin+Osa Items He purchased:






*End of Edit*


Saturday I discovered the power of pain killers. Now, don't get me wrong, I've experienced the good ole vicaden and percoset before so I know that stuff can be dangerous but this stuff was some generic 500mg brand that had ingredients similar to Tylenol so I figured it wouldn't be too bad, HAH! I took one Saturday morning and then processed to stuff myself with the breakfast deliciousness that my dad had cooked: pancakes, scrambled eggs, turkey bacon & home fries! (keeping in mind folks, I was supposed to be on a liquid/soft diet for a minimum of 24 hours) Then I went out and spent the next several hours sanding our floors with my dad, hubs and several siblings and we got the whole house done except for the living room, which we couldn't do because that's where we had moved all the stuff to. Ladies, we did several rounds of sanding by hand and they look INCREDIBLE! I am in awe of all that we were able to accomplish, I am also in awe of the fact that I was feeling GREAT after all this was done. I proceeded to go inside and wrap a ton of Christmas presents that needed to be delivered to the church the next day, ran an important errand and all of a sudden, *bam* pain killer wore off and I was h-u-r-t-i-n-g BAD! Needless to say, Sunday, was spent very low-key with minimal movement as I seem to have lost the ability to move my right arm, back, butt, legs and have gained knees of a 90-year old, not to mention the extremely painful and aggravated gaping holes stitched up in my mouth. :)

What can I say, it was an adventure! This next month promises to be a crazy one, I can't believe Christmas is in 10 days (eeek!), I'm not done shopping, the kid's Christmas programs start tonight, Hub's hockey playoffs start tonight, my grandfather is having serious surgery as we speak, Friday we have a fun party to look forward to, Saturday is Christmas with my Grandparent's family as well as Radio City Christmas Spectacular (Christmas tradition with the hubs & also one of my anniversary presents), Sunday is a church Christmas party, and then I blink and we're at Christmas! Following Christmas we head to Vermont to do it all over again with the Hub's family and then we come back and *cross-your-fingers* we might start moving in (finally!) to our house after a year and a half of dreaming! I should take pictures and post what our living situation has been like. Maybe I'll combine that with the upcoming story of why we have so many people living together in such a tiny space! So many fun things to share, so little time!

Friday, December 11, 2009

TGIF?

Ok folks, round #1 of Christmas cookies is posted, I'll try to do a round #2 soon! Also, if any of you have favorite Christmas recipes or just a favorite recipe, please please share in the comments! I love baking and cooking and am always interested in trying out something new!

These last couple of days have been an absolute scramble trying to get my life into some semblance of order but my next giveaway coming up is something all you mothers will love! I'm going to try to post it on Sunday but I am going in for surgery to have my wisdom teeth removed early this afternoon (ewwwww) and I have no idea what kind of condition I'll be in on the other side. I will try to get it scheduled but I have T minus two hours and I still have a lot of work to do. They are not sure yet whether they can put me under (someone please explain this to me!!!!!!) and even if they do, last time I had to be put under for something as a child, I woke up violently throwing up blood soooooo.....yeah, really hoping we won't have a repeat performance here! I am so ready for this whole procedure to be over with, these darn teeth were never supposed to break through the gums in my mouth but someone was wrong and they are royally screwing up my mouth and I do not want to have to do braces at my age if at all possible!

On the brighter side of things, I found out I won the Christmas card giveaway on Elizabeth Ann Designs Living featuring The Pink Orange! Think, absolutely lovely letterpress cards! I didn't get my act together soon enough and had decided to put off sending out Christmas cards for another year, but now I'll be able to send out some gorgeous Christmas cards to a few close friends, thanks Ami & Rebecca!

Also, thank you to everyone who has given me awards for the past month or so! I promise I've been compiling a list and will blog them after all the torture is done!

Anyone have any plans for the weekend? If I'm feeling up to it, hubs has promised to take me up to the Pioneer Woman's Cookbook signing! Anyone else addicted to her site like I am? Also, the floors are completely installed in the house minus one small closet (which should be done today!!!!) Next step will be sanding them down BY hand!!! (haha, yep-my weekend=icepack wrapped around my face while sanding away on the floors). Have a wonderful weekend everyone!



Edited to add: I have decided the "tooth fairy" should bring me these (hint, hint husband!) and leave them under my pillow!


Christmas Recipes Round 1

Ok folks, here is the first round of recipes! I'm missing a few of the bar recipes (including the chocolate vanilla custard bars-my FAVORITE!), the gingerbread cookies, the sugared pecans, the meringues, divinity candy, double chocolate frosted cookies, raisin filled cookies, and sweet breads but we just have SOOOO many good recipes that we love and use that I just ran out of time when I was typing them up! Now if you try any of these recipes out and have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments or shoot me an email. Some of these go many generations back in our family and we've made them so many times that we sort of make them on autopilot, I am by no means an expert in baking but I will certainly do my best if you have any questions!

Canadian Cnakien / Russian Tea Cakes

1 cup butter
2 cup sifted flour
5 T powder sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1 T water
1 t vanilla

Cream butter. Work in sifted flour & sugar. Add vanilla & water. Add nuts. Shape dough in to balls & put on baking sheet. Chill. Bake at 400 degrees until brown (12-15 minutes). While warm, roll in powdered sugar.
Makes approximately 4 dozen


Pine Bark

Unsalted saltines
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
Chocolate chips
Chopped pecans

Line cookie sheet with nonstick foil. Cover with unsalted crackers touching each other. Boil 1 cup butter & 1 cup brown sugar for 3 minutes stirring constantly. Pour over crackers & bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. While still hot, sprinkle with chocolate chips & spread. Sprinkle with finely chopped pecans. When cool break into large single serving size pieces & refrigerate.


Santa’s Sleigh Mix

2# white chocolate
2 T vegetable oil
3 cups Crispix cereal (or rice chex)
2 cups Rice Krispies
2 cups peanuts, lightly salted
2 cups raisins
2 cups pretzel sticks, broken
2 cups m&ms, optional
Holiday sprinkles

Line 2 cookie sheets with nonstick foil. Mix cereals, peanuts, raisins, pretzels & m&ms in a large bowl. Melt chocolate and oil. Pour over cereal mixture and toss to coat. Pour mixture evenly onto cookie sheets. Add sprinkles, allow to cool & harden. Break into chunks. Store in airtight container.


Holly Wreaths

30 large marshmallows
1 stick butter
3 ½ cups cornflakes
½ t vanilla
2 t green food coloring

Put in double boiler until melted. Add cornflakes & stir well. Use 2 buttered spoons to form wrings (about 2 ½ inches) on waxed paper or nonstick foil. Decorate with red hots (cinnamon candies). To serve cut around each wreaths waxed paper/nonstick foil and & store still attached to the foil/nonstick foil. Holly wreaths will be a bit sticky but the absolute deliciousness totally makes up for it.


Chocolate Delights

4 (4oz.) pkgs = 3 cups chopped walnuts
1 stick butter, melted
2 cups coconut
1 cup Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
1 ½ boxes powdered sugar
12 oz. pkg choc chips
1/2 stick (4oz.) paraffin

Mix all ingredients except paraffin and chocolate chips. Chill, roll into 1 inch balls. Chill on cookie sheet covered in waxed paper. Melt chocolate and paraffin in top of double boiler. Dip into melted chocolate and place back onto waxed paper, allow to cool before removing. Store in refrigerator.


Buckeye Candy

1 ½ sticks butter
1 lb powder sugar
1 lb. jar peanut butter
½ stick (4oz.) paraffin
12 oz. pkg chocolate chips

Mix butter, powdered sugar & peanut butter together. Roll into small balls & chill in refrigerator on waxed paper covered cookie sheet. Melt chocolate & paraffin in double boiler. Stir until both are melted, then lower heat to simmer. Dip ball ¾ of the way into the chocolate chips (using a toothpick). Leave a small exposed circle at the top of the ball to look like a buckeye. Place back onto waxed paper, allow to cool before removing. Store in refrigerator.


Hopscotch Crunchies

6 oz. butterscotch chips
½ cup peanut butter
3 oz. chow mein noodles
1 cup miniature marshmallows

Melt butterscotch chips & peanut butters in a double boiler. Remove from heat & stir in chow mein noodles & marshmallows. Drop by tsp onto waxed paper-lined cookie sheet. Chill until set.
Makes about 30.


Creamy Chocolate Fudge

4 ½ cups sugar
1 large can (12 oz) evaporated milk
¾ cups butter
1 1lb giant Hershey bar, chopped
2-6 oz. pkgs Nestle chocolate chips
1 pt. marshmallow cream fluff
2 t vanilla
2 cups pecans, chopped

Combine sugar, evaporated milk, butter, Hershey bar, chocolate chips & marshmallow fluff until all is dissolved with mixer. Add 2 t vanilla and 2 cups nuts. Pour into large jelly roll pan that has been well buttered. Let stand in refrigerator at least 24 hours before cutting.

Date Nut Bars

¼ cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
¾ cup flour
¼ tsp baking powder
1 pinch of salt
1 cup dates, chopped
1 cup nuts, chopped

Mix in order listed above. Spread in pan lined with nonstick foil. Bake about 35 minutes at 350 degrees or until golden brown. Cut in small bar shaped pieces and roll in powdered sugar while warm.


Snickerdoodles

1 cup softened butter
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
2 ¾ cups flour
2 tsp cream of tarter
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

Mix butter, sugar & eggs together, sift flour, cream of tarter, baking soda & salt and add to creamed mixture. Chill dough. Roll into balls. Then roll in mixture of 2tablespoon sugar & 2 tsp. cinnamon. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies


Gingersnaps

¾ cup butter
1 cup sugar
¼ cup light molasses
1 egg, beaten
2 cups flour
2 tsp soda
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp ginger

Cream butter and sugar. Add molasses and egg; beat well. Sift dry ingredients & add to creamed mixture. Chill dough, roll into balls & dip into sugar. Bake at 375degrees for 15 minutes
Makes 4 dozen cookies


Spritz Cookies

2 ¼ cups flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Optional: 1 tsp of almond or peppermint extract
Add green or red food coloring for a festive touch

Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. With a pastry blender or 2 knives cut shortening into the dry ingredients until the mixture is full of fine lumps. Measure the egg in measuring cup. Add water if it doesn’t measure ¼ cup. Add egg and vanilla and beat mixture well. Bake at 375 degrees, 10-12 minutes on ungreased cookie sheet. After baking remove from cookie sheet immediately.
Makes about 5 dozen

Peanut Butter Cookies

½ cup butter
½ cup peanut butter
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 ¼ cup flour
½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
Hershey kisses, unwrapped

Mix butter, peanut butter, sugars, and egg thoroughly. Blend all dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Chill dough. Roll into small balls. Bake on lightly greased baking sheets for approximately 10-12 minutes, at 375 degrees. Remove from stove approximately 2 minutes before done cooking. Press chocolate Hershey kiss into center of the cookie, place back into oven & bake for approximately 2 minutes until done cooking (watch closely so that the Hershey kisses don’t melt all the way!).
Makes approximately 3 dozen.


Oatmeal Crinkles

1 ½ cups flour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp soda
1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups oatmeal
12 oz ( 2 cups) holiday chips: white chocolate with red & green stripes
2 cups candy coated red and green miniature chocolate candies (size of a miniature chocolate chip)

Cream butter & brown sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Sift flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda together and add to cream mixture. Add oatmeal & mix well. Chill dough. Form into small balls & roll in powder sugar until heavily coated. Put half on top of cookie. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Optional: can add coconut or various flavors of chips before chilling for variety.


Drop Sugar Cookies

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
Approximately 5 cups flour

Cream sugar and butter together. Add well beaten eggs and milk and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and beat until smooth. Roll out & cut with cookie cutters. Bake at 375 degrees.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

The C Word


Wedded Wednesday is a collaboration
of married bloggers sharing their inspirations,
anecdotes, struggles and thoughts regarding
the amazing union of two separate people, as one.
Check out the other Wedded Wednesday bloggers at Marital-Bless



Today's post is short and sweet:

Marriage = compromise
Tonight's post = compromise
Husband's needs < my need desire to blog :)

I warned you it was going to be short! I had a great marital post I was going to do this week, so we'll have to have a back-up Tied-the-knot Thursday!!!!!!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Recipe Requests

Ok ladies (& Gents Gent) as you can see, I was unable to get the pictures posted last night due to the power being unrestored until late late late sooooo I will be posting them today! I saw a number of requests for recipes, please let me know what you'd like! I don't want to bore you all with 25+ different recipes unless you are really interested in all 25+ recipes! Feel free to ask for as few or as many (or even all) as you'd like! I need to get them entered in anyway for my cookbook (one of my next BIG projects) soooooo just let me know!

Story of the 11 12 people in the house coming soon!

Edited to Add: A few photos for your viewing pleasure, please let me know if you have any more requests!

Divinty Candy

Peppermint Swirl Meringue Cookies

Holly Wreaths

Unfrosted & Undecorated Sugar Cookies

Holiday Rice Krispy Treats

Chocolate Dipped Candies (Buckeyes & Chocolate Coconut Delights)

Snickerdoodles

Thick & Chewy Gingerbread cookies (thinking of doing another batch with cream cheese frosting)

Santa's Sleigh mix, cooling (not yet broken up at this point)

So that gives you a little taste of what we made, I don't have pictures of most of the items, most notably, the hopscotch crunchies (one of my personal favorites), the spicey gumdrop cookies, the fudge, the russian tea cakes (I'll see what I can do Lindsey!), Pine bark, cherry coconut bars, date nut bars, spritz cookies, oatmeal crinkles, peanut butter chocolate cookies, ginger snaps, sugared pecans and who knows what else! It's a never ending list folks and one that I love! So much tradition here (as well as deliciousness). Any particular recipes that you all make every year for the holidays?

Monday, December 7, 2009

Christmas Treats

Thank you all for your lovely feedback! Don't worry, I have no intentions of changing my blog, I was just wondering if anyone would enjoy reading other additions. This blog will always be about me, my husband, our family and our lives but for awhile now I've been thinking about niche blogs. You know, the ones that have a particular focus: fashion & style, shopping, cooking, babies, giveaways, fitness, reviews...etc. It would be so hard for me to pick just one! I honestly don't think I could settle into just one niche, I want to write about all of the above! So this blog will just be a little bit of everything. :) That being said, let's move on to the weekend recap!


Saturday, we received our first snow storm coupled with lots of ice and waaaay below freezing temperatures, we only got between 5-6 inches but it is also only the first week of December! I'd rather not start the harried winter travels any earlier than we have to! I had major plans for the weekend but thankfully it only involved hitting the road once, the rest was all indoor activities! The last couple of days were spent with my sisters, mom, grandmother and husband baking, cooking and merrily concocting like little Christmas elves. We all deliver major baked goodies & candies to friends, families, neighbors, work, the mailman, trash & recycling pick-up crew, orthodontist, dentist and local produce dock crew (yes-we know all these people pretty well-comes from being part of a big family with a distinct last name and yes-all of them look forward to the plates and ask about them as soon as Thanksgiving is over) along with serving major platters at all the Christmas parties, so we bake a ton! We average between 20-25 different cookies, candies & bars, as well as mixes, Carmel popcorn, salty snacks (like ranch crackers, chex mix & homemade chips), sweet breads & cakes. I took a bunch of pictures but won't be able to upload them until our power is turned back on (more on this in a minute). Our list includes, but is not limited, to the following:

Sugar cookies
Gingerbread cookies
Spritz cookies
Meringues
Oatmeal crinkles
Peanut butter blossoms
Snickerdoodles
Santa's Sleigh mix
Pine Bark
Russian Tea cakes
Fudge
Buckeyes
Chocolate Delights
Divinity
Holly Wreaths
Rice Krispy treats
Coconut Cherry bars
Date Nut bars
Christmas Brownies
Hopscotch crunchies
Spicy gumdrop cookies

Annnnnnnd several others that I can't think of at the moment. :) Most of these recipes we either triple or quadruple. We make most of the batches of dough before the weekend and then churn out the goodies like crazy. It's a Christmas tradition in my family and to me, it's the first sign that Christmas is officially on it's way. We play old fashioned Christmas music mixed in with more current favorites (Josh Groban Noel anyone?), the whole house is decorated and it just feels like home. It's a tradition that I look forward to passing on to my kids and one that I love sharing with my husband! You may wonder why he was the only guy there? Well, two of my brothers were working Saturday and couldn't get out once the snow storm was underway, plus they'd rather just eat the goodies. And the other two brothers were down at the beach house for a little vacation time with my father, and believe me, they were MUCH happier there than in a house baking with a bunch of girls, lol.

Oh, and did I mention the whole no power thing? Yeah, we came home last night, dumped our stuff, headed out to the hubs hockey game (where he played AMAZING-so proud babe!), came home, collapsed into bed and then promptly lost power. Say hello to no alarm clocks....no water (we have a well on an electric pump-we are working to remedy this), which basically means-no toilets or showers. Thank goodness our main heat source doesn't rely on electricity! It's a bit of a problem having no running water in a house with 11 12 people in our house (we always seem to gain more house guests than we lose). I was pretty early to work this morning-I felt like Tom Hanks in the movie Terminal. "Ever feel like you live in an airport" = best line in a movie ever! It used to be that I could so relate that line! Anyway, enough tangents! If we gain power tonight, I will try to post pictures, otherwise, be on the lookout for them tomorrow! How did everyone else spend their weekend? It seemed like everyone and their mother was buying their trees this weekend!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

First Giveaway Winner!

I know I'm a few days behind in posting the winner for the Purely Elegant jewelry giveaway but here are the results via Random.org:


Congratulations to Julie!!!! Just let me know which piece you'd like Julie and where you'd like it mailed! And thanks to everyone else for participating! I have a few more giveaways coming up but I'd love to have some input from all of you guys. Do you like having giveaways posted here on the blog? The reason I ask is because I've had a number of companies contact me asking if I'd be interested in doing reviews or giveaways and while I think it sounds like fun, I don't want to bore you guys to tears if you'd rather read my ramblings on life. :) I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Superior Wife Syndrome?


Wedded Wednesday is a collaboration
of married bloggers sharing their inspirations,
anecdotes, struggles and thoughts regarding
the amazing union of two separate people, as one.
Check out the other Wedded Wednesday bloggers at Marital-Bless



Well this week, I planned to write a lovely detailed post on family traditions but...work was long and hubs had other plans for me this evening. :) So we'll save that post for a future week.... Instead I thought I would leave you with an excerpt from a very interesting article written by Family Life Ministries. The article was entitled "the superior wife syndrome" and what really drew my attention was the following passage:

"The author, Karen Rubenstein, has discovered that millions of wives think they do everything better than their husbands. They feel they are more responsible, more capable, and in a word, more superior...There is truth to this discovery. Beginning in the 1960s, women have been instructed to do it all. We've been told we can work full time and raise kids at the same time, all with great success. Many have gone so far as to say we don't need men. Women's drive to achieve equality in the work place has resulted in this attitude of superiority, I believe."

See here to read the whole article. I found the article very interesting and, after reading it, decided that there is a lot of truth in the statement above. I have met many women / wives / mothers, who feel that they do everything better than their husbands and often treat their husbands efforts like they are a joke, complete with an eye roll. Frankly, I think the article makes the "syndrome" sound a lot more like pride than an actual syndrome. I admit there are plenty of times where I feel that I do things better than my husband or it would take less work for me to just take care of it myself rather than delegate...and yet, I still get upset sometimes if he's not helping me enough!!

This is definitely an area that I have been, and will continue, working on in my life. I was raised to be a capable and adept adult and woman and yet sometimes I fail to see that maybe, just maybe, the hubs parents knew what they were doing too when they raised such an awesome son. And if he does things differently then me? Well, maybe we can rock, paper, scissors to see who does it best? Anyone else encountered or heard of this "syndrome" before? Would you consider this an actual syndrome or merely an issue of pride?

Edited to add: I should add that I do not think there is anything wrong with acknowledging that we may do some things better than men. There are definitely areas where I am more skilled or adept than hubs and he acknowledges this fact (this also goes the other way, he is far better at some things than I am). I think the issue develops when you hold the view that you do EVERYTHING better than your husband...

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Update

I'm back!!!!! Ahhhh! I know I told you guys I'd post up the results of the giveaway over the weekend and I am late, so sorry about that!!! I'll have it up shortly! In the meantime, gosh, it feels like a lifetime since I've been able to sit down in the evening and really truly write and blog. To top it off this officially marks post 100! I never expected that I'd find something to say 100 different times. :)

I feel I should explain my absence. I've been working on a large project for over a year now and the last several weeks have been the absolute crunch time to get it done. As of tonight (the deadline) it's officially submitted and done. *Phew*, it feels so good guys! My poor husband has probably felt wifeless, especially since the swine flu got me sooooo behind and I've been putting in the hours ever since. So here's to free time and having my life back! *raises glass* Cheers!

On to all the posts I've talking about writing: the boudoir recap posts, additional giveaways, fitness posts and renovation updates. And just because I can't resist sharing a teensy update, there is currently a coat of paint on the walls in the bedrooms and the wood floor being installed throughout the house as I write this! Moving day may come as soon as the next couple of months! Oh how glorious it will be to have a house of our own again!

I have so much I've been dying to write and with the holidays coming up, the days seem to be getting shorter but I'm going to do my best guys. I have some major sleep to catch up on but I'll be back commenting on all your blogs as soon as I can. I've been squeezing in reading all your blogs every chance I get but for every one that I read, two replace it. I think my google reader is currently nearly topping over 1000 posts...!!! So here is where I pose my question to you dear readers. Do you use google reader? Another sort of subscription provider? If so, how many blogs do you follow in it? If you don't use any sort of rss feed, how many blogs would you say you visit daily on average? My google reader tells me I have 432 subscriptions....is that ridiculous?
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