hey, it's ok (tuesday) 12.27

hey, it's ok


...to get choked up while watching ellen.  or the soldier appreciation episode of rachael ray.
...to see someone giving design/creative ideas on a talk show and thinK "she totally got that off pinterest"
...to toooootally have baby fever after cuddling our friends 11 week old for an evening
...to have paused everything to watch drew brees break the record last night, and to be genuinely happy for him.
...to talk about football (or hockey) in everyday conversation ;-) and your blog
...to have LOVED your Christmas celebrations, been totally overwhelmed by all the generosity given to you, and to just feel completely blessed by the whole season
...to be glad for a quiet day after Christmas to unwind a bit from ALL that family time, as good as it was
...to have been really spoiled over the long weekend by going to bed (too) late and still getting a solid 7-8 hours of sleep
...to still not understand why people want sweet stuff on their meat.  pass the spice and savory; keep your apples away from my roast


visit amber's blog and link up with your own list of what's ok in your world!

what i'm loving wednesday 12.21

i'm loving the changes on the horizon (and already happening) on the job front for both A and i.  we're both transitioning into new roles and figuring out what it all means...amazing to think that 6 months ago neither of us knew these jobs existed.

i'm loving this amazing lotion i found at whole foods body.  i had this inexplicable rash that started a few days before my wedding and is located around my left collarbone.  after being miserable itchy for a few weeks, i bought this $10 natural lotion and it cleared completely in a week's time.  since then, another patch has materialized, but it's disappearing thanks to the lotion as well.  yay for yummy smelling goodness.

i'm loving random texts from friends, impromptu lunch/dinner/coffee dates, or hikes with cell group girls.  so thankful for the quality people God has surrounded me with!


i'm loving the cuteness i get to enjoy on tuesdays and thursdays.  i often say my two jobs afford me the best of both worlds, and i stand by that.  soon enough, this season will end so i am determined to enjoy it for what it is.  :-)

i'm loving that emi loves this time of year :0).  here she is laying on her favorite (tissue paper) in front of the tree (which she loves to nibble on periodically) while we watched hockey (one of my favorites).

i'm loving that gift shopping is DONE (except for the mailed gifts to family and some friend gifts...but those aren't going to be given ON christmas).

i'm loving that the budget was stuck to, and that we went WAY under for nearly everyone.  Woo-hoo!

i'm loving the prospect of a few days off...and that my husband has one of those days off with me.  suh-weet.

i'm loving that this is our first christmas together...such amazing blessings we've been given, not the least of which happen to be each other :-)

i'm just loving this time of year.  as much as i can't wait for christmas, i'm going to be bummed when this precious season is over.

hey, it's ok (tuesday) 12.20

hey, it's ok


...to have both discovered and watched the entire season (so far) of "once upon a time" in 2 days time
...to be very excited about the maggiano's gift card the family i nanny for gave us for christmas.  yaaaay date night and warm italian food in the middle of winter :-)
...to bring my hair straightener to work with me when i nanny so i can at least leave looking more normal/less scary
...to realize when reading everyone's christmas cookie blogs that i still haven't made any peppermint bark this year.  gotta get on that!
...to watch baby g VERY closely when she gets near the christmas tree
...to still have a few gifts left to buy, but only because we stretched them among several paychecks so we could still, you know, eat.  ;-)  all will be done by friday except for the ones we're mailing to some of my family members which will just be late. (and that's ok too).
...to be just as excited about wrapping all the gifts as buying them.  it's one of my absolute favorite parts of this season!
...to have pretty much single-handedly polished off the pasta salad my parents had this weekend.  it's nothing special--it's from a box.  but i.love.it.
...to sometimes put aside your crunchy, organic preferring nature to enjoy some good food from a box.  sometimes.  :-)


visit amber's blog--she's awesome!

it's a great day to celebrate Christmas #1

today we are in indiana
staying with my parents
and celebrating Christmas with them


in a few minutes we'll unwrap gifts
and hang around chatting for awhile


this evening we're headed to evansville
to have dinner and exchange gifts with our friends brian and angie
(these great people)

so happy to be here
enjoying "comfort food"
and our first official overnight trip as a married couple 
:-)


have a great weekend everyone!

about a wreath

i was typing an explanation of our wreath on a reply the other day and realized
i was talking about much more than a wreath.


you see, when we started talking about decorating our door for christmas
i wanted a simple berry wreath
you know, little red berries...nothing hugely fancy but something a little different
definitely non-traditional


it became apparent pretty early on that a berry wreath wasn't going to fly.
anthony only liked evergreen wreaths
"you know, the traditional kind"
uh-oh


i couldn't think of a way to make a traditional wreath look good
(to me)
until


i spotted fresh pine wreaths at trader joes
and not only did it smell amazing, i thought
"i can work with this"


and so
i went and bought my berry wreath at target
and tied the two together
and what happened 
was kind of amazing


both wreaths on their own were perfectly fine 
beautiful, in fact, in different ways
and many people would put them up just as they originally were
nothing wrong with that


but the two together made a wreath that
(to anthony and i at least)
is better than either original wreath
they belong together

it's kind of like us, really
anthony and i were fine on our own
but we're better together


and that's not where the similarity stops
see, we had to replace the original pine wreath
because it browned
because WE failed to water it properly
it needed attention
a bit of misting every day


just like us...we need to give our relationship
a bit of attention each day


when i think of it in terms like these
the simple wreath on our front door
means even more to me.

recipe of the week: those joe-joe truffles

let's face it.  everyone on the internet has the same recipe for oreo truffles.  i've seen it a million times and drool each and every time.


however.


i've always made peppermint bark at christmas.  and plan to this year (don't worry family!!).  but when coming up with the menu for our holiday open house, i realized that having two time consuming desserts to make (oreo truffles AND peppermint bark) was a little ridiculous.


so i decided to combine the two.


i used candy cane joe-joe's from trader joes.  they have flakes of candy cane in them.  pretty much they are amazing.


if you don't have a trader joe's near you OR you want to make this during the off season, i recommend using oreos and then putting some peppermint OIL (not extract) in the mix.  a very small amount will do.


here's the recipe, for those of you who don't know it by heart already :-)


1 box candy cane joe-joe's (or oreos)
1 block cream cheese
1 container of white chocolate bark/melting chocolate.  i used kroger's vanilla bark...same difference.

- place cookies in food processor and process until they are just crumbs

 - add cream cheese and process until mixed fully

- roll into balls and place on waxed paper on cookie sheet

- place in the freezer for minimum 10 minutes (i usually do more like 30)

- melt chocolate according to package instructions.  i prefer the oven methods normally.

- using a toothpick or whatever you have on hand (cough, skewer, cough) roll each ball in the melted chocolate.  place back on the wax paper and then into the fridge while they harden

- enjoy!!

 (somehow i never get pictures of the final product...they keep disappearing!)

thursday's ten: our open house

i'm being totally lazy today.

here's 10 things we served at our open house on saturday

:-)

we have several gluten-free friends, a couple of vegan buddies, and at least one person who is both gluten free and dairy free.  since i wanted to have several options for each person attending, i had quite the challenge when it came to the menu.  but i finally found a good balance, i think.  not everything fit special dietary needs, but everyone had a few choices!

1. a veggie tray (in the shape of a Christmas tree.  kind of)

*both gf and vegan.  obviously.

2. deviled eggs
*gf and dairy free

3. my guacamole, salsa (herdez), and mexican spinach dip (his aunt's recipe)
*the guacamole and salsa were gf and vegan
the spinach dip is gf

4. fresh fruit (pineapple that i for real chopped up, blueberries, clementines and strawberries)
*gf and vegan
5. swedish meatballs (gluten free recipe found here)
*gf
6. pinwheels

7. stuffed mushrooms
*gf
8. mexican hot chocolate cookies (recipe soon)
*vegan
9. (vegan) ginger cookies (recipe soon)
*vegan

10. peppermint joe-joe truffles (omgosh, SO good.  will post recipe soon)


add to this holiday punch, hot chocolate and coffee and we were good to go for several hours :-)


and between antiques from my grandmother and new wedding gifts along with a few other pieces i've collected over the years, we had the perfect serving piece for each dish.


the table decoration was a simple runner from ikea with turqoise felt tree ornaments from target interspersed and taper candles throughout.  i didn't want it to be overwhelming amidst the food, but i wanted it to look *pretty*


unfortunately, i didn't get any pictures once the party started of our guest, or of the dessert bar or beverage station.  oh well.  there will be a next time.


we LOVE sharing and opening up our home to people, so there will be MANY next times :-)


have you had a party this season?  are you planning one?  what's your menu look like?

hey, it's ok (tuesday) 12.13

hey, it's ok


...to eat a meal that resembles a 2 year olds for lunch. because, hello, i'm eating with a not-even-2 year old
...to have absolutely no idea what to get your father for Christmas...every.single.year.
...to not think it's cute when every status/tweet a 'friend' posts is negative and sarcastic and cuts others down.  not attractive for a 35 year old, sorry to tell you. (off to hit the "unfollow" button directly after posting this...)
...to be oh-so-honored that people took time out of their busy holiday schedules to come to our open house last saturday.  it's something i've done every year (except last year...but you all know that story) -- opened up my home on a saturday afternoon and enjoyed everyone's company.  we cooked and cleaned for the latter part of last week, but it was SO.WORTH.IT.  so grateful that God has placed us in this place...with these people...to share His story
...to forget that my new phone has the option to close apps...and so to have approximately 3000 running until i start wondering why the battery is going down so quickly!
...to never know quite what to say when a friend suffers a loss or is going through a hard time :-(
...to love the charlie brown tree my employers got this year.  i'm looking at it right now and it's precious.


visit amber's blog and link up with your own list!

remember that brownie giveaway?

betty crocker through blogspark 

generously offered one of my readers the same package i received

and i decided to draw names in an old fashioned way

i wrote out names on slips of paper

and placed them in a pile

i had an adorable small helper who helped pick the winner

sorry, you won't see much of her face.

that whole "she's not mine and i'm respecting their privacy bit"

she took her job quite seriously...but finally picked up a slip of paper and handed it to me

amber is the winner!  congratulations...enjoy the chocolate goodness!