The After Christmas Void

I always love putting up our Christmas decorations and I always dread taking them down.  But, I'm always itching to take them down because I dread it so much...does that make sense?  So, on the first day of my week off (I know, I'm lucky right?!?) I decided I was going to tackle the Christmas decorations.  Now, I really don't have that many decorations because I don't have the space for much, but it is still a chore to take it all down, wrap it up, and get it into the storage room.

Before I show you the after, I thought I better show you the before.

Here is my lovely and simple Nativity set, prominently displayed on our coffee table:

Side note -- that snow was a MESS!  It had glittery confetti-like particles in it that went everywhere!!

Here is the mantle.  I tried a new look this year with the beads and over-sized ornaments hanging down, forgoing our stockings (which don't match the new look anyway...):

And the crown jewel of every house during the Christmas season, our Christmas tree:

Obviously I went with an all green and silver look this year to blend with our green and purple house decor and  I really loved it!  We also got a new tree this year that fit perfectly between our couch and love seat and created a very cozy space.

This is a shot of my Christmas table centerpiece (the table was set for our girls dinner).  I used things I already had like the tray, vases, and green balls and just added the mums.  I loved this look because it was casual, with a little sparkle and the flowers lasted FOREVER!

So, as you can see I really didn't have all that much to put up or take down, but after it was all down, our living room felt very empty!  So, I got to thinking about what I could do to warm up the space a little bit.  One way was the addition of a really cool lamp I got for Christmas (more on that later).  But another way was to change out the flowers in the centerpiece and move it to the coffee table. 

Every time I am at the grocery store, I always take a peek at the fresh flowers and on Monday, I saw a bunch agapanthus that I just couldn't resist.  I thought they would be a perfect addition to the centerpiece.  What do you think?!?

The little purple blooms will open up and fill out and just be so pretty.  When I worked in the flower shop, we used to call these firework flowers because they look like an exploding firework. 

After we took the tree down, it seemed like there was a huge void between the couch and love seat.  I've always thought that we needed to add something to that space, but it didn't really become too obvious until the tree was gone.  So, when we were at Lowe's last night looking for a few things, I saw this plant for only $15 and convince Brandon to buy it (I don't have a very good track record of keeping plants alive, but this one was clearly marked "Tolerant").  While I think the plant needs to relax a little bit, I think it is a good addition to the space.  Now if I can only keep it alive....

Along with these touches, I also rearranged a few vases and have a few more thoughts of things I could add to help spruce up the place as we begin the new year!

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

One of the gifts I received for Christmas was this cookbook:

 

I have heard good reviews of this book, so I thought I would add it to my Christmas list this year.  Let me tell you, I've already tried two of the recipes and I have been extremely pleased with both. Most of the recipes are relatively quick and easy and pretty much use basic ingredients.  Plus, it has a whole seciton devoted solely to side dishes, which is one category I always struggle with. The book also contains several yummy looking fish recipes, which is another category I'm a little scared of.  I know we need to eat more fish, but I'm always nervous to try new recipes because I'm not used to cooking fish.  

So, after flipping through the cookbook, I decided to try three recipes this week, one of which was this recipe for Asian Salmon Patties.  I don't particularly like salmon, but I thought the ingredients in this recipe sounded good so I decided to try it and believe it or not, I loved it (and so did Brandon)!  If you are wanting to incorporate more fish into your diet, you should definitely give this one a try!

Asian Salmon Patties

1 1/2 pounds skinless salmon fillet, finely chopped

2 shallots, minced

2 T. finely grated peeled ginger 

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Sesame Mayo (see recipe below)

In a large bowl, gently combine salmon, shallots, ginger, egg, red pepper flakes, 1 tsp. salt, and 1 tsp. pepper. Form mixture into eight patties, about one inch thick, packing each firmly; transfer to a plate.  Freeze until just firm, about 20 minutes.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook salmon patties (working in batches) until browned on both sides and just opaque throughout.  Serve with sesame mayo.

Sesame Mayo

1/3 cup mayonaise

2 scallions, trimmed and sliced thinly

2 T. fresh lime juice

1 tsp. toasted sesame oil

Stir together all ingredients.  Cover and chill until ready to serve.

I also served this dish with the recommended side dish of Chinese Noodles with Sesame Dressing and it was a perfect combo!

Chinese Noodles with Sesame Dressing
8 oz. Chinese noodles (I used whole wheat spaghetti)
1 T. vegetable oil
1/4 c. fresh lime juice
2 T. soy sauce
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
2 tsp. brown sugar
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
3 T. cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Cook noodles until tender, according to package directions.  Drain; rinse under cold water until completely cool  Transfer to a large bowl and toss with vegetable oil. 

In a small bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients.  Pour over noodles and toss to coat.

See, this is the gift that keeps on giving.  It was given to me and now I'm sharing it with you!!

This Christmas

We spent our Christmas weekend with my family at my parents' house.  Unfortunately, Brandon got sick on Friday so he was out of commission that day, but we had a great time regardless.

We spent a lot of time chasing around and playing with these girls:

Wearing matching pajamas:

Leaving cookies, milk and notes for Santa:

Opening gifts and playing with our new toys:

And how could we forget, re-enacting the Christmas story:

After our time in Pratt, we headed back to Wichita to celebrate Christmas with my dad's extended family.  We had a great lunch and played Dirty Santa with the whole crew.  While my cupcake stand was opened by my cousin who is in college at KSU, he rolled with it and thought it could be used as a shot holder...lol!  Luckily, my aunt showed him mercy and stole it from him.

Here is a pic of my dad's family, minus one sister and one brother.  Could the brothers look anymore alike?!?!

After we finished playing Dirty Santa, Brandon and I had to scoot out to go celebrate Christmas with his family.

We started out the afternoon watching "The Little Fockers", which was pretty funny.  His family has a tradition of seeing a movie on Christmas Day, so it was fun to be able to carry it on, even though we weren't together on Christmas.

After the movie, we headed back to his sister's house to eat pizza and open gifts.  This year, Brandon's parents wrote out Bible verses on slips of paper and before we opened a gift we had to read the verse.  All of the verses represented ways that they prayed for us this year and in the years to come.  This was a great way to remember why we celebrate Christmas and to slow the gift opening.


Pam and Craig opening their gifts:

Justin and Ashley reading their verses:

The boys got head lamps from Grandma Cathy:

We were definitely blessed this Christmas, so I will have to do another post to show off our awesome gifts!

Be Right Back.

We have been Christmasing all weekend, which translates to eating lots of food, enjoying time with our families, getting sick (well, Brandon anyway), playing games, watching movies, and relaxing.

Now, it is time for me to get our house in order, make a grocery list, do some laundry, disassemble Christmas decorations, and prepare for the new year ahead of us.  I will be back soon, though, with lots of pictures and fun stories to share!

Oh, and I'm going to live up my WHOLE WEEK OFF WORK by doing fun things with friends :)

Sharing the JOY of the Season

I love Christmas time at our church.  The music is always so touching and beautiful, the church is beautifully decorated, my heart flutters when the lights dim and the advent candles are lit, and the sermons are always so insightful.

This week's sermon was all about the shepherds who were told by God that the Savior had been born in Bethlehem.  You can listen to the whole sermon here, but I wanted to share a few of my thoughts after marinating on the sermon for a few days.

The shepherds werenot the "upper crust" of their society.  They wore tattered clothes, had a reputation of being thieves and partiers, and were pretty much the lowest on the totem pole.  But, God chose to tell them of Christ's birth.  He chose the broken people to spread the good news of Christ's birth.  After they were told the news, they decided they wanted to go to Bethlehem to see this thing for themselves.  Once they got to Bethlehem and realized that what God had told them was true, they began spreading the news like wild fire.  They told everyone they came in contact with that the Savior had been born to a virgin.  They shared the news with JOY!

Often times, we as Christians are nervous or apprehensive to share our faith with others.  Whether it be out of embarrassment, fear of rejection, or lack of answers to hard questions, we sometimes think it is just better to live our lives and hope people see a difference rather than to shout it from the mountain that we love Jesus and we are going to have eternal lives in heaven because of the gift Christ gave us.

One of our pastors gave us a great analogy to put this into perspective; if we were to find a cure for cancer today, we would tell as many people as we could and we would become VERY rich.  So, why is it that Christ has given us a cure for death and we are hesitant to share the steps to be cured?

As I've pondered this thought this week, I have felt very convicted.  Why can't I be more like the shepherds?  I mean, they had a lot to prove, given their reputation, but they shared anyway.  They weren't afraid of what others might think because they wanted to share the joy with everyone.  I can only hope that I can somehow make an effort to share the joy of the season as much as possible.  Because really, who wouldn't want the ultimate Christmas gift??


"These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full" -- John 15:11

Fa la la la la

Tis the season to be jolly and boy have we been having a jolly good time!  In the past couple of weeks, we/I have:

• had two office Christmas parties
• hosted my BUNCO group Christmas party
• we've organized 216 gifts for our church's Angel Tree and packed 108 food bags with our small group
• attended the VIP opening of the new Warren IMAX Theatre that Brandon worked on
• gone bowling (and I bowled the best rounds of my life!!) with people from Brandon's office
• had a date night out that included looking at Christmas lights
• hosted a fun girls Christmas dinner and gift exchange

And, it's not even Christmas yet!  Thankfully, we have 99.9% of our shopping done so we aren't having to worry about running around too much more.  I also have a lunch with a couple of my college friends, we have dinner with Brandon's sister and her husband, and Brandon has an office Christmas luncheon left, but that is all very manageable compared to the past week!

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures at our office parties, my BUNCO party or of our small group packing up the Angel Tree gifts, but I do have a pics of the IMAX opening and our girls night.  I also have a couple of recipes to share, so bear with me!

For my BUNCO party, I made a really yummy punch so I thought I would share the recipe here in case anyone is needing a good, refreshing and not too sweet punch for a Christmas gathering this week:

CRANBERRY-RASPBERRY GINGER SPLASH

6 parts Ocean Spray® 100% Cranberry & Raspberry Juice (could also use Cranberry-Pomegranate juice)

1 part orange juice, chilled
4 parts gingerale, chilled

In a pitcher, mix Ocean Spray® 100% Cranberry & Pomegranate Juice and orange juice. Stir in gingerale. Fill with ice and serve.


In recent years, our small group has helped with the Angel Tree ministry by making dozens and dozens and dozens of cookies to hand out along with the gifts.  We have always enjoyed making the cookies, but this year we were all so busy that we couldn't find much time to make cookies, so we decided to make up some food bags to pass out.  We also talked about how this is a Christian ministry, but we weren't doing much to spread the word about Jesus with these families, so we found the poem below, printed it out and attached it to the food bags with a candy cane.  I think it is a fun poem that also talks about Jesus:

Look at a CANDY CANE, what do you see?  Stripes that are RED like the BLOOD shed for me! 
WHITE for my Savior, Who's sinless and pure! 
"J" is for JESUS, My Lord that's for sure! 
Turn it around And a staff you will see --- 
Jesus, my SHEPHERD, Is coming for me!

The IMAX opening really deserves a post all of it's own, but I thought it would be fun to show a few pictures of the building.  Brandon and his team put in so much time and effort and got this building built in less than six months!!  Pretty amazing!!

This past Thursday, the Warren folks had a huge VIP preview party and we were lucky enough to score an invitation.  It was definitely fun to be there with the movers and shakers in the city and to experience the theatre for ourselves, but the movie selection was not up our alley.  TRON Legacy 3-D was the movie and to be honest, we wouldn't recommend it to others.  But, like I said, it was more about the experience than the movie.  Here are a couple of pics from the evening:

{In the limo on the way to the party....yeah, that's how we roll!}

{The project team - Evan (assistant superintendent), Don (head superintendent), Brandon}

{Ready for our 3-D movie experience}

Finally, tonight I had the privilege of hosting the three girls from our small group for a nice dinner and gift exchange.  I've known each of the girls for different amounts of time, but they honestly are some of my best friends.  We've seen each other through a lot and they each have blessed me in so many ways.  I'm so thankful God brought us all together and I hope our friendship continues for many years to come!

{Christy, Emily, Ali, and me}

I wanted to make this dinner special, so I used my china and I had the following menu (links for all but one of the recipes are included):

• Filet Mignon in Mustard-Balsamic Vinegar Sauce
• Rosemary Roasted Potatoes
• Garlic Parmesan Green Beans
• Chocolate Banana Brad Pudding 

The filet recipe was so easy and very tasty, thanks to my aunt Sharon's recipe in our new Bohn Family Cookbook (more about this later!).

Filet Mignon in Mustard-Balsamic Vinegar Sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 beef tenderloin steaks (filet mignon)
½ cup chicken broth
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

About 30 minutes before serving, preheat oven to 425 degrees. In ovenproof 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat, in hot oil, cook filet mignon until browned on all sides, about 6 minutes. Place skillet in oven, bake about 5 minutes for rare or until desired doneness. Remove meat to warm platter; keep warm.

To skillet, add chicken broth, vinegar and mustard. Add some cornstarch to chicken broth if you prefer a thicker, gravy-like sauce. Over medium-high heat, meat mixture to boiling, stirring constantly and scraping until browned bits are dissolved. To serve, spoon sauce over steaks or serve sauce on the side.

Three out of the four recipes were new recipes that I had never tried.  Thankfully, these girls are used to being my guinea pigs and are willing to try out all of my new recipes.  In my opinion, all of the recipes were quite tasty, but I am a little biased!

So, there you have it.  Play-by-play of what we've been up to.  I absolutely love this time of year and as much as I long for some down time, I've loved every minute of the past couple of weeks.  It really doesn't get much better than spending time with friends and creating memories!

Christmas Questions

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? A little of both, but mostly wrapping paper. I love mix and matching papers and ribbon.  It is one of those opportunities to bring out my floral skills :)

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial (and we got a new one this year! hip hip hooray!)

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually after Thanksgiving. This year it went up the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? Usually between Christmas and New Years

5. Do you like eggnog? NO. WAY.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? The one I remember most vividly is my Barbie house

7. Hardest person to buy for? My Dad

8. Easiest person to buy for? Brandon

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, a beautifl Willow Tree Angel set.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? One of my favorite things about Christmas is receiving all of the Christmas cards and pictures from our friends and family so it is only right for me to reciprocate the thought.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Hmmmm...I can't really think of anything.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Miracle on 34th Street

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? In December.  I just can't get myself organized enough to start any earlier.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Everything in sight?!?

16. Lights on the tree (colored or clear)? Clear lights

17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night or Silent Night

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We usually travel to one set of parents house during Christmas, but always find another time to celebrate with the other set.  This year we will be in my home town for Christmas.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Yes, but only because of the song..."You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer..."

20. Angel, star or ribbon on top of tree? None of the above.  I have some sprouty sticks that come out of the top of the tree. (I need to post pics soon)

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning with my family and either Christmas Eve or sometime during the day on Christmas Day with Brandon's family.

22. Favorite children's Christmas song? I guess I don't know how children's songs differ from regular songs...

23. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The grouchy people.

24. Favorite ornament theme or color? This year we are doing green and silver

25. Turkey or ham on Christmas day? I prefer Prime Rib, but I think we're having ham this year.

26. What do you want for Christmas this year? I never have trouble coming up with a list.  One of the big items this year is an iPod Touch.

27. Does anyone in your family dress up as Santa? No. But my mom and I saw a Santa suit when we were shopping last weekend and I suggested she should have my Dad do it this year.

28. Age you discovered who Santa was? Honestly, I don't remember at all.  I know I still believed the year I got the Barbie house because in later years, my mom confessed that they stayed up all night putting the little stickers on all of the appliances since Santa doesn't deliver unassembled toys.

29. Eggnog, hot chocolate, or apple cider? Peppermint Hot Chocolate

30. Traditional colors (red and green) or other colors? I love the traditional red and green, but it just doesn't jive with the colors in our house, hence why we went with green and silver this year.

Just Like Peanut Butter and Jelly...

Tonight, I made a recipe containing these two ingredients:

{I used the generic version of Nutella}

You may be asking why I combined Nutella and pumpkin and honestly, the recipe probably only caught my eye because a couple of my friends have been telling me how obsessed they are with Nutella.  I have never used it before, but that ALL changed tonight thanks to this recipe for Pumpkin Nutella Cake.

Here it is right after I put it in the oven:

And here it is right after I took it out of the oven:

And I couldn't resist a close up of the gooey Nutella goodness:

I definitely recommend you try this recipe this Christmas season, or anytime of year for that matter!  This was delicious and it was small group approved!

Pumpkin Nutella Snack Cake
{Recipe courtesy of Two Peas and Their Pod}
  2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 cup Nutella

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugars until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well blended. Add the pumpkin puree. Reduce speed to low, and mix in the flour mixture until just combined.

4. Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan. Drop tablespoons of Nutella all over the pumpkin cake batter. Swirl in the Nutella with a knife. I wanted the Nutella to stay towards the top, to act as the frosting, so I swirled gently.

5. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until the sides pull away from the pan and a toothpick comes out clean. Place cake on a wire rack and cool completely. Cut into squares and serve.

This combination of flavors is just as good as peanut butter and jelly, I promise!

Bargain Hunter Wanted

Maybe it is the time of year with all of the sales at the stores or maybe it is because I keep hearing about all of these great deals that people are getting or all of the money someone saved by using coupons, but I've decided I want to learn how to be a bargain hunter.

I am not the type of person who can plan my grocery list based on the grocery store sales or travel around the city to different stores to find the best deals.  I just don't have the patience for that.  I also can't bring myself to face the dreaded Wal-Mart because I don't want to battle the masses of people who are there meandering through the aisles as if they are the only people in the store. 

I've tried clipping coupons before but find I clip them for things I don't really need and end up spending money on unnecessary items just so I can use a coupon.  Or even worse, I forget the take the coupons to the store.  Our grocery store did have a brilliant idea, though.  They decided to track what we buy at the grocery store, using our shopper's savings card that we scan before each purchase, and they send us coupons based on the stuff we buy regularly.  However, we only get them about once a quarter. 

The other thing I'm horrible about is on-the-spot deals.  Just like this weekend.  My mom and I were out shopping and I needed to get some face wash.  Well, my face wash costs $18, but if I spent $35 I had the choice of picking out a free half-size bottle of face wash or a mask.  So, I went ahead and got a spot remover just so I could get the free gift.  This might have been a deal if I was already planning on getting the spot remover, but in my instance, it was not a deal. 

I wish, more than anything, that I could actually learn the art of bargain hunting.  I know my husband probably wishes the same thing, too.  If there was a bargain hunting class, I would definitely sign up.  Or, if there was a person willing to give me private lessons I would love that even more!  I would also accept any tips or tricks anyone has to share.  In the mean time, I will just keep living vicariously through others.

Weekend Wrap-Up

We had another busy weekend, as usual for us.  My parents were in town on Friday so after work, we headed to my cousin's first basketball game of the season.  The game was at my mom's alma mater (SE High School) so we had fun razzing her about her high school days!  The game was supposed to have been a tough one for my cousin's team, but they ended up winning and played a great game!  After the game, we went out to dinner with my parents and then we came home to watch what was left of the Wildcat's basketball game.  My mom and I ended falling asleep on the couch, which is pretty typical for us, so we didn't see the end of the game but the Cats did win!

Saturday morning Brandon had to get up early for work and my parents and I took our time getting up and around.  My mom and I were planning to do some shopping and my dad headed back to Pratt.  Mom and I had a few things we had to accomplish on Saturday including finding me an outfit for the grand opening of the Warren IMAX Theater that Brandon is building (more about this later!).  Let me tell you, we had a horrible time trying to find an outfit.  Either stuff wasn't fitting right or we just couldn't find anything that wowed us.  Finally, on our last stop we found an outfit that I think will work.  Brandon was a little unsure, but once I get it all put together with jewelry, I think it will be very fun.  However, I will wait to show pictures until after the event :)

Mom and I had fun shopping and spending time together.  We always wind up getting distracted and finding things that are not on our list and we always do a lot of laughing!  I am glad she lives close and can come to town to spend the day with me.

After our shopping day, my mom had to head home so Brandon and I just hung out and relaxed the rest of the evening.  He has had a few pretty stressful weeks recently, so it was nice for him to just hang out.  I made dinner, we got our Christmas cards ordered and got a few other little things done that have been on our list for a while.  We capped off the night, dare I say it, cheering for the Sooners in the Big 12 Championship football game.  As much as we don't like the Sooners, we dislike the Huskers even more!!  We joked that this was the first time and most likely the last time that we will cheer for OU.  It is satisfying to us that of the last eight times the Sooners have played in the Championship game, they have only lost once and that was to the Wildcats back in 2003 (this was also the night of our first date..awww!)!! 

Today, we got up and headed to church.  My friend Ali is in charge of the Angel Tree ministry at our church and we have been helping at the table in the foyer for the past couple of weeks.  After church, we had a birthday lunch for one of my aunts and then I had a hair cut and Brandon took a Sunday afternoon nap and watched football.  This was our last free weekend until Christmas so we are definitely soaking up all the free time we have!

An Update

Click here for a "live" update from Lindsey, the girl I know who is battling cancer for the third time.  I continue to be amazed by her strength and obedience!

Thanksgiving 2010

Well, here I sit on Sunday night as the Thanksgiving weekend comes to a close.  I always dread Sunday nights, but a Sunday night after a long holiday weekend is especially dreadful!

We had a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving weekend.  We spent the weekend with Brandon's family and enjoyed several rounds of dominoes, a lot of food, Black Friday shopping and just time spent together.

Brandon's sister's husband had to work on Thursday, so we had our Thanksgiving meal on Friday.  But, on Thursday, we spent the day cooking, playing games and planning our Black Friday shopping trip.  Pam and Ashley had a few things they wanted to buy but I was just going along for the ride.  We had lasagna for dinner that night and some really yummy brownies for dessert.  We also played a few rounds of dominoes and the boys smoked us girls.  At least Ashley won one round :)

Pam and Ashley got up REALLY early on Friday to start shopping.  They were up and out of the house by 2 a.m. to hit the early-bird sales.  I was in such a deep sleep I didn't even hear them leave, but I did meet up with them around 5 a.m.  We had a great time shopping, got some great deals (that must be kept a secret), we each got a new purse and we just enjoyed our time together.  I had planned to take pictures of our adventures, but we got so busy shopping I completely forgot!  Brandon and his dad met us a little later in the day, but they didn't hang with us for too long.

After we got done shopping, we came home and pulled together our Thanksgiving meal.

{The three cooks!}

We put a turkey breast in the crockpot and that was a life saver!  The oven was freed up for other dishes and the turkey was so tender and juicy.  We had so much food we could have fed twice the amount of people, but it all made for great leftovers (at least on Friday...none of us wanted to touch the leftovers the rest of the weekend!)

I guess you could say the meal could be summed up below:

After we finished cleaning up the kitchen, we headed to the park to take a family picture.  Ashley has been wanting to take pictures in our favorite team shirts, so this weekend seemed like the perfect time.

Clearly, the dogs were not very interested in the picture taking.  I think they were actually thoroughly embarrassed that they were wearing shirts in public.

After the picture taking, we came back home and pretty much vegged out the rest of the day.  After all, a few of us had been awake for quite some time!

Saturday morning, we slept in and then Pam and I went to a wreath making class at a local garden store and the boys headed up to Brandon's job site for a while.  Pam and I had a blast making fresh wreaths (again, I meant to take pictures but got so focused on the wreath making that I forgot to snap a pic) and they actually turned out pretty good!  We met the guys back at the house before heading out to do a bit more shopping.  Later that night, Craig's sister and her husband stopped by to visit and then it was time for everyone to leave.  Pam and Craig headed back to Newton and we headed to bed :)

Today, we went to church and came home to put up Christmas decorations!  I got the Christmas tree assembled and decorated while Brandon put the lights on the house.  We still have a few more items to do, but we got a good start.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed the time with family and friends!  Only a few weeks until Christmas!

Here Come the Holidays

With Thanksgiving weekend closing in, it is time to usher in Christmas!  We plan to put up our decorations tomorrow, but in the mean time, I found this little questionnaire that I thought I would share!

1. What is your holiday wish for your family?
My holiday wish for my family is that we all create lasting memories and treasure our time together.

2. What is your Christmas morning tradition?
Growing up, our Christmas morning tradition involved getting up early to open our see what Santa left us in our stockings and then we would proceed downstairs to read the Christmas story from the Bible and open the rest of our gifts.  After we opened gifts, we would usually eat breakfast together and then get cleaned up and drive to Wichita to spend the rest of Christmas Day with my mom's family.  Now, our Christmas morning traditions are different each year because we rotate holidays with each of our families.

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?
The ability to travel wherever I want to and whenever I want to.

 4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?
I love to cook and entertain and love to go the extra mile to make guests feel comfortable and loved.  I also just like to get together with friends and family to spend time together and enjoy the spirit of the season.


5. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?
Since we don't have a family yet, I haven't really been able to carry over too many traditions, but one tradition I still enjoy (and we still do with my family) is to read the Christmas story on Christmas morning.  It helps us focus on the real meaning of the holiday and not just the gifts.   My mom once tried to start a new tradition of making egg rolls on Christmas Eve but after one year of making them we quickly stopped because it was a very time consuming process.  

When Brandon was growing up his family always had German meatballs after midnight mass on Christmas Eve and they still get together, albeit earlier than midnight, to keep this tradition alive.

7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip?
My parent's lake house.  It is so beautiful there and so peaceful and if it snows, it is exceptionally serene.

Thankful

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for:

Jesus Christ dying on the cross for my sins * a loving husband * good jobs (that we still have) * a loving family * cute nieces who make me laugh * a wonderful family-in-law * good friends who are so special to us * good health * our freedom and those who protect us in order to keep that freedom * a cozy home that keeps us warm * my puppy and his crazy antics * Twitter * space heaters  * Netflix * cookies * non-junk mail mail * a dishwasher * Starbucks * Crate and Barrel *.

Of course I had to throw in a few practical items to be thankful for, but seriously, this year I am so thankful for our health, our families and the promise of a future with Jesus.  We have seen time and time again that our life here on this earth is so short and that we take a lot of things for granted.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and cherishes the time with loved ones!!

Bringing NYC to ICT

It is a well-known fact that I LOVE NYC!  Hands down one my favorite vacation spots of all time.  I probably ask Brandon at least once a week if we can move to NYC for just one year.  I just want to live there for a short time so I can experience the real NYC life, appreciate it and then come back to good ol' Kansas where everything is normal,  but Brandon isn't exactly on board with that idea so I just get to live vicariously through friends or friends of friends who live in NYC and enjoy my visits.

But, when I heard that the Radio City Rockettes were coming to Wichita, I was so excited and made mention of it to Brandon.  Being the sweet husband that he is, he purchased the tickets without me knowing and planned an entire date night that was capped off with the show!

On Saturday night, he told me we had dinner reservations at Luciano's, my favorite Italian restaurant in the area (it is actually located in Mulvane) and very reminiscent of the cute little Italian restaurants in Little Italy.

{Photo courtesy of Luciano's}

We had an awesome dinner and practically had to roll ourselves out of the restaurant so we could make it to the show!!

We arrived at the Intrust Bank Arena in plenty of time to find our seats among the throngs of little girls in attendance.  The stage curtain was a small replica of the famous curtain at Radio City Music Hall and the Rockettes, while a smaller group as well, were just as amazing as I remember them on the big stage!

{We weren't supposed to be taking pictures, but Brandon broke the rules for the sake of the blog!}

My favorite scenes were the tour of NYC (they literally had a double-decker NYC tour bus that moved around the stage with a "virtual" tour of the city on the screen behind them) and the final scene that showed the history of the Rockettes.  The dancers were in beautiful costumes that reminded me of the costumes they wore in the early years and the routine was a very traditional kick line. 

I literally smiled the whole night!!  Brandon did a great job of bringing NYC to ICT!
 

Counting My Blessings

I have a really fun Weekend Wrap-Up to post and I will get to that, but I have something on my heart that I need to share.

This has been a tough year for us and for many people we know.  We have lost dear loved ones, we have watched others battle disease, we have watched people experience both of these things at the same time, and we have watched people lose jobs.  Yet through all of this, we have been protected from most of these harsh realities.  But tonight, I was reminded again about how blessed we really are.  

There is a girl I know of from OBU (I didn't really hang out with her when I was there, but I know who she is) who has the most faithful spirit and total trust in God, yet has had to face a myriad of trials in the past couple of years.  She has had breast cancer.  TWICE.  She has had all of the surgeries that go along with breast cancer.  I believe she had a hysterectomy (yes, she's my age) and now lives with the reality that she will never be able to have children.   To go through all of this, all of the emotions that go along with these issues and to live to proclaim her faith in God is amazing to me.  I read her blog every once in a while and am always amazed at how much glory she gives God for all that he has done in her life.  She has remained so faithful and has complete trust in His plan for her life.

Today, I read on Facebook that she started seizing at some point during the day and that the doctors have found a brain tumor.  She is scheduled to have brain surgery on Wednesday.  I don't know any other details, but all I know is that she needs prayer.  Prayer for the doctors, prayer for her emotions, her physical strength (her body has obviously been through a lot in the past couple of years), prayer for her husband who appears to be an extremely patient and strong man, prayer for her family as they support her through this new trial and prayer that God's plan will be revealed. 

Friends, I can't even begin to imagine having to go through any of these trials, and then have to go through them one after another after another.  Please take a minute to say a prayer for this woman and to count your blessings.  We don't have to look very far to realize just how blessed we are.