Friday, December 30, 2011

Back in Ohio

We're back in Ohio in the cold rainy weather but happy to be home. We pick up Max and Lila tonight so they will stop torturing Alicia's kitties!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

What's wrong with this photo?

We had to make a quick run to Kmart last night because Jason (my brother) left his swim trunks at home and we came across this in the beach section:

Monday, December 26, 2011

We made it!

Made it to Tampa, waiting for our ride to Sanibel island...then the fun can begin!

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Sunny Florida

Just a quick post to say Merry Christmas to all and thank you for reading our blog!  We truly appreciate the support!  We had a wonderful few days with family and cherish the time spent together.  2011 has been a great year and we have many new adventures to look forward to in 2012 (more to come on that after the first of the year).  In a few short hours, C and I are leaving for a few days in Florida...can't wait for some sun and sand!

Monday, December 19, 2011

Belated Anniversary Gift

On Friday night, I was able to cash in my anniversary gift from Chris, a Sur la Table cooking class!  We chose the "Cooking with Wine Date Night" on Friday night and here was our menu:

Coq au Vin Blac
Seared Duck Breast with Port Cherry Reduction
Campanelle with Roasted Tomato and Zinfandel Ragu
Merlot Raspberry Sorbet

Our favorite dishes were the Coq au Vin and the Duck...both were delicious!  They provided the recipes so I can't wait to give them a try at home.  I only took one photo before the event of Chris and here it is (you can see our Chef, Eric, in the background)!


Such a fun way to spend a Friday night...but we did both come home smelling like food in a big way (like leave the coats outside over night).

Super Shegan Give Away!

Just thought I'd let you know of a give-away over at my friend Christie's blog, Super Shegan.  We met Christie when we lived in NC and now she and her husband Patton are in Washington and we're in Ohio but we still keep in touch...Army friends are for life.  Christie is vegan and her blog features awesome vegan recipes (and some of her gorgeous photography)!  You can also check out her Juice Plus Complete give away here.  Let's help her get to her goal of 50 comments by the 23rd!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

One More Week...

before Christmas!  Are you ready???? 

We've finished the shopping and wrapping...
And the tree trimming and White Christmas watching (it's our tradition)...
And the baking (I only made one type of Christmas cookie this year, Peppermint Whoopie Pies, yummy)...
And the Christmas cards...
And some Christmas sewing, well almost done...
And the Advent masses at church...
All that is left is the ENJOY time with friends and family and the birth of Jesus! 

What are your plans for the next week?

Merriest of Christmases and Happiest of New Years to you!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Christmas Stocking

A few months ago, while browsing around one of our local quilt shops I came across this old-world nautical fabric and knew that it would be perfect for our friend Grant (here are a few posts where Grant has made an appearance on the blog: Thankful Day 9, C's Brazil Trip, Pre-Deployment Charleston, and our UK Adventure).  Grant is one of the friends that Chris first met when he started his Army career and they deployed together twice.  Now he's one of both of our dearest friends.  Grant is working on his masters in history at the University of Exeter in England so even though I made this stocking months ago, I had to wait until he received it to post it!  
  
 Close of up of the toe:
 Close up of the top, I did a slight ruffle (but not too much since it's a guys stocking!)

I've got a few other projects to get to before Christmas so more to come!  Are you hand-making any Christmas gifts?  If so, I'd love to hear about it!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Finals are over, amen!

Both Chris and I took our last finals yesterday...so ready for a break from school.  More posts to come!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Lila Bug

Last weekend, we took the dogs with us to Thanksgiving at my grandparent's house.  They love it there, lots of food dropped and people to pet them.  Lila even let Baby J give her a hug...so sweet!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

The Holidays

I'm hoping after the next week to be back to blogging regularly, these classes are really consuming all my free time and I will be so happy when they are done on Dec. 8th!  In the mean time, I'm starting to think about our Christmas holiday and decide what's most important to us.  I would LOVE to do it all, the decorating, the tree-trimming, the baking, the Christmas cards, the caroling, the gifts-bought and wrapped but I'm fairly certain that it won't all get done and if it does, I will be too stressed to enjoy the season.  What I KNOW for sure is that we WILL make time for the most important parts of the holiday, attending mass during the Advent season, spending time with family and friends and reflecting on the season.  My plan for this year is to have a relaxed holiday season while focusing on whats important.  What are your favorite traditions for the holidays?  And what do you skip out on?