Still Recovering

I have pictures to post from our holiday celebrations and promise to post them soon. I also need to get my hands on some other cameras that belong to family members so I can make sure to include everything.

I am still in recovery mode and getting ready to get back into the swing of things with a little house decorating. We are working on a new living room complete with paint, a wall mounted tv, new flooring, and new furniture. It's going to be quite fabulous.

Hoping you all had a great Christmas!

Stay tuned ....

Hello, 26.

Yep ... today is my birthday!! It's hard to believe sometimes that I am 26. Sometimes I still feel slightly immature and childish. But I think we should all have those moments. Just not everyday.

And let me go ahead and tell you ... today has already been a great day!! Andrew made me breakfast, Louie cuddled in the bed with us, we finally finished our Christmas shopping and we had a fabulous lunch at Osaka. Now we are just patiently waiting for UPS to deliver a package and we will be on our way to Mocksville for continued birthday celebration and Christmas.

I am also finally finished with all of the cookies for this year! Well, sort of. I have one more batch of pecan tarts to make at my parents and then I will be done. Whew ... it's worn me out this year. But let me tell you ... they are fantastic!!

Okay ... need to finish packing up a few more things and get them loaded in the car so we can head out as soon as UPS swings by.

Have a fabulous day and a very Merry Christmas! I'll be posting birthday pictures and Christmas pictures after the holidays.

10 Reasons I Love Christmas Cards

10. I love to send them to everyone I know.

9. I love to receive them from everyone I know.

8. I get to show them off on my kitchen wall.

7. I love the picture cards so I can see how cute the little ones are. I just got one from my bff, Holly, and her little ones are ADORABLE.

6. You get them through "snail" mail. I love getting cards in the mail.

5. I think the sender's sentiment is written all over the card whether it's a card with angels, a Bible verse, believing in the season, or simply about loving one another.

4. When you get one in the mail you know the sender thought about YOU during their busy holiday schedule. I love the feeling of knowing we were thought about.

3. I love to buy them on clearance after Christmas. You all know my passion about bargain shopping. It's simply one of the best feelings.

2. I reeeeaaaallllly love to use holiday return address stickers and Christmas stamps. Oh, the little things.

1. I am starting to reuse them and it's so much fun!!! No, I don't resend them the next year. But I do cut the front of the card off and use them as Christmas tags on everyone's gifts. And don't worry, I don't use the picture cards for anyone's gifts ... that would just be creepy. But it would be kind of funny.

Christmas Treats and My Very First Tree House!

Short post ... but some awesome pictures!

What do you get with all of these ingredients ...

plus yours truly?

All of these! And that's not all of them.

Don't you wish you could just grab one? Excuse me, I think I need a sugar cookie ... be right back.

nom nom nom nom nom

And now moving on to something quite spectacular!

So, when you were younger did you ever have a tree house? I never did ... but I did have fun playing in the bamboo when I was little. Yes, bamboo. We had a small forest of it in our backyard and I use to play in it a lot. But I stayed clear of the compost pile. haha. Okay ... back to the tree house. Remember a few posts ago I told you about the Hallmark Dollhouses I get every year at Christmas? Well, I decided to put up a tree (mucho thanks to Mom and Dad!!) in our dining room and put alllllll of my houses on it. So now I have my very first tree house and it's every little girls dream come true. I love it. And it looks fabulous in my dining room. I think this has to be my most favorite decoration this year.

Have a great weekend!

In a tizzy

Oh my goodness I feel like I have so much to do! Between being house manager, financial advisor, personal shopper, and professional baker I have so many 'to do' lists to accomplish before Christmas. So what that I am house manager of my own house, financial advisor to only my accounts, personal shopper for only my family, and professional baker for only the people who know me ... they are all very demanding jobs. But you know what? I.LOVE.IT. This time of year is my most favorite and I don't mind all of the last minute shopping or baking. It's all worth it because it's for my loved ones.

I'm trying to sort out everything that needs to be done leading up to Christmas. I've decided this week is the week for baking. And I might as well say that I'll be baking up a storm next week too.

Cookie List 2009:

sugar cookies - everyone's number one go to cookie

wedding cookies

ritz peanut butter cookies

pecan tarts - finally! Andrew has been begging for these for the past few years and I am finally making them again.

I also have a few maybes on the list ... it really depends if I have a meltdown or not when it comes time to make them. Baking is hard work believe it or not ... I'm just thankful to have a window in my kitchen so I don't get as hot as I did last year in our little one bedroom apartment. No worries though. I tend to be an over achiever when it comes to baking so I am sure I'll be making them. Maybe my oven will fall apart on me (once all the baking is complete of course) and then I can get one of these:

Isn't she lovely? That means next Christmas I can make even more treats! Cross your fingers.

Okay ... gotta finish those lists and get to shopping.

Much love to you and yours this holiday season!

It's not Grandma's, but I like it.

So, I've been wanting chicken pot pie for the past few years. And I say years because I haven't had one since my grandmother passed away. I have always had the ones that my grandmother and her lady friends made for their church bazaars. They were all chicken pot pie queens. And let me go ahead and tell you that I am a chicken pot pie snob. So, don't tell me to get one from the grocery store because you think it's good. Yuck. And I do not like dark meat or tons of vegetables in mine. And the consistency ... it can't be too thick or too runny. Double yuck. I'm not so concerned with the crust ... homemade or store bought ... honestly, it is all the same to me. Andrew would disagree with me but whatever. I guarantee you that I could tell him it was homemade and he wouldn't know the difference. He would argue with me about that too. But the inside?? It's gotta be the way I want it or I won't eat it. So please don't take offense if I don't eat your chicken pot pie.

Well I wanted to try my hand at it and found a recipe that is pretty darn tasty and close to what I remember of my Grandma's. Minus the homemade crust. And I can tell you that I am 100% certain the recipe I followed isn't really close to what my Grandma and her girlfriends went by but the taste is there.

A few changes I made along the way .... I used cream of chicken soup instead of cream of potato. I didn't use a cookie sheet either. I didn't use the full amount of vegetables because I don't like a lot in the pie itself. I know two cups doesn't sound like a lot but it was to me and I am set in my ways. If you want your vegetables make them on the side ... not in the pie. And don't forget to make a pot of white rice to go with it. Not brown rice ... white rice. Trust me.

My newest hobby

Make sure to click all the red words ... takes you to some super fun sites!!

****Update**** Our local news station was there to report on the goal of First Book-Charlotte. So, yes ... I am now famous. ;-) You see my wrapping skills a few times throughout the clip and the stack at the very end was wrapped by yours truly.

Well, tonight I am beginning my first day of many volunteer opportunities. And let me tell you, I am so excited! Let me back up. I have volunteered before. And I've had fun. But I am just now starting to get passionate about it.

I found this great little website, volunteermatch.org. You sign up, type in your zip code, and voila! Hundreds of opportunities in your area pop up for you to choose from.

I chose First Book Charlotte. This organization collects and distributes books to parts of the community where literacy is low and many families can't afford to buy books for their children. I am meeting a group of people tonight at the YMCA to wrap books for the holidays. Can it get any better? I want to volunteer, I love to read, I love the holidays, and I love to wrap presents. That's what is so awesome about volunteermatch.org ... you find what you will be passionate about and sign up!

Off to make my smoothie and get on the road.

But before I go ... what's your all time favorite book?

Two of my many favorites -

On my list to read -