Christmas and Around the World in Eighty Days!

I finished my book! Around the World in Eighty Days is a very good read. Adventure, suspense, mystery, attachment, and it's very informative -I recommend it to anyone. I think I'm going to read Death on the Nile by Agatha Christy next; or Anne of Green Gables...
As for the holiday:
For Christmas Eve, we went to the In-law Family Christmas Party. It was nice. I brought pumpkin bread and there were many kinds of enchiladas, and beans, and salad and chips to eat. There was pecan pie or cherry pie and ice cream for dessert. Afterward was the white elephant gift exchange, a reading of the Christmas story, and we sang Christmas hymns. Before my husband and I left, our Aunt gave us a gift of a couple of pretty glass mugs with poinsettias on them, and some hot chocolate, which we enjoyed that weekend. How thoughtful! That night we built a fire and my mother-in-law, her oldest son, my husband and I watched The Christmas Story before bed.
Christmas was fun this year. We had breakfast at my brother-in-law's house Christmas morning. They made bacon and sausage and pancakes and orange juice. It was very nice. My husband and I bought our first Christmas ornaments this year. They are little picture frames and we put a wedding picture in one for our first Christmas together and my brother took a picture of us to put in the other for our REAL first Christmas together. ;) We liked the idea and gave my husband's younger sister's family a picture frame ornament also for their first Christmas with their new baby and a free night out. My brother-in-law and his wife had us this year so they gave us new socks, trouser socks for my husband and festive socks for me, and a gift card to Charleston's restaurant. My mother-in-law gave us an audio of the Oct. 2008 General Conference and a DVD of the life of President Thomas S. Monson. She also gave my husband a new set of scriptures he wanted, and she gave me some new scibbies. ;) We gave my mother-in-law a new rack for her wood burning fireplace. I can't tell you what we are giving my brother this year because we haven't given it to him yet, but I'll add it later. :)
Christmas dinner was at Mom-in-Law's house. Her youngest daughter and I helped her prepare the meal. It was delicious! We had turkey, glazed ham, mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, dressing, raspberry cranberry cherry jello (which was great on the ham and turkey!), dinner rolls, mixed vegetables, acorn squash and pumpkin pie with whipped cream. UmmHmm. So Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year!

~*Our First Anniversary*~

My husband's and my first anniversary was great. We slept late and went to IHOP for brunch, then we went out together to buy anniversary gifts. We bought for my husband a magazine subscription and for me a Wallace and Gromit Calendar (the paper tradition).
Later that afternoon we went to my husband's Grandparents' house and Grandma taught us, as we helped her, how to make her famous Carmel Popcorn. My husband was so cute helping his Grandma and running errands for his Grandfather. His Grandparents really are sweet people.

We went Christmas shopping after our cooking lesson and went to dinner at Streets of New York. (If you haven't been there, I recommend it, the New York cheese steak sandwich is so buttery yummy!) I love trying new restaurants! That night my husband built a fire and we watched a movie. We ate our cake, which was still delicious (Hooray for Cathy's Rum Cake), and drank sparkling apple juice from large wine glasses. It was fun. :) My husband is so sweet; I'm so glad I married such a kind hearted, forgiving, creative, brave, dignified, and talented worthy man. He's so foxy-scrumdidly-umpcious too! I'm the luckiest girl ever!

~Christmas Trees and Gingerbread Houses~

This afternoon my husband and I got out the Christmas tree and put it together; we are a great team! Later that afternoon Jon, his mother, and I went shopping and bought Christmas decorations. We put them up right away and they are so great! My husband put up lights in the windows while I decorated the tree and then my husband put the Angel on top of the tree. Our first tree! Yay!
Monday night for Family Home Evening I made gingerbread and cement icing and my husband and I built a gingerbread house together. A real gingerbread house! (It's my first so I'm very excited.) It's beautiful! I took pictures but I will have to post them later. My husband is so creative -he built the structure and made the snow on top of the house look so awesome! I decorated it with snowy windows, fence, and door with a Christmas wreath. It was pretty laborious, but when my husband and I were done I felt like we had really accomplished something. :) My brother came over and built a house too. Then we decorated gingerbread men -they are so delicious with Gummy Life Savers or DOTS for buttons!

Christmas is on it's way..

So on December first, as per my family tradition, I made donuts. My brother came over and helped me during the last half. We listened to White Christmas as we worked and talked about old times when we'd made them with our mother and at college together. It was fun. We just glazed them all instead of doing the different frostings and sugars.
I'm so excited to be starting family traditions in my own family. I also put up my Christmas decorations last week and I'm feeling pretty festive. We just need some lights and a tree. (Oh, and some tree decorations since mine are very limited right now. :) Although, we'll probably just put up my mother-in-law's tree this year.

My phone isn't working right now, so if you try to call me, sorry. It will probably be working again later this month or next. Happy holiday making to everyone!

Black Bart: Our Pet Fish

Oh, I'd like to introduce you to our fish, Black Bart. He lives in a lovely orange tank beneath a window in our TV room. We bought him while my husband and I were dating to keep Pistol Pete company (a gold fish we won at our singles ward activity).

I think Bart's been secretly depressed ever since we moved and left them with my mother-in-law though. Pistol Pete died of consumption shortly after we moved to Utah, but Black Bart just got bigger. He is a very smart fish and has an intelligent look in his eye (he's more like a dog) that's probably why he survived Pistol Pete's demise.

Bart likes to sleep just about all day, then he swims around cleaning the bottom of his tank and at night he swims to the top and bobs around so we remember to feed him. See I told you he was smart! I had to wake him up to take these pictures. I just waved at him a lot and told him how to pose for me. I couldn't ask for a better fishy friend.

Shoosting

My husband's friend and his wife came to town last weekend and we went to dinner together at the Thai Cuisine place on Baseline and Alma School. We all had different kinds of curry -it was delicious!

My husband's friend has been wanting to take his shooting and my hubby's been wanting to take me shooting, so we all went out to the desert Saturday for shooting lessons and I asked my brother to come with. It was great fun and very educational. I think I hit two targets! Hooray! I got sick to my stomache at the smell of guns smoke though. Bleeeck!

His wife did well too. I think it was her first time shooting a real gun, so when it went off it was loud and scared her, but she was a great sport.
Of coarse, the guys were all pros! :)
Thanksgiving is coming, yay! I'm excited for all the good food and family. We are going to my sister's house in Sierra Vista, then the next day we will have a second turkey dinner with my hubby's family. It's gonna be awesome. Last year we had Thanksgiving with his family and we had a great time, but I did miss spending some time with my family so I am PUMPED this year. :)

It's a Time for Thanks Giving ~

Thanksgiving is coming! Yay for turkey dinner and pie! No wonder they call this the holiday season. I don't know if it's the fantastic food, or focas on family, or the occasion we're celebrating, or just that we're celebrating, or all of the above, but there is just something extra special about this time of year. I feel it from the insides of my bones to the tips of my hair.
Even when the economy is so bad and everyone is taking in their belts, you can still feel it if you try -'tis the season! Maybe that's cheesy, but I have been so distressed about how this election turned out and how things have been this year in general. When that feeling of hope this season brings dawned on me- it just makes me feel so super excited to be alive, to know my God, to have loved ones, and to have a special time to celebrate with them. Happy Holidays everyone! I love each of you!

Double Bubble Toil and Trouble..

My husband now has a good job in Phoenix which we are excited about. He's been having trouble with his right ankle again, but with a new insole it seems to be on the mend! I am still on the hunt for a job, but with my free time I have been enjoying a good read. I just finished Sense and Sensibility, a book I've been meaning to read since college, and I really enjoyed it. It was a little different than the movie but I think they did a good job of sticking to the point anyway. I have started to read Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne and already love it.
Last night I made Beef Stroganoff for dinner with a new recipe provided by my mother-in-law. It was really good, and since I am so fond of Stroganoff, I'm elated to now have a good recipe for it. My husband was really impressed too so that means it's an official favorite of this family. I think I will have to make a recipe book of all the dinners that we enjoy together. One of them is a simple Macaroni and Cheeseburger casserole. All you have to do is: Make macaroni and cheese according to the box, add about a half cup of thawed frozen corn, about a cup of diced tomatoes (drain and rinsed from a can or fresh is best) and about half a lb of browned hamburger. Mix and serve. It's great for a quick and easy meal.
I'm so excited for Halloween; I love this holiday! I love to make popcorn balls and pumpkin squares and all the fun decorations. I'm not as fond of the scary costumes but it's all good. I have great plans for the ultimate costume for myself and someday I'll be able to put it together. Nope not this year, oh well. :)
Our first anniversary is coming up and I am so excited! I can't believe we've already been married for nearly a year. We had a really yummy wedding cake so I'm pretty sure it will still be delicious on our anniversary and I think we should eat the whole thing! Teehee.
Well Happy Halloween everybody!

Moving Home -

After living in Orem, UT for nine months we've moved back to Arizona. We're so glad to be home and on the hunt for good jobs and a sweet apartment. My husband will be continuing school at ASU this spring, and I would like to start some classes as well. Our first week here we both fell sick, but we are on the mend and catching up with friends and family.
Yesterday my sister and I went to a scrapbooking convention. My sister is really into scrapbooking and she's been teaching me the ropes. We had a great time finding new ideas, and learning to work with new tools and techniques. One of these days maybe I'll finish my scrapbook!
My hubby is looking forward to playing softball with our new ward on Thursdays, and I'm excited to go cheer him on. We plan to go golfing once the weather cools down. In the mean time, it's sure nice to be able to go swimming again.

What's for dinner?

One of the things I never anticipated when I got married was cooking for different tastes. For some reason I always assumed that everyone liked to eat the same things I did. Not at all true. It has been both challenging and fun to come up with meals that sound yummy to both Jon and I. Last night I made chimi changas per Jon's request. They turned out great and Jon loved them.
First I prepared a roasting bag and put in a 2.5 lbs. pork roast. Just adding from the top I threw in about 1/2 a sweet onion chopped, 3 cloves of burst garlic, salt, fresh ground pepper and about 3 tablespoons of butter. I then put it in the oven at 325 degrees for 1 hr and 40 mins which over cooked it a bit. next time I will take it out after an hour and twenty.
I shredded the pork with a fork and mixed it with two 7 oz cans of green chilies adding some of the cooked onions also. Next warm tortillas in microwave and make burritos with cheddar cheese and pork mixture, fry in peanut oil till lightly browned on both sides and serve with taco sauce, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes and Asian chili sauce ( that stuff is awesome on Mexican food! :))
I made some sweetened sliced strawberries and biscuits during the process with the chimi changas and served them with whipped topping for dessert. Simple and so delicious! My husband thought I was the bomb digity.