4th of July

Fruit kabobs to celebrate the 4th of July! These went like hotcakes at the BBQ we attended! And, they looked very similar to the picture I followed. Double win for me!

Happy Halloween

Thanksgiving

This year for Canadian Thanksgiving, I wanted to make as much as I could from scratch. A little more work? Yes. Worth it? Not sure. I was exhausted on Sunday! I slept 10 hours Saturday night (I never sleep that long!) and still had to take a nap. We had our friend WVL over and she brought the best mashed potatoes: "These potatoes are so creamy!" Quick! Name that movie! I'm not very good at taking food pictures, but here's some pictures from our dinner. It was delicious, but for American Thanksgiving, we are going out to Cracker Barrel!

Homemade rolls: they don't look perfect, but they sure tasted good.

Apple pie! Normally I just buy a crust, but this year I made it myself! 

Our Thanksgiving table, complete with Philip and Isabelle.

Husband stirring the gravy made from the turkey drippings.

Homemade stuffing! (J if you are reading this, I didn't use your Apple and Bacon recipe. It looked too complicated for my first attempt. Maybe I will give it a try at Christmas.)

Absolutely delicious squash and feta dish! Find the recipe here!

WVL!

Happy Independence Day!

Thomas Jefferson once stated "The only birthday I ever commemorate is that of our Independence, the Fourth of July." According to what I've read and heard, Mr. Jefferson loved celebrating Independence Day. Because we live close to Poplar Forest, a house Jefferson had built as a retreat for him and his family, we decide to celebrate the Fourth Jefferson style. Today at Poplar Forest, we were able to travel back in time and get a glimpse of life during Jefferson's time. There were flax weavers, a potter, a blacksmith, a fife and drum band, a magician and a sword swallower (I found a new project: learn how to eat fire and swallow swords!). Definitely a fun way to spend the day!

I may be crazy...

We are moving in a month, the weekend after Easter to be exact. We are busy purging, organising and packing. And yet, I couldn't resist putting out some Easter decorations. Husband thinks I'm crazy. After all, we are moving! He joked that the decorations will be the only things left unpacked. We had some friends over yesterday and they commented that, of course, even though we are moving, I've decorated for Easter! I can't help it! I love decorating for holidays. And I can easily justify it: The decorations already have their own box. All I have to do it swoop them up and drop them in the box. It will take two minutes! Besides I think they make the place look more homey and distract from the boxes and general mess that comes with preparing to move.

Happy Halloween!

I know you are all are waiting to see pictures of this year's pumpkin creations, so without further ado: Ta-da!

Husband's pumpkin

My pumpkin: He is very happy!

Date night gets crafty

For our weekly date night we got in touch with our artistic sides and decorated mini pumpkins.

Husband was the paint mixer master (say that fast 5 times!)

Husband's pumpkins

My beautiful pumpkins

Canadian Thanksgiving

Before (4pm):

After (10pm):

*Sigh*

The Cookie Jar

A couple Christmases ago (Is that how you pluralize "Christmas"?), Husband bought me a snowman cookie jar online. When it was delivered, Husband realized that the jar was broken. He thought he would be funny and wrap it up anyway (When he phoned the company, they said they couldn't send a replacement, and gave him a refund). Christmas morning found me opening up a broken present. To be honest, I thought it was pretty funny, but I pretended to be sad.

My wonderful present

Our own Humpty Dumpty

Over the next few days, Husband painstakingly tried to glue the pieces back together. He spent hours on it. Then, Christmas break was over and he had to go back to work. The cookie jar was put in a box, and Husband promised he would finish it.

Trying to glue it back together (I think he inhaled too many super glue fumes before this picture!)

Fast forward 18 months: We are in the process of clearing out some of the clutter in our apartment. Last night, I came across the cookie jar, still somewhat broken and still in the box (you may recall that we moved about 18 months ago. That means that we hauled a broken cookie jar clear across the country. You may be wondering why we didn't throw it out. Well, I wanted to toss it, but Husband insisted that he would and could put it back together!). I pulled the box out and showed Husband. He started laughing and said "I can still fix it, you know." I gave him "The Look" and said "We are throwing it out." But before I tossed it, I had to get a picture of Husband's hard work from 18 months ago! I think he gets an A for effort.

"I can still fix it, you know!"

If at first you don't succeed...pull out the frozen pizza

This lovely picture is our Easter dinner. Pizza was not the planned entree. Here's the story: In an attempt to cut our grocery bill, we sometimes participate in a program called Angel Food Ministries . Our participation depends on the food offered in a given month and how much of that food we would actually eat. We had a pre-seasoned roast from a recent order and I thought that would make a nice Easter dinner. I would make some mashed potatoes, throw together a salad, maybe make a vegetable of some sort, and we would sit down to a meal on our China dishes (with silver chargers underneath for that added touch of elegance). Fortunately, when it comes to making food, I can be a pessimist, and I was worried about whether or not we would like the roast (I am usually wary of things that come pre-seasoned because they never seem to taste right to me). So just in case, I had a frozen pizza as back-up. A few hours later, when the roast was finished, but before I made anything else, I cut into it and tasted it. I did not like it. I gave a bite to Husband and he didn't like it either. It didn't taste horrible, or even kind of horrible. It just wasn't to our liking. The pizza went into the oven and 25 minutes later, we were eating our Easter pizza on our China dishes. Because it was a special occasion, we ate with knives and forks. Holidays call for elegance, even when eating pizza.

Christmas tree of memories

Husband and I put up the Christmas tree last night. We got the tree in July from someone who was giving it away on freecycle. Last night was the first time we had opened the box. I was a bit worried that the tree would look horrible, but to my surprise, it wasn't that bad. For the price we paid, I am happy with our tree. After all, you can't beat getting something for free!

As you can see, I still need a star or something to put on the top. I spent hours last year looking for one, and this year has been no different. I just can't seem to find something that is satisfactory.

Decorating the tree is like taking a walk down memory lane. Over the past few years, I have collected ornaments from various places I have travelled to. As I unwrap each ornament, the memories of that place wash over me. I think of the people I was with and the things we did there. Here are just a few of the ornaments and the memories behind them. This tradition started on my first visit to New York City. It was New Year's Eve, so all the shops still had Christmas stuff up. (Just a side note, I do NOT recommend NYC on New Year's Eve! It is so not worth it. Stay home, nice and warm with a bathroom nearby and watch the ball drop on your TV.) I bought this Statue of Liberty ornament to remember the day. Every time I pull it out, I not only think of that New Year's Eve, but I also think of the proceeding trips to NYC. Until I lived just outside the city, I only went once or twice a year. I would always go at Christmastime. There is something special about Christmas in NYC: seeing the tree in Rockefeller Center, the Macy's window displays, watching the Rockettes Christmas show, seeing people dragging Christmas trees down the busy sidewalks, eating roasted nuts from a street vendor. All the sights, sounds and smells of New York City come back to me as I place the Statue of Liberty on my tree.

A couple of years ago, when Husband and I were dating we wanted to go hiking in the Adirondacks. Due to poor planning on our part, we never did find an good hiking trail. Rather than turn around and head home, we decided to drive up to Lake Placid. What a great idea that turned out to be. The town was home to the 1980 Winter Olympics, and even in the summer it feels like a skiing town. We spent the day wandering the streets, popping in and out of shops, and visiting the various Olympic event sites (right in front of the high school is the speeding skating track!). This spontaneous trip to Lake Placid is one of our favourite memories, and we reference it all the time. Who knew that poor planning could end with such a great day?


Perhaps my favourite place to visit in Boston is the Habour right next to the Aquarium. I could sit for hours at the Harbour and watch the ships as I listen to the water. Anytime anyone came to visit me, I would make sure I took them to the Harbour. This ornament brings back more than memories of the Harbour, though. It reminds me of my years spent in Massachusetts. It reminds me of the trees, the ocean, the beach, the crazy drivers, and the wonderful people who I met there.

This New Hampshire outhouse ornament is one of my most cherished and favourite ornaments. It reminds me off my dear friends, The Willard's. You would be hard pressed to find better people than Alicia and Jon. They are two of the kindest, most caring people I have ever met. They would literally give you the shirts off their backs if you needed it. They are always there if you need anything, ready and willing to help. Jon's family has a small rustic cabin (complete with an outhouse) in New Hampshire. Alicia and Jon would invite me to go to the cabin a few times a year. Those weekends at the cabin were fantastic. There is no TV, no radio and very spotty cell phone reception. The weekend would be spent hiking, relaxing, shopping in the cute little towns nearby, swimming in the lake, skiing, and driving through the White Mountains. The cabin was where I found peace and solace. It was where time stopped for a couple days, where life became clear and centered again. It was wonderful to get away for a weekend, especially when life was bit stressful. I was at the cabin just a few weeks after my father died (and I might add, it was also about 5 weeks after Alicia and Jon got married. That's the type of people they are. They knew I was going through a rough time and they knew a weekend at the cabin would do me a world of good, so they invited me to go with them, even though they had been married less than 2 months!) It was at the cabin that I decided that I wanted to marry Husband. I miss the cabin more than I miss anything else about New England. That cabin was my sanctuary

When we went on our cruise last year, I wanted to find a nativity set to bring back. We searched every island we stopped at but had no luck. I was starting to give up hope. Finally, on the last day at the last island, we found one! Not only was it a nativity, but it was an ornament too! When I see this ornament I think about the cruise and about search for the nativity. Then I laugh a bit because I think of the craft market I went to here in Central Texas a couple of months ago where there was an long table full of these exact same ornaments! All that searching in the Caribbean for something that could be bought in a town just an hour down the road!

Although it wasn't always easy to find ornaments on my travels and I am missing a few (you try finding a ornament in Kentucky in July!), I love my tradition! It makes decorating the tree more fun. I am able to share stories with Husband of my life before him, and then we reminisce about the places we've been together. We laugh as we share memories then we hang those memories on our tree.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving [ and if any of my Canadian readers comment that it's not Thanksgiving, I will block you from this blog! :-) ]

"Ok, here's the Thanksgiving menu so far: apple pie, pumpkin pie, blueberry tart, and ice cream roll. What am I missing? Cake! We need cake!"

Debra Messing as Grace Adler on Will & Grace

Who needs Martha?

We don't have a lot of space in our apartment so I had to get creative with decorating. I had to decide what decorations to put out and what ones would have to wait another year or two to be put on display. I guess the theme is "less is more" this year (And I have to admit I am already worrying about how to decorate for Christmas!).

Some of my long-time and loyal readers (Stop laughing! A blogger can dream, can't she?) may remember that jar from my Halloween decoration post last year. After everything I had to do to secure that jar, you better believe I will be using it for many years to come.

Our first Christmas together

Our first Christmas together! Husband and I were dating last Christmas, but he was in Iraq, so compared to that, this Christmas was 100000000000 times better. Our friend Ian, who couldn't fly home because of all the crazy snow storms, joined us for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. He was a pleasant addition to our celebration. We started our own tradition of making pizzas on Christmas Eve. I used the pizza dough recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, which was simple and very delicious. Husband practiced his domestic skills by kneading the dough. After pizzas, we incorporated my family's tradition of playing a board game. Trivial Pursuit was the game of the night, with Ian proving to be full of random, useless information.

Christmas Day brought presents, food and more games. I was a bit concerned about cooking a turkey because I had never done it before. But it turns out it's not so hard. Husband once again showed his skills in the kitchen by mashing the potatoes. He had better stop doing things or I will know that he is good at them and make him do them all the time! Much to my surprise, all the food was done about the same time! I have no idea how that happened, but I call it my Christmas miracle.

Perhaps the highlight of the day, and the moment that will be talked about for years to come came when Husband opened up this present...

Happy Valentine's Day?

Yesterday, I went into Michael's in search of some Christmas decorations. I am still looking for something to top my tree. I fear that another epic search has begun, but more on that in another post. As I walked through the store, I noticed that a lot of the shelves had been stripped of the Christmas products and were bare. I wondered what the deal was, and so, as I was at the check-out I mentioned the bare shelves and lack of Christmas decorations to the cashier. Her response? "We are getting ready to put our our Valentine's stuff. It should be out by the middle of the week." Sorry? What? Christmas isn't even here yet! Is it too much to ask to let us finish one holiday before we start preparing for the next one? Just a thought.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ok, so I am sure that many blogs over the next day or two will mention Thanksgiving and what people are thankful for, but I can't let this holiday pass by without writing something about it. Thanksgiving has always been one of my favourite holidays. I love what it stands for: gathering together with family and friends to celebrate the end of the growing season and the harvest. Growing up in a predominately agricultural area has helped me to appreciate more what goes into growing and harvesting our food. To me, one of the best sights in the world is to see farm equipment out in the field in late September, late into the night. Usually, you can only see the lights of the tractors, as they move up and down the rows, but you know what the lights mean: someone is working hard.

To often in today's world, we tend to be so negative and look at all the things that are going wrong in our lives. I found this quote that puts things in perspective for me:

H. W. Westermayer (Whoever that is!) said: The pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts… nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.

I am not going to list what I thankful for. My life is so blessed that I wouldn't have the time to list everything. But I will say that I am thankful for Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Oh Christmas tree?

Last night, while Ryan and I were out for a walk, we passed a house with a Christmas tree in the window. Yes, you read right: A Christmas tree, up already. Although my friend Natalie would disagree, I say it's too early! Why can't people wait until December? Doesn't this take away the magic of Christmas? I would think that by having Christmas decorations up for 6 to 8 weeks leading up to the Holiday, you would be tired of it by the time Christmas actually comes. I know that I can only take so much hype. Maybe I am a Grinch, but I say it's too early!

Pumpkin Carving

Ryan, carving pumpkins for the first time

in his life (that he can recall anyway!)


I am smiling because I have a knife!

Ryan decided to make it difficult and make a cat


This is my pumpkin. I know, I'm boring!

Meow!!