Christmas Music

I have long been a fan of Christmas music; I wait patiently from Halloween on for the day at which it is acceptable to blare Christmas music 24-7. In some years I can make it until the Friday after Thanksgiving but there are some years that it just doesn’t work. Last year I was so frustrated by graduate school that I think I started listening to Christmas music in the early parts of November. This year I started listening to Christmas music in the car a week before thanksgiving.

I love the hopeful sound of the music and I love that for one month of the year so much of what we do revolves around the birth of Jesus Christ. For many, this may just be a month to get presents and be with family. In my family, our Christmas begins with a celebration of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, that he came to die among us and for us. I love that for a few weeks it is acceptable for us as a nation to love the Lord.

In addition to the music I love the lights on the tree, the sound of fires roaring in the fireplace, and watching cheesy Christmas movies. I am so ready for the few days at home where I can hang out with the family and bake cookies. There is so much that I love about the Holiday season, I am sure that I will have many more posts about the music and the wonder of the holiday season.

I found this gem at Kirkland's a few days ago, I could I pass up a holiday letter?!?!

Now that thanksgiving is over and I am able to listen to Christmas music all of the time it is wonderful, I am enjoying the decking of the halls, the jingling bells, and silent nights. I admit that I love the pop artist holiday mixes they are just fabulous. Christina Aguilera has a christmas album that I really really love, it just pumps me up for the holidays. I am always looking to add music to my holiday collection, what is your favorite album?

Crab Crustini's

For thanksgiving I was in charge of appetizers: this was big for me. I found that there was lots of responsibility in this for me. The two things that I had to balance were the appetizers should be filling but not too filling. In my family we eat our lunch in the mid-afternoon so I knew that I would be hungry around lunchtime. I also realized that I could use the oven as long as the stuff went in with the turkey and before the rest of the sides. It took me a while to determine what I was going to make, in the end I decided on the spinach dip and these crab crustini's. The original link for the crab is here but I modified it quite a bit so now I will give you that.

Crab Crustini's

Ingredients
French bread, sliced thinly and all the same width if possible
2 cans of crab (I used one of lump and one of the other kind)
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
Tony's chachere's or some other seafood seasoning of your choice
4 garlic cloves
2 green onions

Directions
1- Toast your bread slices in the oven, be sure to watch or they will burn in an instant (yes, this happened to me... twice). Allow them to cool.
2- Mix the cream cheese, crab, and Tony's
3- Add the garlic by using a garlic press, I find that this infuses the taste into the cream cheese
4- Slice the green onions and mix in
5- Spread a thin/medium layer of the crab mixture on the toast
6- Pop into the oven for 4-5 minutes under the broiler or until warm if the oven is being used for something else. This is another point that you want to really watch what is happening... burnt cheese is gross.

I hope that you enjoy these tasty little treats. My family really enjoyed them both cold and hot out of the oven. I will probably be bringing these to things that I need to bring appetizers too in the future. Let me know if you try them and make changes.

Thanksgiving Photos

The other day I posted about being thankful for so many things and I mentioned that I took some pics during my time at home. Looking at my phone made me realize that there aren't actually that many pics but I will share with you what I have and then I will include a few stories about the pics. 

Just two single girls hitting the road

 In this car ride Lily was a little nervous. I often think that she is still a little confused about Dallas and wonders when we are going to get back to St. Louis. However, once we got close to my parents home she was super excited because she knew where she was.

Entering the great home state

Apple pie... so yummy

I cut a fleur de lis for the vent in the pie

I love apple pie, I don't eat many of the thanksgiving pies, as I do not like pumpkin very much. So my father and I tend to whip up an apple pie most thanksgivings. We use granny smith apples and the recipe out of my mom's better homes and garden's cookbook (you know the one with the red patchwork pattern). I have tried several different versions and that is always the one that I prefer. Although to save time I do tend to buy pie crust at the holidays... too much to do. 

Crab Crustini Appetizers, more on these later

 I was in charge of appetizers for the big meal. I found these crab crustini's on pinterest. I modified the recipe a bit so I will be sure to share it with you so that you can bring something yummy to your next party. I also made a spinach dip, so good. I found this recipe on the back on the Knorr Spinach Dip Package (could also be called vegetable soup, I think).

Hitting the stores for a little black friday fun

My mom and I hit up several stores for black friday. I always love to go to target so that I can see what I just can live without. I found myself asking that anytime I looked at anything so it was hard to justify something when the question is "can I live without this?" Oh well, it was wonderful to get to spend time shopping with my mom, we found a few great deals.

It was a great time with the family and I love the sweet moments with the family. I can't wait to get home for a few more days at Christmas. Happy Holidays!

Being Thankful at Thanksgiving

As thanksgiving is this week and so many people have shared what they are thankful for, I thought that I would give you to the top 15 things that I am thankful for.

1. My parents
2.  My brothers and their wives and children
3. My entire extended family that I cannot seem to get enough of
4. My sweet dog, the Lil-monster
5. The USA, where we are free to practice our religion
6.  Being finally finished with grad school… I loved the moment that my diploma came in the mail was pretty awesome
7. My friends who think I am pretty special
8.  That I have a job that I enjoy, most of the time
9.   I am thankful for cell phones so that I can keep in touch with my friends from afar as well as my family that lives afar.
10. That I am able to have a Bible of my own in a language that I can read, write, and speak.
11.  My friends from college who have loved me for years and I am just now beginning to appreciate them fully
12. A new city to try new things in
13. Being Cancer Free!!!
14. That the apartment is starting to really come together
15. I am thankful that I am able to make my own choices and that I am able to find out exactly what it is I want to do with my life.

I had a wonderful few days off for thanksgiving I got a chance to go to my parents house and spend time with them doing different things and mainly just taking a few minutes out of our super busy lives to spend time together. I hadn't been to their house in several months, I was able to see my parents off and and when they came to Dallas but it was special to be at their house. Lily enjoyed her time in the HUGE yard that my parents have and she just loves playing with Delli, my mom's dog. 

I tried to take lots of pics that I will post soon, I know I am super far behind in all of the posts that I need to put up. This not having internet is making my life difficult. I am sure that I will have internet and TV soon so that I can watch my shows. It was wonderful to take a few days away from the office and be thankful that I have such a wonderful loving family and that here in the USA we are able to be who we are without consequences from the government. So I am thankful for you my few readers who I am sure enjoy the crazy ramblings of my mind... Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Weekend Road Trip: San Antonio

A few weeks ago I took off on another quick trip down to San Antonio to hang with my girl Stacee and watch one of my great friends from the StL get married. So I spent most of my Friday morning getting things together to finalize move to Dallas: drivers license and licence plates and then I headed south.

Lily loves her car rides

On Saturday we went to a soccer game... probably the cutest thing I have seen in a while. After that we went to a kid b-day party, this was interesting but in reality it was more like birth control. I am not sure that I want to have children... OMG it was crazy. But it was fun to be able to experience these things with my friend.

Soccer Game

Hanging out with my soccer mom best friend

Jen's Wedding

Me and the Bride... she is so beautiful

First peppermint mocha of the season

The wedding was so wonderful, I am glad that I got a chance to see her. I will admit that I spent the early portion of the reception anxiously watching my phone for updates on the A&M v bama game. Which the aggies won so it was amazing and after that I could relax a little. On the way home I got to have my first peppermint mocha of the season. I always feel as if I have finally started the holiday season when I get my first mocha. I also love the red christmas cups... yay holidays!

Mid-Month Review

It is now the middle of november and I bet you are wondering how I am doing on the big list of things that I would like to have accomplished

The big list:
Buy washer and dryer
Unpack all of kitchen
Buy couch
Figure out living room layout
Start looking at finding a church home
Organize closet
Organize office
Buy fun accent chair
Get a haircut
Find a local library
Complete 12 workouts
Curtains for the bedroom
Buy bath mats and shower curtain for guest bath
Get car stuff together: liscence plates, drivers liscence, toll tag, transfer title (which I already found!!)
Try two new recipes 
Finish the papers
Order cable and Internet

On the first approach I thought that I was making some good headway, once looking over the list it appears as if I still have a million and ten things to do this month. I am looking forward to a few days away with the family to eat and be thankful. In many ways there are moments like this when I look at a large list of things for a specific time and wonder do I feel frantic because I put high goals for myself? I think I do, I feel as if I have so much to do that I cannot sit down and enjoy this season of thanksgiving. 

I am not sure that I am going to finish the entire list but I am making good progress towards living in my apartment. In many ways I wasn't even sure that I would be able to get through half of this list. I am so ready to be able to relax in my apartment soon... 

Beef and Bean Ragout

When you are a work-a-holic you are often looking for easy meals that don't take much prep time but are still yummy. I often turn to my crockpot when I am in a pinch for time or when I just moved into the apartment and had yet to get my pots out. This was some what of a life saver since I didn't really want to eat out every single night but I didn't have the time or energy to cook. When I was writing my thesis I made a ton of meals in my crockpot because it was fast and easy and made leftovers.

I will admit that I often forget that crockpot meals are a little deceptive on the prep end since if you are making stew you still have to chop lots of things. This is not one of those meals it is pretty easy, open cans pour in... wait 8 hours... eat dinner. Amazing.

Beef and Bean Ragout

Ingredients
2 cans of kidney beans, I drain mine
1 can tomato sauce (15 oz)
1 can stewed tomatoes, italian style
1 pound stew meat
~16 oz frozen potatoes with bell pepper and onion (hash browns, this is about half of the bag)
salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder

Look at this cute blogger pic

Procedure
1- Dump everything into your crockpot. I add some splashes of onion and garlic powder but if you find garlic and onion tomato sauce that would work too.
2- Stir it all up, if it doesn't look like there is enough water I add maybe a cup more.
3- Turn crockpot on low of 8-10 hours
4- Eat

Time for dinner

I tend to eat this with some french bread or maybe a different type. I will be honest and tell you that I grab the Pillsbury loaf that you just pop in the oven and 30 minutes later you have warm fresh bread. This is one of my favorite fall dishes, it is just warm and snuggly. If I had a fire place I would eat this with a fire roaring. Yumm.

A little hint: the potatoes absorb some of the water so make sure that everything is slightly swimming but not drowning. It is still good if you forget to add a little extra water but will look like paste, been there done that one. Also you could only add one can of bean but I like lots of beans in my soups. I hope you enjoy this one.

Cute easy hair

Recently I have been having more of the mornings where I am running just a few minutes late and don't really have time to shower and then fix my hair. I will be honest and say that I don't want to get out of bed because it is super cold and I just want to lay under the covers and snuggle with Lily. In hopes of still looking like I tried every morning I have been experimenting on my hair. This is the modification of a pinterest pin that I have seen but I am unable to find the original link. I think she called it something like pinning back your bangs while they are growing out... or a cute twist.

Of course I don't have a video for you or really much in the way of instructions but I am going to try and tell you how to replicate it. I have tried to get this fully across my forehead but it doesn't work, I have to start next to my part.

-Take a small part of your hair and fold it over a second section, then add a little hair each time you cross over your hair. It does look a little different if you take the second piece over the first or under the first.. I like over.

-Continue until you get to your ear, I vary on whether or not I use large or small chunks. I would say the ones in the pic are medium.

-You can stop here with a few bobby pins to keep the twist.

-On this day I pinned the twist at that point and then pulled everything else up into a pony and then unclipped the twist and twisted the two parts together with no extra hair and pinned it back near the pony. 

-One day I would like to make a crown of these twists around my head but I am just not that good on both sides.

I think these pics are pretty good, I wish I had a video but I don't so best of luck with that one. I rocked the cute hair with a white T and jeans and sperrys with the awesome scarf. This was the morning of the flood so I was so sad to be stuck at home with this awesome hair. I think this style would look good with short or long hair. I will admit that it was easier when my hair was just a little shorter. It is hard to make sure not to pull too much hair into the twist in the front when it is a little longer. 

Be sure to let me know if you try this. I really love it and rock it all the time.

First Morning in the Apartment

The first morning in the apartment is one of those great times where you try and relish every moment, while everything is new you want to make the very best of what is to come. I have always loved being able to eat my cereal on the porch when I go to the beach during the summer. Now that I have a porch I hope to be able to hang out on the porch more often. 

Lily loves it so far

The breakfast of champions: Cheerios and strawberries

She is trying to figure out how she got into a huge doggy jail

Coffee can't live without it

Taking a few moments out of the unpacking crazy to snuggle Lily

I will admit that was the only morning that we ate on the porch, however it has started getting colder so maybe in the spring. The first morning was a good start for our new apartment. There are still lots of boxes running around but I am really enjoying being there with the dog. We are starting to get back into running and enjoying watching lots of movies. 

I am looking forward to feeling settled in the apartment and being able to spend more time with Lily. I am not going to lie, I think she is loving it. When Lily hangs out on the porch she likes to stick her little nose outside of the bars... it is almost as if she thinks it smells better on the other side, even dogs think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. 

Mini Flood of 2012

Last Friday I woke up and was puttering around the house and Lily wanted to be on the porch and growl at people, so being the wonderful dog owner that I am I let her out. I went out there with her, with my coffee, and I heard water dripping. In this moment I realized that my porch and storage closet are just a little on the wet side. My thought is: really the sprinkler waters my porch?!?! Then I realize that there is a pool of water off the patio. My new thought: oh the sprinkler must have busted I will have to let the office know. Then I realize that the water is pouring off one of the upper floors. Thought: that must suck for them.

At this point I need more coffee and to finish getting ready so I head in the house and open the blinds to have just a little natural light. At this point I look at the wall and realize that there are zebra stripes... My thought: really how did I not notice that before. After a second or two I realize that they are new from the upstairs flood... REALLY??

The 'zebra' stripes... hard to see but they are there

This part is really wet

At this point I feel the carpet and realize that it is soaked. I move all of the furniture and call the apartment company to see what was happening. It turns out that one of the upstairs tenants water heater broke and flooded their apartment and mine and my neighbors. The maintenance guys came by and cut out about 2 feet wide chunk of carpet pad. That carpet pad was very very wet, it left a trail of water as they carried it out.

At this point they have replaced the carpet pad and at some point they are going to paint. I was a little thrilled that I didn't have much furniture because nothing got ruined in the mini flood. It was so disheartening to see all of this water everywhere. But I am glad that I hadn't gotten a couch yet. Hopefully there will not be a major flood coming up soon or really ever. I hate when craziness happens that you have no control over, it makes me just a little crazy.

Have you ever been flooded? It sucks I know...

No cable???

Movie night with Lily

As I am still in the process of setting up my apartment it has been somewhat of a trial to decide what to do with my evenings. I try to eat at home each night and then unpack a few boxes or to spend some time organizing a room. Eventually, the sun goes down and then I am still looking for something to do. As I have gotten my books out of storage I have taken to reading some nights and then watching movies since I have gotten my DVDs out of boxes.

Watching the blind side... one sleepy puppy

There is not a couch so most nights Lily and I curl up on the bed and watch a movie on my computer. I have decided over the next several nights we will be working our way through the harry potter movies. I am pretty excited about watching the movies. I watched the first one the other night... it was much more clever than I had remembered. I laughed out loud... now to be honest there was a little wine in me so it could have just been wine funny.

Harry Potter: 1-7pt 2

Since I am going to be honest and say that I don't have a whole lot to say but I think Lily is really enjoying these movie nights because she tends to curl up with me for at least part of the movie and then she wanders through the house having a little dinner or smelling things. I am enjoying these movie nights because I can turn it off when I want and pop the DVD back in the computer tomorrow. 

She takes up most of the bed

I bet she is thinking... Mom I am trying to sleep, watch the movie

I will be sure to let you know what we watch next... truthfully I am hoping that we get cable soon... I need some vampire diaries ASAP.