Back but Brief

I'm back! Sorry I've been away, but we have had a busy couple of days! Thursday night we had Josh's school Christmas program. It was so cute! No pic's, b/c I forgot my camera! Sonnie (mom-in-law) got some pictures so she is going to give us copies. Last night, we cashed it in early b/c Jon and I hadn't slept well the night before. Today, we headed up to Indy for my nephew's 3rd birthday party! Weren't their cakes awesome!

They are the cutest!


After their party, Jon and I ran to Target to get a couple things we need for upcoming Christmas parties, then we headed home. When we got home, we totally took a 2 hour nap. It was great. Then I made smothered pork chops (see recipe in next post) and we have been chilling out. I am almost done converting my Dad's slides. Whew! Then I am going to put them all on a cd with music. Man there is no way I should be tired seeing as I just took a 2 hour nap, but I am! I just haven't been sleeping all that well. I think we need a new box spring for our bed, and Jon agree's. Maybe then I'll get a good nights sleep! Anywho, sorry this is so short, but I honestly don't have much else to say right now! Toodles!

On Stepmotherhood

I am totally relating to this statement now that I am a stepmother.

"but i'm contemplating the definition of motherhood just might be doing seemingly superfluous things with patient hands and love in our eyes & hoping it will all create some sort of lasting impact & meaning in their world." - http://emilyframe.blogspot.com/

Extremely Simple Bruschetta

I have been craving bruschetta, but didn't want to make anything time intensive. I decided to make an extremely simple bruschetta to satisfy my craving. When I say simple, I mean simple!

8 Roma tomatoes, chopped in a food processor

1 onion, chopped in a food processor (Note, I would use a red onion for this b/c they are mild)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tbsp basil

1 baguette

Chop onion and tomato. Add all spices and oil and mix well. Let sit in fridge for 30 minutes. While that is sitting, thinly slice a baguette (I used sourdough). Toast in your oven at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes. Flip and put a tiny bit of butter on top. Toast another 3 minutes. Serve veggies on top of bread!

Christmas Decor

As promised, here are our Christmas decorations. We got some more from Jon's grandma today, so they will be added, but this is what we have up now. Oh and we also have a tree up but I've already posted pictures of it!

In the kitchen.

In the living room.

In the bathroom.

And that's it right now!

daily do's

Hey all! It's Sunday once again which means....DEXTER!!!!!! We have a pretty good day today! This morning we slept in which was nice. Once we were up, I got to work trying to organize the bedroom. I made a dent but we still have a long way to go. I just don't have enough room for all my stuff! I think it's time to declutter and simplify! Sigh. Now I just have to get over my emotional attachment to stuff. Funniest thing to happen today is when Jon started playing the Impossible Game (new levels came out and they are crazy good!).

Topeka was mesmerized! It was so cute! He just stared at the tv and watched that little red box! Please excuse the mess, we have wrapping Christmas presents!

Anywho, we also went and gave Jon's grandma the wedding pictures we ordered and while we were there she gave us some Christmas decor, so we'll have to find a place for that. Some of the stuff has been passed down from Jon's great grandma's, so it's really cool that we have them. Speaking of Christmas decor, stay tuned for a picture heavy post of what our Christmas decor consists of! Now we are getting ready to go to David and Kate's to watch Dexter! Wahoo! I am so in love with this show!

Mexican Chili

1 lb hamburger

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper chopped

1 can corn, drained

1 can black beans, drained

1 large can diced tomatoes

1 box beef stock

1/2 tbsp cumin

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp red pepper

Brown hamburger and onion in the bottom of a large soup pot. Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 45 minutes. I served this with shredded cheese and sour cream on top and green onion cornbread on the side. (Just make cornbread and add diced green onions).

Let it Snow

Well December has come in with a bang! We have our own little winter wonderland of snow going on and it's not supposed to stop until tomorrow! Plus, have you seen the temps for next week! in the 20's!!! Yikes! Anywho, here's some picture of our winter wonderland!

The cats really liked looking at the snow falling!
Thew view from our front door.
Trees in our backyard.

That's what I woke up to this morning! It's really pretty and magical....until you have to drive in it! Blech! Today we went and picked up our wedding pictures! We ordered a few prints from our photog and bought the rights so that we can print our pic's anytime we want! After that, we headed to Columbus to get some more Christmas shopping done! We are almost done, but not quite. We came home from shopping and took a nap! Hehe. It was a pretty good nap too! The kind where you sleep really hard and wake up feeling completely refreshed, even though you only slept for 1.5 hours. Yeah. Anyway, after the nap, Jon played some Fallout and I made a new recipe! I wanted chili b/c it's perfect chili weather, but we just had regular chili last week, so I didn't want that. I decided to improvise and make up a new recipe, so I came up with a Mexican Chili. Stay tuned for the recipe! It turned out really good in my own humble opinion. We wrapped some Christmas gifts and now we are watching The Jerk. Ah comedy.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

On Sunday (after a quick trip to the store to buy Christmas lights for the tree) we decorated our Christmas tree! Here are some picks of the process.

Jon got in on the action

Here is out Elf on the Shelf! It's a cute little elf that comes with a book telling you that he is here to watch you and report back to Santa if you've been good or not. That's how Santa knows if you go on the naughty list or the nice list!

Here I am!
Joshie was only partly into it, sniff. I guess he's just moved on from that part of childhood where decorating the Christmas tree is fun. At least he liked putting on the star!

And Here is the finished tree!

I have told Jon that this is the last year with this tree. It's small and scraggly and it's time to upgrade! I think we'll probably hit the after Christmas sales to see if we can't get one on the cheap. I do love this tree though. It has gotten us through some really good Christmas's! Happy Holiday's all!

Italian Pork Sandwhiches

I finally made a good crockpot roast! Yea! I wanted to make Italian pork sandwiches b/c I love my dad's so much. Mine weren't as good as his, but they weren't too shabby in their own way! I mean, I'll never think my food is a good as my mom and dad's is. :)

1 pork shoulder roast

1 packet Italian dressing seasoning

1/2 tbsp garlic powder

2 tsp Italian seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup water

Mix water and all seasoning. Place roast in Crockpot and pour water over top. Cook on low 8 hours. Check a couple times to make sure there is still a little bit of water. Serve on crusty bread. I like to top mine with some mozzarella cheese! :)

My favorite Christmas movies

OMG it's December! Holy cow how did that happen?! Ah Christmas time is upon us and I am loving it! So here is a little Christmas post about my favorite Christmas movies! These are my top ten, but in no particular order.

1. It's a Wonderful Life

2. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

3. The Year Without a Santa Claus

4. Scrooged

5. The Santa Claus

6. A Charlie Brown Christmas

7. The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (original cartoon version)

8. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (old school version)

9. Frosty the Snowman

10. Home Alone

So that's that! Oh and by the way, I successfully made a roast in the crockpot! Yea!