It's a very Pinterest Christmas!

I have always been a bit crafty but my discovery of Pinterest definitely has inspired me to start making more things and exploring my creative side. I decided to make this Christmas a "Pinterest Christmas" and make everyone's presents instead of buying them. The fun thing was that my sisters-in-law had the same idea so everyone exchanged homemade, thoughtful gifts. The kids got homemade blankets and toys, the girls received jewelry and scarves. It was great!

For the girls I made homemade vanilla extract. Vanilla is really simple, you just take vanilla beans and soak them in vodka for a few months and voila! The cheapest route was to buy vanilla beans in bulk off of Amazon. So I ended up with about 140 beans! Therefore, I made vanilla for ALL of my girlfriends. I found a label online and then just Photoshopped it to make it more my own. Here is my finished product!

The funny thing is, Malee had the same idea and made vanilla for all of us as well! She also made us homemade earings/pins that she found on Pinterest so we got those instead which were pretty cool. 

One of my vanilla bottles broke during it's travels to Fort Worth. It was very sad. Since Malee already has her own homemade vanilla, I made her something else at the last minute. I made her a scented rice bag. It is pretty simple, just a cloth bag, filled with rice and essential oil (I made this one with tea tree and lavender) You heat it up in the microwave then put it around your neck or in your bed and it is nice and cozy. 

Tim and dad got homemade aftershave and shaving balm. I found the idea on Pinterest, it was actually pinned from The Art of Manliness which is a website that Tim is into. He loves all things "old man" so he wears a robe and smokes a pipe and shaves with a straight razor so I thought this gift was appropriate. I improvised the recipe a bit because I couldn't find all of the ingredients. But it ended up smelling pretty nice. Like the vanilla, I made the labels on Photoshop. They look nice and vintage which was the goal - success!

Tony is not into aftershave at all so he got a couple of crocheted beanies. He wears hats all the time so they were perfect!

Malee pinned these little amigurumi monsters on Pinterest and they looked easy enough and super cute so this is what Isla got from me:

I made Ashton these adorable "Pocket Pixies" which were a hit. We have already played with them a few times. 

So, those were all the things that I made, check out these great customized coasters that Jenn made me. They have random funny quotes on them that I have pinned on Pinterest at some point or another.

And the cutest ever... this hat that my mom made Isla. Oh, and you can see the blanket that Jenn made here as well. 

Yay for our very Pinterest Christmas! I love the idea of homemade presents and hope to do more of that going forward. It makes the gift giving more meaningful and fun! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I definitely did and plan on enjoying my last few days in Texas with my family. 

Christmas Time is here!

Do you know what I love about Lindberg Field? Free Wifi! Why don’t all airports have this? It is nearly 2012 for goodness sakes! DFW doesn’t have it, which is bizarre since it is a gigantic airport! I think I might have to write a strongly worded letter to the powers that be. At any rate, at least I am set up here, on the first leg of my Christmas journey. For the next couple of hours I can browse the World Wide Web rather than buying an overpriced magazine to pass the time. 

I am so excited to be going to Fort Worth, Texas to see my family for Christmas. Tim and Malee live there and since they just had Isla two months ago we are traveling to them rather than our usual rendezvous up in Idaho which is where my mom and dad and Tony and Jenn are. Every other year we do Christmas together. The off years, my siblings go see their in-laws and I crash some random friend’s Christmas Day. It ends up being kind of lame for me. No offense to my wonderful hosts! I have spent time at Brooke and Charley’s house and at Ben and Tricia’s house, and they have all been wonderful! I am so thankful for friends who care enough about me to take me in. So, while I am not home alone moping those years or anything I have to admit, the “family year” is by far superior! 

Over the years we have done some pretty fun things for Christmas. The year that Tony and Jenn got married (today is their anniversary by the way - 10 years!) we all went on a Sleigh Ride with real Clydesdales and sipped hot cocoa, the sleigh took us to a dinner theater that featured Prime Rib and Christmas Carolers, the backdrop was picturesque - snow covered Rocky Mountains. It was the most Christmassy of Christmas things to do! Another year, we had a gingerbread house decorating competition with adults and the kids which was tons of fun, we have some good pictures from that. Food is also a big part of the Holidays for us. Jenn went to culinary school, mom baked for restaurants and Malee and I just love to be in the kitchen. So when we all get together it gets a little out of hand. I think we all go home about 10 pounds heavier than we arrived. Every year we try to pace ourselves and scale back a bit, but it never works. Somehow we end up surrounded by delicious treats! I am sure this year will be no different. I am already thinking of cinnamon rolls for breakfast and eggnog cheesecake for dessert, and mom has already said “oooh, doesn’t this look good?” about more than one recipe that she wants to try! I think our love language is feeding people!

As much as I love spending Christmas with my family, I have to say, I am particularly looking forward to this trip. I feel like it will be the Christmas we missed two year ago. Two years ago, we all had tickets to go to Fort Worth and in October, my dad was diagnosed with throat cancer. He underwent several weeks of radiation. So instead of flying to Tim and Malee’s house, we flew home to Idaho since my dad was too sick to travel. Over Christmas, my dad was in the middle of his treatment. It was horrible. He was thin and weak and sick and we were scared. As much as we wanted to be with him at this time, I have to say, seeing him like that was the hardest thing I have ever gone through. In fact, I am totally tearing up right now thinking back to that whole ordeal. It ended up being the un-Christmas. I think we were all kind of trying to enjoy the holiday but it just fell short and we were just appreciating the fact that we were together, but that’s about it. 

Fast forward two years. My dad no longer has his own voice box BUT he is cancer free and back to his normal self. So this year will be the Christmas we should have had! It will be even better though. My niece, Ashton is four, which is a fun age for presents and other Christmas festivities. She is old enough to really be making memories which is great! I am sure Tony and Jenn have been talking this trip up to her because I am totally on her radar right now. She has called me four times in the last three days - just to talk. (Which is kind of awesome!) So I am looking forward to sleepovers and fun bonding time with her. I also get to meet my new baby niece, Isla. I CAN’T WAIT to hold the little squishy! All the pictures I have seen are so cute I can hardly stand it! 

So anyway, now that you have sat with me through my nostalgic ramblings about my family and the holidays (it’s my blog and I will talk about what I want to!) I am going to shut my laptop and board a plane. Have a very Merry Christmas everyone!!! 

Now they are paying me to do this!

One of the guys at work found out that I like to bake and asked me to make him a dessert for his family's Christmas Eve dinner. I said yes right away without really thinking about all of the stuff I have to do. I immediately regretted it because I have been a bit overwhelmed lately with all sorts of Christmas things. It all worked out, to be honest, it didn't end up taking that long anyway. Oh, and this is the first time I am actually getting paid for this, so that is pretty cool. Baking can definitely be a nice little side gig, so if you are interested, I am officially in business :)

I made him an eggnog cheesecake and it turned out so nice that I think I might have to make one for my own family's Christmas dinner... that is if dessert hasn't already been decided - all the women in my family are amazing in the kitchen and the menu usually has a lot of contributors. I do recommend this recipe though, if you like eggnog you will love this cheesecake. I have made it before and it is very, very yummy!

Eggnog Cheesecake


Crust:

2 cups finely ground gingersnap cookie crumbs

1/2 cup butter, melted

Filling:

3 8 oz. pkg. softened cream cheese

1 cup sugar

3 Tbs. flour

1 cup eggnog

2 eggs

1 tsp. rum extract

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Crust:

In a medium bowl, combine gingersnap crumbs and butter. Press into the bottom of a 9" spring form pan. Bake at 375°F for 7-8 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool.

Filling:

Preheat oven to 425°F.

In a food processor combine cream cheese, sugar, flour and eggnog; process until smooth. Blend in eggs, rum extract, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Pour mixture into cooled crust.

Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 250°F and bake for 45 minutes or until center of cake is barely firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and immediately loosen cake from rim. Let cake cool completely before removing the rim. Let cake cool completely before removing the rim.

Cover and chill at least 8 hours.

Ugly Sweaters

My fabulous new roommate and I threw an Ugly Sweater Party on Saturday. It was so fun! We ended up having about 30 people here which was kind of crazy since we live in a 900 square foot apartment! We did set up a fire pit in the back yard for overflow and we all fit pretty well. You wouldn't believe how challenging it was to find an ugly sweater. I went to the Goodwill and they had nothing! Ugly sweaters are actually a "thing" so I found that second hand stores were either all sold out or priced for a lot more money than I am willing to pay. I ended up getting a red turtleneck and a lovely green sweater vest with Christmas trees and presents on it at Walmart. The cashier actually told me how cute it was and said that she had a similar sweater at home - awkward!

We had a contest for the ugliest sweater and the best food so ended up with some delicious fare. I ended up making a few things I found on Pinterest. (Have I mentioned how much I love Pinterest yet?) So let's see...

I made these "Pretzel Hugs" which combines sweet and salty and is a great little snack.

I also made these adorable Santa Hat cupcakes. They just turned out too cute!

Then I found this GREAT idea to turn a plain old vegetable crudite and fruit plate into something festive.

Everyone else brought great food as well (thanks to the prize incentive) a shout out to the Lowery's who won with their brie puffs - so great!

We had a "photo booth" with fun props to capture everyone's winning look. Here are a couple of pictures of the party crew:

Don't you wish you were there? Don't worry, we will be here the same time next year! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Under the Stars

One of my favorite things of the Christmas Season is "Christmas Under the Stars". My church hosts it every year. We gather at McGee park which is all lit up with twinkle lights and we sing Christmas Carols and listen to the story of Christ's birth while holding cheap little candles that drip wax all over you if you are not careful. Then we eat TONS of homemade cookies and drink hot cider and just be friends. It is good fun!
Since I don't need much of an excuse to bake, I made tons of cookies for the event. I made my mom's traditional sugar cookies. It is funny how food can be so nostalgic, these cookies totally make me think of childhood Christmas's. I think if I made them any other time of the year, I would still think of Christmas. I did discover though, that these are pretty time consuming because you have to cut them into shapes and then frost and decorate them. So, if you attempt to make these make sure you have enough time. Tossing some pre-made chocolate chip cookie dough in the oven is much quicker! I quadrupled this recipe and it made 84 cookies so one recipe should make 18-19 cookies.

Sugar Cookies:

1 cup butter

1 1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 egg

2 tsp. vanilla

4 cups flour

Frosting:

4 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup butter

2-4 Tbs. milk

Cookies:

Mix butter, sugar and salt until smooth. Add egg and vanilla. Gradually add flour. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours. Roll on floured surface and cut into shapes. Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes.

(notice my OCD tendencies here?)

Frosting:

Mix together powdered sugar and butter. Add milk until the frosting is a good spreading consistency. Use food coloring for tinting. Frost cookies and decorate with sprinkles if desired.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

The fun thing about making everyone's birthday cakes is that I get to try new recipes. I get to make things that I might never otherwise make. This week my friend Tricia asked for a pineapple upside down cake. No offense Tricia - but when I think of pineapple upside down cake I think of 1973 and groovy fondue parties with a cake covered in pineapple rings and maraschino cherries to follow. Without it being requested, I doubt I ever would have made one.

What do you know... it turned out to be quite yummy! I nixed the cherries because they seemed just too retro. I am not much for fruity cakes but I did think it was good. The actual cake part was very good. It was very moist and had good flavor Next time I need a yellow cake recipe, I think I am going to try this recipe without the pineapple.

Here is the recipe in case any of you want a great throwback dessert. :)

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 large pineapple cored, sliced into 1/3-inch rings (about 10)

1/4 cup dark rum

1/2 cup heavy cream

For the cake:

2 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/3 cups sugar

3 eggs, separated

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/4 cup fresh pineapple juice

1/2 cup buttermilk

Directions

Combine butter and brown sugar in a skillet and heat until bubbly. Add pineapple and caramelized to a deep golden brown, turning once. Remove from skillet and set aside. Pour rum and cream into a skillet and cook over low heat 5 minutes, until thickened, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove from heat.

Butter a 10-inch round cake pan and line with parchment paper. Arrange pineapple rings to cover bottom of pan. Pour cooled sauce over pineapple and set pan aside.

Sift together flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Set aside

In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla. Combine pineapple juice and buttermilk. Alternately add sifted dry ingredients and juice/buttermilk mixture to creamed mixture (begin and end with dry ingredients.) Whip egg whites to soft peaks and fold into batter. 

Bake at 350 degrees about 40-45 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Invert onto a serving platter.

Rest cake on rack for 2 minutes. Slide a paring knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Place a serving platter over the pan and hold tightly. Invert the cake onto the platter. Carefully remove the cake pan. If any fruit sticks to the pan bottom, remove and position on top of cake.

And there you have it. Delicious, moist yellow cake topped with caramelized pineapple. YUM!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I LOVE Thanksgiving. It is my second favorite holiday next to Christmas. Christmas is my absolute favorite because I get to see my family and it is usually the only time of year that I get to see my family. But Thanksgiving is my "friends" holiday. I have been hosting it at my house for the last few years and I usually have about 12-15 people in my tiny apartment which is very "cozy" and fun! To give you an idea of why I love it so much, I will share that my first 3-4 Thanksgivings here in San Diego were pretty bleak. Thanksgiving is such a family time for most people that I didn't get invites to go anywhere and the family that I do have down here always left town for the holiday, so that left me... all alone. Eating microwave popcorn and watching a movie or some such nonsense. It was really rather depressing.

Ok, enough of the "poor me" stuff. Fast forward to today. I have a wonderful community of friends that I love and enough of them also don't have family in the area that we can have our own shindig, and so we have. Every year, we eat a huge meal, go on a walk on the beach, and play games, and just be friends. It is such an enjoyable day. I kind of have a reputation among my friends for being a good cook so Thanksgiving is known for being pretty epic. It is a lot to live up to and I try to outdo myself every year. This year was no exception. There were a couple of things that didn't turn out as great as I had hoped - the apple pie was a flop, and the gravy was a little too rich. But overall, it was delicious.

My friend, Yong, deserves some kudos this year though. He was in charge of the salad and cranberry sauce. Those are easy "single guy" things to bring, right? Well, he wasn't going to take the easy way out and just grab a can of cranberry sauce and a bag of salad, he was going to make it all. I felt a little bad because I think he had some pressure to contribute to the most delicious of all meals. But at any rate, he made one of the best salads I have ever had and some pretty delicious cranberry sauce. He also ended up going to the ER for slicing his finger in the process. Talk about taking one for the team! Way to go, Yong!

Nattida got a hold of my camera and took pictures of every dish that we had so even though it is a lot of pictures, I will post them for those of you who weren't there so you can drool over our amazing dinner! I am not going to post recipes because there are way too many. But if anyone wants any recipes, just let me know and I will send them to you.

The whole spread:

 The Turkey:

 Shiitake Mushroom Gravy:

Roasted Root Veggies (from Abby):

 Green Bean Casserole:

 Stuffing:

 Mashed Potatoes (from Tricia):

 Herbed Butter Corn:

 Yam/Praline Casserole:

 Cranberry Sauce (from Yong):

 Three different kinds of butter for the rolls:

 And I forgot to take pictures of dessert but we had three pies: apple/cranberry, blackberry/ peach, and pumpkin/ praline. And Nattida brought Red Velvet cupcakes because it was Tricia's birthday as well.

And here are some of the guys just sitting around and digesting:

 And here are some of the girls on our beach walk:

And there you have it, Thanksgiving has come and gone and it was a wonderful day. Now for the "Day after Thanksgiving" activities - making homemade Turkey Noodle Soup and decorating the house for Christmas. YAY!!!

Breaking Dawn Review

I am a Twilight Fan. I big one. I have read all the books. Something like five times. I have all of the soundtracks. I have the Illustrated Guide. I own all of the movies and have watched them many times. I have seen most of the movies at midnight on opening night. Yep, I am a Twilight Fan... me and all the 14 year old girls in America. Don't mock me. I am allowed to have "my thing". So this is my review of Breaking Dawn part 1. It has only been out three days so if you haven't seen it yet and care about spoilers, stop. reading. now. This blog will be full of them!

I spent all day yesterday watching the three previous Twilight movies in preparation for watching Breaking Dawn last night. That was kind of cool to watch them back to back like that. It was interesting to see the different styles that each director brought to the film. I also definitely noticed the improvement in acting among the three main characters. The first movie has some nice elements but Kristin Stewart is so twitchy I can hardly stand to watch her. And Robert Pattinson makes really bizarre faces that don't really make him look like a thirsty vampire as much as a constipated, crazy man. And Taylor Lautner tends to make Jacob kind of whiney. All of that is really distracting! The characters in the books definitely don't do that! But I have to say, these three have come a long way, thank goodness!

Although Eclipse is my favorite book in the series and I loved the movie as well, Breaking Dawn part 1 was probably the most satisfying of all the movies in that it portrayed what I imagined from the book REALLY well. The wedding scene was amazing! Not only was it gorgeous visually, the music was brilliant. When Edward and Bella were saying their vows and "Flightless Bird" started playing I actually started crying. Oh my gosh, I felt dumb but Bill Condon is a genius! He manipulated my emotions with music! The song made everything feel so nostalgic. I also loved all of the toasts. Not in the book but a nice addition. It gave everyone their moment of closure as that is the last we will see of Bella's high school friends.

The honeymoon scene was very well done! Isle Esme was beautiful and the whole thing was very romantic, yet tasteful. I love how they captured Bella's nervousness. Surprisingly well done, Kristin Stewart.  In fact, Kristin did a great job in the whole film. Not twitchy at all! And holy cow... did they make her look sick! I was very impressed with Bella's transformation. It was incredibly realistic and slightly nauseating, as it should be. And the birthing scene? Woah! Nothing more needs to be said. Woah!

I think one of my favorite moments was when Charlie called Bella and she told him that she was going to Switzerland. His pain at not being able to see her was very well portrayed. I love Billy Burke, and to be honest, I think he is my favorite character in the whole series. I just feel so bad for Charlie knowing what is coming! He is just so lovable and awkward I can't stand to see him in pain!

Jacob's transformation is nice too. He is becoming a man and is a lot less whiney than he has been. I am really excited for part 2 when he steps up even more. I think that they really handled the imprinting scene well. That could have been creepy, and who knows, maybe if you haven't read the books, it still was creepy because it is not explained as thoroughly but I think the idea came through pretty well and it worked.

The final scene was predictable of course, but perfect. It was the perfect place to break and I am very excited to see part 2. A WHOLE YEAR AWAY!!! arg...

I will leave you with this: the lyrics of "Flightless Bird". I love the song, it has such a beautiful melody, but have you ever listened to the words of Edward and Bella's love song? Weeeeeird! It goes to show that music is emotional and it can make you feel a certain way no matter what is actually being said!

I was a quick wet boy, diving too deep for coins

All of your street light eyes wide on my plastic toys

Then when the cops closed the fair, I cut my long baby hair

Stole me a dog-eared map and called for you everywhere

Have I found you

Flightless bird, jealous, weeping or lost you, american mouth

Big pill looming

Now I'm a fat house cat

Nursing my sore blunt tongue

Watching the warm poison rats curl through the wide fence cracks

Pissing on magazine photos

Those fishing lures thrown in the cold

And clean blood of Christ mountain stream

Have I found you

Flightless bird, grounded, bleeding or lost you, american mouth

Big pill stuck going down

Um... yeah... romantic.

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

The other night our Community Group had a bonfire on the beach. The great thing about November is that we were the only ones there. It was great! I brought some pumpkin swirl brownies for dessert. This is the season where I feel the need to add pumpkin to everything! I think this recipe originally came from Martha Stewart. I got the recipe from my friend, Abby, and I make them every fall. Pumpkin and chocolate might sound like a strange combo but they are delicious together!

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies


1 stick butter
6 1 oz. squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 Tbs. vanilla
1 1/4 cups pumpkin
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg


Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9“x9” baking pan.
Melt chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally until smooth.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, cayenne, and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Put sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl and beat until fluffy and well combined (3-5 minutes). Beat in flour mixture.
Divide batter between two medium bowls (about 2 cups per bowl). Stir the melted chocolate into one bowl. In other bowl, stir in pumpkin, oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Transfer half of chocolate batter to prepared pan smoothing top with a rubber spatula. Top with half of pumpkin batter. Repeat to make one more chocolate layer and one more pumpkin layer. Work quickly so batters don’t set.
With a small spatula or a table knife, gently swirl the two batters to create a marbled effect.
Bake until set, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 16 squares.

Andes Mint Chocolate Cheesecake

This week has been a whirlwind of a week! Work has been busy, I am getting a new roommate in a few days so my current roommate has everything in disarray for his move, I got a precious new niece, I FINALLY got my Christmas time off approved and bought a plane ticket to see said niece (and the rest of the family), and in the midst of it all I am still finding my zen in the kitchen. This week I made Andes Mint Chocolate Cheesecake for my friend, Kelly's, birthday. I LOVE cheesecake. I LOVE chocolate. I LOVE mint. Put it all together and you have a party in your mouth!

Andes Mint Chocolate Cheesecake

Crust:

2 cups finely ground Oreo cookie crumbs

1/2 cup butter, melted

Filling:

3 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese

2/3 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 cup melted semi-sweet chocolate

1 cup chopped Andes Mint candies

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

Crust:

Mix cookie crumbs and melted butter until well blended. Press mixture into a 9” spring form pan. Bake at 375°F for 7-8 minutes. Cool and fill with pie filling. Take out and turn oven up to 450°F.

Filling:

Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at a time. Mix well after each one. Add chocolate, Andes candies, sour cream, and vanilla. Pour over crust.

Bake at 450°F for 10 minutes. Turn oven down to 250°F and bake for 35 minutes more. Turn off oven and leave in for 1 hour. Don’t open door. Put cheesecake in the refrigerator and chill for 4-5 hours.

Stay tuned for next week's Pumpkin Swirl Brownies. So. Good. 

I wish I had a silent "S" in my name!

My little niece, Isla Jolee, has arrived. Isn't that a great name? It is pronounced "Eye-luh" not "Iz-luh". I love the fact that her name has a silent "S" in it. I wish my name had a silent "S" - Tamaras - it has flare :)
At any rate, after a long nine months for Tim and Malee - including a couple of months on bedrest, she is finally here, safe and sound. She weighed in at 8 pounds and is 20 1/2 inches long. I am kind of going crazy here knowing that my precious little niece is halfway across the country and it will be two months until I get to see her. laaaaame! Anyway, here are some adorable pictures:

They were taken with a cell phone and texted to me so they aren't the best quality, but they're all I've got! Congratulations Tim and Malee!!!

Speaking of Fall...

I am absolutely loving the fall! The weather is all cool and cloudy and it is definitely October. Just when I come to terms with Southern California's wimpy version of fall and embrace it, I am reminded of what REAL fall looks like! On Facebook, many people from my hometown in Idaho are posting pictures that are making me so jealous! I mean seriously, don't you wish you could be there?!?

There is snow on the mountains and the trees are turning - gorgeous! October is also the month of my family's annual Steelhead fishing trip up in Shoop, Idaho. I have only been able to make it home one year for the trip but I loved it and am jealous every year. What I wouldn't give to be camping in the Rocky Mountains right now! Here are a couple of pictures I snagged from my sister-in-law:

I totally miss my family! So excited to see everyone at Christmas. YAY!!! Now off to light my pumpkin spice candle and pretend it is fall here.