Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve and Merry Christmas everyone! Oh how I do love Christmas and the pure joy that seems to seep out each crack and crevice of any one you run into. Parts of the Midwest were snow-less on this very day, but it was convenient for traveling folks.

Eve. Our festivities began at 5pm with my brother and his girlfriend in tow. We had to get some last minute gifts for our annual white-elephant gift exchange! Of course. Leave it to my brother to wait until the LAST minute. But it surely led to some fun times. We proceeded on our way to my aunts house where dinner, family, friends, and presents were waiting. We took Rigby, our new puppy, who turned out to be a handful, but it was worth the smiles he brought to many faces. After we all ate and told stories that made milk/wine shoot out of our noses, we started circling up for our gift exchange. After an hour of opening, wheeling, dealing, stealing, yelling, hiding, and walking away happy, I unfortunately ended up with a mini pool table and a Huskers bottle-opener. I will not be putting either of these to use anytime soon. I really should have opened my own coffee themed present that I put into the mix. My cousin Kay and I talked in English accents the ENTIRE night. It was rather hilarious. It is so funny that you will prolly fall of your chair laughing. Then my other cousin and I looked at her new house and talked about the wedding coming in June! Cannot wait to be a bridesmaid! Woooo!

Christmas. I woke up late, showered, and got ready for my brother, sister, and her boyfriend to come over for present opening and dinner. It was a small gathering but a fun one nonetheless. I got a few fun things and money for a winter coat! I just love family time and all of the fun that comes from it. Babs, my brothers girlfriend is teaching me how to knit tonight during the second half of Daaaaaaa Bears game! I hope I can make a scarf real fast.

I got to bake with my good friend, Sarah, for our holiday happenings! Here is what we made! We may have gone a tad overboard but had so much fun adding big chunks of holiday goodness to these previously simple almond bark pretzels......Oh, and this was only 1/3 of our goodies! We gave them as gifts. :)
Finals are done. Grades are posted. I am happy. I am home!

Wow it sure does feel good! I was worn out beyond what I thought was possible. Then I elect to work extra hours over break. Ha. WHY? Well, because Christmas is a little expensive! So many people I love that I want to give something to, and so much baking to do. I suppose it all costs money. I have so much blogging to catch up on. Ha ha....shoot. I think, to be organized I will just start a new post!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Here we go! Christmas baking!


Hello Wednesday of Dead Week at Iowa State University! I decided to make triple peppermint sugar cookies last night for our connection group Christmas party! I totally cheated and used pre-made dough, pre-frosting, and already broken candy canes that I crushed just a little bit more. What can I say, I was pressed for time! But nonetheless they were a hit and the recipe made so many cookies! So I shared with our neighbors, the local coffee shop staff, and two apartments full of friends in the building next to mine! I got to hang out with a dear friend of mine, Divya, for a while after I delivered her cookies! She is the biggest encourager ever and I am constantly blessed by her when we get to see each other. Yay for friends that live so close! And now I want to bake more, because it all started with the peppermint. Pinterest has me making...oh I don't know...300 recipes for the holidays! I cannot stop pinning all of the cute things I want to make and share with my family. It does not help that I have been on a diet since September 3rd and will not eat any of these delicious goodies. Maybe I will have to give myself grace for Christmas Eve and Christmas! ;)

Anyways, I should really get back to writing papers for grades instead of using blogging as a valid excuse. Because it is. Ha.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Its Beginning To Look A LOT Like Christmas!!!

Oh happy day! Only two weeks until my semester is done-finished-over-the end, can you tell I am ready!? I have so many ideas for Christmas. Mainly I wish I had a home to decorate, because let's face it, I would probably paint the house in warm winter colors just for the holidays. But, because I don't, I will decorate my parents home and bake a ton! I do want to make ornaments for my Malawi teammates. If it works I will post a pic or two!

As for baking, I wanted to make this Chocolate Wasted Cake but I got sick over Thanksgiving break so that put a damper on things. I also did not get my chocolate covered espresso beans made. Bummer!!! But Christmas break will yield a plethora of desserts as gifts and for our Eve festivities. I want to dip pretzels really badly! I also want to make some sort of peppermint cookie, cake, cupcake, or SOMETHING!

A new goal of mine: I want to pick apart a Psalms or two a day and write all over my bible so that I can revisit my notes later! So far I am loving it!