Staying busy

In an effort to get my mind off of a certain someone's imminent arrival, I've been trying to keep busy. Between having my brother-in-law, Daniel, with us and doing small craft projects, I've been mildly successful (emphasis on the, MILDLY). A few days ago, I created these super easy and cute glitter Christmas tree decorations ...

My big girl camera is packed in the hospital bag, so you get crappy phone pictures! :)

(tutorial found here) 

and printed off some new subway art for my mantel ...

(print one off for yourself, here). 

Hopefully, it will look a little more Christmas-y when I get the nativity and stockings up tonight.

Today, I have plans to work on my thank you cards from my shower (oops, these have totally been ignored!) and the Christmas cards/baby announcements for this year. And tonight, Matt and I are going to decorate the house for Christmas. I feel a little less grinchy as a result. :) And if anyone wants to hang out (because I would LOVE some company/distractions!) let me know! Here's hoping the next few days go by quickly!

Turkey Day 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!!

As I was prepping our Thanksgiving feast this morning, it struck me that this will be the last Thanksgiving Matt and I spend alone for a VERY long time, so I'm going to revel in the slow, relaxed pace of the day today. I'm not going overboard on anything. Just having the basics. No fine china, no fancy tablecloth, no flowers, just me and Matt enjoying some good food and thanking our lucky stars for our little girl on the way.

This year, I would have to say the thing I'm most grateful for is pinto bean. Matt and I didn't have the easiest time getting pregnant, so to be able to have kids without having to turn to fertility treatments was a blessing (both financially and emotionally). I'm grateful that Heavenly Father thinks well enough about Matt and I to bless us with one of his precious spirits and I hope we're able to be blessed a few more times (although, not too many more times!). I'm grateful that after a rough start to this pregnancy, things settled down into a more manageable discomfort. Throwing up and feeling nauseous ALL the time was no fun, and not sleeping for several weeks was no fun either. But the latter third has been more comfortable. And even though things are starting to be uncomfortable and I complain, I thank my lucky stars that I am not on bed rest, that my baby is perfectly healthy and active, and that I've made it this far into my pregnancy with very few problems.
 

I would be remiss if I did not mention my gratitude for my family, friends and especially my Savior for His love and sacrifice for me. I have a firm testimony in the love of Christ and how freely His love is given to all. 

I hope you are spending your Thanksgiving exactly how you want to this year (whether with family or not!) and that this day is full of gratitude and good food! And bonus, here's a photo of me from today. I'm almost 38 weeks. What?! When did that happen!

You can come out now!!

Happy Halloween!!

Is everybody ready to see the costume?

Ugg. Fat Face strikes again! Can't wait for the swelling to go away!

Ta-Da! I didn't have enough paint to do the pants as well, so I just wore my jeans. I also wore this today to my OB/GYN appointment and all the nurses and other patients thought it was so cute. I think the bow really adds to the cuteness. :)

I think the head looks like a crash test dummy, but whatever! It was the best I could do!

I hope everybody has a wonderful and safe Halloween!

Halloween Blocks

I saw some blocks like this on another craft blog (can't remember which) that was actually about something else. They just happened to be in the picture and I thought to myself, "I could make those." My sister (Thanks Megan!) cut out the letters for me and supplied the blocks. I spray-painted them black (using the new Martha Stewart spray paint stuff - totally awesome!) then gave 'em a coat of slime green, just for good measure.

Freshly painted slime green

After that, I put the letters on the paper and mod-podged the heck out of those suckers. What do you think?

Final product. Cute, non?

I am so excited about Halloween this year! :)

I survived!! Again!!

I don't know what it was about this holiday season but it was killer for me. I felt like there wasn't enough hours in the day to do the things I needed to do and we had several house guests this holiday season! It was nice to be with Matt's Dad and brother for Christmas and also to have friends come to ring in the new year with us, but all in all, I'm exhausted! I'm sure most of you can relate!

On an entirely different note, I wanted to see if any one else out there is a crazy as I am!! I signed up for the Krispy Kreme challenge again this year and wanted some running buddies! I run pretty slow (I'm just now getting back into running since my surgery in November), but I don't want to run alone this time! So let me know if you want to run this crazy race together! If you haven't already signed up for it, sign up fast! Race slots fill up quickly! I'm really looking forward to this race again! :)

Christmas cookies are a'baking

Last year, I made a few cookies and other items and gave them to a few people. Well, this year, I'm planning on expanding my route because of this fabulous Black Friday find!

These tins were 3 bucks for a set of 3 at Ikea! That is the right price! And they're totally cute too!

The only cookies I can remember making last year were florentines. They were pretty delicious, but a pain in the butt to make in large quantities. So, I'm trying to come up with 3 or 4 different kinds of cookies that are easy to make and taste fantastic!

If you have any ideas (or requests!) I'd love to hear them!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I am so grateful for so many things this year! I'm thankful for my family, for our home, our jobs, for living in a country with so many freedoms, for my education, my kitty, the nice things I have, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This year for Thanksgiving Dinner, it was just me and Matt. We had baked salmon, with arugula salad, mashed potatoes, rolls, green beans, roasted sweet potatoes and beets.

For dessert we had an apple and pear galette. I got the recipe for the galette on allrecipes and it was pretty good. My crust was a little dry and crumby, but it had a good flavor. Click here for the link to the recipe. I added some sugar and salt to the crust to give it more flavor. I also used pumpkin pie spice instead of the spice mixture (because cardamom was 10 bucks for a little bitty thing!). I just realized that I forgot to add the brown sugar in the mixture, but I didn't miss it at all! I also brushed the crust with some egg whites (because I had some left over from something else) and sprinkled the whole thing with a little sugar in the raw. Any way, it was Matt approved which for a pastry is incredible! Try it! You'll love it! Here how it turned out.