To anyone reading this post, I want to wish you a wonderful 2010. May it be your best year ever, filled with love and blessings!
My New Year's Resolution? To make this a year of trying new things in the kitchen. I'm tired of being a wuss and being afraid of certain cooking techniques or ingredients. So here's to a culinary adventure in 2010! Hang on, tastebuds!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
Christmas Recap
Oh, the joys of Christmas! We had a great time celebrating with our wee little munchkins this year. A little pictorial update for you... (I hate the word pictorial, by the way).
After a quick round of 'Happy Birthday to Jesus,' with the Holy Child wrapped in the couch blanket, the present-opening began. Here they are opening stockings from a distant relative.
Jax looks at Daddy as if to say, 'Oh my gosh! Did you see that? She just tore her frickin' leg off!'
After our morning festivities, we bundled the kids up and headed to Jason's parents' house. Jax, of course, looks darling in his little OU hat. I just wanna pinch his widdle cheekies!
The festivites started on Christmas Eve day. I made homemade sugar cookies, iced them, and Emerson decorated them all by her big-girl self. It was funny watching her select just the right color and quantity of sprinkle. There was definitely a method to her madness, and it cracked me up.
She got to eat a cookie as a reward for all of her creativity! She cried when she couldn't have another one.
The result of the sugar cookie consumption: putting on her tutu and running wildly through the house.
Our plans of putting the kids in the car and driving around looking at Christmas lights was foiled that evening by blizzard-like conditions and TONS of snow. We stayed cozy in the house and had potato soup and cornbread for dinner.
Daddy rounded up the natives first thing in the morning. Well, officially Jax was already up, having enjoyed his early morning breakfast complete with a game of let's-bite-the-nipple-and-see-how-far-we-can-stretch-it. Yes, friends, it's a lovely little game, one you'll probably never want to experience first-hand. Just tellin' ya. Emerson looks a little out of it in this one... she looks like she doesn't quite know where she is.
After a quick round of 'Happy Birthday to Jesus,' with the Holy Child wrapped in the couch blanket, the present-opening began. Here they are opening stockings from a distant relative.
Emerson proceeds to amputate her faux-Barbie. She's thinking, 'You gotta be kiddin' me.'
Jax looks at Daddy as if to say, 'Oh my gosh! Did you see that? She just tore her frickin' leg off!'
After our morning festivities, we bundled the kids up and headed to Jason's parents' house. Jax, of course, looks darling in his little OU hat. I just wanna pinch his widdle cheekies!
Opening gifts was fun for all! Pa-Pa, Grandma, and Uncle Travis went crazy as usual and bought the kids some wonderful gifts. It was a fantastic day, a wee bit exhausing, but worth every minute!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Christmas Train at Dry Gulch
Emerson LOVED going to the Christmas Train with Daddy, Mommy & Uncle Travis last Friday night. The actual train scared her a little when its whistle would blow, but then she got used to it and enjoyed the ride. Her very favorite things were the big playground and riding on the carousel. I think we'll make it a tradition every year! Thanks, Uncle Trav!
Getting excited in the car on the long drive there!
I had the flash settings wrong on this picture, but I think the subjects are really cute in this one!
Brothers and partners in crime.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
My FANTASTIC Saturday
On Saturday my dear friend Lisa and I had our traditional Christmas brunch at Wild Fork & pedicures at Marilyn Ihloff. I look forward to it so much every year... last year we broke tradition and went to Branson for the weekend (which I highly recommend the weekend before Christmas... NO ONE was there and the shopping was amazing). We both had the buttermilk pancakes (mine with blueberry) and shared a side of bacon. Have I ever mentioned I have a true love for bacon? I don't let myself cook it very often, but when I do, I'm in heaven.
Anyway, over brunch Lisa decides to ROCK MY WORLD and tell me she's definitely moving to Houston in the spring for her job. I've known for a long time that it was a real possibility, but the fact that it's going to happen just hit me like a ton of bricks. I immediately started getting all verklempt, and she was telling me to stop it, and I was trying to hold it together in a nice, quiet brunch atmosphere. I called her a few expletives (all in jest, of course), and we had a good laugh. She reminded me that because her family lives here, she'll be coming back to town all the time, and we decided we can watch fun shows like the Bachelor via Skype. That would be hilarious. I'm trying to picture us attempting to time our fast-forwarding so we're watching the same segment at the same time. Those of you who have been to my house & watched TV know I'm not the best with the remote. I'm a little trigger-happy.
Okay, so you're probably wondering why I titled this post as fantastic when I just described learning that one of my best friends in the whole world is moving. Well, any time I can spend with Lisa is fantastic, despite any kind of earth-shattering news. It was just a good morning full of good food, good company, and good pedicures.
NOW, on to the next segment of my day. I left Utica and drove to my brother-in-law Travis's house. He had told me to stop by because he had a project he needed help with. I thought he was needing me to help him with a Christmas present for Jason or something. Well, when I arrived, he told me we were driving somewhere and that I was getting an early Christmas present. Exciting!!! I don't think I've ever experienced an early Christmas present, and let me tell you, the anticipation was killing me.
We drove a couple of miles to a strip shopping center, and I parked. We walked by a few different stores... a pizza place (no, that can't be it), Southern Agriculture (a present for my dog??), a cell phone store (but it wasn't my carrier). Finally, we walked into Steve's Sundry, a long-time Tulsa bookstore. I'd never been in there before and was curious as to why I was in there today.
A man greeted us and asked if we were there for the book signing. Travis said yes. I looked at him like, 'What???' I don't have time to read. Does he think I'm a reader? Then he asked if we had a copy of the book. Travis said no, that we needed to buy one. So we walk up to the counter, and he purchases "The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl." Then it hits me.... Pioneer Woman, my favorite blogger of all time, is here in the store, and I get to have her sign her new cookbook!!! Those of you who are PW fans can understand my complete and utter disbelief. She has the most fantastic site, and I really have enjoyed making her recipes that she has online.
Long story short, we waited for a little while in line, and then I finally got to meet her. She's this tall, thin, gorgeous woman with a beautiful smile and really great hair. I, of course, have just been at brunch where I nearly cried all of my mascara off my face, and I have some serious sinus pressure to boot. So, mind you, I sound like a toad and look like a puffy marshmallow face. She, of course, didn't seem to notice, and we chit chatted about how much I'm looking forward to making her chocolate sheet cake, and she replied that I really ought to because it will change my life forever. I'm sure it will.
Here's a picture of gorgeous Pioneer Woman with Becca, the sinus-y balloon face whose eyes look like she's been in an ultimate fighting match. :)
So thank you, Lisa, for a wonderful Christmas tradition that I cherish and look forward to every year. And thank you, Travis, for being one of the best gift-givers I've ever known. You rock.
Pictures of the Christmas Train adventure coming soon!
Anyway, over brunch Lisa decides to ROCK MY WORLD and tell me she's definitely moving to Houston in the spring for her job. I've known for a long time that it was a real possibility, but the fact that it's going to happen just hit me like a ton of bricks. I immediately started getting all verklempt, and she was telling me to stop it, and I was trying to hold it together in a nice, quiet brunch atmosphere. I called her a few expletives (all in jest, of course), and we had a good laugh. She reminded me that because her family lives here, she'll be coming back to town all the time, and we decided we can watch fun shows like the Bachelor via Skype. That would be hilarious. I'm trying to picture us attempting to time our fast-forwarding so we're watching the same segment at the same time. Those of you who have been to my house & watched TV know I'm not the best with the remote. I'm a little trigger-happy.
Okay, so you're probably wondering why I titled this post as fantastic when I just described learning that one of my best friends in the whole world is moving. Well, any time I can spend with Lisa is fantastic, despite any kind of earth-shattering news. It was just a good morning full of good food, good company, and good pedicures.
NOW, on to the next segment of my day. I left Utica and drove to my brother-in-law Travis's house. He had told me to stop by because he had a project he needed help with. I thought he was needing me to help him with a Christmas present for Jason or something. Well, when I arrived, he told me we were driving somewhere and that I was getting an early Christmas present. Exciting!!! I don't think I've ever experienced an early Christmas present, and let me tell you, the anticipation was killing me.
We drove a couple of miles to a strip shopping center, and I parked. We walked by a few different stores... a pizza place (no, that can't be it), Southern Agriculture (a present for my dog??), a cell phone store (but it wasn't my carrier). Finally, we walked into Steve's Sundry, a long-time Tulsa bookstore. I'd never been in there before and was curious as to why I was in there today.
A man greeted us and asked if we were there for the book signing. Travis said yes. I looked at him like, 'What???' I don't have time to read. Does he think I'm a reader? Then he asked if we had a copy of the book. Travis said no, that we needed to buy one. So we walk up to the counter, and he purchases "The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl." Then it hits me.... Pioneer Woman, my favorite blogger of all time, is here in the store, and I get to have her sign her new cookbook!!! Those of you who are PW fans can understand my complete and utter disbelief. She has the most fantastic site, and I really have enjoyed making her recipes that she has online.
Long story short, we waited for a little while in line, and then I finally got to meet her. She's this tall, thin, gorgeous woman with a beautiful smile and really great hair. I, of course, have just been at brunch where I nearly cried all of my mascara off my face, and I have some serious sinus pressure to boot. So, mind you, I sound like a toad and look like a puffy marshmallow face. She, of course, didn't seem to notice, and we chit chatted about how much I'm looking forward to making her chocolate sheet cake, and she replied that I really ought to because it will change my life forever. I'm sure it will.
Here's a picture of gorgeous Pioneer Woman with Becca, the sinus-y balloon face whose eyes look like she's been in an ultimate fighting match. :)
So thank you, Lisa, for a wonderful Christmas tradition that I cherish and look forward to every year. And thank you, Travis, for being one of the best gift-givers I've ever known. You rock.
Pictures of the Christmas Train adventure coming soon!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Great devo for today
I received this yesterday from my daily email from Proverbs 31 Ministries... it's a good one.
A Gut Honest Look at Love
17 Dec 2009
Lysa TerKeurst
"…if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:2 (NIV)
As the holidays approach, I have to be careful about developing an overly ideal view of love. Sometimes I'm guilty of setting the expectations so high of what a 'love filled' Christmas should be that it dooms me to feeling disappointed and grumpy. Ever been there?
Well, this year I am feeling challenged to look at love a little differently. I don't want to repeat a habit that I've had from the past where I expect unrealistic things from those I love. I used to hold out the little cup of my heart to my husband, "Will you fill my empty spaces? Will you do that one really romantic thing that makes me feel like I'm the most terrific and special wom an in the world?"
Then I would hold it out to my children, "Will you fill up my empty spaces? Will you do something that makes me look really good as a mom so I'll feel a little more validated?"
Then I would hold it out to my friends, "Will you fill up my empty spaces? Will you provide something today that makes me feel more included and significant?"
Maybe Christmas is an odd time to consider such things.
Or, maybe this season celebrating Jesus is the perfect time to hit the reset button on my sometimes frail heart. Love is a tricky thing. Our hearts were created to crave it. But misplaced expectations from love can wreak havoc in a person's heart.
God proclaims in 1 Corinthians 13:8 that love never fails. And in the quietness of my heart that verse makes me squirm a bit. I see love failing all the time. Or do I?
If my only view of love is what it will give me, love from others will fail me every time. It's not that love fails. It's that o ther people were never meant to be my God. Even a great husband, wonderful children and a thriving ministry can never truly fill me up, right all my wrongs, and soothe those deep insecurities. Not at Christmas. Not at any other time of the year.
No, I can't read 1 Corinthians chapter 13 with eyes hungry to see what love should give me and then demand it from those around me. I should read those steadfast Scriptures with the realization that this is the kind of love God gives to me. And this is the kind of love I can choose to give to other people.
I can choose that my love will be patient. My love will be kind. My love won't keep a record of wrongs. (Ouch - that's a hard one, right?)
I can choose that my love will protect and persevere.
And I can choose to lay the cup of my heart at Jesus' feet and stop twirling, twirling, twirling...hoping- demanding- that those around me do things for me they were never meant to do.
Interestingly enough, when I read 1 Corinthians 13 again this morning I found an odd yet perfect verse toward the end of this chapter. "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me" (verse 11).
Yes indeed. How funny I never connected that verse about putting away childish things with 1 Corinthians 13 - known as the chapter of love. Oh how we have the propensity to grow in other areas while keeping such a childish, selfish view of love.
Love isn't what I have the opportunity to get from this world. Love is what I have the opportunity to give. And I guess there's no more appropriate time to remember this than Christmas.
A Gut Honest Look at Love
17 Dec 2009
Lysa TerKeurst
"…if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:2 (NIV)
As the holidays approach, I have to be careful about developing an overly ideal view of love. Sometimes I'm guilty of setting the expectations so high of what a 'love filled' Christmas should be that it dooms me to feeling disappointed and grumpy. Ever been there?
Well, this year I am feeling challenged to look at love a little differently. I don't want to repeat a habit that I've had from the past where I expect unrealistic things from those I love. I used to hold out the little cup of my heart to my husband, "Will you fill my empty spaces? Will you do that one really romantic thing that makes me feel like I'm the most terrific and special wom an in the world?"
Then I would hold it out to my children, "Will you fill up my empty spaces? Will you do something that makes me look really good as a mom so I'll feel a little more validated?"
Then I would hold it out to my friends, "Will you fill up my empty spaces? Will you provide something today that makes me feel more included and significant?"
Maybe Christmas is an odd time to consider such things.
Or, maybe this season celebrating Jesus is the perfect time to hit the reset button on my sometimes frail heart. Love is a tricky thing. Our hearts were created to crave it. But misplaced expectations from love can wreak havoc in a person's heart.
God proclaims in 1 Corinthians 13:8 that love never fails. And in the quietness of my heart that verse makes me squirm a bit. I see love failing all the time. Or do I?
If my only view of love is what it will give me, love from others will fail me every time. It's not that love fails. It's that o ther people were never meant to be my God. Even a great husband, wonderful children and a thriving ministry can never truly fill me up, right all my wrongs, and soothe those deep insecurities. Not at Christmas. Not at any other time of the year.
No, I can't read 1 Corinthians chapter 13 with eyes hungry to see what love should give me and then demand it from those around me. I should read those steadfast Scriptures with the realization that this is the kind of love God gives to me. And this is the kind of love I can choose to give to other people.
I can choose that my love will be patient. My love will be kind. My love won't keep a record of wrongs. (Ouch - that's a hard one, right?)
I can choose that my love will protect and persevere.
And I can choose to lay the cup of my heart at Jesus' feet and stop twirling, twirling, twirling...hoping- demanding- that those around me do things for me they were never meant to do.
Interestingly enough, when I read 1 Corinthians 13 again this morning I found an odd yet perfect verse toward the end of this chapter. "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me" (verse 11).
Yes indeed. How funny I never connected that verse about putting away childish things with 1 Corinthians 13 - known as the chapter of love. Oh how we have the propensity to grow in other areas while keeping such a childish, selfish view of love.
Love isn't what I have the opportunity to get from this world. Love is what I have the opportunity to give. And I guess there's no more appropriate time to remember this than Christmas.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
A different kind of Christmas
I'm REALLY getting excited for Christmas. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely one of my favorite holidays, and I've always looked forward to it, but there's something different going on with me this year. I remember last year being a little less than thrilled... I was 4 months pregnant, already having lots of back pain and looking like I was about 8 months along, chasing around a 15-month-old, dealing with extended family drama, and travelling to Nashville while my husband had to stay here. Not exactly my idea of a picture-perfect holiday.
This year it's a different story. I'm forced to get back to the basics of Christmas traditions as I teach them to Emerson. She's completely enthralled with her Little People nativity set, and I've tried to come up with 30-second renditions of the Christmas Story.... not completely successfully, but she's kind of getting it. And being in the car with her this time of year is an experience. We have to play Christmas CDs, and she's obsessed with Christmas lights. Even in broad daylight, she's asking, "Where's the yights, Mommy? YIGHTS!" That sparks another 30-second attempt at the difference between day & night, sun & moon.... it's those times that I need my husband's science geek brain.
My one complaint about this time of year? Christmas shopping. I've come to accept the fact that I HATE crowds & slow traffic. I'll never forget last year I was trying to find a parking spot at Macy's, and someone's reverse lights came on just as I was about to pass their spot. I quickly stopped and was going to back up so I could let them out & get their spot, but I realized the guy behind me wasn't about to budge. He wanted that spot. I actually opened my car door, leaned way out so he could see me, and I made the 'rocking baby' motion so he would know I had a baby with me & would understand that a close parking spot would be fabulous for me. You wanna know what he did? With his wife & two teenage kids in the car, he literally mouthed the words "I don't care" to me. I was stunned. There's nothing like a parking lot to bring out the worst in people.
Anyway, bad mall experiences aside, I'm counting on this to be one of the best Christmases ever! We're going to the Christmas Train in Dry Gulch on Friday night with Uncle Travis... I'll post pics, I'm sure. Enjoy your day!
This year it's a different story. I'm forced to get back to the basics of Christmas traditions as I teach them to Emerson. She's completely enthralled with her Little People nativity set, and I've tried to come up with 30-second renditions of the Christmas Story.... not completely successfully, but she's kind of getting it. And being in the car with her this time of year is an experience. We have to play Christmas CDs, and she's obsessed with Christmas lights. Even in broad daylight, she's asking, "Where's the yights, Mommy? YIGHTS!" That sparks another 30-second attempt at the difference between day & night, sun & moon.... it's those times that I need my husband's science geek brain.
My one complaint about this time of year? Christmas shopping. I've come to accept the fact that I HATE crowds & slow traffic. I'll never forget last year I was trying to find a parking spot at Macy's, and someone's reverse lights came on just as I was about to pass their spot. I quickly stopped and was going to back up so I could let them out & get their spot, but I realized the guy behind me wasn't about to budge. He wanted that spot. I actually opened my car door, leaned way out so he could see me, and I made the 'rocking baby' motion so he would know I had a baby with me & would understand that a close parking spot would be fabulous for me. You wanna know what he did? With his wife & two teenage kids in the car, he literally mouthed the words "I don't care" to me. I was stunned. There's nothing like a parking lot to bring out the worst in people.
Anyway, bad mall experiences aside, I'm counting on this to be one of the best Christmases ever! We're going to the Christmas Train in Dry Gulch on Friday night with Uncle Travis... I'll post pics, I'm sure. Enjoy your day!
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