Christmas tour 2014

It's crazy to think this could possibly be the last Christmas tour in this house. We won't know until late spring/summer time where we are going next (or if we will stay here) or when exactly we'd be moving. All we know is it could be sometime in December or January.

 

I got to add a few new items this year which made me happy, I had hoped for a few more.. but all in due time! I did have to get a little creative with the few figurines I have since I did not have the book case in the spare room to put them on this year.  

 

This guy made his way to our bedroom. First time we've ever had Christmas decorations in our room since I was a kid and would put up my own lights.

 

I swear this mirror was made for hanging holiday wreaths :)

 

One this I have been wanting to change out is our stockings. I have been on a search for really nice ones that we can have our names embroidered on. Problem is I don't want to spend the money so I'm hoping to find some online after the holidays on clearance.

How awesome is our new bench? I'm in love! After months of searching for a shoe bench that would ship here, and then finding one at Ikea that I didn't care much for I finally found this on Targets website. It is not an actual shoe bench, we decided to just keep our shoe rack in our room on Frank's side of the bed and we put our slippers or whatever pair of shoes are being worn the most under the bench. There is enough room for both Frank and I to still on it at the same time and the space between the tansu and bench make for the perfect spot for his backpack and work boots. I've been a little too giddy over it ha.

Ellie didn't care much for the pictures ha. Another new item this year is the tree skirt I got from Costco. Since we no longer have a rug (two little 4 legged girls think they are for peeing on!) the girls love laying on it since it's pretty thick and soft. I also decided not to wrap boxes as decoration under the tree since they love laying there so much. I also was lazy and didn't get around to doing it at all ha.

 

Look closely and you might be able to see another Santa and Mrs. Clause...

 

This isn't Christmas related (Although I was hoping to add Christmas pillows this year) but we finally got pictures hung over the couch. For YEARS I have wanted to put canvas' up like this, but since those are crazy expensive and these pictures will be changed out in a year or so I decided to just do framed pictures. Yet another thing I am in love with :)

Our trusty security we've had since our first Christmas together.

 

Ahh love the new table runner!

 

Let's be honest... this is what the table normally looks like. We still haven't fixed my laptop so the desktop is still at the table : /

Cookies and drinks for Santa : )

Ahh I just love looking at the tree all lit up at night!

 

This picture has to be my favorite. So festive and warm with all the colors : )

Another new item I was able to add this year... lights to the garland! My neighbor informed me that there was in fact a plug in outside, it is just hard to get to. 

 

And that concludes our Christmas tour 2014!

Happy Japanaversary!

I have to start this post off with our 2 year Japanaversary! It also means we have a year left if we don't stay longer. It makes me sad because we have done almost none of the things we had hoped to do.. but it does make me feel better knowing we haven't done those things because for a year in a half of that time we did not have a day off together. And add in the fact that Frank has been gone a total of a year of it so far. So we're not at least sitting around being lazy!

 

Some of our first outings...

We have had a great two years and this next year will definitely be a big one!

Now onto the food! These turned out so great I just had to share :]

Not too sure why, but in the process of making my dinner list I decided to pull out my first Costco cookbook. Besides some scalloped potatoes I made with left over potatoes I had from Thanksgiving, I hadn't used this cookbook.. well in far too long. I also decided to try a few new recipes for once.

For Frank I made Peppered Chopped Steak. To make the patties it calls for cooked rice mixed in with the ground meat. Well, I forgot to make some so I just omitted it from the recipe and they still turned out great from what I'm told. Why I have never made him these before is beyond me! They were insanely easy to make and only took a few minutes. Since I get our meat out in town the serving size was much smaller and he had invited a friend over. They ended up making a pretty nice pairing with what I was making for myself.

 

For myself (and what would be a side dish for others) I made Asparagus, Bell Pepper and Basil Egg Tart. I changed things up with this one for a few different reasons. One, I was tired and didn't want to make the crust and two, I had a couple potatoes left over to use and I really love potato crusts :] So really this ended up being more of a quiche than a tart. Simple, yet amazing!

Stitch Fix Day!

One of my favorite days of the month.. Stitch Fix day :]

 

Budget wise I knew I could only keep one... maybe two things with this box, so in a way that helped with decision making ahead of time. I was a little surprised to see a maternity shirt in the mix since I had told them I no longer needed shirts or pants. I also figured it would be crazy expensive like the other maternity shirts they have sent. I was pleasantly surprised to find out this one was reasonably priced. It was a keeper.

 

I really liked this cardigan.. It just didn't wow me. Made it easy to send it back since I was on a tight budget.

I have been waiting for a winter scarf. So happy when I saw this at the top of the box!

Another sweater that I really liked, only this one was itchy. Not hard to see it go.



I have been asking for accessories and they came through for sure ha. Not my style.. but it was a nice change I hope to see in future boxes!

Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving this year was extra special since the boat got back two days before. We definitely had lots to be thankful for :]

I hosted again this year, only this time I also did all the cooking minus dessert (that was made by a friend). I already knew my favorite mashed potatoes and stuffing from The Pioneer Women would be on the menu so while getting the recipes I started looking at her other holiday items. In the end our entire dinner came from her website. It wouldn't be healthy, but at least I knew it would be good!

 

I didn't have time to get individual pictures so here are all the links:

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Thanksgiving Stuffing/Dressing

No-Knead Dinner Rolls

Glazed Easter Ham

Frank formed the rolls as to why they are ginormous.

 

Frank and I were pretty excited that our first main meat dish turned out.. if you can't tell ha. Since our ham was only 8 pounds I cut the glaze recipe in half.

The glider has already started coming in hand ; ) The girls also replaced us pretty quickly.

 

It was a good Thanksgiving for Molly!