Twilight

The song you're probably listening to is Flightless Bird, American Mouth by Iron and Wine. For you Twilight fans, it's from the Twilight movie soundtrack and I'm really digging it. Just a nod to Twilight.

Cousins

I have a very small family. One sister and two cousins. The four of us grew up together. Two city cousins and two country cousins. We seem to always take a "cousin" picture when we're together. This year's Christmas was no exception. my cousin, my sister, uncle & me
sister, cousin, me & little cousin

cousin, sister & me

Hot Chocolate Anyone?

Well, I got the Williams and Sonoma hot chocolate maker that I wanted for Christmas! It makes great hot chocolate, the clean up is very easy (I think I put too much milk in the container, hence the overflow), warms up the milk to just the right temperature and produces a creamy cup of cocoa! Yum on a cold winter night!

Christmas Past

Randy & some of his loot
Spencer looking snazzy in his new pea coat

Dan loves argyle...and he got a lot!

Christmas Eve dinner with my mom

Me and my girl

Well, it's done. Christmas is past. Randy & I took down the tree and decorations on Saturday. We went through all of our Christmas stuff and organized everthing. Got rid of stuff we didn't like or want. Amazingly enough, this was a very good Christmas for me considering I'm working full-time, did wedding planning stuff with Maddie and made it through seven Christmas celebrations with family. No melt downs occured with all I had to do. I did go from green to yellow a few times and once to an orange, but never red. Christmas is a hard time of the year. A lot of expectations and pressure. This year...it just was. I really enjoyed having Madison & Dan home. I miss her so much and it was nice to spend time with Dan and get to know him better.

Twilight Christmas Spoof

Mariana sent me a link for a Twilight Christmas spoof. Funny stuff! To see the full screen version click on the link below.

http://www.take180.com/s/ep5l7

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

My Christmas tree was in a woeful state at the beginning of the month. Last year, as I packed away our Christmas ornaments, I packed a separate box for Madison's ornaments as I knew she would be needing them for her own home, sooner or later. So, this year my tree looked a bit bare and needed some umph. I turned to my friend Meredith, who is an awesome decorator, and she came to my rescue. We spent time at WalMart and Target, selecting the right additions to what I already had. When we got back to my place, she showed me how to decorate a tree step by step.

Decorating a Rockin' Christmas Tree

1. Have husband put up Christmas tree (this is my step, but I bet she does the same thing)

2. Put lots of lights on.

3. Take ribbon (must have wire edges), starting at the top, and secure it in sections with the tree branch (only works on fake trees). So, it's like this: secure the beginning of the ribbon by bending the end of a tree branch over the ribbon, then take a finger spread width to another branch and secure again. You will have bumps of ribbon going down the tree in a diagonal direction.

4. Place all the filler ornaments. These are the WalMart ornaments that add depth (place them inside the branches) and color.

5. Place all your personal, special ornaments.

6. Place any picks you have. I have silver poinsettias, red flowers and red and silver pine cones. (Fill holes).

7. Place additional ornaments, if needed. I purchased some ornaments that are glittery and dangle. Also, some that were the shape of snowflakes. These add dimension.

8. Cut bead garland in 10 inch sections and drape the garland around the tree. Filling and emphasizing.

My tree is sooooo pretty. It sounds like a lot of stuff (I guess it is), but it just pops in so many ways and is fun to look at. Randy wasn't so sure about the idea at first, but loved the final look. Come over if you want to check it out. Especially what I mean by the ribbon.

Amazing Peanut Butter Clusters

So I have this rockin' friend named Meredith who can do all sorts of things and is utterly amazing. She is one of the kindest people I know. She "hired" me for an internship position at SAMC when I was at CSUFresno and taught me so much while I was there. Anyway, I was at her CUTE house the other night for a purse party and she had a delish spread on hand for our enjoyment. One of the yummies was Peanut Butter Clusters. This is a perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter with a twist added. Try it you'll like it!

Peanut Butter Clusters

2 cups peanut butter chips
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups dry roasted peanuts (I used regular peanuts)
1 cup crushed ridged potato chips (ya, you read that right)

In a microwave safe bowl, melt peanut butter & chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Stir in peanuts & potato chips. Drop by level tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm. Store in an airtight container. Yield: about 3 1/2 dozen.