Friday, December 30, 2011

A look back at 2011

It was a great year. A lot of memories wonderful memories!
January
We said goodbye to the most amazing and graceful lady, my Grandmother. She always wanted to be called Grandmother but of course I had name her Grand-ma.

February
We had our first experience at the DeKalb Farmers Market.

After almost 2 years we finally got a microwave.

March
March was a big month looking back.
We traveled to St. Pete for a dear friends wedding.
We finished painting the guestroom and visited Serenbe for a little day trip…such a cute place.

April
Our iris bloomed and it was finally getting warmer down south. We put together the little garden wall in the front yard (my plan this weekend is to get rid of those bushes and plant some camillas).

It was the beginning of my best friends wedding festivities with a little pig roast shower.



And there was the royal wedding!

May
My Grandaddy had his first visit to our bungalow and met his great grandog.
We had a girls trip to Abingdon, VA to spread the ashes of my Grandma’s first cousin.

My daddy built us a little flower box for our herbs on the back porch and Hendrix had a little photo shoot.

June
We had finally had a little down time.
My little brother graduated from High School and we took him zip lining.


July

We had a little birthday celebrating for this guy….
And enjoyed a little cruising.

September
Spend a wonderful birthday/game weekend in Tallahassee. Tough loss but great trip!
Got a new buffet for the dinning room.

October
We celebrated 3 years of marriage, it gets better everyday.
We took on NYC!
I won’t bore you with all the pics again but you can check them out here.
November
Took my Grandaddy to Tally for his first ever FSU game day!
Did a little work in the laundry room – paint, new ceiling, and new light fixture
Cooked my first ever Thanksgiving Turkey.

December
YAY…we finally got our sofa. Pics will come next week we get the other 2 chairs. We were on my mama’s church tour of homes and celebrated a WONDERFUL Christmas!

I didn’t think we got that much done this year but looking back I’m pretty proud. We were very blessed in 2011 and I can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store!

Thanks to everyone who might read our blog we appreciate you interest in our little life inside our tiny bungalow.

Cheers to 2012!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Christmas 2011 in Photos

Get ready for a photo overload...
First stop the in laws in Hendersonville, NC
They have such a cute little house and 3 ocd border collies.
dogs from left to right:  Bear, Ranger, and Moose





Then we were of to VA to see my Grandaddy, uncle and cousins.




my aunt and our cousin who is the head coach of a pro women's football team in DC
Grandaddy and his sisters
the little cousins

the cutest Grandaddy ever!

Merry Christmas!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

It was a Very Merry Christmas


We are back. It was a whirlwind of a holiday break but we made it and got to see most of the family.  We also made it back with some pretty awesome loot.  My detailed wish list definitely worked out well and the Mr. got some really great suprises.  We are blessed!


Christmas is always a little bittersweet when it’s over. But the excitement of the New Year is right around the corner. 2011 really might have been one of my favorite years but we have a few fun things up our sleeve for 2012 and I can’t wait!!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Christmas Baking


Sunday my little bro came over and we did some holiday baking. You can’t go wrong with homemade cookies and candy. They are great gifts for neighbors, the mail man, trash men, and co workers. I left a cute little bag out with the trash this morning and it just made me smile. Giving gifts for me is just as fun as getting them!

This year we made some…

Gingerbread Cookies
I never bake at the perfect time. The small ones always burn. I need to try and bake remember to bake the same size shapes together.

I think I’ve determined that Martha Stewart’s Ultimate CC Cookie is my favorite recipe.

And a Pinterest find Chocolate Candy Can Snow Flakes
They taste like Christmas in your mouth! I made some modifications and I love them. I have to admit I’m not much of a sweets girl but these are great and crazy easy!

2 1/2 cups chocolate rice crisp cereal (we’re big fans of Nature’s Path cereal around here) – I used regular Rice Crispy Cereal
6 candy canes, crushed into small pieces
1 cup sliced almonds – I used pecans and blended with the candy canes in the food processor
22 ounces white chocolate chips (or a block, if you chop) – I used milk chocolate

Combine the chocolate cereal, crushed candy canes, and almonds into a large bowl. Toss around the ingredients until they are well combined.

Melt the white chocolate until it is entirely smooth, using one of the methods described above.

Pour the melted white chocolate into a large bowl. Pour the chocolate-candy cane-almond mixture into the melted chocolate. Using a rubber spatula, and moving quickly, combine all the ingredients together until everything is coated well.

Drop rounded spoonfuls of the mixture in little mounds onto a parchment-paper covered baking sheet. Put the baking sheet in the refrigerator (you’ll probably have another one filled too) to allow the treats to harden, about 30 minutes. Store the snowflakes in the refrigerator in a covered container.

My only modification for the next batch will be to add some sprinkles or white chocolate drizzled on top be sticking them in the fridge. Right now mine are boring brown clusters.



I attempted these Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies I found on Pinterest, so easy but mine did not turn out well.

I may not be able to cook but I do love to bake!