Morning Musings

While sitting here with my hot chocolate, I am getting more excited about the Christmas season. We have done a little more to deck the halls and will be adding more decorations today or tommorrow. We will be going another year without a Christmas Tree, but I have gotten used to it at this point. We haven't had a tree since our first year living together in 2005, for different reasons, the biggest being that we aren't even home at Christmas. This year, I will be in North Carolina with my family and Matt will be in Charlottesville with his. The tree will be a tradition we will start when we have our first child. In the meantime, I supplement our home with the Yankee Candle scent Mistletoe.



Matt and I treated ourselves to an early Christmas this year. We have had our prevoius cell phones for over 2 years and were ready for a change. Until the iPhone is picked up by Verizon, Matt and I will be using our new cell phones. We love Verizon and all of our family and friends are on the Verizon network so we won't even consider changing. I got the LG Chocolate Touch and Matt got the LG enV Touch. The phones are great because of the touch screens. The absolute best feature of mine is the built-in FM radio. It's not much different than my iPod but it gives me a bigger variety of music. We both love our new phones and have spent hours cusotmizing and playing with them... just like kids on Christmas afternoon!



Debut of the light balls!




My newest wreath for the kitchen door. Now I have 2 beautiful wreaths! Watch out Biltmore House.. haha, totally kidding! Love the sparkly details!

Stay tuned for many more holiday hall decking!

Giving Thanks

My mom just left to head back home to North Carolina.  It was a whirlwind trip for her, but it was fun to have her here.  My dad couldn't make it because of his work schedule so he and my brother enjoyed their own Thanksgiving dinner without the hassel of traveling.  Now that my kitchen is back in order and the house is quiet, I finally have a little time to sit down and contemplate what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for...

the love, patience, and geniuineness of my husband
the unconditional love, generosity, and health of our families
our boys... their faces light up my life every day
the security and stability our jobs and our income
the warmth and comfort of our home
the prospect of what the new year will bring for us

Here is to hoping that everyone has many reasons to be thankful!

Getting Ready

As I type this, everyone else is sleeping. We have a big meal planned for today. I am finalizing my to do list to make sure we get everything on the table around the same time. I am a little OCD... I have written and rewritten my schedule a few times and have drawn a diagram of how the island will be laid out with the dishes. Hey, it never hurts to be prepared! My mom is here to make the turkey, we made the stuffing last night so that we can get it in the oven quickly this morning. The secret to our turkey is to wrap it in bacon and cover it with a thin piece of cotton and there is no basting needed. Once it's in the oven it is good to go for a few hours! All the serving dishes are clean and ready to fill with yummy goodness.

The Menu:

appetizer
crab/shrimp ball with assorted crackers (mother-in-law is bringing)

main course
turkey + stuffing (my grandmothers stuffing recipe)
gravy (made at the end with the drippings from the bottom of the roasting pan)
dressing (Pepperidge Farm for Matt and his parents)
mashed red potatoes
sweet potato casserole (with chopped pecans and brown sugar topping, sweet potatoes are roasted before peeling them)
southern style green beans with bacon
sesame seed rolls

dessert
pumpkin cheesecake (mother-in-law is bringing)
pecan pie (mother-in-law is bringing)

This year, we are skipping the traditional salad and cranberry sauce - with only five people at the table, we will already have plenty!

I am now signing off to get started on my first item of business, waking my mom and Matt.  Here goes!

'tis the seasons

Yes, I am well aware Thanksgiving has not yet arrived. It seems this year, everyone has gotten into the Christmas spirit early. Much of our neighborhood has already started to light up. I couldn't resist getting a little head start myself. I promise, all I have put up are the garlands on the stair railings and the wreath on the front door.





Mason is also questioning my sanity!


We will be celebrating Thanksgiving with lots of enthusiasm. We will be hosting Matt's parents and mine, hoping they can all make it. I have been making lists, time tables and oven schedules in preparation for the big meal. This will be the fourth Thanksgiving dinner we have hosted at our house. My first year was extremely nerve wracking, but now I'm getting the hang of it. My mom has here each year preparing her specialty, the turkey, and I couldn't have done it without her help!

Every Thanksgiving of my childhood consisted of my mom and her mother in the kitchen, cooking together ALL DAY LONG. In the later years as my grandmother got older, she rested while reading recipes and giving directions to my mom. I now regeret not helping out during those times and learning all that I could, but I had no desire to be in the kitchen when I still lived at home with my parents.

These days, we still have my grandmothers tried and true recipes and handwritten instructions, and it is now my mom and I working together to put together the big meal. The past few years, my dad has joined us in the kitchen to impart some of his wisdom and add some new side dishes to our repertoire. My brother also made a guest appearance a few years ago to make yummy cheesecake. Thanksgiving truly is a family affair around here! The turkey will remain my mom's specialty for as long as I can get her to do it. I know one day, the turkey tradition will be passed on to me, but I am enjoying my role of side dishes, desserts, scheduling/organizing, and table setting for now.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

still [fall]ing

We took it easy this weekend. Saturday was a cloudy mess of a day, although, it was the first dry day we have had in 6 days around here. Today, the sun was out beautifully and we got a little taste of warm weather again. I'm sure it is the last we will have until Spring, with the exception of our hiatus to Jamaica in February. :: does happy dance :: We both applied for our passports on Saturday morning. Believe it or not, in the on-the-go business commuter area that we live in, we had to drive out to a Post Office that operates out of a trailer to find one that has Saturday passport hours. It was an experience to say the least! We are very excited about getting away, and all inclusive alcohol!

We enjoyed a nice brunch at a new restaurant, Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, with my mother-in-law. If you have one in your area and haven't tried it, I highly recommend it. The Eggs Benedict with stone ground grits were great. The hollandaise could have been richer and thicker for me, but overall, it was great!

In football news... because it is that time of year, and it was a great weekend for my teams. How about those Tarheels! So sorry for Matt's Falcons who were taken down by my Carolina Panthers! And a super big win for the Redskins (not my team), maybe the morning newscasters will lay off them tommorrow morning.. the fans and the newscasters are brutal around here!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Fall Boys

Because it's been a while since the boys have been featured, here is a snapshot of their weekend...

fire up + fire down

With the beautiful weather Saturday, we decided it would be the perfect weekend to fire up the fire pit for the first time and the grill for the final time for the year.  It was just cold enough for a fire but not so cold you had to get close enough to the fire to worry about the sparks burning holes in your clothes.  It was a nice change from the usual Saturday night of going out to dinner, driving around town, watching tv, having a few drinks.. etc.  We connected with nature, but not in the literal sense.


Everytime Matt stomped his feet, sparks flew from the fire, and we both yelled "fireflies" with our best Japanese accent. An imitation of the hibachi chefs at our favorite local Japanese restaurant... you know, when they shake the salt over the open flame coming out of the cone of onions they have meticulously stacked. The salt makes sparks and they say, "fireflies". If you haven't heard it, think the way Molly Shannon says "superstar" in the SNL skit.




Believe it or not, this photo was taken pretty early in the evening!



It was a fun evening!  We got to talk and interact like we normally wouldn't because there were no distractions other than making sure Mason's tail didn't swing into the fire.  We had a few close calls!  Here's to hoping Matt feels up to lighting the fire pit again before Winter hits hard!

[fall]ing