Friday Five

1. So, there was an election this week. And, enough about that!

2. We had a hurricane a few weeks ago, and boy, were we lucky. Our area didn't end up getting hit very hard by it, and we only lost power for two hours.

3. Moving on to something fun... Gus! I meant to have a special post when Gus had been with us for one year...but was caught up in my overly busy life and didn't get around to it. Work was so busy for a few months that I barely managed to do anything at home except for the bare essentials. Since I'm sure your curious minds want to know, August 5th marked one full year of our amazing kitty, Gus, joining our little family. He really is a great cat. I'm so thankful that my dog-loving husband actually loves our cat. A lot. Woot!

4. I can't believe its November already. How did that happen? It seems like last week was only July. I guess time flies when you are super busy. At least that means the holidays are around the corner. Love Thanksgiving. Love Christmas. Sure, it can be stressful, but I love time with family, friends, and food.

5. Speaking of things that are just around the corner...our 10th wedding anniversary is less than two months away. Wow. It somehow feels longer than that and not that long all at the same time. Ten years. Amazing stuff!

Friday Five

1. I have pretty much finished my Christmas shopping - except for a few things that I will have to get out in Kansas City. Woot! Now I just have to get wrapping. That is my task for the weekend.

2. We had a dessert party and an ugly/tacky holiday sweater contest at work this week. I stuffed my face with treats and won third place with my ugly sweater.

Polly says hi!

3. I put up my little tree Wednesday evening and Gus was only mildly interested. I will be putting ornaments on the tree tonight. We'll see how this goes.

4. What else? What else? I can't believe I'm blank. I feel like more has been going on. Oh well, I guess that means I'll end on this note...

5. I love my kitten. He is cute. Here is photographic proof.

Friday Five

1. I got a new iPhone this week. I ordered it online and Verizon said it would ship on December 9th. It shipped on Monday! Yay! I love it. It rocks my socks. And is very fast. And I love it already. A friend at work forwarded me an article on the 50 Best iPhone Apps 2011...and I've already downloaded a bunch of them.

2. I hope to be about 95% done with my Christmas shopping today. There are a few things I have to wait on, but I'm looking forward to being mostly done.

3. I meant to do some decorating last weekend, but just didn't have the energy when I had the time (story of my life). I need to just do it this weekend so we have plenty of time to enjoy all the prettiness.

4. We aren't getting a real tree this year since we will not be in town for Christmas. I bought a decorative wrought iron tree last year that I will try out. I hope I like the results! I'll post pictures later.

5. I am a little leery about how excited Gus will be by the decorations...specifically the tree and ornaments. LOL! I may put a few things out at a time...and I guess I need to make sure he has a chance to sniff things thoroughly.

Undone

I cannot stand undecorating. Such a let down. Such a bummer.

Last night I needed to take all the decorations off our Christmas tree. I like to leave it all up longer, but we are going away for a long weekend and I did not want to let it wait until we came home.

I am, however, leaving the rest of the Christmas decorations out. I want to enjoy those for a little while longer.

How soon do you put everything away?

Joy!

Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Friday Five

1.  Merry Christmas Eve! We are going to my in-laws tonight for dinner and presents. There is always way too much food and lots of laughter. Good times.

2.  Rusty took me camera shopping this morning. ♥ I have wanted a new digital camera for a few years but was trying to keep my camera for as long as possible. Rusty agreed that it was time for a new one this year. Joy! Merry Christmas to me. Of course, the camera I wanted was out of stock. *rolleyes* Had to order it online.

3.  At work this week my team had a very nice soup and salad lunch. I brought my Lentil Soup with Fennel Sausage and a coworker brought a yummy potato soup. It turned out so nice, maybe we will do this again next year.

4.  We will be on a snow watch this weekend. When will it start? How much will we get?

5.  This is the time of year to struggle with food in epic ways. Epic. *sigh* I guess I will be back on the bandwagon after Christmas. Or maybe New Year's.

Christmas Favorites

Christmas Lasagna

This lasagna has become a Christmas day tradition for Rusty and me. This recipe is a little different as it uses a bechamel sauce instead of ricotta cheese. I make sure to use plenty of the sauces.....we love sauce!


Ingredients:
10-12 lasagna noodles
Kosher salt 
Ragu, recipe follows 
Bechamel Sauce, recipe follows 
3 cups freshly grated Parmesan  


Directions:
1.  Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until just tender, drain and refresh in ice water.
2.  Put a thin layer of bechamel in the bottom of a shallow baking dish or a jelly-roll pan. Cover the bechamel with a thin layer of ragu and a little cheese. Top the sauces and cheese with a layer of lasagna noodles. Repeat until all noodles are gone ending with a layer of bechamel, ragu and cheese.
3.  Bake the lasagna until it is warm at the center and the cheese topping golden brown, about 45 minutes (cover with some aluminum foil if the lasagna browns before it is fully heated).

Ragu:
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped 
1 large carrot, finely chopped 
3 ribs celery, finely chopped 
2 pounds ground beef
1 1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth
2 (28 ounce) cans tomato puree
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper 

1.  Heat olive oil over medium in a large skillet. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
2.  Add beef and brown, breaking up any big chunks of meat.
3.  Add wine, increase the heat and simmer until the pan is once again dry, about 10 minutes.
4.  Add the tomatoes and enough water to cover. Bring the sauce to a simmer then reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is deeply flavored and no longer watery, about 4 hours.
5.  Season the ragu with salt and pepper to taste.

Bechamel Sauce:
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 quart milk
Freshly ground nutmeg (optional)
Kosher salt 

1.  In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour and cook until the mixture is creamy and no longer smells floury. Set the flour mixture (a roux) aside and rinse the pan.
2.  Place the milk in the saucepan, add the grated nutmeg and bring to boil over medium-high.
3.  Whisk the flour mixture into the milk. Whisk constantly as the sauce returns to a boil and simmer until the sauce thickens sufficiently to coat the back of a spoon.
4.  Season the bechamel with salt and reserve it until ready to use.  

Advent

MESSIAH

For a child is born to us,

a son is given to us.

The government will rest on his shoulders.

And he will be called:

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

His government and its peace

will never end.

He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne

of his ancestor David for all eternity.

The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies

will make this happen!

~ Isaiah 9: 6-7 ~

Friday Five

1.  This week is a blur, yet it seemed to last forever. Have you had a week like that? I am exhausted and am having a hard time finding something to talk about. Let's see...

2.  I finally got my house and tree decorated. Woot!

3.  I had two holiday parties at work with gift exchanges. I ended up with a coffee/spice grinder and chocolates. The best gift by far at these luncheons was a sock monkey hat. ROTFL! Added a picture just for Esther - I'm not sure if this is the exact one but it is at least close.

4.  It snowed Thursday afternoon and evening. We got 2-3 inches. That is not really that much snow, but it was just enough of the right kind of snow to make the roads extrememly slick. It is ironic to think that the roads were almost more dangerous with this snow than the feet we received last year.

5.  I finished up my Christmas shopping today. Wheh! Now I just need to wrap it all.

Christmas Favorites

Ornaments

Here are some of my favorite ornaments! ♥

I love the smore ornaments!

Rock 'em sock 'em, anyone?

I received a bunch of cute snowmen ornaments like this adorable little guy for our wedding.

My brother and sister-in-law gave me this ornament this year.

Lightbulb Santa. :) I have a snowman too.

Plumber Santa - a thing of awesomeness!

And another smore guy for you...playing football, of course.

Advent

HOPE

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

~ Romans 15:13 ~

Friday Five

1.  This has been a very busy week. My coworker and I had to pack up our office for paint and new furniture. We had a couple different holiday events to coordinate. We also have a couple holiday events next week plus a retirement function. Yikes! I am exhausted.

2.  I am not a mind-reader. Did you know that? It is true. I think some of my coworkers believe that I can in fact read their minds. Sigh.

3.  My first week of the new WW PointsPlus program has been ok. I am still trying to get back into the habit of writing everything down. That might take me another week. I have been much better at planning and prepartion though.

4.  I have a hair appointment on Saturday. It is about time! My bangs have been driving me crazy for weeks.

5.  We are going out to dinner Saturday and then to find our tree. I am so excited to have a date night, including tree shopping. ♥

Christmas Favorites

Nativity

I bought my full nativity a few years ago and I love it! I really love a lot of Jim Shore figurines. ♥ I adore how the story of Jesus' birth is told in different scenes on the figurines bellies.

Here is the full nativity set (please ignore the small speaker in the background).

Do you want to see some close-ups? Yes? I thought so.

Joseph, Mary, and Jesus

 

Shepherd, lamb, and donkey



Wise men

Advent

LOVE

Long ago the Lord said to Israel:

"I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.

With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself."

~ Jeremiah 31:3 ~

Christmas Prep

I have a lot to do!

I love this time of year, but it can feel overwhelming. This morning I decided it was time to make up a calendar so I can feel more organized.

There are fall decorations to put away, rooms to clean, Christmas décor to pull out, cards to address and mail, a tree to find and decorate, cookies to bake, meals to cook, holiday movies to watch, presents to buy and wrap, parties to attend, blog posts to write, songs to sing along to…oh goodness, the list seems to go on and on. I am sure there is even more than that to be accomplished.

I am still wondering how to get it all done and still have fun.

How do you survive the craziness of the season?

Christmas Favorites

I thought it would be fun (for me) to share some of my favorite Chirstmas ornaments, decorations, food, and whatever else comes to mind.


Blue & White

Today's post is about my Christmas tree from a few years ago...my blue and white tree. We started switching on and off between my favorite way to decorate our Christmas tree and Rusty's. (As an aside, we always get real trees no matter the size).

We are now heading to see my family every other Christmas and will not have a big tree every year. Last year we got a tiny tree and I put on colored lights and ornaments that Rusty likes, but since it was a tiny tree I figure he should get a turn with the big tree. Sigh. I want my turn! I must love that man or something. :)

I have thought of getting a wrought iron Christmas tree in the past. If we had one I could display more ornamnets and figure out a way to make both Rusty and me happier.

I found a big one, but it is expensive ($200) and almost 7 feet tall! I think I will look for a medium sized one, and it will hopefully be cheaper.

UPDATE:  I ordered this 3.5' tree in black! I am super excited! It is a great size and was $30. Woot!

I loved my blue and white tree! I loved searching for all the ornaments, decorating it just so, and sitting back to admire it. ♥

Advent

PEACE

You will keep in perfect peace

all who trust in you,

all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

~ Isaiah 26:3 ~