Christmas and end of year reflections

Today is the last day of 2011. It's been an interesting year for both R and I, especially with some places R has traveled for work. We're both looking forward to our travels and journey through 2012. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or is enjoying celebrating Kwanzaa (whatever holiday you may celebrate). We've had an interesting couple of weeks here in MD. I worked 8 days in a row to be able to to take off for Christmas weekend, and had a wonderful weekend celebrating with R. We were invited to a family friend's house for Christmas Eve dinner which was fantastic to see friends we haven't seen in a few months! Christmas morning we woke up and Skyped opening presents with R's family. I called my parents later that day as well. We had a very relaxing day (much needed after the craziness of both our recent schedules).

On Tuesday, I learned that another of my much loved great uncles had suddenly passed away the day after Christmas. My uncle Bob was the one brother of my grandfather's that my Dad always said reminded him the most of my grandfather, in both looks and mannerisms (both my grandfathers passed away when my parents were children, so it was to my great uncles that I looked to for that grandfatherly relationship). He was very straightforward and it never seemed to bother him whether you agreed with him or not, he just enjoyed the conversations. He was also very well known for his stories and I have so many precious memories of visiting with him and my aunt Barbara. One of my favorites goes with this set of pictures from R and my wedding:

Instead of having a bouquet toss, I chose to have an anniversary dance and give the flowers to the couple who had been married the longest. Little did I know when I decided to do that, but that Bob and Barbara would tie (their wedding dates were only separated by a couple months) with R's great aunt and uncle Janet and Gary. The four are in the top picture talking with each other.

Uncle Bob, (or my favorite, how your grandkids refer to you-GrandBob) you and your wonderful spirit and stories will be deeply missed. My prayers go out to our whole family who have lost 2 wonderful men this year, but most especially to my aunts and cousins who are immediately affected. Looking forward to seeing you all next weekend in CS to celebrate a great man.

Comfort Food: Mac and Cheese

I saw this recipe this morning on one of my favorite bloggers to read and decided to share with you all! R and I made some homemade mac and cheese from a recipe in Food and Wine Magazine the other day, and it was pretty good, but we ended up adding more ingredients to make it as creamy as the recipe made it sound like it was supposed to be. This recipe, however,  sounds delicious and fairly easy to make as well. (Another plus-for those of you with small children, it's been toddler approved by the blogger's daughter). Enjoy!

Macaroni and Cheese
(Source: Wegmans)

Ingredients:
- 1 lb. elbow pasta
- 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
- 5 tbsp. butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 lb. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

Directions:
1. Start heating water for pasta. Mix bread crumbs and parmigiano-reggiano cheese together in a small bowl and set aside.

2. Heat butter in large sauce pan over medium heat until melted. Add flour; stir until smooth. Cook 3-4 minutes until light golden brown.

3. Add milk to butter mixture, one cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth; bring to boil. Cook 10 minutes on medium, whisking continuously.

4. Add cheddar cheese; stir until melted completely. Season with salt and nutmeg; set aside. Stir in cooked pasta. 

5. Spray bottom and sides of baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; add pasta/cheese mixture. Top with bread crumb mixture.

6. Bake on center rack 15-20 minutes, or until topping is golden brown and bubbling around edges.

Dream Home 2012

It's almost that time of year again! (No, I'm actually not talking about Christmas, but rather the contest for the HGTV Dream Home- this year located outside Salt Lake City, Utah). Ski vacation home anyone? One of my friends who reads this blog knows I'm referring to an oft-mentioned conversation we have. Enjoy! : )

 I love looking through the photos and ideas the team decides to place in the home each year and occasionally use some ideas in my own home design and layouts. Check out a few pictures below and then check out the full website for more details.

I love the great room and how it doesn't seem to be too fussy or "museum-like." The colors of the fabric are also a nice mix with the stone.

I love the clean lines of blue and white. I also like the touch of having the water spouts over the stove so you don't have to lug a heavy pot of water from the sink to the stove for boiling. (It doesn't hurt that our kitchen appliances and tableware that are red would look so pretty and patriotic in this space).

My dream laundry room! The energy-efficient washer and dryer are hiding behind cabinet doors to the right, and there's plenty of space for other cleaning items and a sink.

 Above is the master bedroom and it looks like such a nice, cozy retreat. I like the touch of the similar wall sconces and chandelier.

The last picture is one of my favorites of the whole house. I love the idea of outdoor living rooms and this one looks especially comfortable and a nice place to entertain friends and family. 

Enjoy looking through the rest of the pictures on the website! 

Thoughts for others

This time of year might make one think of charity and giving more so than during the rest of the year. Perhaps because of the meaning behind the season or the joy of giving over receiving?

As the S.A. mentions in their ads, need knows no season, although I always try to place a little change anytime I see one of these stands in front of a store. No matter the various level of finances that occur, I always try to give a little wherever I can, if that means at church, through my sorority, the USO, through the Texas A&M Foundation and Association, or various other organizations and charities. What's one way you like to help others either during the holidays or regularly?

Christmastime is here!

Source

My favorite season is now upon us!! I love Christmas, the Advent season and all it represents. I'm not quite sure when it became my favorite season, I just know that I love this time of year with family gatherings, friends, giving presents, caroling and singing all the songs that go with the various holidays. Christmas was the favorite holiday of my paternal grandmother and I think I may have picked up on that. I remember being in choir during elementary school and we sang a song called "Light the Candles All Around the World." It's a nice message of peace during this time of year, so here's an example of the song from a random elementary school (I love Youtube for this reason!). My favorite tradition as a child was being able to set up my grandmother's nativity set on the fireplace mantel. I've previously written about that nativity set that is now set up every year in our home (pictured below). What's a favorite Christmas tradition that you have or remember?

Honeymoon in Hawaii

* Realized this was still a draft, and that I need to get back to updating my little blog- randomness alert*

Hah, so I discovered the other day I never actually posted about the honeymoon R and I had delayed due to his job. He surprised me with a completely planned truip to Hawaii! Of course, it didn't really hurt he had lived there as a kiddo. ; ) So off we went to Oahu for 4 days and Kaua'i for another 4.



Roy's of Honolulu



Sorry for the blurryness of the above photo, we asked out waiter to take it for us and the lighting wasn't the greatest for photos ; )

 Drive around Oahu coastline

Cave

Pretty sure I could go back and look at this shoreline view any day.

Special shoe Giveaway!

Want to win a pair of Henrietta or Pirouette ballet flats? On behalf of London Sole and What Kate Wore, I am pleased to announce a giveaway! Please follow instructions at whatkatewore.com to be eligible to win ♥ Good luck and happy winning!

A Very Special Giveaway!

whatkatewore.com

We have a delightful surprise to share this morning: we are doing a giveaway for (insert drum roll) a pair of London Sole shoes!

Been awhile

So it has been awhile since my last blog. Blogging in the past couple months has almost become something I wait to do until the very last thing. I decided that I would try and change that today. I ordered our 2011 Christmas cards today courtesy of Snapfish and their AWESOME coupon where I saved almost $25.00 off the entire order ( FSHIPCARDS coupon is good through the 11th of October if you're interested- gets you free shipping and 25% off the order) ; )

The middle of last month had me going back to College Station for my sister-in-law's Aggie Ring Day and meeting up with friends and family I hadn't seen in a little while, as well as to watch the Fightin' Texas Aggies BTHO Idaho. Here's a picture:

Some of my sorority sisters and I on the Corps Quad watching my husband's outfit get ready for March-In.

Yikes!

So I was taking a break from studying this evening and saw this: Mother-in-law sends worst email ever. Wowza, it makes me really glad I have such a great relationship with R's parents! I feel for this couple and now that the story has been read/sent around the world, hope they can make it over this potential stumbling block and focus on their own soon to be married life. What do you think? If you were a mother-in-law, would you send something out like that? What would you do if you were on the receiving end?

In other news, I've been reading a ton of books on my Kindle recently- hopefully will have a book list by the end of the holiday weekend. Oh and on a sidenote- B&N is having their summer clearance right now- a lot of books for $1.99-$5.99!! (I love this time of year) On that note, have a fabulous 4th of July, and take a moment to thank our troops and civilians serving to keep our country free! I'll be taking photos of the fireworks as I'll be in a fun location for them- more on that later.

A Sunday respite

It's been a while since I had an actual weekend off work...and I'm reminded of how nice it is to have a free day. Of course, I'm also working on my masters degree, so that takes up a lot of my free time as well. As to the post of where the picture might have been from, it was from our honeymoon in Hawaii- my husband took that shot off the coast of Kauai.

For more entertainment- check out my sister-in-law's blog of her and a friend's summer in Senegal! They are there this summer working to help girls and women with various products and educational opportunities. It also doesn't hurt that they are both pretty entertaining with their sarcasm ; )

Realizations

So I realized the other day that I have failed at posting photos of vacations and get-togethers in recent months. That will change very soon. To start, I'll give you one of my favorites:

Props if you can figure out where this photo may have been taken. Anyone?

Happy Easter!

so..I'm sort of back

This is what happens when you have a full-time job, are a full-time grad student and you get busy with other things. My blogging goes by the wayside, but I'll try and do a little cleaning up around here. Since I last posted, one of my (and R's) best friends got married in March on a fantastic Spring weekend day in East Texas! The Aggie women's basketball team (if you saw the previous post of a music video made for them by two artists), just won the NCAA National Championship, and I LOVE what that means for not only our Aggie family, but for women's sports at A&M in general. I get to go back to Texas this coming weekend as well!
I love springtime! In other news, I'm now fully addicted to books by Jeanne Kalogridis, see below. . .
 

This is my new obsession entertainment. Every single one of them is set during Renaissance Italy and France, and the characters are quite fascinating as well. Enjoy!

WHOOP for Aggie women basketball!

wow.

Ok, seriously? Why, oh why would a fraternity think they needed to buy and move into a former Catholic church?

You can read all about it here as well as see more photos where the one above came from.

5 years

So R and I have officially been a couple for the last 5 years as of today and marrried for 1.5 of those, and dating the rest. We met and became friends a year prior to that, but it's been a wonderful experience so far and I'm SO looking forward to the next 60+ years.

We're going on a vacation next weekend with his parents, and I couldn't be more excited! First off, I love my MIL to death, (and no, I'm not just saying that as I know she sometimes reads my blog) but really, God blessed me beyond measure when he had in mind to bring R and I together and help me find my second family! They have helped me through so many instances in the short time we've known each other. Secondly, I get to see family which is something we haven't seen since Thanksgiving (living on the East coast when your entire families live in the central US (namely Texas) can be difficult).

You might remember my post about Valentine's gifts? Well we really give gifts as more of an anniversary type event than anything else.

And from the day of work I had today? I needed something to celebrate!

Valentines Gifts

So we did something non-traditional this year. We got actual Valentine's Day gifts for each other. Yes, we're going out to eat this weekend (therefore we won't have to battle large crowds during rush hour on Monday). Where you might ask? Here:

Roy's Hawaiian Fusion

We LOVE this restuarant, if you happen to have one near you...go there. Great flavors brought to the mainland from Roy's native Hawaiian state.

Our gifts to each other? They were not without slight hints to each other. R received a fleece jacket from the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets Association that looks like this:

and mine? He gifted me with one of these beauties:

 !

I've been using my iPhone to read some books I've already downloaded, and now I'm even more excited as I can use this when we go on the family cruise in a week! He even sprung for the case that includes a pull-out reading light:

Have a great day!

Laziness or time well spent?

So we got a card in the mail the other day for an online store of household products (http://www.soap.com/) and I contemplated whether I should use it or whether I would be being lazy by having items like this delivered while I spent time working at my job, doing schoolwork or housework. As we all know, time is money, right? I decided to try it out mainly because it came with a 20% off promo code. Supposedly the box will be here Friday afternoon (free shipping with the code as well!), so I'll let you know what I think when I get it. They even have online coupons that you can redeem as you click on items.

*This is not a paid review, I just thought the idea was interesting, especially since I live in an area that takes a good 30-40 minutes to travel around to the different stores such as Target, CVS, Giant, etc.*

What would you do? Keep driving to the stores or try something new?

Four myths about sorority women exposed | USA TODAY College

Four myths about sorority women exposed USA TODAY College

As an active alumna of my sorority, this was for the most part entertaining.

Books read in 2010 (that I can remember)

The following books were ones I read throughout last year, and by no means in any actual order. I highly enjoy reading for personal pleasure, regardless of what schoolwork I may have had to do in the past or now with my masters degree classwork. I'm also pretty excited I have Kindle for my iPhone now, as when I travel, I usually look like a teenager going to school with the backpack full of books to read on the plane and vacations. Look for a follow-up with anticipated reads for this month (and year) coming soon.

1) American Wife: A Novel (New York Times Notable Books)


Supposedly loosely based on Laura Welch Bush, but even the author mentions in a foreward note that that idea is simply coincidence. It's a pretty interesting read with a few twists in the storyline I wasn't expecting at first.


2) Naked in Death (In Death, Book 1)

I'm a fan of Nora Roberts. Did I ever mention that I've met her? She lives in western Maryland and has seasonal book signings in the town that she calls home: Boonsboro, MD (near the Antietam Battlefield). I enjoy almost every single one of her storylines and series. This series is written with her pen name and is set in the future (when they don't even have real coffee, people!) It's written around a police detective and eventually her husband. Eve and Roarke and their friends make for some pretty light and entertaining reading.

3) Masters classes textbooks
   

and many, many others . . .

4) Glory in Death (In Death, Book 2)




See my above statements on Nora Roberts/ J.D. Robb.

5) Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously



This was an entertaining read. I did happen to see the movie before I read the book (which, I almost never do). It was a little difficult to keep reading this one, as I already knew the outcome of most of bigger cooking attempts.
6) Savor the Moment (The Bride Quartet, Book 3)



I again point to my previous mentioning of Nora Roberts. This series of books however began when I was getting married, and it was entertaining to read about 4 women who grew up and became their childhood dream. They used to play "wedding day" for fun and now they are one of the top places in the Northeast to host weddings and special events. Laurel is the baker of the group, Emma makes the flowers, Mac handles photography, and Parker is the coordinator that runs everything with a stopwatch, a phone, and a plan. From the title, I hope you can guess which character's story this is.

7) Bitter is the New Black : Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass,Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office


Hilarious! and at the same time, not so much. She does lose her job as the title mentions, but goes on to have an epiphany about how to better her life and outlook upon it. I'm a new fan of Lancaster's writing and have since also listed another of her books on my reading list.
8) Memory in Death - J.D. Robb/ Nora Roberts



I read this one several months ago, and I believe this one is about someone from Eve's past that brings back memories that were mostly bad, and yet helped her on her life path. It was enjoyable to see the plot twists throughout the story.

9) The Last Wife of Henry VIII: A Novel - Carrolly Erickson



This book made me a fan of Ms. Erickson. As you will see when I update my readinglist for 2011, I found other books pf hers. I love the way she takes history, and yet adds a bit of fiction to make the storyline just that more entertaining. This one was a page-turner, and kept me entertained throughout.

10) Private - James Patterson & Maxine Paetro



I'm also a pretty big fan of James Patterson (which is clearly obvious if anyone actually looks at our bookshelves in our living room). I have several of his books, and continue to go out and find all his new ones to read. The man sends A LOT of books to the publishers each year, so it can be a task to read all the current offerings. You might have guessed I enjoy reading mystery fiction and biographies by now, yes?

11) Dead of Night- J.D. Robb, Mary Blayney, Ruth Ryan Langan, Mary Kay McComas



Great book if you enjoy vampire stories! My copy was bought at one of the seasonal booksignings at Nora Roberts stores, and it includes signatures of both Ms. Roberts and Ms. Langan. They were a pleasure to meet in real life, and I enjoy reading their books as well. All the stories here have to do with some version of up at night, vampire, or other dark creature stories. Robb's is of course about  Lieutenant Eve Dallas and a futuristic crime story.

12) The 9th Judgment (Women's Murder Club) - James Patterson



The WMC was how I came to know and enjoy Patterson's writing. This is also about a group of women that play different parts in solving murders around the city of San Francisco. The reporter, the M.E. the detective, the D.A., etc.

13) Paradise Lost (Private, Book 9) - Kate Brian




You'll find this one in the teenage section. Yes, I occasionally read children and young adult literature, and not just for class (ha!) This is a series about a girl who gets a soccer (one of my many loves and a sport I still play with adult leagues) scholarship to a ritzy private school in Pennsylvania. Goes through at least the four years of high school and is an easy and mostly enjoyable read. There's also a murder mystery involved in the storyline of the series as well.

14) A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini



I read this last spring, and if you haven't read and/or at least heard of this author or title: run, do not walk to the nearest bookstore to pick it up to read! I liked this book better than the Kite Runner, to be honest. This one is about the women of Afghanistan and what they have gone through the last 20+ years of warfare. Great book of growing up and finding out about inner strength within women and our ability to come together through difficult times.

15) Alex Cross's TRIAL - James Patterson




Pretty sure the title speaks for itself, although the book is not about who you think it is about. Once again, James Patterson is able to delight his readers with his style and entertaining ability to meld fiction and mystery.
What have you read recently, or are planning to read?