Holiday baking!

I love this time of year and I particularly enjoy cooking all the yummy meals and goodies.

This year I tackled a turkey! My first ever. I had to cook one last minute for our ward Christmas party because someone was unable to. So, it was the night before the party and I had a frozen turkey on my counter- I panicked a little. Luckily my mother in law came to the rescue and walked me through it- it turned out perfect!

The Turkey

I did the "turkey in a bag method"- way easy. I brushed it with butter, rubbed a mixture of rosemary, thyme, and salt n pepper, and laid it on a bed of onions and celery. I finished it off by sprinkling it with paprika for even browning. It was so yummy!

The Red Velvet Trifle

This is my latest creation. I kinda made it up as I went but its going to be so good.

Recipe:

1 Red Velvet Cake- I cheated and just did a box mix

Bake and cut cake into 3 layers

Middle layers:

1 box of Cheesecake pudding

2 c. milk

8 oz. cream cheese

1-2 c. whipped cream

Top layer:

8 oz. cream cheese

2-3 c. whipped cream

3/4 c. powdered sugar.

Top with fresh raspberries and white chocolate chips

(I also did this in the middle too)

2 year anniversary

I can't believe that we are already celebrating our 2nd anniversary. What a crazy two years it's been. We have gone through 4 moves, several apartments, 3 states, new jobs, a new house, and are now expecting our first baby. We are so happy and feel extremely blessed for all that we have!

Little Gunner

I know it is kinda hard to see but.... you can make out baby's head (at the top) and side profile of the face with its' little body and the umbilical cord (on the bottom)! You can kinda even see the little face!

I had my first OB appointment this morning and I was very excited to finally hear the heartbeat. I am only 10 weeks and the doctor couldn't get the heartbeat on the doppler- sometimes they are just to little to pickup. I was pretty bummed. My doctor only does one ultrasound at 20 weeks- which is when you find out the sex and most insurance companies only pay for 1 ultrasound. Lucky for me- my husband happens to be a doctor. He knew I was bumming so he asked he attending (the doctor he reports to) if I could come down the the clinic that day and get an ultrasound since he was there anyway. His attending didn't mind a bit and I got to go right in and have Jimmy give the ultrasound. It was neat for it to just be Jimmy and I in the room looking at our tiny babe on the screen. We took a few pics and then I was on my way! It was just a relief to see the baby and to know that yep- there is really one in there!

Christmas Joy!

I was so excited to decorate for Christmas this year...

and to start all the yummy holiday baking!

Too bad I will probably just throw it up

5K Run!

Race for the Cure!

This past weekend a few of my fellow Young Women leaders and I signed up for a 5k run to benefit breast cancer. A few of the Laurel girls joined us as well. We had a blast! It was great weather and thousands of people turned out for the event.

Brione, myself, and Laura were troopers and they helped keep me motivated!

We were a a little pooped out afterwards!

We had such a fun group- and are totally planning on doing it again next year!

The Amana Colonies

For Labor Day weekend, we decided to take a nice little trip to the Amana Colonies. It is an old German settlement established by Lutherans wanting a better life and created a profit sharing society. Oh and did I mention that this is Amana- as in Amana appliances...? Crazy. However, it is about an hour or so outside of Des Moines and it is a cute old town with shops and bakeries. We had a lot of fun going to antique stores, bakeries, and woodshops.

The colonies are picturesque!

We ate at the Ronneburg- Jimmy had some time of wienerschnitzel and of course- sourkraut- his favorite

We also went to the bakery and Chocolate Haus- and got some yummies- Apple butter and Raspberry jam

At the general store we got some awesome german rootbeer- it had a unique flavor but really good

The Amana colonies are famous for their woodwork and furniture. I got an awesome wood cutting board- it was also the only thing we could afford- everything was so expensive!!

It was a fun relaxing day!

My own HGTV

HGTV is my favorite thing to watch... all the time. I try and get ideas and dream of grand home decor. Whenever I say.."I could totally do that" in relation to home decor, my husband thinks I am crazy. But regardless I am having a blast trying to decorate my home on a very tight budget and trying to repurpose the stuff we already have!

Before: Ugly paint color, old furniture

After:

I painted the entire room by myself- a task harder than I anticipated, our new sofas, and a few new items for the walls. I still have this amazing rug I want to buy but its $$$ so it will have to wait.

It has come a long way!

I looove my new sofas

Our little dining room- I painted in the chair rail

My little reading corner!

My project: I found a bunch of old frames at Goodwill or garage sales and painted them all.

The whole room will have a shabby chic feel- but I am not done with it yet- my vision is still coming together. More pics when its finished!

Iowa State Fair

This past weekend my parents came for a visit! It was their first time to Iowa and we were excited to show them around. One of our activities was the famous Iowa State Fair. For all you non-iowans- its kind of a big deal around here. Everyone looks forward to it all year. So we went and actually had a really fun time.

!Yep- That is the world's biggest boar- 1200 lbs

The famous "butter cow"- made entirely of butter

I made Jimmy take this picture- he hates taking pictures

My parents enjoying the fair

We all had to eat food "on a stick"- my teriyaki meat was surprisingly good!

July wrap up

So-it has been a while and I thought I would just do a quick post to say what we have been up to!

Jimmy has just about completed his first month as a resident! Its been a long one! I basically never see him- he leaves at 7 am and gets home at 7 pm and is on call every fourth night. But I am very proud of him!

I made him take this picture on his first day- he puts up with me though

As for me...I keep very busy somehow. With Jimmy working so hard I take care of everything else- moving to a new state and getting all of our bills, registration, licenses, unpacking, running errands, and putting the house together has taken up my days. There always seems like there is so much to do. I also was asked to be a chaperone at girls camp this year. I am new to the ward so it was good to be able to get to know the girls and women of the stake!

Now as August is approaching I am starting to focus on finding a job- trying to certify for teaching in three states in the past three years has been difficult and frustrating for me but I am just hoping something will work out. I also look forward to my parents visiting in a f

ew weeks! I am taking them to the IowaState Fair- should be an experience.

On a less serious note...we got a new computer and we goofed around with photo booth

In LOVE with our House!

It was a very stressful few weeks while we packed up in NY and moved to Iowa. I will try and make a long story short (few people ever read everything you write anyway-especially if its really long)

June 5-9 - packed up our tiny apartment

June 10- hit the road and said good bye to NY! will we miss it? most things-no; the people and the adventure-yes

June 11-12- drove to Des Moines- I drove our car and Jimmy drove the moving truck- 2 days by myself in the car- not very fun

June 12- We arrive at our beautiful house waiting for us!

June 13- We unpack like crazy

June 14- We go to our new ward and then I fly ba

ck to NY to finish school. I did not want to leave

June 14 (later)- flight gets cancelled and I am stuck in Chicago without clothes or a toothbrush.

June 15-18- Finish teaching at New Rochelle High School

June 18- Get stuck in Chicago AGAIN trying to get home-without clothes or a toothbrush

June 19- Jimmy drives to Chicago to get me and we drive home- I was done with airplanes

We are finally here and we are all settled in! We love our home.

Here are a few pics- its not decorated yet and our new couch is on order but its coming along.

We LOVE it!

I am trying to do a picture tour .....
Our living room window over looking the front lawn

The entry way- I love my wood floors

Our bookcases are the only furniture in the living room- our old couch will move in here when our new family room one come

The living room connects to the formal dining room
The hallway off of the front entry way leading into the kitchen
Powder room
Family room- I am painting next week!

Kitchen- so big and spacious!
I love looking out of my kitchen window!

We have a nice deck- and yes that is a corn field!
Off of the family room a door leads to our basement
We turned the bedroom into our dual office
Our basement is huge and we have absolutely nothing to really put in it yet
My little workout area- its a little sad at the moment- Jimmy has a weight bench we want to get from AZ

I am going to try and do a before and after when I have painted and actually hung stuff on the walls. So far we really like Des Moines, our ward, and Jimmy's program.