Be Grateful #19 (the last of 2012)

I'm in a foul sort of mood today, which makes me not want to post (especially since I hate not staying on top of my blog)--but this is probably why I need to post to get me out of this mood.

Christmas Eve:  my stocking had a cankle because of a lovely box of See's Candies (my new FAVORITE!), our cats had too much fun with the ribbons and bows, Zach still loves getting LEGO.

We had a good Christmas other than some drama that happened Christmas Eve.  Zach and I are mostly drama free, so when I encounter it, I just break down and want to run.  Argh.

Still, we had a good Christmas.  We did our usual Christmas Eve traditions--rotisserie chicken, A Charlie Brown Christmas, exchanging of presents--and then we went to Hot Springs on Christmas Day.  Our state got hit with some white weather, and it was a bit scary to be driving through it.  (Our usual four-hour trip took two hours longer.)  But we made it safely and got snowed in.  I couldn't believe it that our home in Bentonville didn't get a flake because we got ten inches in Hot Springs!

Zach and I on Christmas Day

He gave me the green scarf with yellow polka dots that I am wearing.

Two days after Christmas, we came back home and got to experience a little snow here.  We've been trying to soak in the last few days of our winter break as well as I am trying to get over these sinus/cold/drainage issues I've had for two weeks now.  I probably should go see my doctor, but I'd really like to wait another day, so we don't have to fork out one more co-pay this year.  *hehe*  This is probably why I am in a foul mood:  I've been not feeling my best, and while we do get a week and a half of for Christmas, I'm not ready to go back.  Where did this time go??  I've been spoiled the past eight years.  For six, I was in school and got a plummy month off each winter.  Then the first Christmas after graduation, I was still unemployed, so I was on break all the time.  Last year, I was recovering, so I didn't go back to work until almost February.  See?  Spoiled, party of one.

snowpocalypse in Hot Springs

I still can't believe we had a VERY WHITE CHRISTMAS IN ARKANSAS!!

And, of course, the only county not touched by the white was the one where we live.  I guess it was good we were out-of-town, so we could enjoy it!

Not to mention that I had a terrible night in the kitchen, and we were supposed to get some more lovely winter weather today--I LOVE SNOW!--and I woke up to rain.  *grumble grumble*

a nice dusting in our neighborhood

Ah, man, I know I am being whiny and annoying to the point that my whining is annoying to myself!  *lol*  So on that note, here on some things I've grateful for in regards to 2012:

1)  my health--we've come a long way from this, baby.

2)  my job--I saw two of my students over the holidays, and I'm excited to see some returning faces along with the new ones.  If only I could get my gear in butt...**

3)  my constant interest in cooking and crafting--these give me something to talk about with folks on our lunch breaks.  *haha*

4)  my husband and our marriage--things aren't always easy, but I know we are willing to work hard to make this last forever.  He brings me more joy than anyone, and he's the one person I can be most like myself.  I keep hearing of folks who went to high school with me that have separated and/or divorced, and it breaks my heart for them.  It is comforting, encouraging, helpful, hopeful, amazing to have someone, along with God, to do life with every day.  I can't wait to see what 2013 holds for us.

5)  my life--I can't wait to see what 2013 holds for me.

In regards to resolutions, this year Zach and I are going to try to get back to eating more fruit and veggies and less meat, to keep the kitchen table cleaned off, to brush the kitties at least every other day, and to make more room in the freezer for cocktail and pilsner glasses.  *lol*

I'm going to continue to be more thankful, to continue cooking and crafting and reading--and to try to keep up with this blog as it is the umbrella for most of my creative outlets!

Happy New Year!!

What makes you feel thankful from 2012?  And how are you pledging to live a better life in 2013?

**Up there, I realized I typed "my gear in butt" instead of "my butt in gear."  I realized it as soon as I hit enter.  But it tickled me so, I decided not to change it.**

Be Grateful #15

1)  I'm thankful for the wonderful Thanksgiving we had!  What a glorious day!  I do wish Zach had been feeling better for the weekend, but he made it through.
2)  I'm pleasantly surprised by how kind folks were at Walmart Thanksgiving night while we waiting to buy $20 sheets.  (Yes.  I was crazy.  I must have had a stroke or something.)  I normally don't partake in Black Friday--or in this case, Grey Thursday--and I was very hesitant in light of the ridiculousness of starting even earlier.  But I thought the sheets were gold, and we have been looking for some for ages, so I thought my mama and I could pop up there, and it would give her a chance to get out and about, which she hasn't been able to do in awhile.  Well, they weren't gold; they were tan.  But I was able to pick up some grey sheets for my MIL and some cream ones for my SIL (she and her husband only have one set of sheets right now, so I was glad to get them some), and I was able to football carry some green ones for my mom (who always uses secondhand sheets).  We really had an enjoyable time, though it got a bit crazy and I don't think I will ever do this again, especially on Grey Thursday.
3)  I'm grateful for the long weekend I had to relax and knit and watch TV and eat lots of ham, cornbread dressing, and pie.
4)  I'm glad my root canal is over and that it wasn't painful.  Right now, since the feeling has come back, it is a bit sore.  Please pray that I stop stressing it is chipped or something; I'm freaked by how rough the surface feels.  (I've got to schedule my crown still.)
5)  I'm so happy that there are just two weeks until finals week!  These next two weeks should be rather  easy for me.  :)
6)  And I'm so happy that we have our Christmas decorations up and are watching Christmas Vacation right now.
7)  Mostly, I'm so blessed to have a wonderful husband...who trudged to Walmart last night after I realized we didn't have enough of the same lights for our tree.  I love that man.

Sweets for the Sweet, OR How Baking Taught Me to Love Christmas

Until Zach and I celebrated our first Christmas together, I used to loathe the holiday. That's not to say I didn't look forward to Christmas: I love the lights and decorated trees, music and treats, Santa and the Nativity, peace on earth and goodwill toward men. But when the day arrived, I was left feeling glum and sad and lonely. I would be dying to get outside...but everything would be closed. Except for Walgreen's. I remember buying a two-liter of Coca-Cola there one Christmas Day Eve. The place was packed.

This is not to say I never had a happy, blessed holiday before a few years ago. I have had many a season of joy with family and friends in the twenty-five Christmases I have celebrated. But Christmas Day always came as a disappointment. I suppose I felt that way because there was too much pressure leading up to the day. I know that several brides suffer a period of depression following their weddings, so I suppose the Christmas Blues is somehow akin to that effect. When you start hearing "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" and seeing It's A Wonderful Life weeks (or months) before, you start to feel overwhelmed. (By the way, we're actually watching that film now. It's so sweet. ;) Just like Clark Griswold, I wanted a fun, old-fashioned, family Christmas (as pictured on a vintage postcard because I have a thing for vintage decorations). Then everything would seem to go wrong.

In reality, my Christmases were normal--full of ups and downs. One year we were iced in, and another I reveled in the snow. Four years ago I got locked in the bathroom at my aunt's house and cried while her neighbor busted the lock. In high school, I spent the day with Stephanie's family, and I climbed Pinnacle Mountain in a skirt and wedges as far as I could go, which wasn't very far because I am not athletic and somewhat afraid of heights. When I was in elementary school, I received a baby doll from Santa I still have at my mama's house.

But I would have a picture in my mind of how things were supposed to go, and it never quite met my expectations. So I wrote off Christmas.

Over the past few years, I've learned to let a lot of things go, though it is a constant struggle for me. I'm a idealistic perfectionist--or a perfectionist idealist--who always plans too much and never delegates tasks and has control issues. (I'm a joy to live with. Seriously.) For example, we are supposed to have a special meal, drink cocoa while watching all of the cartoon specials, exchange presents, build our Lego Winter Bakery, make this year's ornament, and attend a service on Christmas Eve. After we drop off some more goodies all over NWA. And we. will. do. it. I promise. Last year I remember having a minor meltdown over "Our First Christmas" ornament, but, looking at it this minute, I can say it turned out beautifully. Before Thanksgiving, I made a Christmas collage of photos from our past two Christmases together that showcases the fun and destruction we had decorating our tree, making a gingerbread house after the holidays were over, and baking bad cookies. Even though things were not perfect, I have picture-perfect memories (and some damn good photos, too).

This year, I had a meltdown over our sugar cookies. Again. For the second year in a row. I don't know if it's because the cookie cutters' nooks and crannies are just that, nooks and crannies, or that we always seem to use the wrong kind of sugar cookie...but we can never seem to get our A Christmas Story cookie cutters to work properly.

But this time, after squealing about the dough tearing and sticking to my fingers, I took a breath, laughed..and shook my flour-and-cookie-coated hands at Zach.

For your viewing pleasure:

This sugar cookie dough sat in the fridge overnight, and, as it was Linda Adams' recipe, I felt confident in it. Upon rolling it out, it seemed to live up to my expectations...

...and then tearing and sticking began.
This is a reenactment of me having a meltdown.

I finally had to admit the cookie cutters were not going to work. But I improvised, and rolled the dough into ornament balls. :)

Zach helps. When we cook together at Christmas, I let him wear this apron, and I wear my everyday floral one. The rest of the time I don it!

traditional cookie-baking photo

Zach helped to frost some of the backgrounds and then he went to bed.
I really need to get some red and green gel food coloring. The usual bottles in the baking aisle creates these pastel shades of Christmas, which was part of my childhood baking. But I have become a more advanced decorator. Part of my problem lied in the fact I used most of the red food coloring in my dark velvet bites. When I ran out while dying the buttercream frosting, I tried to add neon purple and neon blue to darken it, but those colors only turned the icing a violet shade. So I had to add neon pink to make it into a "dusty rose." I think it turned out pretty after all. ;)

I decided to try to incorporate the A Christmas Story cookie cutters somehow. The result: deranged icing images of the infamous leg lamp, bunny suit, turkey (or Peking duck), and the family's house. (That last one is kind of lame.)

They also included a star cookie cutter, which is also lame and the only one that comes close to working.

After baking all day, I needed a glass of wine. However, I stayed so busy decorating what I baked, I didn't drink it!

red rosebuds livened things up

The next day I packaged everything, which spelled another L-O-N-G day in the kitchen.

goodies, goodies everywhere, and only a star to eat:

(This is the sugar cookie I saved for myself. Zach got the house.)

Our microwave does not glow like that, although, by this time, I was so worn out that it probably looked as if a nuclear bomb had gone off.

My homemade peppermint marshmallows were a smash hit!

wrapping up a dark velvet bite

dark velvet bites--Zach's office loved them!

Thursday I baked, and Friday I wrapped up the goodies. And I spent a good chunk of Friday morning making tags to attach to the sweets. I even used the Frosty font I have! It's so wintry. :) As a page designer, I tweaked it until it was just so. Then I went to print it on Zach's computer. Guess who doesn't have the Frosty font? Yep. Zach (well, his computer doesn't). So I spent another good hour or so redesigning my tag. I couldn't include what we actually sent on here because it is a .doc file, not a .jpg one. So I copied the text into Photoshop and saved it as a .jpg to give you an idea. There was a little love note from Hobie, Zach, and I after the marshmallows' listing...along with a warning from Santa, or a disclaimer from me. This is also missing the candy cane border I used, but, since I printed them on green paper, I had to make the background green at least. C'est la vie.

Tonight I burned out the motor in the mixer making cookies, and we started another holiday movie we didn't finish, and Zach is only starting to wrap his presents. There is a chance for frozen precipitation tomorrow, which means we may not be able to get out after all. What-e-ver will we do?! ;)

What kind of Christmas goodies do you and your family make each year?
Did you try anything new in 2010?