Christmas Goodies

I do Christmas baking every year, which usually takes up a whole day for me. The tradition came from my mom, sisters and I going to my aunt's house when we all lived in California and baking with my cousins. The memory is pretty vague, but I remember thinking I had a lot of fun and wanted to do it every year! I baked during high school, during college, and still do to this day.

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get it done this year, hoping that I would have a child by now...but wouldn't you know it, I got it all done! haha. 

So the goods...here is a list of the things I made this year:

Lemon Blossoms
Almond Brittle
Raspberry Almond Braid
Chex Muddy Buddies
Pecan Shortbread Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Cinnamon Apple Streusel Bars

The Lemon Blossoms recipe I got from Pinterest. It's a Paula Deen recipe, and it did NOT disappoint! It was probably my favorite thing that I made this year.

The Raspberry Almond Braid was a recipe from a family member, and I wasn't too fond of it so I won't be making that again. It was good, just not my thing. The Almond Brittle is like crack and I could eat a whole pan of it. The Muddy Buddies are always a crowd favorite and I was more than happy to eat a lot of those :) The Pecan Shortbread cookies were good, but a little boring for me. I'm not a huge fan of shortbreads. The Oatmeal Raisin cookies were Patrick's favorite. I can't remember where I got the recipe, but here it is:

The Cinnamon Apple Streusel Bars are also a favorite of mine and I've made them many times. I have that recipe for you guys too-it's out of a holiday baking recipe book that my mom has.

 Did you guys do any baking this year? What did you make?

My Christmas Wish List

I'm not gonna lie, I haven't really thought too much about Christmas gifts for myself this year. Patrick and I decided not to get anything big for each other, because we're going to buy new couches. I did get him a couple things, but they're small. 

I do have a couple things on my ongoing wish list, which I'll probably just go purchase myself, ha ha. As I try to do this post, for some reasons non of my pictures are coming up...so for now you'll have to do with just a list of the things I want...

-Michael Kors watch. I don't wear a watch now, but I've wanted one of these for awhile.

-New black Purse. Probably something Coach or Kate Spade

 -Kindle Fire HDX

-New barstools

-Keurig (I already know I'm getting one of these from my in-laws :) )

And what am I getting for Patrick?
-George Straight button up shirt
-Garth Brooks' new box CD set
-New Ariat leather wallet
-Fast & Furious 6

Like I said, nothing too big since we're getting new couches.  I love this time of year and seeing what everyone is wanting for their Christmas gifts! I will say, that in getting older, it's much for fun for me to get stuff for the house! I'd rather have new furniture or some sort of decor than clothes or jewelry! Ok, maybe not jewelry...

What's on your Christmas list???

Current Favorites

Currently...

...listening to: I've recently discovered the Pop2K station on SiriusXM, channel 10. It plays all of the great songs from my high school and college days. Try it out-promise you won't be disappointed! Also, Christmas music, duh! Here are some of my favorites: Mariah Carey, Michael Buble, Point of Grace, Sugarland, Faith Hill, Kelly Clarkson and Lady Antebellum. I tend to like more country artists, because I feel they stick to the more tradition sounds than say, Britney Spears' Christmas album.

...reading: Just finished the Divergent Series. It was pretty good! It got a little boring towards the third book, but overall I liked it. It did remind me a lot of theHunger  Games, but had a different story. I need to visit my Goodreads list to see what I'm gonna read next.

...cooking: Lighter Lasagna Soup. Easy, healthy and delicious!!

...missing up on: my family and niece. It's hard knowing we won't be spending Thanksgiving or Christmas with them this year, but my parents will be here to visit us and baby after the first of the year.

...watching: we watch a lot of football this time of year, which is fine with me. Other shows I'm loving are The Blacklist, Greys Anatomy, Nashville, Law & Order:SVU, and NCIS. I do not however, enjoy that they all take a break this time of year!

...enjoying: the coziness of our living room with all of our decorations up, and of course the Christmas tree. I love sitting in the dark with just the Christmas tree lit, and just staring at all of the magical-ness of it. Yes, that's a word :) It literally brings a smile to my face and I sit there in the dark grinning like an idiot. Ha ha ha.

...over hearing about: I am SO incredibly sick of hearing about Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber and the Kardashians. I went to google something about Christmas the other day and the number 1 thing that came up was the 2013 Kardashian Christmas card. Are you kidding me?!? And people wonder what's wrong with the world. 

...craving: hot tamales and puffy Cheetos. Yummmmmm :)

...looking forward to: finally having this kid! House is clean, everything is ready, and now we just wait...

What's going on with you lately?

Christmas Traditions

One of my favorite things about the Christmas season are the traditions that my family has. Lucky for you guys, Jen @ It's My Life asked some of her fellow bloggers to share in their family traditions. I'm over at her blog today, so if you want to hear what my family's traditions are, head on over!

And I promise you that you will want to read it...I talk about stocking stuffers like cans of olives, jars of peanut butter and baby food. Oh, and Pizza Hut for Christmas Eve dinner. Yep...you read that right...

Christmas card picture 2010

A Little Bit Late!

So I KNOW I'm waaayyy behind the times with my Christmas post, but better late than never, right? We drove the looooong way across Montana to my parent's house, for a quick 2-day visit. As usual, I took tons of pics of my niece cause she's so stinkin cute!

This is her new favorite thing to do. She grabs on to your hands and "walks" all over the place.

Helping grandpa make some taters. Yes, I realize she's sitting on the counter. And no, she didn't fall off.

Hey auntie! There's nothing in this bottle!

Coolest baby I ever saw!

We did a little family photo sesh on Christmas Eve at church.

Not the greatest picture of us, but oh well. I had to save the good ones cause we might use them for next year's card! Ha!

My two younger siblings.

My wonderful parentals.

Silly boys.

Dillon and Danielle

Christmas morning with the dogs...yes, 4 dogs. Harley, Smoke, Huck, and Gus is on the floor.

My little nugget's Christmas Eve outfit!

Smoke is NOT enjoying Kendall, as she keeps pulling his fur.

Merry Christmas morning!!

Woohoo! Candy and presents!

Grandma helping Kendall open her gifts.

And last but not least, getting in some play time with Uncle Patrick before we had to go home.

That's it! This Christmas I truly felt blessed by being able to spend the holidays with my family. Even if it was only for 2 days, every minute of it was special. Hope all of you had a great Christmas as well!

2011 In Review

I've been reading a couple of other blogs, and they did a post about 2011 recaps, and what they did each month. I've decided it would be nice to recap this year, so here we go!

January 2011

Went to Las Vegas to celebrate my little sister's 21st birthday...lapdances by bartenders at Harrah's included!

February 2011

Snowpocalypse is still in full swing, which basically consumed our lives. Had to plan our days according to how much snow needed to be plowed to get out of our house to the main road, and whether or not a snowmobile was our only mode of transportation.

The sweetest, most beautiful little baby was born. My niece Kendall, on February 7th.

March 2011

Not gonna lie...we didn't do a whole lot in March other than travel! Back to Las Vegas for the NASCAR race.

Then cruising to Mexico-Costa Maya and Cozumel.

April 2011

Since we didn't really work in March, much of April was spend working away...in our jobs and the farm! April is full-time calving month on the farm, so we spend a lot of our time tending to the cows.

This is sadly, also the month that we lost our dog Jake. We still love him dearly and know he's watching us from doggie heaven.

May 2011

Hubs and I took a road trip to Utah and stopped in Idaho Falls on the way home to see THIS lovely gal :)

My family came to visit us, and we got to see this little love nugget!

The end of May also brought branding to the farm.

June 2011

After a long winter and VERY wet spring, we finally got to plant our wheat! This is our first time planting our own wheat for the farm!

 I got to travel to Seattle for work, and snuck in a Mariners game while I was there. If anyone has ever been there I have 2 words for you...garlic fries.

July 2011

My cousin came to visit us; this was her first trip out in the country of Montana! I'd say she had fun :)

The annual Wolf Point Stampede in Wolf Point, Montana. Where crazy drunk people try to ride wild horses, and a man comes with buffalo that are trained to jump on top of his trailer.

Trip to Anaheim, CA for work, and I get to visit my crazy, goofy cousins :)

Aaaaaand, back to Vegas! (Yes, the third time this year!) We went for one of my best friend's (on the left in the pic) bachelorette party.

Stay classy :)

And my my MIL and I bought this!

August 2011

Added our puppy Smoke to the family...

As well as these two kitties, Jones and Toonces.

Went to Cascade, Montana for my friend's wedding...

September 2011

Got to travel back to Seattle for work again, but didn't do anything fun this time around. Also spent another week in Helena, Montana for work. After that, I went to visit my cute little baby again :)

I also finished harvesting my garden! I planted: peas, green beans, cucumber, pumpkin, zucchini, carrots, leaf lettuce, iceberg lettuce, green peppers and broccoli.

September also marked the month that we successfully harvested our first crop of wheat! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of that. 

AND.....I learned to drive the tractor!!!

October 2011

October was a fairly slow month, but I was able to catch a Miranda Lambert concert with some of my lady friends, and hubs got to go to the Packers-Vikings game in Minnesota.

November 2011

Hubs' cousin got married, and my family came to visit. I had company for 3 straight weeks at my house!

December 2011

Finished out the year with holiday baking, Christmas shopping, and spending my nieces first Christmas with her. It was a great year and I'm looking forward to this year!

Ok, the longest official post EVER is over! Ha! Thanks for hanging in there if you made it this far!