It's Crunch Time

Finally!  Brad and I joined Crunch last week and I went in for my first workout this morning.  It felt good to get back, but oh man, am I out of shape.  I used to be such a gym rat in high school and college and then, well, I got married and gained almost 20 pounds.  So for only $9.95 a month, it can't be beat (plus it's only 10 minutes away!)  No excuses.

Poppin' In To Share a Recipe

During the World Series, our friends, Steven and Lauren, had us over to watch the games.  She made the most amazing kettle corn and I was always talking about how good it was.  For Christmas they gave us the popcorn maker from Crate and Barrel and the recipe to go along with it.
I made some tonight, took a few bites, then with all my will-power, put it in a bag for Brad.

Kettle Corn

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup un-popped corn kernels

1/3 cup sugar (heaping)

Begin by warming oil in kettle over medium heat

Add kernels to kettle; continue turning slowly

Slowly add sugar and keep turning

After popping slows down, remove from heat

Lightly toss popcorn, adding salt to taste

Enjoy!

Holiday Happenings Continued

Last night we went to Napa to celebrate Christmas with my in-laws.  We had a nice visit, delicious dinner, and opened presents.  Thank you Randy, Kathy and Lauren for spoiling us again :)

Brad's working today through Tuesday (and possibly called back for a couple days beyond that), so we celebrated an early Christmas together today.  Since we just bought our house, we kept it small this year.

 

I'm really sad Brad is working on Christmas, but it's just part of his job.  Friends and family have been SO incredibly wonderful with inviting me into their homes on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day - I really, really appreciate it!  I'll be visiting my best friend, Megan, stopping by for a quick visit at my in-laws' again, and spending the afternoon at my grandma's.  

Merry Christmas everyone!

♥

Holiday Happenings

Whew!  I finally found some time to catch up on blogging.  My parents have been down visiting for the past 5 days and it was SO good seeing them!  I'll do a quick run-down of what's been going on:

Tuesday:

neighborhood dessert night

I made sugar and gingerbread cookies

Wednesday:

Parents arrive.

My grandma, aunts, and cousins come over to see the new house.

We have dinner, visit, then go to the nearby casino (didn't win anything. Boo.)

My mom's 5 sisters, my mom (in gray) and grandma in purple

Thursday:

Celebrate Christmas with my parents

gifts from my parents

 

Oliver posing

A few of Brad's favorite presents (blower, edger, and weed eater)

Also, cash, gift cards, and Oregon apparel

 matted framed gallery (still need to add pictures in them)

 giant spoon for our breakfast nook

rainboots, sheets, Marc Jacobs perfume, food processor/blender

Also, cash, gift cards, and lots of stocking stuffers!

art from my grandpa

In the evening we went to The Firehouse in Old Sacramento

THE best meal I've ever had.

 My parents along the Sacramento River

State capitol building

We then drove to a nearby town where a street had every single house lit up.

 Margaritaville theme

 inside someone's garage

We got a complete kick out of this.  You can rent the "short bus" for parties and tours.

It's also known as the Foothill Area Rapid Transit (F.A.R.T.)

Friday:

lunch at Meadowood - one of my favorite places!

gramps opening his gift from Brad and I

It was sad seeing my parents leave, but they surprised us with airplane tickets to Arizona!  We'll be escaping this cold winter weather to meet up with them next month to see my dad's alma mater (U of A), do some hiking, see some museums, and other touristy activities.

Flowers Brighten My Day

Brad and his friends went to the shooting range yesterday and he promised he'd be back within 2 hours...well FIVE hours later he calls to say he's on his way home.  I was not a happy camper to say the least, because I'd been waiting around for him to return, so we could go run errands.  I finally went out to do the errands myself, wanting to make him now wait for me ;)  When I returned, knowing he was in the doghouse, were these flowers and card on the car:

Hahaha I had to just laugh at this

"I'm sorry..."  "I forgive you..."

So Brad says, "See Jess, the girl in the card forgave him, will you forgive me too?"  How could I not?

Bakers Knead Love

I've been busy in the kitchen baking up holiday treats for our friends and neighbors.  I've been making maple bundt cakes and lemon sugar cookies.

The kitties are enjoying the holidays too

Double Excitement

First bit of excitement:

Yep, we did it! 12-0 season and we're going to the BCS Bowl against Auburn on January 10.  GO DUCKS!

Second bit of excitement:

I got my lab results back and my A1c went from 7.9 to 7.4 just after 1 month of sticking to this new higher-protein diet and record keeping.  7.4 is still high, but I'm happy to see progress after a month.  (My doctor is still looking for 6.5-7.0)  I'm waiting to hear back from the nurse tomorrow to see what this week's goal is.

Just Call Me Susie Homemaker

I've been a bit of a slacker in the meal-making department, so yesterday morning Brad asked if I'd make a homemade meal "not out of a box".  I'm glad he asked, because it was fun to go through the cookbooks and cook a dinner again.
As a housewarming gift, Mrs. P gave me

I flipped through and decided on the Pork Lo Mein recipe, which was absolutely DELICIOUS!

I also made a Williams-Sonoma Maple Bundt cake - so good!

I didn't have a pastry brush, so I just drizzled the bourbon-maple glaze over the top

 

The Christmas pan I used (from Michael's, of all places)

I made such a mess in the kitchen between the dinner and dessert.

Brad was a saint and cleaned it all up for me :)

A Country Christmas

Brad and some friends of ours, Steven and Lauren, went to Sacramento to see A Country Christmas.  I'm a member of Groupon (highly recommend!) and each day they send you a "deal of the day".  Monday's deal was half-price tickets ($15) to see Uncle Kracker, Craig Morgan and Rodney Atkins in concert.

 Uncle Kracker - really don't see the appeal or how he's even famous??

 Craig Morgan

  Rodney Atkins

A quick video I took of "These Are My People" by Rodney Atkins

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

December 1st is here which means....Christmas decorations!  I spent the weekend decorating the inside and today, Brad put up the outside lights.  

I realized we need two more stockings this year.  

Since last Christmas we've acquired Oliver and Chewy.

 This is for now.  I'll get new table decorations during the after-Christmas sale

 Go Ducks!

 My MIL bought this for us - "New Home 2010"

 Brad & I went to a glass blower last year and he custom made this for us. We got to pick the colors then watch him create it from scratch.

I've been collecting Willow Tree figurines for years.

Brad's Aunt Mary bought us the starter set last Christmas and my mom bought us two additional boxes this year to finish off the nativity scene.  

Most of my Christmas stuff was bought from previous years' after-Christmas sales.  I really think that's the best way to go because you can get a lot more for your money.  On my list for next year: outdoor decorations!