A New Year, A New Blog, hopefully a New Outlook!

It has been so long since I last blogged! I just got back from the cruise Sunday, and haven't had time to recap everything that has happened since my last post! I decided that I don't want to talk about fertility stuff on this blog anymore. There are people reading this blog that I am not sure I want to know about every little detail of my struggles. So, I am either going to quit blogging about that all together and just journal about it (as I have been), or I will start a separate (secret) blog about that journey.

So, from here on out this blog is solely devoted to baking/cooking/health/happiness.

First, here are some pictures from cookie bake at Faith's house:

Jenna chopping up Heath pieces.

Jenn's cut out sugar cookie dough.

Jenna and Jenn in Jammies.

Jenn's decorate sugar cookies -- she's so proud.

Meghan and Cindy (sorry, I forgot your friend's name, Cindy) making cereal wreaths.

Delphi crafts too -- she decorates paper plates and sells them on Etsy.

Then Faith had us all play a game of Rob Your Neighbor which involved no robbing whatsoever. It was still fun, and very sweet Faith!

An assortment of cookies from the party (plus some chopped up Jolly Ranchers that I tried to use to make stained glass cookies -- they didn't turn out so well).

Our little taste tester gives these cookies a ginormous smile!

For Christmas, Chris and I decided to make baby journals for my sister-in-law and brother-in-law's twins that are due this March or April. I found a really great how-to video on Martha Stewart's website, which resulted in these, very professional looking, hard-bound baby journals:

The journal I designed and made (probably for the girl twin, but we found out the sexes after picking out the somewhat gender-neutral papers).

We also came up with all of the prompts in the journal, and Chris designed the format in InDesign.

The journal Chris designed and made that will probably end up being the boy twin's journal. It was very rewarding that Matt and J'aime didn't know immediately that they were homemade journals, and when they figured out that they were homemade, they were still shocked to find out that we made them.

My mother-in-law and I also had a cookie bake, as we do every year. Once again we made a TON of cookies. Here are the results:

Turtle Shortbread

Toffee Cookies

Sour Cream Pecan Pralines

Orange thumbprints

Orange peanut chocolate bark

"puppy chow" cookies

gingerbread strips (one of our family's favorite recipes)

mint chocolate thins

"The Best Cookies Ever" which we all agreed weren't the BEST cookies EVER, but they were very good (like pecan sandies).

Another thing that happened over the holiday season, is that Chris and I joined a local CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture) called Fair Shares. They have a really long waiting list for the 2010-2011 season, but we were able to join the waiting list as well as get a partial share for the winter months which are less fruit and veggie-rich. However, we have had a few veggies, like these local carrots:

I roasted them in the oven with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. They were so deliciously sweet! Yum yum yum.

We've also gotten locally made cheeses, breads, coffee, tortillas, tortilla chips, local eggs, squash, peppers, etc. etc. I really enjoy being a part of the Fair Shares CSA, and hope that there is a spot for us during the regular growing season!

We had Christmas at our house this year, as we have for the past 3 Christmases. This year we decided to do a pajama theme, inspired by Chris' dad's b-day gift of some very cozy-looking pajamas. We all wore our pajamas the entire evening. It was so comfortable and relaxed. My dad declared that it was the best Christmas ever! I'm so happy everyone had a good time and was able to feel comfortable and relaxed with each other. We have a great family.

My dad at the dinner table that I decorated so nicely. He's wearing his scrubs pajamas. The table was prettier in real life than this picture illustrates. Plus, people had already taken their plates up to load up with the food. What was on the menu you might ask? Of course, I slacked and didn't get any pics of the food. But, we had a DELICIOUS spread of: butternut squash lasagna, pasta con broccoli, blue cheese biscuits, cranberry fluff, and a green salad do-it-yourself style. For dessert? All of the millions of leftover cookies from the cookie bake.

My brother likes to make funny faces -- maybe he thinks it will keep him from being on the blog. He's wrong.

I will have to post about the cruise in another post, as this one has gotten too long!!