Holy Snow Storm, Batman!

Who likes snow here? I do! I had been really hoping that we would have a ton of snow this Christmas here in Michigan, and my wish partially came true.  On Christmas Eve, we managed to get what is a dusting to us Michiganders (1"-1.5" of snow) which made for a beautiful white Christmas, but the real fun did not begin until 2:00 pm the day after Christmas.

This is the snow storm as it was in progress! Can you believe it?! We ended up with about eight inches total and it snowed for over twelve hours.  Luckily, both Justin and I had the day off of work, so we didn't have to be anywhere in particular.

Thursday I had the day off of work, but Justin had to work.  However, he was plowed into his parking spot and was not able to get out.  Because of the poorly done plow job, he ended up working from home and we got to spend the day together while he worked.  After work we headed out to run some errands at Great Lakes Crossing.  I love shopping at this mall because it is about a mile around and there are a wide variety of stores to check out while you're walking around. 

I have been in desperate need of some new bras and panties so you can imagine my excitement when I saw the huge after Christmas sale Aerie was having.  I typically buy my bras and panties from there because they are cheaper and pretty high quality (and have cute styles).  After our trip to the mall we ran out to dinner with our friend, Andrew, because he was in town from Chicago for Christmas.  It is always nice to catch up with old friends, especially the ones you don't get to see too often.

After our lovely dinner, we went to Best Buy to get me a new point and shoot camera and get Justin and few things with the gift card stocking stuffers I gave him for Christmas.  It worked out really well because I had only planned on getting him $50 to Best Buy, but they had a promotion going on and I was able to get an additional $40, so he ended up getting $90 to Best Buy.  I ended up with the Sony Cybershot WX100.  It looks almost identical to this one:

I am loving this camera so far! It takes really quick pictures, its super compact (smaller than my iPhone 4) and has the same basic functionality as our more industrial camera.  So far I've managed to grab a few cute pictures of Frye and I swear he knew what I was doing.

The second picture would have to be my favorite so far.  I'm excited to see what kind of fun things I can do with the camera at tomorrow's family get together.  

Justin ended up getting "UP" by Jawbone.  It's a little armband that you wear full-time and it reads your activity, how much you sleep, and it can alert you when you've been inactive for too long.  He was a tad nervous to buy it because of the cost, but I figured anything that can help him live a healthier lifestyle, I am going to support.  I will have him write a review for you all in a few weeks after he has really tested the full functionality of the band.  If he really likes it, then I might just have to get one for myself!

I finally finished reading my latest book choice Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster and look forward to sharing that review with you along with a new German Chocolate Cake recipe I am in the process of trying! I hope your weekend is fun and exciting! 

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite kind of cake?

I will always love Dairy Queen's Ice Cream Cake, it's been a tradition for years for my birthday with my family and I would really like to pass that down to my children some day.

Christmas Cutout Cookies

These cookies are a favorite in our household! The best thing about them is you can use them for any and all occasions.  I would like to let everyone know that these cookies must be refrigerated over night so if you are looking for a quick cookie recipe, then keep on moving.  Also, because there is cream cheese in these cookies they tend to have a more bitter taste, so if cream cheese is not your thing, you might want to again try another recipe.  However, they always bake nicely and they always taste good!

What You Need:

• 1/2 lb Butter
• 4 oz Cream Cheese
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 Egg Yolk
• 3/4 tsp Vanilla
• 2 1/4 cup Flour
• 1/2 cup Flour for rolling the dough

How to Make Them:

In a mixer, combine butter and cream cheese until smooth.  Add sugar, egg yolk and vanilla, mix well.  Blend in your flour a little at a time allowing it to be completely mixed into the dough.  (At this point the dough could be crumbly- I've never experienced this but it is possible).  Cover your bowl and chill the dough eight hours or overnight.

Once the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350°.  Take your extra 1/2 cup Flour and spread across your flat rolling surface and on your rolling pin.  Roll your dough until it is about 1/4" thick and cutout shapes of your desire.  I found my cookie cutters at Walmart for about $3.00.  Once you have cut out your cookies, place them on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown.

Once the cookies have cooled completely have fun decorating your cookies with whatever frosting/sprinkles you deem perfect.  You can see  my decorations below!

I tried to be as creative as possible with the supplies I had, what do you think?

Christmas Day!

Merry Christmas Everybody! I hope your Christmas was as wonderful as Justin and I's! We started the morning off by opening up our stockings and sharing some of the smaller gifts while our cinnamon rolls cooked in the oven.  Originally I had planned on shaping the cinnamon rolls into hearts like the ones I found on Pinterest, but they did not unroll as nicely as I had hoped.  Oh well! They were still delicious! 

Frye did not seem to be too interested in the gifts that we got him; rather, he was interested in the lens cap attached to my camera.  However, I cannot seem to find almost half of the toys we bought him which means they have been played with and hidden so we cannot have them.  Such a weird cat.  

After Frye got his gifts and we ate our breakfast, Justin and I exchanged our gifts and I must say that I am SO excited at what he got me! He went to Jared! I am so excited about these earrings because they are just so beautiful! He also got me this beautiful Coach purse from the Outlet store.  He definitely spoils me!

After our gifts were exchanged and we were ready to go for the day, we packed up Frye and headed out to spend the afternoon with my family.  Frye really hates his crate and made sure to make us feel super guilty on the ride up to my parents, so Justin gave into his meowing and let him out of the crate.  This is what happens when you let your kitty out of the crate in a moving car...

A meowing kitty sitting on your lap.  He eventually just laid down on Justin's lap and took a nap, but he was not super thrilled to be in the moving car.

Dinner with my family consisted of prime rib, baked potatoes, corn, rolls and salad and everything was super delicious.  We do not eat a ton of red meat in our household, so it was treat to get the prime rib.  My mom worked super hard for the dinner and for that we are grateful (and full).  

I know that so often the focus of Christmas starts to direct its way toward the gifts and Santa, but I want to take a moment to show my gratitude for everything.  I feel so unbelievably blessed to have three families that love me no matter what (The Umphrey's, Maiuri's and Vore's).  I am blessed with a husband that puts up with my crud when he really shouldn't have to.  I feel blessed to have my health and the ability to get up each and every day.  I am so thankful for the roof over my head and the food in my stomach.  And of course, I could not forget you, the reader! I am so grateful to you for following my blog and providing me with feedback on ways I can make my blog (and my life) better.  Thank you!

From my family to yours, I hope you and your families had a very Merry Christmas and were able to enjoy the company of your loved ones and the deliciousness that happens this time of year.

Christmas Question:

What is your favorite gift you got?

What are you the most thankful for this year?

P.S. Do not forget the most important reason of the season! Happy Birthday Jesus Christ!

Christmas Eve

Hello Everyone! I trust that you had a wonderful Christmas and that you enjoyed a relaxing time with your families.

My Christmas Eve started with a 75 minute Total Body Fitness class like the one I did on Thanksgiving.  However, this particular class focused mostly on legs and biceps.  Holy cow were my arms killing me by the end of the class.

Our Christmas Eve evening consisted of going to a nice restaurant and a wonderful church service.  The restaurant we went to is called Brickstreet Bar and Grill.  I had been to this restaurant last fall for a baby shower and the food was SUPER delicious, so you can guess that I was excited that we were going there.  My mother-in-law, Marcy, wanted to make it super special because Grandma and Grandpa are in town for Christmas and it sure was!

I ended up having the Chicken Marsala which was delicious! There is just something so wonderful about chicken smothered in mushrooms.  I wish I had snapped a picture of the food, but I ate it so fast I forgot to take a picture.  

I love spending time with Justin's family because we always have a great time and I love all of the baby time I get with my niece and nephew.  It always warms my heart to see their sweet faces.

After dinner we headed out to The Rock church in Fenton, MI.   The Rock Church is a branch of the church my parents belong to.  It was so nice to be in church remember the true meaning of Christmas.  I had never been to this particular church and I was pleasantly surprised.  There is a lead singer for the praise and worship team and I was amazed by her voice.  It is not too often that I hear someone sing and my jaw drops.  She has been blessed with a wonderful voice.

The evening ended with Justin and I watching Elf.  I always laugh when I watch this movie, so it seemed like the perfect ending to a wonderful day.  I managed to make it about half way through the movie before I fell asleep.  

Christmas Eve Question:

What is your favorite Christmas Eve tradition?

Favorite Holiday Tradition

I love the Holidays.  I love the snow, the tree, the parties, the gifts, but most of all I love spending time with family.  

Every year all of the girl cousins and I have a sleepover at Grandma's House and it is a tradition we have been doing since I was pretty little.  I love it, Grandma always make us sloppy Joe's for dinner and we have pancakes, bacon and sausage.  We didn't have the sloppy Joe's for dinner this year because our entire family was over and they did the traditional potluck. 

Another part of the cousin sleepover tradition is grandma buying us all matching pajamas.  I'm sure you can tell from the picture that we got footie pajamas this year.  It was hilarious because we had to run out to Walgreen's to get some frosting for cookies and medicine for Nicole because she was feeling a bit under the weather.

While at the store, we found a real Sock Monkey that danced and managed to sneak a few dances (and a few weird looks) while at Walgreen's.  I love how goofy these girls are.  After our trip to the store, we decorated some sugar cookies.  

 I made my favorite type of sugar cookie recipe that runs in our family and the cookies turned out pretty awesome! Once I have a few minutes I will make sure to post the recipe! I do have to warn you though, the cookies have cream cheese in them, so they are not as sweet as you would expect.

After decorating our cookies, we hung out talking until about 2:00 am.  Which was great because I do not get to talk to them all that often because we all live all over the state of Michigan.  

Well, I'm of to go spend time with Justin! Have a great night everyone.

Question of the Day:

What's your favorite Holiday tradition?

Upper Body and Abs Workout

Happy Sunday Everyone! I trust that your weekend has been exciting.  I must apologize for the lack of posts the last few days.  I ended up working from home Thursday and Friday and my routine got completely thrown off whack.

The past few days have been busy to say the very least! Thursday I spent the day working around the house to get things cleaned and organized because we are still unpacking from our move a few weeks back.  I also managed to wrap almost all of the Christmas presents I needed to for my family and for Justin.  I love wrapping Christmas presents, so it was my kind of day at home.  I also managed to get the cookie dough done so it could refrigerate over night as necessary.

Friday was a bit more busy since I went to the gym and ran some errands.  The original plan was to go to a Low Impact Aerobics class, but we could not figure out where it was supposed to be so we ended up creating a workout of our own.

I love any and all workouts that workout the abs, but I often do not find any that work the arms specifically.  This one was tough on my arms and I look forward to doing it again sometime soon.  

After doing this workout, I ran out to a few stores to get a few last minute stocking stuffers and Christmas gifts, along with a few groceries that we needed for the next week.  Man was it busy out there! I'd hate to be out shopping today or tomorrow! Complete madness.

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite body part to workout?

Holiday Classics

Holy cow I cannot believe it is already Wednesday! This week is really flying by for me and I am pretty relieved.  

Yesterday something exciting happened in our apartment: we FINALLY got cable! Justin and I decided last year that for the price, we would rather just use Hulu Plus and Netflix instead of paying $40+ a month more to have cable.  However, over the weekend Comcast called us and offered a promotion for $10 more a month, we could get basic cable and a faster Internet speed.  We could not sign up fast enough.  I know it seems like I'm getting way too excited for basic cable, but I now have 30 more channels than we did before. I can not wait to go home and enjoy our cable. 

Who remembers these cartoons?

I do! I used to love watching these on VHS when I was little and as you can imagine, I was super excited when they showed up on our Netflix queue.  Justin had never seen them so we threw them on to watch while laying in bed.  Justin fell asleep almost instantly and I am not sure if I should be offended or just chalk it up to being exhausted.  We'll say exhausted.  Maybe we can try again tonight and he'll make it through a few more.

Another of my favorite Holiday movies is Elf.  I am always laughing when I watch this movie and cannot wait to watch it with Justin this weekend.

I mentioned in yesterday's post that Janna and I are signing up for a few running races and plan on running a half marathon next June.  Well on top of the training for the running, we have decided to also try Tina's Best Body Boot Camp alongside our running.  PBFingers often talks about this Bootcamp on her blog and raves about how much she enjoys participating, so we figured for $25.00 it would be worth looking into! The first week starts January 7th, so once that begins, I will make sure to share my review with everyone.

  In the mean time, I am looking for a few good in home workouts to do on those days where I just cannot make it to the gym, any suggestions?

Questions of the Day:

What is your favorite Christmas movie?

What is your favorite in-home workout (can be a DVD)?

The Salvation Army Gift Giving

Hello Everyone! I hope your Tuesday is going well.  Mine has been exciting and it is only half over! 

Today is my co-workers birthday so she brought us in some of the most delicious homemade cannoli.  Yummmmmmy! 

I have only been at my current job for four months and I really do love working here.  The people I work with are such giving, loving and wonderful people.  Every year they sponsor four or five families through The Salvation Army and I had the honor of helping them wrap the gifts between yesterday and today.  It was so touching to see so many people willingly give of their time and money so that these families could also have a Christmas.

The team just finished delivering the presents today and it sounds like the families are pretty excited about the gifts and cannot wait to open them.  I just wish that we could support more than five families, but we can only do so much, right? 

Can you believe that Christmas is one week from today? Where in the world did this year go? It's amazing to think that this time last year, I was just getting settled into the routine of being a married woman and now we've been married for over a year.  So strange!

On an exciting note, it looks like Janna and I will be signing up for a few races this year with the goal of running a half marathon in June! I randomly received an e-mail from High Five Races regarding their upcoming races in 2013 and the races look like they could be a ton of fun! In February, we will be participating in the Frosty Oaks Snow Shoe 5k Race.  I've never participated in a snow shoe race, so it should be interesting.  If we're lucky, we will just run in our normal shoes

The other race we are signing up for is the April Fool's 10k Run.  I did this one last year and really enjoyed it, but I only did the 5k.  Our goal is to do a 5k in February and a 10k in April with hopes that it will help us be a bit more prepared for the half marathon in June.  We have our eyes on a specific half marathon race, but until we know more details, I am going to hold off on sharing information about the race.  Now we just need to make a training plan for the next two races! Neither one of us are big runners, so this will prove to be fun.

Question of the Day:

What training method have you used for 5k, 10k or 1/2 marathon training?

Apple Cider Caramel Cookies

Original Recipe

Don't they just look SO delicious! This is my second try making the cookies and I honestly think they turned out much better this time around.

I promised in this post that I would share the recipe with you all and realized that I never took any good pictures of the cookies when they were done, nor any pictures of the baking process. So I had to make them again, but there were not any complaints from the peanut gallery.

What You Need:

• 1 Cup Unsalted Butter (2 sticks)
• 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (7.4ox) box Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink Mix 
• 2 Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 (14oz) Bag Kraft Caramels

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350°.  Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and salt and 8 packets of the Apple Cider Mix (I tried using all 10 the last time I made them and the powder was too overwhelming).  Make sure to pour the powder slowly, otherwise it will get up your nose.  Blend until smooth.

Beat in eggs and vanilla extract, then mix in the baking soda, baking powder and flour until well blended.  Your dough should be pretty thick like your traditional sugar cookie dough.

Scoop your dough into about 1" sized balls and flatten.  Put your caramel into the middle of the dough and wrap the dough around the caramel until none of the caramel is exposed.

Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom.  For some of the cookies, the caramel will leak out of the bottom - this is okay - just let the cookie cool completely before removing from the parchment paper.  This will allow the caramel to harden.

Once they have all cooled, pour yourself a glass of milk and enjoy!

Weekend Recap

Hello Everyone! I hope your Monday has been going as pleasantly as mine.  This weekend was filled with unpacking, cleaning and decorating.  Out of those three, the last was my favorite.

Friday

Friday I worked from home and was able to tackle a large amount of things on my to do list.  I started the day with an extra hour of sleep (which I otherwise would have spent driving into work).  After I worked on a few different work-related items, I started working on one of Justin's Christmas gifts that I have been ignoring until now.  I have not finished the project yet, but here is a hint.  Once I get them done, I will make sure to post a tutorial.

After working on those, I left them to dry while I ran some errands and worked on cleaning the old apartment out.  We still had a few boxes that needed to be removed and we needed to clean the old place.  So I spent a few hours cleaning the place and getting it spic and span for the landlord so we can get our security deposit back.

After spending what felt like forever cleaning the old apartment, I was able to run out and finish getting the rest of Justin's Christmas gifts and get some supplies for a gift exchange project.  I would have to say it turned out pretty cute, what do you think?

  

This is what I spent the majority of Friday evening and Saturday morning working on.  The bag also has some handles on it, but I tucked them inside the bag for the picture so it would stand a bit better.  I am hoping to make another one pretty soon and once I do that, I will make sure to post a tutorial on how to make it.

Saturday

As I mentioned above, I spent a ton of my time on Saturday working on sewing the bag.  I am pretty excited about the bag and cannot wait to use it in the gift exchange next weekend!

Saturday evening Justin and I went to his parents house to visit with his grandparents because they are in town for Christmas and had just arrived from Georgia.  We spent a few hours eating dinner and spending time with our niece and nephew.  I managed to grab a picture of my niece because she is just the cutest thing? I just want to cuddle with her forever. 

After spending time with my in-laws, we ran out to a few different stores because I was not able to finish my errands the day before.  After arriving home what felt like super late (10:30pm) we unloaded the backs and went to bed. 

Sunday

Sunday was a pretty awesome day.  I woke up to Justin bringing me breakfast in bed.  We had scrambled eggs, vanilla yogurt with strawberries and granola and a banana.  It was super delicious.  Once we had woken up enough to get the day going, we decided it was time to decorate our tree.  As you probably remember, we got our tree a few weeks back.  Sunday was the first day we really had to get everything put together and I think it turned out nicely.  Again, the pictures are on my camera, so I will have to share pictures of the tree later.  

The rest of the day consisted of White Bean Turkey Chili, Apple Cider Caramel Cookies, and good company.  A few of my girlfriends came over to hang out and we spent the afternoon talking and painting our nails.  It was nice to be at home and not feel like I was rushing off to go do something.  I hope this week will not be as chaotic as last week and I can actively post like normal! 

Remember: Only 8 days until Christmas!

Where Did the Week Go?

Hello Everyone! I hope your week has been wonderful.  I am so sorry that I have been remiss in my posting for the last few weeks.  

As you can imagine, I have been running around like a Chicken with it's head cut off.  Last week we had plans every.single.evening and it definitely started to wear on me.  Tuesday, we had to take Frye into the vet because he has been experiencing quite a bit of discharge from his eyes (gross).  Dr. Cunningham said that he had severe conjunctivitis in both of his eyes and would need to have eye drops four times a day for week.  I can proudly say that his eyes look MUCH better now and he is just as curious as ever.

Wednesday was a bit chaotic with the Christmas Secret Santa gift exchange at lunch, then the work Christmas Party in the evening.  Our team did a Secret Santa gift exchange and planned a lunch date to go to  Bangcock Crossing.  I LOVE their food.  Justin was the one who originally introduced them to me a little while back and any opportunity we get to go there, I am always excited.  

I ordered the Chicken Pineapple fried rice! Yum yum! My Secret Santa got me two different OPI nail polishes and some lip gloss.  They are two colors I would have never picked out myself, but I absolutely love them and cannot wait to wear them this holiday season.  My work Christmas party was Wednesday evening, but I managed to forget my camera at home and do not have any pictures other than this one:

And the last exciting day of the week was Thursday! We had a Holiday potluck at work and I guess every year they do a little comedy show and it was rather funny.  It was so great to spend time with my co-workers and enjoy a bunch of delicious homemade food.

Thursday ended with a Silpada Jewelry and Vault Jeans party with Danielle at her bosses house.  It was great to try on the beautiful jewelry and jeans.  AND I got to meet her co-workers and finally be able to put faces with names.

Vault Denim

Silpada Jewelry

I am thinking about hosting a Vault Denim/Silpada party with Danielle next month, but it will have to depend on timing and money.  We shall see!

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite "party" brand? 

I have always loved Mary Kay and Stella and Dot

Goodbye Until July

Hello Everyone! This week has been extremely busy and I feel like I am still playing catch up for the past week.  Due to the absolute chaos of the week, I have not been to the gym and I feel gross.  I cannot wait to go on Saturday and hit my Zumba class!

Monday night, Justin and I took our friend out to dinner to see him before he leaves at the end of the month to go on a five month long mission trip to Asia (he cannot say which country because of safety issues).  When asked why he chose five months, he explained that he felt that a month was not long enough, but that six months would be too long.  He wanted to pick a time frame that would be long enough that he could not start counting down the days as soon as he arrived.  So five months it was.

  While at dinner, I received a phone call from Reggie and he decided that he wanted to meet us up for coffee, so we headed to Downtown Rochester to grab coffee (or hot cocoa) and walk around downtown to see the pretty lights.

We didn't end up staying too long because it's getting rather cold around here.  If only we would get some snow to make the cold a bit more bearable.  Though I think it's supposed to rain this weekend.  I told you Mother Nature is a bit wacky here in Michigan.  

It was great to catch up with the guys and to get one last chance to see Brian before he heads off on this wonderful adventure! I am so excited for him.  

Question of the Day:

Have you gone on a mission trip?

I did back in 2005, to Mexico, it was seriously life changing