CHRISTmas....

So this year - being our first Christmas being married, I wanted Ross and I to buy each other's stockings -Something that reminded us of each other. I really didn't think Ross was really all that into it but he called me about an hour later and said that he already ordered mine. So I had to go searching for what reminded me of him. I looked through TONS of stockings. Hockey ones, Russian ones, Big Green Tractor ones, Jack Johnson ones, Big, small, short, long. You name it. But I finally found the right one and he surprisingly loved it. It was from this etsy seller.

His is burlap - Eco-friendly. :)

I loved mine. Of course -Vera Bradley. Who wouldn't. My sweetie knows me very well. :)

We also got our personalized Christmas ornament. We really want to make this a tradition every year. Something that symbolizes the "big" thing that happened in that year. So obviously, this year was us getting married. I thought it was adorable. A pain to pick out, but totally cute.

(it's kind of a dark picture, but it's a bride and groom in a car-looking at them from the back)

I also wanted to blog about this holiday -What it means, how we should celebrate and what we should remember on Christmas day and all through the Holiday Season. I don't do blogs about my feelings usually - because to be honest I don't like thinking about my feelings. They confuse me at times, so I just choose not to talk about them. But I felt like this was an appropriate time to tell all the people out there (or my sisters, my mother in law and any other random people that read this) how I feel during the holidays. I feel a HUGE amount of gratitude. Gratitude for my family and friends. For the experiences that I've been through - Bad and good. For the blessings that I have received and for the freedom that we all should cherish. I think about all that comes along with this time of year - Cold weather, which always makes me think of warm homes - Family, which always helps me get passed how wacko mine can be and really understand and appreciate everyone of them - thinking about the past year, all the hard times that I've been strong enough to get through and all the good times that I've been blessed with. AND most of all. Jesus Christ. I wish I thought about him more and that's why I wanted to do this post. To show my appreciation to him for his life and for the sacrifice that he made for all of us. So that we can have family, friends, love and happiness. And also so that we can live with him again. He helps me get through my hard times and he helps me enjoy my good times even more. So let's all try to think about him and his life - and try to not think about our own as much this year. Think of others and always remember what he gave so that we could have what we love.

Merry Christmas Everyone! (or happy holidays to my Non-Christian readers)

Cathy (& Ross)

The Tree of Life....

I wanted to post about my birthday and our Christmas decorations, like I promised. I had such a great birthday. My husband completely spoiled me all day and then made all the food for the birthday party. His family drove 3 hours and my family drove 2 to spend the evening eating, talking, and celebrating my birth. It was very special to me and I appreciate everyone that came. We all had a lot of fun.

Here's the Coccadots cake - SOOO good :)

Here's all the food -

I was completely spoiled.

Here's the loot -

My sister Michelle got me a sewing machine! I am very excited about it actually. I haven't had the time to actually set it up yet but after the holidays I have a few ideas of what I can do with it : )

My sister Caroline got me a sewing kit, with

thread, pins, needles, and a pin cushion in a REALLY cute carrier.

My in laws got me the Micheal Buble Christmas album along with a scrap booking idea book. Which was awesome because I wanted to start a wedding scrapbook soon. They also brought done a Christmas ornament that Dave (my father in law) had as a child. We love it.

My parents and little sister got me a nice yankee candle and some M&M's - Coconut flavor (my favorite)

My co-worker Andy gave me card with a Subway gift card. He's know's me very well :)

And my amazing hubby surprised me with this.

Totally surprised! And he got all the "fixings" for living room shelves that he's going to make. (Blog later)

Here's our tree and a few other decorations. I wanted to keep things simple so we decorated with blue, white, and silver. (We didn't get a lot of pictures)

From this -

To this -

We also added a little Christmas cheer to our "tree of life" as my Dad would call it.

Hope everyone is loving the cold and the crazy drivers!

Happy Sunday.

Cathy

Greek Keys....

I wanted to share a picture of our new Dining Room rug :)

I'm kinda obsessed with this pattern!!! Someone stop me....I already want a pillow for my couch and trim on our curtains. This might be ugly. But I'm in love.

I also wanted to give you a sneak peak of our very subtle Christmas decorations.

We actually bought the tree yesterday but because (apparently) Ross doesn't do that without hot chocolate and eggnog, we didn't decorate it until today. So we'll have that posted later along with other decorating that we did.

*Ross has been busy getting ready for my birthday party tomorrow. I'm actually pretty excited. I don't know if it's because a big portion of my family and all of Ross' family will there, I'll be 21, or that Ross ordered a Coccadott's cake! So many things to look forward to.


*My brother Brian came down for some training this week and stayed with us. It was alot of fun. But now he knows how busy and boring Ross and I are :P. We had Caroline and the boys over for dinner the other day so we all could hang out. The boys and I made Sugar Cookies. They loved it. A little too much :)

Side Note: The "Lunch Box" worked perfectly. Actually we've been continually doing it and we've saved so much money by not going out! We're geniuses.

Lastly, I wanted to do a special post before Christmas about the true meaning of this holiday and what it means to Ross and I. It's easy to forget what this season is about when you're busy with finals and buying gifts, eating and decorating. So I wanted to take some time to remember just that. So look forward to a post about that as well. Now that school will be out for a month maybe I'll get around to posting pretty regularly (?!)

P.s. It's Decemeber, NY, 20 degrees outside....... AND still no snow. What the crap?

Hope you're having a wonderful holiday season!

Cathy

Roasting Chestnuts

Don’t you love recaps?

Our last two weeks….. in a chestnut. A roasting chestnut….

*I started my new job this past Monday. So far, I really like it. I haven’t been doing much yet - probably because I’m completely incompetent but my sister Michelle has been a big help and everyone has seemed to be very patient with me so far.

*Ross and I went to this FBI seminar at Ualbany. It was exciting to listen to agents and what they do everyday and how they’ve gotten to be who they are. It made me a little more knowledgeable of what Ross wants to do and just a little more scared of how our life will turn out. But it’s something that he really wants. As for now we just need to work on making him stand out more from other applicants. Which in my opinion isn’t hard but as for the FBI he might need something.

*Karin came down last weekend because Caroline had to get her wisdom teeth taken out. I drove her there and brought her home and then Karin, surprising, did a very good job at making sure she was eating and kept up on when she took certain medications. It definitely gave me more faith in her abilities to live on her own. : ) She even refrained from taking naps! Pure amazement.

*We got to go to my coworker, Leigh’s wedding last night, which was incredible. She looked beautiful, her husband looked like he thought the same way and they both looked so happy. The night was filled with a very Catholic ceremony (which was something we don’t see often), seeing one of my old Accounting teachers, aaaaamazing food and Ross even asking me to dance. It was a great night. We actually left early because we were so tired. But it was beautiful and we wish them all the happiness in the world.

*And of course school work, followed by a side of tests and another side of quizzes. Aaaaand to top it off – the dessert…some lovely essays. You got to love school, right?! We are very excited to have a break for Thanksgiving. Then finals and then winter break! I can almost smell it. It smells like victory. At least, until next semester.

We've been getting ready for the holidays to start. Next week we’ll be going to my sister Caroline’s who will be doing dinner for the family. We’re bringing butternut squash soup and a maple cheesecake. I'll post how they turn out.

Some design fun –

I made a cute little wreath that I found here.

I totally stole her color scheme but I loved it WAY too much.

It was so cheap and it took like no time at all. It was a really nice addition.

Here's a how to:

You'll need:

1 Ball of Yarn

1 Straw Wreath

Felt

Burlap

Scissors

Hot Glue Gun

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wrap all the yarn around the wreath

Cut the felt so that it's wavy on the sides

Then cut the felt around so that it's in a strip and there's a circle in the middle

Then wrap the felt up starting with the small end and create flowers. Hot glue the circle at the end to the bottom of the flower. And then position the flowers on the wreath and glue.

Cut Burlap into leaves and something to hold up the wreath.

SOOO easy and cheap. And it turned out so cute. :)

Another awesome thing we did today..... a lunch "box"

Ross and I (with our busy schedules) find it hard to eat. Yea, that sounds weird.... but seriously. We never pack lunches and we eat out WAY too much.

Solution: The lunch box.

A ton of lunch foods that we can easily grab before we leave for work or class. We'll see how this goes. It could be gone by tomorrow. Thanks to Ross, not me. :)

Well that's it for now. We're watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off and I'm going to catch up on my magazine reading.

Have an amazing weekend and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Cathy

Promotion...

Yes, that's right. I got a promotion. I did an awful job at my interview and they still decided to hire me. So as of next week I will no longer be a Dean's Assistant. I will be an IDS. An Instructional Development Specialist. Once I know what it is I'll let you know too. :) JK

Just a little recap of our life for the last little bit -

We went up North again, this time for my Dad's 55th Birthday which was on Halloween. It was alot of fun and most of my siblings were there so it was great to catch up with them. We also got to all iphone call (I don't know the terminology) my brother Alex while we were eating dinner. It's where you make a phone call and you can see eachother too. It's very "Back to the Future" like. But he just left for basic training so it was good to "see" him one last time before he left.

I feel like Ross and I are studying for test after test. I sometimes wonder what it will feel like when we're all done. Maybe we'll miss it. But as of right now, it sucks.

I few fun things though.....

*I found some really cute bird houses in the dollar bin at Michaels.

Check out how cute they are -

The yellow one was actually a grellow color so I painted it but I thought they were a cute touch.

*Also my sister Caroline and her two boys came over for dinner tonight. She brought sweet and sour meatballs - which were yummy and I made these babies for dessert -

Cherry Cookies - They were so easy and completely to die for. Leave a comment if you ever want recipes for stuff I make. (Which is almost nothing.... take out anyone?)

After a huge contemplation I finally figured out what I want for my birthday. See here.

I've been wanting to take a cake decorating class, but because of school haven't had the time. BUT in between semesters they have a 4 week course. SO I'm so there, with my sisters. :) I'm actually very excited about it.

Does anyone have any cute Thanksgiving craft ideas?! Maybe a cute holiday wreath..... like this. I need to spice up this place. If you do, please share :)

Have a great weekend!

Cathy

P.S. I just wanted to add that as I write this post, I can hear my husband snoring in the other room. He works really hard and I don't think I ever give him enough credit. I really do love him. He makes me feel better than I've ever felt.

(Yet the little kid inside of me wants to go jump on him) BUT I won't....... it sucks to grow up sometimes.

I love you bunches babe!

I'm a liar....

So I'm the biggest liar ever! We've been so swamped lately. Yet again. Does anyone know when this madness will end? We've been trying to get some things organized, while working and going to school so you can only imagine how crazy it's been. Well I have a few things to share.

1. Pictures of our new car (2 weeks later...sorry)

This is our beautiful new Honda Civic Hybrid. I think Ross might have fallen in love again, and it wasn't with me.

2. A sneak peak of our dining room :) We love it!

We have a few other things to add and then I'll share the whole room. The red was a little brighter than I was looking for but it's growing on me. :)

3. A few things that my Mom and I did while she was in town.

We had so much fun with her last weekend. She said that she's never heard someone ask her if she was hungry as much as us. :)

We had Caroline and the boys over for dinner on Sunday too.

Butternut Squash Soup (Sooooo delicious) and some pasta with baked cherry tomatoes.

Raspberry Tarts (I ate almost this whole plate)

We went to this one place in Latham called Bumble Beads. You can just go and buy as many beads as you want and just sit there and make whatever kind of jewelry you want. I made these earrings and my mom made a pair of earrings and a necklace. It was alot of fun and I'm definitely going to go back. We also got to go visit a vintage shop that I've been meaning to check out. Everything was so old and amazing but we left empty handed. Maybe next time.

Seeing that we still have a TON of apples I tried another pie. This one was alot better. I think I added a little more sugar to the crust - either way it was scrumptious.

She had a great time and we can't wait to have her again. :)

There's a few more projects we're going to be starting up soon. We're doing some shelving in the living room for some pictures and then we're going to try (emphasis on the try) to make a rug for the dining room. Wish us luck :)

Hope you're enjoying this great time of year.

Cathy

Fall is Here....

I can't even begin to describe how busy we have been lately. Between school and work we both have been so swamped. But I wanted to post a little update of our lives.

(The Adirondacks in the Fall - you couldn't even imagine the colors that we saw, it was stunning.)

A few things that we've been doing.

We......

1. Bought a new car - there will be pictures and a post about it tomorrow. : ) Jack Johnson would be proud.

2. Went apple picking (at a very bare apple orchard, I might add) made my first homemade apple pie, and apple crisp - now I have so many apples I don't even know what to do with them - Any suggestions??

3. Got to watch all 4 sessions of General Conference. It was so amazing and I always feel refreshed after such a spiritual experience.

4.Visited some of my family this past weekend. You will never experience a Fall like the North Country. We got to go out with a married couple.... FINALLY, right?! Also it's funny how all you wanted growing up, was your parents to stop talking but now you could just sit and listen to them all night and marvel at their stories.

And that's really about it...... I know, we have no lives. But I don't see you asking us to hang out!

Things coming up....

1. We have a few reveals coming up in the near future. :)

2. My Mom is coming to visit for the weekend, which I am SO excited about!!! (I hope the picture over the guest bed doesn't freak her out too much : )

Hope you're having a great October!

Cathy

Кухня по Скейнкому

So when asked to come up with a recipe for the blog my mind started swimming with ideas. Should I do a soup? Should I do a sandwich? Should it be breakfast, lunch or dinner? Well I thought and thought and decided to use one of my favorite open face sandwich recipes.

To be honest this was a little tough for me since I rarely use a recipe myself. I usually just throw in a little of this and a little of that but for the most part it always works out and tastes good. So this time was a little different in that I actually had to pay attention and measure out what I was putting in this concoction.

I find the biggest key to cooking and making things work is not your skill level, or the freshness of the ingredients but rather the music you are playing while you are in the kitchen. So for example I’m not going to listen to Metallica while making Борщ (Borsch) or Mozart while making Tacos.

Side note though, Jack Johnson is good for any type of cooking. Try to listen to something that makes you relax and enjoy the art of creating a culinary masterpiece. :)

Total cook time: 30-45 min.

Ingredients:

Rolls/French Bread

Chicken Breast (one breast makes about 2 sandwichs)

Cheese (Provolone or Swiss) 1 ½ slices per sandwich

1 Jar Roasted Red Peppers

1 Tbs. Pesto for every 3 Tbs. Mayo

How to done do this here sandwich: :)

Preheat oven to 375

Spray cookie sheet with Pam. Place chicken on sheet and bake for 20-30 min or until done.

Toast rolls/bread.

Slice the chicken into thin slices when it is cooked. Take 3 strips and place roasted red peppers on top.

Then place 1 ½ slices of cheese on that.

Broil this until cheese is fully melted.

In a small bowl mix 1 Tbs. Pesto for every 3 Tbs. Mayo.

Assembly: Put a generous amount of pesto mayo on the top half of the toasted bread. Then using a spatula place the chicken on the bottom half.

Aaaaaand you're done.

Приятного аппетита!

I hope you enjoy :)

P.s. Cathy made some Strawberry Jelly yesterday. And wanted me to share a picture.

Ross

Aunt Jamima

I wanted to show off our amazing basil plant. We had these as our favors for the wedding. We spray painted them, did the tags and ribbon, put soil in them and planted the basil (thanks Rinn!) It actually wasn't that hard, and we didn't have that many but we loved them! We kept one for ourselves and it's grown great. :)

I just wanted to start off the blog with this to lead into our next project. Hopefully we'll be using the basil!

I really wanted to include Ross in some of these blogs, so randomly he's just going to make something special and different, post the pictures and the recipe to share. He liked this idea because he loves to cook and make the food look all fancy, so he's exited and that makes me excited.

I think the first one will be this weekend sometime. Hope you enjoy!

Have a great night!!

Cathy