Holiday Adventures: Cookie Day 2012

Dual Kitchen Aid Mixers

This year, my mom and I decided to designate an entire day to making holiday treats. For one full Saturday (and part of Sunday,) we embarked on our cookie making day, and made the following tasty treats....

Dad is the king of peanut butter balls

Isn't my dad the cutest? 

Peanut Butter Balls

Wagon Wheel/Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Holiday Pretzel Treats



Special K Bars


What is your favorite holiday treat? Share your favorite recipes in the comments boxes below! We would love to add more treats and make it a full baking weekend!

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day 1/2012

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me.... 

... A brand new dining set! 

Okay. He didn't buy it for me. We bought it for us. 

After doing some online research, I found a few dining sets that I liked (and could afford.) I then cross-searched the maker/designers of the sets I liked, and low and behold, we made our way to a furniture store not too far from home. 

I knew what I wanted, er, we knew what we wanted the minute  I we saw it. The store set up one specific table set, with another set of chairs, and we loved it. Nearly having a panic attack about whether or not I had researched it properly, we purchased the set immediately (thank you, no-sales-tax sale!) 

Today, my fabulous husband worked from home so the nice furniture dudes could deliver my new set. Isn't it purdy? It's the Homelegance Hawn style dining table, bench, and side server, and the Crown Point style chairs. 

 

  

And, yes, I will post photos of my own... once I clean my kitchen/dining room area. 

These photos will be replaced, soon. 

Or you could totally come over and see it! :) 

Adventures in Gratitude: Turkey-Lent III

Today is November 1, 2012. Where has the year gone?! This year has been one of great change; and with change comes many, many things to be thankful for.

Photo Credit

Every year I blog about what I like to call Turkey-Lent.
Yes. I made it up.
Much how Christians show penance before Easter through Lent, I have decided to show my gratitude for all of the wonderful things that have surrounded me just before Thanksgiving. Each November, I show my appreciation for all of the things I have by giving up (or greatly reducing my use and/or consumption of) something I love. I believe in gratitude. I believe that we, as both individuals and as a society, should be thankful for all of the wonderful bounty that surrounds us. Food to nourish us. Shelter to protect us. Friends and family to care for us. Because of this, I always appreciate Thanksgiving. But I don't think it is enough. I don't think there should only be one day a year when we decide it is okay to tell everyone what we are thankful for. We should be doing it every day, as often as we can.

Unable to think of anything to give up that I hadn't already tried (or not concentrating that hard!) the last few years I decided to show my gratitude through various acts of appreciation. I used Facebook and twitter to show the world what I was thankful for, in hopes that other people will be inspired to share their own gratefulness. My goal was to use my status update and/or Twitter update to share at least one thing I was thankful for. My goal was to do it once a day, from November 1 - Thanksgiving.

This year I have decided to continue with my goal of public displays of appreciation, as it has indeed become a KWP tradition!

This year I decided I needed to get back to my Turkey-Lent roots, and truly give something up. I am blessed for all of the fabulous people, places and opportunities that surround me. I feel like the least I could do would be to give up something I really don't need. But I am horrible at this cold-turkey-lent stuff, so I decided to give myself some wiggle room. This year I promise to show my appreciation by cooking more and eating out less as evidenced by spending more time in the kitchen with my fabulous husband making delicious home-cooked meals in our beautiful kitchen. Also by partaking in dessert far less than I do today. Let's be real. I love me some dessert, and as blessed as I am to be able to afford such luxuries, I should not partake as often as I do. I am hoping this will not only make me healthier, but also more appreciative of the decadence of desserts.

So, I ask you my dear blog friends... what are you thankful for?

Random Thoughts of Appreciation 2012

1. Today I am thankful to to live a life of financial stability, so much so that I can regularly enjoy a fabulous evening out with my husband; eating a delicious meal with the man I love so much.  ♥ 
2. Today I am thankful for two big things. First and foremost, I am thankful for a job. I know that finding a teaching job in this economy would be challenging, if not impossible. I was very fortunate to be hired at a school that allows me to do all of the things I have ever dreamed of doing, to work with people that I enjoy, doing something that I absolutely love. ♥ Also, I am thankful to have a remarkably fabulous co-worker (who is one of the bestest co-workers I have had the pleasure of working with) who help me set up a brand new turtle-tank, after the last one sprang a leak right after lunch! 
3. Today I am thankful for calm weekends when I don't have to get up with an alarm. It makes me happy to allow my body the rest and relaxation it deserves! :)  Oh, yeah and I am thankful for Costco's chicken pot pie. Yum. 
4.  
5. 
   
6. 
   
7. 
   
8. 
   
9. 
   
10. 
    
11. 
    
12.  
13. 
    
14.  
15.  
16.  
17. 
    
18.  
19.  
20.  
21.  
22.  
23.  
24. 
    

Adventures in Gratitude: Turkey-Lent II

Last year I blogged about what I like to call Turkey-Lent. Much how Christians show penance before Easter through Lent, I have decided to show my own penance of gratitude for all of the wonderful things that have surrounded me. Each November, I show my appreciation for all of the things I have by giving up (or greatly reduced my use and/or consumption of) something I love. I believe in gratitude. I believe that we, as both individuals and as a society, should be thankful for all of the wonderful bounty that surrounds us. Food to nourish us. Shelter to protect us. Friends and family to care for us. Because of this, I always appreciate Thanksgiving. But I don't think it is enough. I don't think there should only be one day a year when we decide it is okay to tell everyone what we are thankful for. We should be doing it every day, as often as we can.

Unable to think of anything to give-up that I hadn't already tried (or not concentrating that hard!) last year I decided to show my gratitude through random acts of appreciation. I used Facebook and twitter to show the world what I was thankful for, in hopes that other people will be inspired to share their own gratefulness. My goal was to use my status update and/or twitter update to share at least one thing I was thankful for. My goal was to do it once a day, from November 1 - Thanksgiving.

This year I have decided to continue with my goal of public displays of appreciation, nay make it a tradition!

I would like to go one step further and continually update this blog with each day's appreciation.

But doing the same thing I did last year just doesn't seem like enough. Therefore I will also add personal notes of appreciation -- a minimum of one per week. I hope to do this through written communication (old school snail-mail letters rock, but email will suffice in a pinch!) because I always like going back to read things where people wrote me a little note of appreciation. Also, in an effort to go above and beyond, I hope to perform one act of random kindness to a stranger, per week.

Random Thoughts of Appreciation 2011

1. Today I am thankful for the smell of freshly baked cookies. Having a loving husband to help me to bake them makes them smell that much better. ♥ 
2. Today I am thankful for kitties. Purring, loving, hissing, kitties. ♥ 
3. Today I am thankful for my husband. Happy Two Month-a-Versary, Aaron Plattner. ♥ 
4. Today I am thankful for my bestest friends with whom I love to share laughter and good times. ♥ 
5. Today I am thankful for Saturdays. ♥ 
6. Today I am thankful for getting to "fall back" to an extra hour of sleep AND for Sunday afternoon naps. ♥ 
7. Today I am thankful for NOT sneezing or having a headache. ♥ 
8. Today I am thankful for everything and nothing all at once. ♥
9. Today I am thankful for anticipation. I am so lucky to have many wonderful things to look forward to. (And yes, I am including the pending three day weekend!) ♥ 
10. Today I am thankful for my best girlfriends and our girl trips to TAHOE! ♥
11. Today I am thankful for everyone who has served our country. ♥
12. Today I am thankful to be surrounded by beauty. ♥ 
13. Today I am thankful for a quiet night at home with my hubby (before the storm that is Parent/Teacher Conferences!) ♥
14.  Today I am thankful people who listen, or read, to my little rants and raves -- Such as with my blog --today I have had 2,000 blog page views.  :) Love the fact that 20% of those views are from outside of the United States. ♥
15.  Today I am thankful for days that I come home from work feeling both happy and appreciated. Happy -- that I have positively affected the lives of children. Appreciated -- by the children and their parents. Finished 11 of 30 conferences today, and it was one of the happiest, most successful days of the school year! ♥
16.  Today I am thankful for making students cry. Today one of my parents cried in happiness... of course that made me cry, and then it made my student cry... but they were tears of happiness, so it was all good.  ♥
17.  Today I am thankful for the internet. And for Peet's coffee at Raley's. And for Round Table Pizza's Wombo Combo. And, of course, Diet Pepsi! ♥ 
18.  
19.  
20.  
21.  
22.  
23.  
24. 
    

Holiday Adventures: Christmas Tree 2010

The perfect Christmas tree? All Christmas trees are perfect! -- Charles N. Barnard 

For the first time, while living in my cute little house, I got a real Christmas tree. Aaron and I searched for a tree but were terribly disappointed at the ridiculously overpriced costs of a real tree at the first lot we arrived at. We decided to keep looking. And we did. At one more lot. There, we found the perfect tree at a very reasonable price, the only problem was getting it home. The very nice man at the tree lot stuffed the tree into the Prius like it was nothing. I snuggled up next to the tree in the back seat, and Aaron brought us both home safely. The tree was both beautiful and huge. 

Where is Aaron?

Decorating the tree in stages, we first put on brand new bright LED lights.

Albert looks suspiciously at the new LED lights on the tree. 

It wasn't until later (much later) that Aaron's mom, Kathy, helped me put the finishing touches on the tree. Doesn't it look beautiful? I have to admit, I was without a tree-topper. At one time I had a lovely Tinkerbell tree topper, but this year, we made do with something I found lying around the house. A penguin! I am in love.

My lovely tree...
with my happy penguin watching over us. 

Kathy helping me decorate the tree
(or rather pose for a photo looking like we were decorating the tree
because by the time I remembered to take pictures, we were done.)

Here are a few little pictures of some of this year's newest additions:

A happy little nutcracker ornament
gifted to the tree by Aaron's mom, Kathy Grove.
This little guy is one in a small collection hidden throughout the tree.  

Mom and I bought these adorable mickey shaped
ball ornaments on our last trip to Disneyland. 

This beautiful snowflake is made of walnut wood,
compliments of Aaron's mom, Kathy Grove. 

I bought this when Aaron and I went to Disneyland last month...
he is buying her presents. I like that. 

This beautiful Mickey ball opens up to hold any kind of special surprise.
I love how the light flickers off the glitter. 

Holiday Adventures: Hanukkah 2010

This year, as an homage to Aaron's family, I decided that we should celebrate Hanukkah. (Okay, I won't lie... I also liked the idea of eight nights of presents.)

Every night we lit the candles of the menorah, enjoying the beautiful flickers of light they provided.

This year our celebration culminated with a festive Latke Party on the final night of Hanukkah. The house was filled with the smell of fresh latkes frying on the stove (and super-tasty wings from Wing Stop compliments of Martin and Ashlie Freeberg!) Having never had latkes, I did not know what to expect, but they were delicious!

Mmmm, fresh latkes frying up for me! 

Sizzlin'! 

A fresh, hot latke, complete with both sour cream and applesauce. 

Aaron did a wonderful job of frying and serving our dinner as we watched videos of Hanukkah songs on YouTube.

Our Hanukkah guests, Ashlie and Martin Freeberg! 

Adventures in Gratitude: Turkey-Lent

I believe in gratitude. I believe that we, as both individuals and as a society, should be thankful for all of the wonderful bounty that surrounds us. Food to nourish us. Shelter to protect us. Friends and family to care for us. Because of this, I always appreciate Thanksgiving. But I don't think it is enough. I don't think there should only be one day a year when we decide it is okay to tell everyone what we are thankful for. We should be doing it every day, as often as we can. 

Several years ago, I decided to do my own little thing I call Turkey-Lent. Much how Christians show penance before Easter through Lent, I have decided to show my own penance of gratitude for all of the wonderful things that have surrounded me. Each November, I show my appreciation for all of the things I have by giving up (or greatly reduced my use and/or consumption of) something I love. 

In past years, I have given up fast food to better appreciate a home-cooked meal. I have restricted my TV time, to better appreciate books, newspapers and wonderful company. I have restricted by dessert intake (I tried to give-up sweets cold-turkey but that was just cruel to all of those around me!)  to show my appreciation for the fact that I can afford such luxuries. 

Now, as Turkey-Lent time has arrived sooner than anticipated, I am left without a penance. There are so many things I am thankful for. I just don't know how I could possibly go about showing my appreciation for so many things. So, I thought I would ask for some suggestions. (Seriously, got any ideas?) 

For now, rather than give something up, I am going to be even more appreciative. I am going to use Facebook and twitter to show the world what I am thankful for, in hopes that other people will be inspired to share their own gratefulness. My goal is to use my status update and/or twitter update to share at least one think I am thankful for. I hope to do this every day, from now until Thanksgiving. 

Anyone want to join me? 

Holiday Adventures: Halloween 2010

"I totally know what you and Aaron should be for Halloween," Kristin excitedly cooed over the phone. "You two should totally be Mario and Luigi!"

Backstory: Alright, so we play a lot of video games. It started with Aaron's overwhelming need to beat MarioKart Wii. Once we beat that, we moved on to the New Super Mario Bros. (which we have still yet to complete due to the difficulty of the last few levels in the bonus Rainbow World.) We attempted to go back and finish Super Mario Galaxy, which we had rented and never finished, but we didn't want to pay the same price for a lame ol' game when we could get Super Mario Galaxy 2 for the same price. Plus we even found it on sale! I know!  This leads us to Kristin's phone call, before which Aaron and I are sitting on the couch, playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 going back into older levels trying to collect all the coins so we can advance in the bonus round.

"Kristin thinks we should be Mario and Luigi for Halloween," I reported to Aaron. (He smiled and nodded.) "But I get to be Mario, because I am the shorter, chubbier one." ♥

Aaron makes the button-holes
on the straps of our overalls. 

There were a lot of costumes available for purchase, especially online. And a lot of people did a really good job putting together DIY Halloween costumes. I have fond memories of my mom and I making many of the costumes my siblings and I have worn in the past, so I decided to make our Halloween costumes. My mom graciously allowed me to borrow her brand new sewing machine, and she even went to several fabric stores to help me find just the right fabric. I used a clown pattern, with a few DIY adjustments, to make the overalls. The first weekend I tackled Mario's overalls. The biggest problem was the width of the pants, I ended up taking them in by about two inches... twice! Aaron used his nerd problem-solving skills to figure out how to use the button-hole maker on the sewing machine. He did a wonderful job making authentic button-holes that allowed us to have functional overalls!

The next challenge was making Luigi's overalls, mostly because I was about a half a yard short of the needed material. So Aaron and I trekked back to the fabric store and bought more fabric. Having already made the first set of overalls, the Luigi overalls were a lot less stressful, and went pretty quickly. Having purchased the red and green shirts online, and the white gloves from a costume store, the only remaining challenge was to make the hats. I had no pattern, so our hats are completely DIY. I got out one of my many pageboy caps to use as a guide for the bill and the overall look. I was able to shape the front of the hat using white felt, surrounding it with the red and green fabric. I made the Mario hat first, and kind of messed up. I made the Luigi hat, which looks awesome and went back to the Mario hat, which turned out okay. All in all, I am very proud of the costumes.

We were a big hit everywhere we went! We got a lot of wonderful comments from adults and kids alike. I absolutely loved how the itty-bitty kids thought were were the real  Mario and Luigi. Halloween night was kind of awesome. Little kids would shout to us from across the street,
" Mario! I have your game!"  We would wave like celebrities. Aaron would say catch phrases from the game and kids would light up. We even had one family ask to take a picture with us! All of the hard work most definitely payed off. We had a wonderful Halloween!

Mario and Luigi say, "Let's-a-go!"