Update: Finding a Home

Checking blogger for the first time in a while tonight. I have missed the blogging world, and promise to return soon.

We are in the process of searching for our very first home, leaving very little time for new posts.
The good news is ... I believe we've found our future home!!
More to come once the craziness is over with.

Update

Dear Life,
You can seriously slow down a little!
Sincerely,
Courtney


Wow, I can't believe it's been an entire month since my last post! Time just got away from me in February. I also don't spend nearly as much time in front of the computer as I used to, and if I do... it's usually to pay bills or check e-mail. I promise there will be more posts in March though!

One good thing- we are officially moved out of Pittsburgh! And, I didn't have to lift a finger. I have a wonderful husband and father who took a few days last week to drive up, pack, load everything, and drive back down.
I am so grateful for them and all of the wonderful things happening in our lives right now!

Will update again soon!

Calhoun

I haven't really felt like blogging much this week, so instead I thought I would share with you a picture of our adorable, 4-year old Siberian Husky. For now, he's our baby.

Blue Steel

He might have been the only one in the family who enjoyed the snow/ice storm this week. He lives for this kind of weather; in fact, he just lays down and refuses to go back inside after a walk.

16 Days until Christmas!

I was definitlely ready to get into the Christmas spirit this year! I had everything decorated the day after Thanksgiving! I even had presents wrapped (not shown here) the weekend before. I'm not usually that ahead of schedule but we bought all of our gifts in Hawaii this year.

Here's our homely Christmas tree. Next year we are definitely getting a new one. Every year when I get this out, I love how simple it is to put up but I always forget how Charlie Brown it looks. Since we're not staying here for Christmas, and no one really comes over to visit... we decided one more year won't hurt.

Checkout this Countdown to Christmas Clock!

My Hawaiian Christmas Ornaments

While in Hawaii I bought a lot of souvenirs including: playing cards, a magnet, postcards and a 2011 calendar to adorn my cubicle at work. I couldn't help it! I've always been in love with all things Hawaii without ever having gone. My room in college was decorated Hawaiian with a Pottery Barn quilt to boot.

So when I saw these Christmas ornaments on sale at Macy's in Lihue, I  couldn't resist!



I love my Island Santa



In  2007 we began collecting an ornament for the tree to represent each year we've been together. I 'm so excited about our 2010 ornament below!











gotta have a surfboard ornament





Flip Flops or "Slippers" in Hawaii



Mele Kalikimaka!  

(Merry Christmas in Hawaiian)

Are there any special Christmas ornaments you have hanging on your tree this year?

Our Thanksgiving

My husband and I love Thanksgiving. For some odd reason we love spending all day in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove. Strange, isn't it?
It's kind of become our favorite holiday other than Christmas, of course. It began in 2007, when I moved out to Arizona to live with him. It was our first real meal together and it was my first big attempt at replicating all of the amazing recipes the southern women in my family have concocted over the years. Guess what? It was a total success. I don't know if it was because the expectations were low, but everything tasted amazing that year! So we had to keep it up in 2008. Well, not only did we cook an amazing meal together on Thanksgiving, he proposed the next day.  In 2009 we took over my family's kitchen in Charlotte, and this year we spent it in our own in PA cooking for my husband's family. We love spending this time together, cooking the foods we love for the people we love. And more importantly, giving thanks for all of the wonderful blessings in our life.

So I wanted to share a few pics from our little Turkey Day feast...

I started out the night before baking the pecan pies. So bad for you but yet, so yummy!!




my little pecan pie montage



I also baked my sweet potatoes since it doesn't hurt those to sit out overnight. Timing is everything when cooking, so if you can prep the night before, go for it!

ignore the dirty oven

Onto the Big Turkey Day...


Mixing together all of the goodness that goes inside the sweet potato casserole.

the finished product was my favorite dish

Believe it or not, no pictures of the turkey this year but here's some of our side dishes...

broccoli & cheese casserole, with ritz cracker topping

my husband's cheesy baked mashed potatoes

We also had brown rice, green beans, stuffing, jellied cranberries and rolls.  

Now I'm ready for Christmas!! Bring it on!

My Birthday

While the Wedding Dress blog has been written, I'm still waiting on photos from the photography company to get here so that I can scan them in to complete the blog. In the meantime, I thought I would share some pics from my birthday this past week.

He brought me some flowers

He cooked me dinner, stuffed crab tilapia and baked potato.. .yum!!

(Don't judge the amount of sour cream on my bp, it's my bday)

The Best Part: I got my first wife card!!

He also picked up this delicious DQ Ice Cream cake. He told me the girl was having some trouble writing on the cake and spelling my name. When I pulled off the lid, I was like "Oh, my gosh!! They spelled Birthday wrong!" My hubs was disappointed and said he was so worried about them spelling my name right, he didn't think he needed to check out the word "birthday." Haha! I love my "brithday" cake though.