Dear Santa...

Daphne is so stinking cute. She has been writing letters to Santa almost everyday. She goes back and forth between asking for one if those educational "laptops" for children, a guinea pig, and leaves. The leaves are for all of her stuffed animals so they can have something to eat.

Granted, I did help her with this letter... But how cute is that? I love that her s's are backwards.

Daphne is very aware of who Santa is, when he comes, where he lives- and ESPECIALLY the requirements to getting presents from Santa. She knows that Santa is always watching her, and always strives to be good so that he'll bring her presents.

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Convo with the Hubs

During our morning commute, dropping John off at work on my way to PSU, just like every other day... when we got to talking.

Me: "We should start making yard decorations next summer, so that way they'll be ready by Christmas!"

John: "I'm not cutting ANY wood until I get an electric saw."

Me: "yeah..." followed by nervous face

John: "Honey, electric saws are SO safe. WAY safer than chainsaws at least. You'd have to be an IDIOT to cut your finger off with an electric saw. *pause* And you can quote me on that!"

Me: "Good, cause I was gonna ask if I could quote you on that."

John: "Oh come on honey, I still have ALL of my limbs. * pause* I DID almost cut my arm off though."

Best. Morning. Commute. Ever.


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O.M.G.

Today we had our inspection on the house we're buying. Everything seemed pretty alright, and expected wear and tear for a 57 year old house. The bank really wants us to close by Christmas. We were able to walk around inside the house for a couple hours- I am so freakin excited!

Thanksgiving

Everything I made for thanksgiving dinner...

















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Mexican Hot Chocolate

Do any of you have any idea how to make hot chocolate- other than opening up a packet and adding hot water? Me neither, until I saw this amazingly simple recipe on the cooking channel a few weeks back.

This is a recipe for Mexican Hot Chocolate. And for the coffee lovers out there you can simply add a shot if espresso. Then you have yourselves a Mexican Mocha!



For two servings:

Bring 2 cups of milk (non-fat for me) and 1 tbsp of brown sugar to a simmer.

Once simmering/steaming, remove from heat. And be careful not to burn your milk.

Add 4.5 ounces of chocolate. Now, I've used semi-sweet bakers chocolate, chopped up, and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Both work just fine. What did NOT work out fine was using bitter-sweet chocolate. Yuck! Don't stir it!

Add add 1 tsp vanilla, 1/8 tsp cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne.

Now don't stir it with a spoon, instead take your pot and use a circling motion to whirl everything around a bit.

Put on the lid and let it steep for 3 minutes. Don't stir it, don't leave it on the heat, just leave it there. After the 3 minutes are up you'll want to strain it into two cups. There should be a bunch of chocolate left over on the bottom.

That's it! Unless you want to add the espresso. This stuff is so dang good. Enjoy!

"the lights are on but nobody's home!"

Man oh man... Daphne's got a long way to go.

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HELP!

"Indecision may or may not be my problem" ~Jimmy Buffett

I have a BAD case of indecisive-itis. I have SO many thoughts and ideas floating around in my head and I cannot make up my mind!!! First being: I have two coupons to shutterfly.com for picture books, and I cannot decide how I want to use them! Should I start scanning pictures and make a book out of those? Should I make a book out of recent pics? Should I use them for Christmas presents??? Which brings me to #2: I want to start planning and making Christmas gifts- put I cannot make a final decision on what to make!!! And finally the weight-on-my-shoulders-#3: I CANNOT DECIDE WHAT I WANT TO MAJOR IN!!! Which coordinates with another question, what should I do AFTER I graduate? Which question do I answer first? What do I want to be/do -or- what should I major in??? I am running out of time people! And not just because I'm 27 and still in college and still trying to decide what to be when "I grow up" Because after the winter quarter I will actually need to start taking classes to satisfy a major!

Why all the anxiety??? Why can't I just make a decision!

Warning: might wanna have a strong stomach to view...

Or at least a good sense of humor

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One Step Closer

I PROMISE that the house will not have this horrible front yard after we get our hands on it.

Our house that we are buying has AWFUL curb appeal. In fact, I probably wouldn't even have walked through it- except the pictures of the inside were great, and it just kinda got slipped in there when we were looking at the other 10 houses one Saturday. There are hideous trees and bushes ALL over the front year. And positioned just so, that you can't really get a good view of the house. At all. So when we get settled in, that will be the first thing to go.

Anyway... John and I accepted the counter offer yesterday. Sign, sealed, and delivered. It's just a matter of time!

Weekend in Waitsburg

John and I decided it was about time to make the 4 hour drive to Waitsburg to visit grandpa Kyle and Mimi for the weekend. Here's the trip in pictures...

...On the drive out there...

Friday night we went out to a library {slash} brew pub for some dinner and a jam session. It was good times had by all. After that we finished the night off with a really good bottle of wine.

The next day we explored their vast property. Binoculars required.

We went shopping in Walla Walla

John got to rock out on the drums while I listened.

On Saturday night we went out to a cocktail bar. Yummy cocktails were enjoyed.

Sunday morning was spent enjoying a delicious breakfast.

And walking around in Walla Walla again.

We headed out at sunset at Sunday evening
And were very excited to find some non-chain fast food. And what a find it was: two bacon cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, soda, and kids cheeseburger for $11.50! And it was SO good!

That was about it! It was a total blast, we can't wait to see Papa and Mimi again!

Daphne Update

Every week, Daphne's teacher posts a classroom update. I love it. I love that the teachers put forth the effort to let the parents know how they are enriching the children. Daphne has learned TONS and LOVES her school and teachers.


Here, a teacher is working with the kids on mapping out where different types of owls live. The class has been talking about owls for weeks, and Daphne is now obsessed.

Daphne has been going to gymnastics for four weeks now, and she already moved up a level! Her new teacher is named Sam and he's a complete hard ass! I love it!


That will be really good for Daphne, she really thrives with structure.



Below she is swinging from a rope! In her new class the other two girls can do cart-wheels and the splits. The older girl has been coming for 5 months... So hopefully she can get their with time and practice.



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"I just want 4 walls and adobe slabs" that won't rip holes in my clothes

So I'm walking to my bathroom... When I feel my sweater rip.

"WTF?" I think to myself. Apparently, a nail sticking out of the doorway to my bedroom snagged my sweater.

What? You don't see it? How about now?

Still nothing? Hmmm... Maybe this extreme closeup will get it.

That little tiny nail, on the opposite side of the ledge, was able to grab my sweater and ripped a huge hole in it! How does that even happen? And WHO puts a nail right there? And WHO just paints over it?!?!

It's times like these that make me long for our house.

Speaking of that- here's a huge update!!! Our appraisal is done and is at the perfect price. Lower than the asking price, and higher than our offer. The sellers have been accepted to the short sale program, which is expected to be complete by February 8th. So, not sure if that means our closing date will be close to that, but things are moving along!!! Yay!

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Birthday chocolate/sugar coma... I mean cake.

As soon as I made this, I knew I had to post about it.

This is a chocolate brownie torte with peanut butter cream and chocolate frosting.


John and I both agree that birthday cake sucks. I NEVER eat cake by choice. So we opt for a more adult version of the birthday dessert on our special days.


This dessert was SO good!!! Moist, fudgey, oh so chocolatey, but incredibly sweet that a very small portion will satisfy you.









Here was John on his birthday. Daphne was so excited to help open presents.


I got John binoculars for bird watching.



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Tillamook and Oregon Coast

We decided it was about time for another Oregon coast trip, but to make it all worth while- we had to visit the Tillamook cheese factory.

Photo courtesy of Daphne! She did a great job!

So, all in all, I was disappointed with the visit. THIS was the extent of the tour. One viewing window where they cut the cheese (Pun intended...? I'm not sure.)

40 pound blocks of cheese.

There WAS cheese sampling though.

And of course fresh Tillamook ice cream, which was delicious. It was pretty refreshing to be able to get a dipped waffle bowl someplace else besides Cold Stone.

I think it was actually better than Cold Stone.

Espresso chocolate chunk and German chocolate cake ice cream. Soooooo good!

Then we drove out to the coast. It was SO beautiful and I couldn't help all the picture taking. So here are a few of them...

("omg... a double rainbow!")