Christmas time!

Well, we had a great Christmas. James and Steph were here for a good amount of time, Sunday-Thursday so we had some great hanging out time, especially for a good 4 hours or so of waiting for a tow truck and then in the car fixing place (which after all that they claimed nothing was wrong even though it started doing the same thing the next day and today). We had some good food, James and Steph made some delicious jambalya and I was mostly in charge of desserts. I made some funfetti cookies and the chocolate peppermint ice cream cake which was a hit. Nelson got me a new camera, a Cannon Elph. It is sweet. We had made the deal that we were not going to get each other big presents but then Nelson did anyway because he knew it would be such a big surprise and he loves to surprise me. It worked, I was totally surprised. I got a new case for it yesterday and a new memory card is coming in the mail (much cheaper to order those on line rather than buying them in the store). We watched lots of the Office, played some great games (the best line of that evening was during catch phrase when my brother had the work "paycheck." His clue was "what Nelson gets every two weeks but is never enough" my dad immediately blurts out "Pedicures!" The only reason Nelson knows what a pedicure is is because I get them, not because he has ever gotten one, let alone one every two weeks and that that would be not enough, like he needs to get them more often or get manicures too!! What was my dad thinking?!?! Nonetheless, it was a classic line!) We even enjoyed a sweet time at Jos. A. Banks getting James a new suit. It is a little difficult to describe the craziness that went on there but some classic quotes from that adventure include things like "Those pleats are so big you can park a car in them" and James to the tailor as he was putting the tape measure around his chest, waist, etc "you have probably hugged me more today then my father has all year!" and "would you like a cuff on both of your pant legs?" I am pretty sure that store will not be the same after we were there. All in all, Christmas was great, we had a great time, got some great presents, and really enjoyed being with the fam. Here are a few pics from it all!


a sweet Dallas Cowboys ornament


Steph is so excited about her teapot and loves it so much


James and his new watch


Go Big Bill


Really cool pic from James and Steph (it says our names, covenant college, august 6th, love, st. louis, dallas-see if you can find it all!)

Friends and Facials!

Last night we had a great night of dinner, light looking, and movie watching with some friends. Then this morning was my facial. It was unbelievable! The lady gave me a skin consultation, apparently I have some dry skin that was clogging my pores so I need to use an exfoliating wash more often. But then she did a massage, steam, masks, lots of cleansing and toning and moisturizing. And she massaged my arms and feet. It was just so relaxing I was about to fall asleep. I about to fall asleep now just thinking about it. It was totally worth it and a nice reward to finishing fieldwork! My skin feels so soft and clean now, I am afraid to put on make up or anything that might make it dirty. But I am going to get some exfoliating scrub at the store so hopefully that will help with my pores. She wanted me to buy the stuff from them but it was $25! So I said no way and I will go to Target to get a much better deal! To anyone who is contemplating getting a facial, I say go for it! you won't regret it!

last day of fieldwork!

Tomorrow is my last day of fieldwork! Today I got my final grade (I passed, don't worry) and so that means that I officially have my master's degree now. It is really weird to think about, weird that I won't be a student anymore, weird that I have a master's degree, weird that I am kinda a grown up, weird to be making money, all of it is just kinda weird. I was even thinking it will be weird to say to people when I am meeting them and you exchange hellos, find out what they do, etc and I will say "I am an occupational therapist" not "I am a student" which I have said for my whole life. that makes me sound all grown up. but I guarantee, I definitely am not!

snow and bagels!

Well it snowed about 6 inches this weekend! it is great! I love snow and I love that it stuck and looks so pretty. The roads are good now, last night they were a little treacherous. We were going to run a few errands before we had realized how much it has snowed. We headed out of our subdivision but after fishtailing a few times and seeing a car turned, facing sideways and stuck in the road, we decided the errands weren't that important and headed back home. Then I decided to make some bagels. Here they are!

We had to turn on our heater

So for the past two winters, we have managed to not turn on our heater. We always stayed warm with our little space heater and from the guy below us-we always said "Mike kept us so warm" which is weird when you first hear that, but really, he did. See, our theory is that all the heat from his apt rose up into ours and since there is a flat roof (no attic or anything) on our building the heat just stayed in our apt. So we were nice and warm. But unfortunately for us, Mike moved out this year, I think it was some lame excuse like he got a post-doc fellowship for his biomedical engineering at Stanford, I mean come on, what is more important- that or keeping us warm? Anyway-he moved out and now there is no one under us. So no more hot air to rise up. After a few miserable weeks and three blown fuzes (we bought another space heater to try to keep things warm but instead it just blew the circuit all the time) we thought, we should just suck it up, turn on the heater, and pay our gas bill. Although to put it in perspective of how inefficient our furnace is, our heating bill is about the same as my parents, only my parents live in a two story, couple thousand square foot home and we live in about a six hundred square foot apartment. thus, we really liked not having to turn on our heater. but we dislike being cold more so we turned it on. but it is so warm and toasty in here, it is totally worth it and we don't have to sleep with two pairs of pajama pants, three long sleeved shirts, a fleece jacket, two pairs of socks, and five blankets to stay warm (that really is no exaggeration, that is what I was sleeping in during some really cold nights).

The Cake was a Hit!

So the cake was good, here are some pics of the inside!

Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream Cake

Tonight we have a Christmas concert at church and we are going and then some friends are coming over for dessert afterwards. So I thought we needed a very Christmasy dessert. So I made this Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream Cake. Here it is! We will see in a few hours if it tastes good!

It's Snowing/Sleeting!

Today when I left work, there was snow on my car!! yeah!!!!!!!!! I am so excited!!!! I do love a snow. And I love that it is snowing outside, toasty in our apt, and I can watch a new Grey's Anatomy while drinking some hot chai. What a perfect evening! and I just booked a facial for the day after I get done with fieldwork. I have never had one before so I am really excited. I am going to the Face and the Body and getting a Signature Spa Facial. They say it is good for first time facial go-ers. Nelson gave it to me for my birthday so I am quite excited to use it!!!

A Little Christmas Project

I decided that Nelson and I needed some stockings to go by our Christmas tree so I made some! It was great fun! Check them out!

Christmas Time is Here!

Today we got a nice wreath in the mail from Nelson's sister Ginny! Well, she didn't just send it to us, we bought it from her for a fundraiser for her senior trip next year. Anyway, it was just what we need for our door! It looks great! We are getting ready to do some decorating and put up our christmas tree! I made this little stocking on my machine and I am hoping to make a few more decorations, like those cool trees from Steph's blog. I also want to make stockings for Nelson and me, but I am not sure if I am capable of that!

Sewing Machine!

So here is my new sewing machine! I have really enjoyed trying it out but have not exactly had the best of luck so far. Well, I have made one pillow and that went pretty well. But I have a problem with cutting the fabric straight and sewing the stitch straight once I am going. I am going to go sewing class starting in January so that should be very helpful. I think I was feeling a little over confident the other night when I wanted to try a pillow with some piping around the edge. I got the piping and was putting it in but I couldn't really get the seam close enough to the edge of the piping. I didn't think it was too bad but then I went to sew the back to the front and I got half way around the pillow when I noticed that the last edge was about two inches too short! They were the right size to begin with but somewhere in all my sewing, I got the edges messed up! I gave up that pillow for the day, partially because I was sick and I couldn't think any more and partially because I was mad that I couldn't do it right. But I think I just need to take my lessons and then things will be better! and like my Steph was telling me, you gotta start somewhere and it is good to make mistakes and learn from them! So that is what I am going to be doing, a lot of learning from my mistakes.

Some Tasty Cupcakes!

Last week, we had a baby shower at work for one of the therapists who is due in early January. I was going to make a cake but someone else already volunteered to bring the cake but then fell and broke her arm and then we weren't sure if she was coming and bringing a cake so I decided to make cupcakes just in case she did come and bring a cake. So I needed a cupcake recipe! My sister-in-law came through for me, as she always does, with a great recipe, Billy's Vanilla Vanilla. They turned out pretty well and people seemed to really like them. I wanted to do a cute baby thing on top of the icing but couldn't think of what to do and didn't really have time to look into it so I just decided to dye the icing pink!