Hey everyone! The Hubs and I are co-writing a new blog!! Please bookmark it and follow us! I don't know how much I'll be posting over here (I'll try... but honestly, I'm also starting a new White House Blog for work... and well... how much can one blonde really blog!?!?!)
January 03, 2010
January 02, 2010
Christmas 2009
Our first married Christmas was a blast! We road tripped it (in the snow - White Christmas!) down to NC to see M's family. I always love seeing them because they are all so sweet and I'm just completely surrounded by that deep southern accent, and what doesn't sound sweeter through that accent, right?
Michael and I exchanged presents Christmas Eve and read the Christmas story from the book of Luke, that's now our tradition and I love it! Christmas morning, we packed the SUV, you should see all that we take with us when we travel for just one night, it's obscene. Pretty much need a U-Haul trailer. The "granny cart" is a total must when packing/unpacking the car.
We had an awesome dinner. Tonja made these little green bean things wrapped in bacon that I'm drooling over just remembering. And I finally got to taste that Dirt Cake and Butterfinger Delight, and boy am I glad for that! Bonus - we got to take quite a bit home and enjoyed it all week.
M and I rocked the night away playing Rock Band with Caitlin and Shanhui Xu (their Chinese foreign exchange student - another cute, sweet accent!!). It was such a blast!! You know I loved playing the drums, even if I never advanced past the "beginner" level! Haha. I loved hearing M sing and Caitlin was cracking me up, she's such a pro - she's got the rocker posture and everything!
Seeing the little ones, Marissa, Brody & Grey was awesome too. Love those little people.
Here are a few pictures.. and I edited a video of our first Christmas Season (I know, totally yupped out but I have no shame. I own like 8 scarves and I bought M one for Christmas, whatever!) I hope y'all enjoy:
Love to all of you!
No denying this family resemblance!
Pops is a man after my own heart... devouring some of my homemade cinnamon bread :) And this man almost always has a cup of coffee in his hand! Gotta love that!
The girls rocking out!
Get a load of this crooner!! This is now the wallpaper on my laptop, I don't even remember what he was singing but he was into it! :)
And look at M's concentrating face here. Haha. I'm glad no one snapped a picture of me, I'm sure mine was worse! It gave me such joy that M was able to fully participate in Rock Band. Last year, we played Wii and he was just sitting back telling everyone else what to do, haha. But thankfully, yours truly thought of sticking the drumsticks down in his gloves so he could "hold" them. I think it was a pretty good workout too! :) Haha. FUN!
Crystal always looks like a celebrity. And Greyson, don't even get me started. I love him, he's the cutest little chunk on the planet. And you should hear his baby laugh!!! Aaaahh, nothing like the sound of a baby laughing!
Marissa is so domestic.
Brody rocking out to the Chipmunks on his new walkman.
We had an awesome first married Christmas! I'm such a lucky girl.
Here's our cheesy, yuppy Christmas video:
If you want to watch more videos like this, and read the latest from us.. check out OUR NEW BLOG!! We'll be documenting our lives over the next year at: www.lovelikethislife.blogspot.com
Love you all.
Happy New Year!
December 21, 2009
Baby, It's Cold Outside!
We finally got out Sunday and played in the snow!
GOOD TIMES!
December 19, 2009
Ding! Bread's done.
And so am I, with blogging. I'm embarrassed to tell you I've been writing and I have Fa la la la lifetime on in the background. It's the "Christmas Shoes" movie, that's the worst, right? I've already cried. And the TJ Maxx commercials are totally working. I want to go there so bad right now!
Here are my finished loaves:
Can't wait to get a piece of this cinnamon bread. It might not make it until breakfast!
I think I should have smoothed my white bread roll a little more. Haha. As long as it still tastes good, right? Live and learn, baby.
2nd Snow of the Season!
It snowed MAJORLY last night into today. We have about a foot and a half on the ground!! I wanted so badly to go outside and play in the snow today, but didn't have the chance. I really hope we can get out there tomorrow and take some pictures! Everything is so beautiful in the snow, right??
This was the view from our balcony.
I absolutely LOVE this picture of Princess looking out over the snow that was piled up on our balcony! Isn't she so cute here, in her Ugly Christmas Sweater and all?
Brokaw was feeling the snow more from the inside of the snow globe. Note: That's Princess's Christmas present he's playing with. Haha.
Katy watched out our bedroom window.
This was her view.
White House Basement Holiday Party
You probably read all about and saw lots of pictures from the President's Holiday Party with the media. I don't want to talk about it, but I couldn't go. BUT... I did make it to the Basement Holiday Party at the White House this week, and that was fun! And, from what i hear, it had better food anyway.
The super fancy, snazzy invitations that were taped up on the walls by the stairs. Too bad some of the upstairs dwellers crashed the party, but it's all good. We're hospitable like that in the basement.
Check out my "barrier to employment, " haha!! All of the chairs from the workspaces at the front of the basement were pushed all the way to the back... right in front of my door!! I was able to squeeze by, so that's good. I didn't really have any business to attend to, besides eating, anyway, so it was all good!
Everyone gathered around to listen ot what is apparently the annual poetry reading. (this was my first basement party!) It was the press edition of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. It was pretty funny! You can watch a video from Politico. And if you look in the way back, about half way throught, you can see me! I went upstairs and around to get a fork (there were waaaay too many people to squeeze back through to where the forks were) and I got stuck on the stairs. I enjoyed the poem, though! Check it out:
Of course, my favorite part of the party was hanging out with this girl, a.k.a. The Birthday Girl!!!
Hands down, one of the best benefits of being the White House Producer is that I get to see my dear friend Becky more often. She's so funny and just great to be around. The Basement party was held on her birthday, so we decided that it was really her birthday party!
Merry Christmas to Us!!
Michael and I are heading down to North Carolina for Christmas. Looking forward to seeing family, but dreading the 10 hour drive (to and fro). We've already given our gifts to each other. And that's all we're doing this year. Money is suuuuper tight (you feel me, right?) so we're not able to give gifts to all of our family members and friends. It kind of sucks. But, we did agree to spend a small amount on one another.
Here's my prize:
It's a super awesome BIG crock pot! It's digital... and it even came with a little baby! Last weekend, I used this sucker to make about 50,000 meatballs and it did an excellent job! Love that oval shape! And I used the little dipper (haha, solar system) to make spinach dip. Oh, it was amazing! M and I heard a message from Pastor Joel about "giving a to someone's potential" when giving gifts this year. This was the perfect gift for me because it gives to the potential that I can multitask! If I could have one wish.. it would be that I could be in two places at once! Imagine the possibilities! Obviously, M can't make that come true... but he can help me cook and work at the same time. Love you, Crock Pot!
And, here is Michael's shiny new Christmas present! Did I hit the husband jackpot, or what, folks? He actually wanted a toaster oven!! I asked and double asked again to make sure it wasn't some tricky way to get me two presents. But he says this will allow him to cook more! Let's hope that's right! Real estate on our counter top is going away quickly! It's starting to feel a little cramped, but hopefully it will all be worth it. This sucker is a toaster oven, a convection oven, and a rotisserie!
And last night, we opened our presents (us and the pets) from My Mom and Dave. Check 'em out:
Youngest first... Brokaw opened up his own present!
It's a cute leash that has "naughty" and "nice" written on it. It should just say NAUGHTY, but whatever. Haha.
Princess scored a cute little Life is good peppermint ball. (Or Brokaw did, really, we all realize everything is virtually his.) He was already playing with P's ball today, ugh!
My favorite gift of all is this ornament with an "R" on it of course!! It's perfect!! And I hung it as high as I could on our little Christmas tree to protect it from the beast.
Thanks for everything, Mom! (I'll try to get a pic of Katy with her little mice before Brokaw destroys those) Merry Christmas, everyone!
Bread Maker
I'm obsessed. Can you tell?
Here's what I'm doing this snowy Saturday evening....
Mix it up...
Roll it out...
Let it rise...
That's my white loaf I have in the fridge.
I have a cinnamon/sugar loaf in the oven right now, and I'm just starting to smell it! It's gonna be a nice breakfast tomorrow morning, when we're staying home from church in our snow globe!
(This is my cinnamon loaf before baking)
Queen of the Leftovers
I am Queen of the Leftovers. I hereby declare myself as such!! We had TONS of leftover food after our Ugly Sweater Party last weekend. For a few days, we just heated up plates of everything, but I grew weary of that so I had to get a little creative. Mmmmm!! Glad I did.
With the leftover pepperoni, I made Stromboli:
With leftover ham, I made Hawaiian Pizza! That was sweet! (And, ironically, it created more leftovers, haha)
And tonight.... with leftover vegetables, Chicken Teriyaki!
Told you! I haven't seen my crown yet, though... what's up with that?
Nice Surprise
The other day my cell phone rang at work and it was such a nice surprise! Pastor Mike was in town and I was able to run down to the Capitol and say a quick hello and get a few of those nice Pastor Mike hugs!! Pastor Mike and his family are really just like family to me. They pretty much adopted me when I lived in Roanoke, and thankfully our friendship has lasted through all of my moves over the last 10 years.
Yay.
December 14, 2009
Snuggle Bugs
Sunday, we just lounged around the house all day because my back was killing. M and I watched like 4 hours of The Presidents on The History Channel, followed by an hour long special on Air Force One. I know what you're thinking :)
But look what happened, this NEVER happens:
Brokaw and Katy both snuggled with me at the same time!!! It almost brought tears to my eyes. Katy hates Brokaw! Hahaha
This morning, I was trying to get out the door to work when I noticed this precious angel snuggled IN BETWEEN our pillows:
If that doesn't make you want to stay home all day, I don't know what would!
Holiday Par-tays...
Whew! I have had a week of Christmas celebrations! I ate so much this past week, I probably shouldn't eat anything else until 2010, but instead, I just googled recipes for leftover ham...
First up, the office White Elephant:
David scored some giant shoes.
Of course, a Snuggie was on hand. I can't remember who officially ended up with this, I don't think it was Jacob...
The most popular present was $10 worth of lottery tickets! Notice Jerome checking them out, using his White Elephant gift, an amazing magnifying glass! Haha.
I successfully offloaded an unwanted wedding gift, which will remain unnamed to protect feelings :)
And here's my White Elephant loot:
It's a sarcastic ball! Kind of like an 8 ball, but funner. You can ask it a question... like.... let's see... will I get to go to the White House Christmas Party tonight? Answer: "in your dreams"
Stupid sarcastic ball!!! Too bad it's totally right! I'm so incredibly bummed, I thought I was going to get in this year, but sure enough, I'm caught up in the system, and they invited fewer media people this year, so in a few minutes, I'll walk over to the White House, where on my way to my office, I'm sure to see dresses and tuxes hanging on doors... and sadly, I'll attend the briefing, and go home :( Not that I don't like quiet evenings at home with my wonderful hubby, but going to this party is seriously a dream.. and while I'm closer this year than I have ever been before... I still feel... defeated. Deflated. BUMMED. :( Waaa...
In Other News... also last week, we had our Christmas Party for the office. We had a really, really nice meal at a hotel down the street, and we all got gifts! I haven't even been to a sit down meal kind of company holiday party in YEARS. Those don't really happen anymore! And on top of that, we all got door prizes and a very generous gift card! On top of all of THAT, I won majorly playing "The Price Is Right"!! My loot from that was awesome - an entire brand new bake set!!! With measuring cups and spoons and a giant cutting board and oven mits! It was the perfect thing for me to win, you know with my baking goals and all!
Then... over the weekend, Michael and I had our Ugly Christmas Sweater Party!! We had so much amazing food! Our fridge is seriously so stuffed when you open the door, hardly any light comes out, hahaha! And believe it or not, I sent every single guest home with huge doggie bags! We had a lot of fun. Here is proof:
The kids decorating gingerbread men!
Joe.
Hubs.
Brokaw and Baby Caleb.
Princess.
The gang playing Pop 5. We got that game as a wedding gift and it was a lot of fun!!!
Here we are, hosting in our ugly sweaters!
Lavina told us to make stupid faces. This is what we get. We got our Ugly Sweaters at Goodwill... and I'm happy to report, they have been washed, and are now back in the "Goodwill" pile to go back!
Merry Christmas everyone!
December 09, 2009
Saturday we got about 4 inches of snow. It was beautiful! I don't mind Saturday Snow Days at all! Bring 'em on!
I took this picture on the way to work Monday morning. It was STILL there! It's pretty much gone now...
National Christmas Tree Lighting
Okay, for real... last blog of today, I promise! I'm trying to get this puppy up to date!
Last week, we went to the National Christmas Tree Lighting at the White House! I was stoked when we got tickets! I entered the lottery online and actually found out on M's birthday that we had "seats!" Right in the front of the standing room section, on a little planked walkway. One of the perks you get when you're rolling with someone in a wheelchair.
We were in the "standing room" section but we weren't standing. I sat it down right on M's lap, and we wrapped up in a camo blanket. Yep, you heard that, our camo blanket made it to the White House. Niiiiiice.
All Bundled Up!
Sheryl Crow rocked!
The O's hitting the button to light the tree!
Ta-da!
Thankfully, we survived VP Biden's motorcade driving by, and made it to Starbucks. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Look at blue eyes enjoying his PSL. Atta boy!
The tree lighting was really cute. You can actually watch it online, if you're terribly bored. Jordin Sparks & Sheryl Crow were great!
White Bread
I am happy to report... my first bread baking endeavor was a success!!
I rocked out the Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer (one of the reasons I got married haha) dough hook. That thing was amazing! Did all of the work for me!
I followed the "easy" recipe for White Bread that came in the mixer's cookbook and.... tada!
Here are my loaves, pre-refrigerating and baking. One was pretter than the other. So typical, right?
And... here they are all finished! I got up early Sunday morning and baked while every other living creature in my house (Michael, Princess, Katy and Brokaw) slept. It was glorious! LOVE my morning alone time! :)
We have already devoured one loaf. It is very yummy! Makes awesome garlic toast! Today, I'm having a sandwich on it. Yay, me. I accomplished a goal! I hope to become quite the baker.
Oh, if you want the recipe, here you go.
I must give myself full credit for being a baking machine this weekend! I asked M what kind of cookies he wanted.. he said.. out of nowhere.. Peanut Butter with M&Ms.
You got it.
Those were yummy, too. A little crunchy, though. I had enough dough to freeze a roll of dough, looking forward to pulling that down one day! I'm making dreams come true all over the place, haha.
Contentment & The Christmas Tree
Let's start this one with the definition.
Contentment is the experience of satisfaction and being at ease in one's situation.
Now, a truth and a confession. Truth: My Michael is the picture of contentment. He is almost always satisfied and at ease. It takes very little to make him happy. And I mean really happy, not just "dealing with it." Confession: I, however, can't ever seem to get enough. Fill in the blank. I always want more, better, bigger, faster, you name it. Always trying to up it a notch, ya know?
This is one major way that I really hope my husband rubs off on me.
Case in point: Our Christmas tree.
The husband and I were out on a much needed date night at Chili's. The topic of the tree came up. We were discussing where we would put it. You know, near the back door, or what. Then he said "how about on top of that red trunk?" I kind of chuckled,why would you put a Christmas tree ON TOP of anything? Then, he told me it was like 4 feet tall!!!
My heart sank. I practically started googling Christmas trees right there at the dinner table. We both got rid of a bunch of stuff right before we got married because we thought we'd be squeezing into a tiny one bedroom apartment. We ended up getting a two bedroom, and have more room than we anticipated, and that has been nice! Sidetracking, sorry...
When Michael moved in, his Christmas tree box appeared to be the same size as the box my beautiful, 6.5 foot Martha Stewart Christmas tree lived in, that I GAVE AWAY, hello! I had actually seen this 4 footer at M's apartment last year, but I must not have realized it was elevated or obviously, Miss Christmas would not have agreed to such arrangement.
So... we got home after Thanksgiving... busted the Christmas Bush out. I was fighting a bad mood as we put it up... tried it in several different spots in the living room, lit it, and decorated it.
In the end... I was... content. Pretty much. I certainly could not justify spending full price on a new artificial tree right before Christmas! And I didn't want to bother a friend to help me get a real tree in... and eventually out of our apartment. Can you see yours truly strapping a tree on top of my SUV? Ha. Neither can I!
The next day, M looked at our tree, hugged me closely and said something about how beautiful it was. I was like, look buddy, I'm dealing with this... I wouldn't call it beautiful... don't push it!
But, as I've come in and out of the apartment to and from work and what not every day.... as I've turned the lights on the Christmas tree on and off, and as I've dusted underneath it, on top of that red trunk... I have moved past "dealing with it" and am now at full blown contentment!
Oh, Christmas Tree -- with your little self -- I do love you. I love where you came from and what you taught me and thank you for giving us a sweet First Married Christmas story.
Here she is, in all her glory. How about that star, eh? Nothing like a full size star on top of a tiny tree. It's funny. But I love it. I love it all.
We started a tradition of getting an ornament each year. This is our first one, an adorable silver heart that we got at the National Archives gift shop. It's perfect.
We took this self portrait after we hung our ornament. Our love is ridiculous. It inspires even me, when I take a moment, step back and see it for what it really is. Awwww. Cheese.
And yes, my husband is wearing a beanie, inside. He's always cold, I'm almost always warm, and well, he's more content wearing a hat than I would be sweating. :)
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Brokaw's Christmas sweater! I have to get a pic of Princess in her Ugly Christmas sweater too! We are getting ready for the big par-tay this Saturday!
December 08, 2009
My Documents
Another super fun thing that Michael and I did over the Thanksgiving weekend was making a trip to the National Archives. It was a biggie on my list of free things we need to do in DC before we don't live here anymore. Not that we're planning on not living here anymore, don't start anything! It's just... well, you know how it is... when you live near the beach, you never go. When you live near the National Archives, where the most important documents upon which our NATION is built live. I'm talking the ACTUAL DOCUMENTS, people! You don't go.
Unless you make a point of it. So glad we did!
Hi Archives!
You are so pretty in the Autumn sunlight!
Nothing turns me on like the Declaration of Independence! haha.. nerd love is so sweet, ain't it?
This is a copy.
This is the ACTUAL thing! So incredibly cool to read the words of our Founding Fathers, in the ink they used and on the paper they used. It was sadly very blurry, despite the amazing preservation technology... but hey, If I were 200 something years old, I might not look so hot, either!
We've got the whole world behind us! Haha. My puffy vest is making me look pregnant, I assure you, nothing could be further from the truth, thank God! Back to having the whole world behind us... even though this is a horrible picture, the symbolism is beautiful. We really do have that, and it's amazing.
I highly recommend visiting the National Archives for any of you who live around here or will be visiting. Don't be discouraged by the lines out front! It's totally worth it.
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