Christmas Recap

The husband is in the middle of his biggest home improvement project ever- he is completely renovating the kitchen. He took last week off work and gutted the entire room. Essentially, we're combining the dining room and kitchen for a more open floor plan- no small feat considering we live in a 900 square foot bungalow.

Since the kitchen is officially closed until further notice, I wanted to take a few posts to catch up on the last few months.

First up- Christmas!

We considered not putting up decorations this year because of the construction, but I caved! I needed some holly jolly.

We finally found a Gilligan ornament at the Fryeburg Fair in Maine- check out the resemblance! Labradoodle paraphernalia is tough to come by so we were extra excited when we stumbled upon this gem!

Christmas eve was hosted per usual by Nick's Aunt ReRe. Looking a little mischievous, I'd say.

Nick's dad, Jack, bought a totally awesome hat- it sings and dances. A very silly photo shoot ensued.

My lovely husband.
Jimmy.

Nana.
Papa.
Aunt Kath.
Joey.
Mary.

We ended the evening with a sing-a-long and dessert.

Next, we went to Nick's Aunt Nancy's house for more merriment. There aren't any pictures of this gathering because I was too busy making googly eyes at an 11 day old baby- so sweet- and playing with a totally awesome 18 month old. Christmas is so much more fun with kiddos!!

Midnight mass was lovely- and I especially appreciate that it starts at 10:30 pm instead of 12 am.

Christmas morning always starts with a celebration just the two of us. We wake up early and exchange our presents and then eat breakfast.


Santa brought Nick a nerd starter kit- included was a Star Wars t-shirt for the wee one, Star Wars Legos (for Nick), and a Star Wars DVD. If we want our little boy to love all things nerdy, we gotta start him young.

Santa brought me a Giada cookbook and a griddle. Cannot wait to make millions of pancakes! My mom also got me a cowboy boots charm for my bracelet- can't wait to meet my very own cowboy in May!

Our little family.

After our small celebration, we head over to Nick's parents house for the rest of the day. We were thoroughly spoiled by them- I think my mother in law bought every maternity shirt that Old Navy sells! Nick got an awesome winter parka that I have stolen on several occasions- so warm.

The cousins showed up with their Bruins pride.

Nick's childhood bear Ben obliged for a photo op with his newest friend.


And my father in law kept our teapot obsession alive with these adorable teapot ornaments. We've been teasing each about teapots for years- it all started when Nick stole Aunt ReRe's Irish cottage teapot Christmas Eve 4 years ago. It has since been returned, but teapots have a funny way of showing up at all family functions now.

It was a lovely, low-key Christmas- cannot wait for the fun and excitement our little Nugget will bring to the celebration next year.

Quickie Pies

I'm clearly in denial.

I refuse to acknowledge the cold, the endless snow, the jackets, the scarves, the runny noses, the sand-filled house, the shovel.

La la la la! I'm not looking!


I want the dog days of summer back. (Gilligan sleeps on a cot when we camp- the rocks hurt his sensitive skin.)

Ok, so maybe I have acknowledged all of those things. Heck, I've even been thankful for a few items on that list- runny nose excluded.

But as I sit in my kitchen, watching yet another Nor'easter brew outside my window, I want to forget it all and travel back in time to last summer.

Specifically the 4th of July. We spent it at Elmore State Park, outside of Stowe, Vermont. It's one of our very favorite camping spots and we go at least once a year. Celebrating the 4th at Stowe totally rocked- they had a wicked fireworks display, easily rivalling the Esplanade and Kaboom Town. They had a field full of food trucks- we ate pulled pork from the hood of a VW Bug (Car B Que- get it!?).




We ate hearth fired pizza.


We sampled samosas.


It was a great weekend.

The highlight, of course, was dessert. Friends, meet Quickie Pie. Quickie Pie, meet my internet friends.


Campfire Quickie Pies

4 slices bread
~1 cup pie filling
Cooking spray
Pie iron
Camp fire- hot

Grease your pie iron well.

Open your bread and pie filling.

Line the pie iron with bread. This is a double iron- pie for two!

Fill one side with pie filling. Don't overfill, but don't be stingy, either.

Close the iron securely.

Place into the fire into the flames. Stay with the iron the entire time- it burns quickly.



See? Toasty. Crispy and golden.

Quickie pies make everyone happy! Eat and enjoy.

Scarier than mayonnaise at a picnic

On Halloween, the husband and I did something very frightening.

We ran a 5K.

Now, that may not be scary to the seasoned athletes out there, but the Husband and I share the humbling childhood memories of being picked last for dodge ball. And flag football. And tag. And Red Rover. Know what the common denominator in all those games is?

Coordination. (And speed.)

At the ripe old ages of 27 and 26, we decided to dig deep and deal with our childhood issues. We started running. And got kind of into it. I run 3-4 times a week now. I KNOW!

To celebrate all of our running, we signed up for the Canton Fall Classic 5K which was held on October 31. We saw one lady running the 10K in a Batgirl costume- holy vinyl chafing!


Started the morning around 7:30 with PB&J on a whole wheat English muffin and coffee with almond milk. Downed a glass of water, too.



Donned some orange socks to honor the holiday.


Lined up the gear- purple gatorades, CLIF bars for post-run refueling, super cool hydration belt (that's all mine), iPod.


Wrapped up my ankle. Old basketball injury. Didn't have the ball. Wasn't running. Fell down. Broke ankle. (Now do you believe that my new athleticism is a miracle??? 'Cause you should.)

Pre-race interview

Scenes from registration (We saw a sign for the master group- huh? Sounds serious.)

Donning my awesome race t-shirt and hydration belt. I was one of 2 runners wearing them. Apparently only Sarah the camel needs water on a 3 mile run.


Husband and I ready to rock the race!/just finish/not die.

After

We finished in 35:31 and 36:20! So proud of us, especially since the course was surprisingly hilly. Did not train on hills. Actually avoided hills during training. Whoops.

The Husband matched his shirt post race- just a friendly reminder from Sarah the camel to hydrate before/during/after cardio! Food helps, too.


Tennessee's is a fabulous BBQ joint in a strip mall. We both got pulled pork sandwiches. The Husband had smashed taters and cucumber salad on the salad, along with a fresh brewed Root Beer.



I had homestyle mac & cheese and collard greens alongside my meat sandwich.

Tired smiles for food!




On the ceiling, spelled out in bottle caps.

In the women's room at Tennessee's. Festive.

P.S. Our next 5K is Saturday, November 13th!