A Clean House

I just wanted to take a second and brag a little about the awesomeness of this guy...

These are the facts:

I had Wednesday off but Jacob was going to work.

The house was kind of a cluttered mess from a week of Christmas fun.

I really struggle with a dirty house. I am compelled to clean. I'm good with a slightly messy bedroom but the more "high traffic" areas need to be in order. I often spend some of my "free time" cleaning.

I needed some relaxation.

The story goes like this:

Jacob and I woke up early to say goodbye to his parents Wednesday morning and then went back to sleep. He rolled out of bed at about 8:30 or 9 to head to work. I was content to stay in bed. Before Jacob left he told me he would be back around 11:30 or 12 to have lunch and clean the house. He made me promise not to do any cleaning until he could come back to help out. I told him I wasn't sure if I could do it but I would try and contain my cleaning to our bedroom and would try and enjoy a leisurely morning of blogging and such instead.

And that is what happened. I refrained from entering the kitchen or living room area because I knew I'd have to start tidying up. But, true to his word Jacob came home for lunch and stayed until the house was in order. It was wonderful.

And that is why I love my husband. At least that's what reminded me of why I love him yesterday.

Married Christmas!

I had my first Christmas married to Jacob and away from my family. And it was a pretty good one! I had my moments of homesickness and sadness but mostly it was really fun.

Jacob's parents came to see our house and spend Christmas with us. We had a good time showing them the new home and introducing them to Colorado winters.

We spent Christmas Eve at Jacob's uncle's house, Uncle Gordon. Gordon is Jacob's dad's twin brother. I'm pretty sure they had a good time getting together. It also felt like home to me because we played chimes and acted out the Nativity story from the Bible, though it was acted out with characters on blocks instead of people dressed up. But it was really nice.

The next day was very relaxed with no little kids to wake us up early. Jacob and I got out of bed at about 8:00 and fixed up some breakfast; french toast casserole and fresh squeezed orange juice and grapefruit juice. I also set out all the Christmas goodies I had made and purchased. It was quite the spread. Jacob's parents came upstairs and we went through our stockings while the breakfast cooked but not before a family prayer. We ate breakfast and then enjoyed opening a few more gifts before getting a call from Rachel, Jacob's sister on a mission in Florida. It was really enjoyable hearing all she is learning and doing on her mission. We were also able to get Jacob's other sister, Sarah, in Utah connected to the call through Skype. It worked out pretty well. The rest of the day was spent eating junk, playing games, and enjoying each others company. I was able to talk with most of my family and that was also nice.

Looking out our front window on Christmas morning

fresh squeezed orange juice

The treat spread...mmmmm...

The fun begins...

Santa brought us root beer

Dad and Mom Brunson with their matching IPod touches

I did end up cooking my first Turkey for Christmas Dinner. I had offered to feed the Missionaries for our ward, so Jacob and I thought we ought to do a pretty decent Christmas dinner. We had turkey, potatoes, gravy, veggie tray, rolls, and cauliflower made with cheese. It was pretty delicious and turned out pretty well.

Jacob carving his first turkey...I'm so proud!

I took the rest of the week off to spend with Jacob and his parents. We had some fun shopping for furniture, doing some small repairs around the home, going out to eat, touring the Denver Mint, attending a session at the Denver Temple and playing loads of games, of course. I discovered I like Scrabble. We also played quite a bit of Mexican Train. Lots of fun.

Old Town at night in the snow. The lights in the back aren't perfectly clear but trust me, it is lovely down there.

Mexican Train

Overall, it was a good Christmas and it was fun trying to figure out traditions for our new family.

Now we just have to decide how to spend New Years Eve...

Twas the Sunday Before Christmas

After complaining Friday afternoon about all I had to accomplish, especially with the ward activity, I must admit I had a relatively good weekend.

Don't get me wrong, Friday and Saturday were busy, but not nearly as hectic as I thought they would be. The party was a success. We had a huge turn out. We planned the amount of food pretty well perfectly. No one was hungry but there weren't massive amounts of food left over either.

In between getting ready for the party I also managed to attempt some Toffee (it was much less a success than the Christmas party, but I'll try again later this week) and finish painting a the downstairs bedroom.

And Sunday was one of the best I've had in a while. I typically love the Sunday before Christmas but I remember how much more I love it in a family ward. All the kids are dressed in their new Christmas outfits and such. We had an excellent Sacrament presentation. We have a "family choir" in our ward. It's complete with primary children and up. I especially loved the songs where the kids sang alone, no adults. I was a little teary-eyed on more than one occasion yesterday.

Jacob and I also attended the Stake Christmas Fireside last night. It was also really well done and really great because they kept it to an hour in length.

But the highlight of the day may have been throwing on Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and the Grinch and making spritz cookies with Jacob. They aren't my favorite treat but they sure are a classic.

And now as I am thinking of what is remaining on my "to do" list, it's not inducing a panic attack. Just slight anxiety. A much more manageable level. I just need to clean house (which won't take long, it's not THAT dirty) and do some grocery shopping.

And if I get around to it, attempt that stinking toffee again. :)

I threw this last picture in for those of you asking for a photo of the new hair. It's the best you are going to get for now...and I know it's not that good. But trust me...it's a good cut.

A Quick Update About Very Little

I realize I haven't posted in a while.

That's probably because I don't have anything super post-worthy to share. At least not yet.

I don't know about you, but I feel like I need one more week before Christmas. I still have baking to do, a room to finish painting and putting back together, grocery shopping and a house to clean. At least the gift shopping is done. I do need to wrap a few items though.

And speaking of finishing the basement bedroom...I hope to be able to post some before and after pictures very shortly. But I don't know how pleased I am with the "after" yet. I think I have really good visions of what things should look like in my head but then when it comes to executing those things they rarely turn out as spectacularly as I had seen them in my minds eye. But I guess it's like Jacob said, the room looks way better than it did before. I just need to finish painting the border and doors. Then it's the finishing touches like getting some curtains up, hanging some pictures and such. After all that I'll post a picture of the amazingness it will be.

I've been trying to get some of my Christmas baking done in the midst of all of the painting. So far I have only made some delicious Bavarian Mints, peppermint bark and some mediocre peanut brittle. I'm most unhappy about the peanut brittle. Apparently I was too impatient. It's not quite perfect, and I'm a perfectionist. It could have cooked a little longer. It's not chewy by any means but it's not as brittle-y as it should be either. I always get a little antsy after adding the peanuts and this year was no exception. So it's a little lighter in color than I would prefer too. Oh well. It's not bad enough to start over with a new batch so it will have to do. I still have a list of things to make: spritz cookies, toffee, and hello dollies to be exact. And I need to buy some cashews and pistachios.

I love how I use the word "need" there. Come on, none of it is really a "need." More a want.

I want all my favorites from home because, as pathetic as it may be at age 30, this is my first Christmas away from my family. I imagine there will be a few tears at some point but so far I have been managing pretty well.

Probably because I've been so busy.

And this whole activities committee/ward Christmas party is really adding to my stress. I have to spend all night tonight and all day tomorrow in preparations and then the party is Saturday evening. Probably not good timing. I think it's too close to Christmas to be doing a party. It's the last weekend to get everything else done. Oh well...I'll do what I have to do. That's how I roll.

Throw in feeling a little less energetic due to a cold and it's pretty easy to see why I'm so exhausted all the time.

But, I am pleased to be sporting a new hair cut. It's been a while since I had a really good cut, and this one is. I love it. And it's pretty easy to do. The stylist did a great job of working around my crazy cowlicks and my hair is laying exactly as it should. Plus, this salon does a head massage and paraffin wax dip for you hands prior to the cut. Brilliant.

Deck the Halls

It has been fun this past week decorating our home for Christmas. It's a different experience when the home is truly your own and it's also been exciting getting ready for our first "married Christmas."

I don't have a lot to say about it but I've been taking some pictures of the decorating process and some of my favorite things...so here ya go!

This is the nativity my mom made me one year for Christmas. It is just like the one we used to have when I was a kid. It's awesome!

Last year Jacob and I made Christmas ornaments. They are hanging on our tree this year. We made cinnamon ones (they still smell good) and the metal stars. I think we need more of the metal stars and if I get ambitious enough I'll do a few more this year. We want to make it a tradition to make a new ornament each year.

We also want to make it a tradition to buy a new ornament that represents something significant from the year or has some special meaning for us. This is the ornament for this year. We bought it in Canada on our honeymoon.

Our house smells really good from the basket of cinnamon pine cones and I love poinsettias...and that is that.

Happy Birthday

I had a really good birthday this year thanks to my husband.

I woke up to a new alarm clock (mine was really bad at keeping time), my husband making breakfast (breakfast cake and freshly squeezed orange juice), flowers, and several gifts. Jacob had bought me gifts that he kept putting in different places throughout the day. I continued to find wrapped gifts in places where they would normally be located. For example; the new alarm clock was all wrapped up but plugged in and on my bookshelf near my bed, candles were wrapped on the table, and my new rudolph dvd was downstairs amongst the other dvds. It was a really fun way to get gifts all day long.

Here's the deal with the olives and mushrooms. Jacob hates 'em and I love 'em. So he bought me a can of each for my birthday. It was pretty funny.

I was also able to leave work early due to a canceled appointment. I spent my afternoon working on the bedroom in the basement. I had finished removing the wall paper and applying mud earlier that week and spent the afternoon priming the room in preparation for texturizing.

When Jacob got home from work we went out to dinner. A few friends came over for games and cake that evening. All in all it was a really good day! I'm just sad I didn't take more pictures of it all.

Thanks to everyone who called, sent emails, and spent some time with me on my birthday! And especially thanks to Jacob for planning it all and being the thoughtful husband he is!

I'm thinking 30 is going to be a good year.

A Little Late

I know this is late in coming but I still want to write about my Thanksgiving.

Jacob and I went to visit my family for Thanksgiving this year. It was a quick trip but a good time just the same. We flew out Wednesday and arrived at may parent's house at about 9 pm. Our trip was filled with the usual Carter activities; eating, game playing, and hanging with the kiddos. We had a big crowd for Thanksgiving dinner (I guess it's always a big crowd at the Carter's) and barely had room in my parent's house. I'm pretty sure my mom is ready to move our dinner to a Church building the next time we are all in town. I guess I don't blame her. It's a pretty tight fit.

I also participated in one of Jacob's traditions. He is a Black Friday shopper. I have been before but it's not really my thing so much as I'll go along with people. I do find it all a little fascinating. It's such a strange thing. But, I enjoy watching the madness of it all. Josh and Matt also joined us this year and that made it a little more fun for me. Jacob brought his walkie-talkie's so we could all keep track of each other. We woke up at 4 and were out the door at about 4:20. Our first stop was Wal Mart. Josh was wanting a football. We were looking for the $2 DVD's, Rubbermaid containers, and that's about it. We mostly got what we were looking for, excluding any good DVD's. Those were pretty well cleaned out by the time we arrived. Up next was Best Buy for a set of cordless phones. Matt was wanting some cheap Wii games. We all came away with what we were looking for there. We then made our way to Old Navy for some cheap jeans (both Jacob and Josh wanted a pair or two). I started to lose my patience a little at this point. Old Navy's lines were crazy long and pretty inefficient. But, we did score some cheap jeans so I guess I can't complain too loudly. While I was waiting in line and Old Navy, Jacob and Matt headed over to Target to check it out. They didn't last long there. Apparently it was a madhouse. Our last stop was Staples. It was a quick one and I didn't even get out of the car.

I learned something about husband from this Black Friday experience. Jacob is usually not much of a fan of waking up. But you should have seen him when the alarm went off at 4. He shot out of bed like I have never seen before. It's good to know he has this capability.

A little later that morning MaryAnn decided she wanted to go to Wal Mart to see if she could still find the few things that were on her list. Jacob and I decided to join her just to compare what Wal Mart was like a few hours after the door busting. Turns out, it was a much more pleasant experience. MaryAnn got all but one thing on her list, we checked out quickly, and had no problem parking. And it was at a much more reasonable hour.

That afternoon we continued our shopping adventures to get a gift for my Mom's birthday. All the women in the house went to Bed Bath and Beyond while the men folk went to Lowe's. And then the women went to Diana's fabric store and the men went to Best Buy (some for the 3rd time that day). I bought some fabric to make some window treatments and MaryAnn found fabric to re-do the cloth on her infant car seat. Good times were had by all. Jacob, Sam, Diana and I then made our way to Board Game Revolution where I think Jacob discovered his back-up plan for life. If this whole engineering thing doesn't work out I think he could easily work for them.

That concluded our shopping adventures for the day after Thanksgiving. We spent the rest of the day hangin' out, watching movies, playing games, and of course, eating.

With the exception of Jacob and I not feeling 100% healthy, our trip was pretty excellent. I was surprised at how smoothly our traveling went. Planes were on time, shuttle buses were prompt, and traffic was good. We were lucky...

And now I will not write a list of all the things I am thankful for but know they are many. And top on the list is my wonderful husband and family. Here are the pictures to show how wonderful. Well, maybe the pictures can't show how wonderful they are but they can show how cute. Enjoy!

Saturday is a Special Day

Anyone remember that primary song? I was singing it all day yesterday. It was definitely one of "those" Saturdays. I was busy all day with cleaning and other household stuff in preparation for leaving on Wednesday to go home for Thanksgiving. I hate coming home to a to-do list. I'd much rather get stuff done before leaving and return to a clean house.

I started my day with laundry and cleaning the main level of our house. It was in need of more of a deep clean than compared to my normal de-clutter sort of cleaning. So I cleaned the bathroom, mopped floors, cleaned the kitchen and living room. I did make some time in all this to catch the final episode of AMNTM though. What can I say, I'm a sucker for the show.

I then took some time to shower so Jacob and I could run to Lowe's and Target. He needed stuff to put up Christmas lights and I needed stuff to finish that blasted bedroom downstairs. (It's still far from completed bytheway. But I have a deadline since Jacob's family is coming for Christmas. It MUST be done by then.)

We got home and I finished up laundry and then started helping Jacob with the Christmas lights. This turned out to be quite the chore. And, I am a little afraid of heights but Jacob is even more afraid of heights (remember his experience at the Seattle Space Needle...I do.) So I ended up getting on the roof a little more than he did.

He had a plan to avoid the roof as much as possible by jimmy rigging a pole with a hook. Most of the roof line on our house had little hooks on it already so we used those to string the lights. Trouble is, it was still really hard to get the lights tight and looking good.

So after Jacob spent a long time with the pole, out one of the bedroom windows, anchored by a rope around me ('cuz the roof over the garage is STEEP and he was scaredy...and I don't blame him), all to avoid getting on the very tip top of our roof line....I still went up there to make the lights a little straighter and tighter. But it wasn't so bad. And I see another trip up there in the future to replace a burnt out bulb. The stupid light burnt out just as we were finishing it all up. Jacob says I should just leave it but I don't think I can stand it. It's a very obvious hole.

Anyway, the lights took way longer than I thought they would so I didn't get time to really clean up my bedroom. The good news is Jacob had already cleaned our bathroom and the other bathroom upstairs. So at least it's not as nasty as it was.

We then made our way to King Soopers to pick up a few necessary items, and a few not so necessary items. Jacob and I are quite pleased with our adventures in couponing and our ability to stock up on items for pretty cheap. Our food storage has grown quite a bit since starting the couponing game. We are spending about the same amount in groceries as we used to but it sure is going farther than before.

After dinner (a pretty late dinner might I add), I ended the evening by playing a little band hero with some friends. It was a good time. And I was completely worn out by the end of the day!

It's good to have a productive Saturday every now and then.

I've Been Called Out--Twice

Well I"m pretty sure I've already done this one but since Diana and Shannon are certain I'll compete this list, I guess I'll do it. But just because I don't want them to look bad! :)

6 Questions

A) Four places that I go to over and over:
Work, Court (totally work related...not personal), King Soopers, Target

B) Four people who e-mail me:
Loads of people at work. On my personal email I most often get messages from: Jacob, Facebook, and things for Church (activities committee stuff, Visiting Teaching stuff...)

C) Four of my favorite places to eat:
Back Country Provisions, Spoons, Spicy Pickle and Gib's NY Bagel (all places I usually eat for lunch, if I'm going out. My list would look different if I were to list actual sit down, out to eat kinds of places)

D) Four places you would love to be:
Utah, curled up in bed sleeping, DC (hopefully this summer) and Vegas (definitely in February for the arrival of my new niece)

E) Four people I'm almost sure will respond:
probably no one. Not because I'm not loved but just because anyone who would have completed this already did.

F) Four of your favorite TV shows:
The Office, Glee, Fringe, NCIS LA (I picked up those last two because of Jacob. But anyone who liked the x-files may also want to give Fringe a try. It's pretty good and creepy.)

And now to clear up another thing for the benefit of Scott and Shannon:

Menu items selected by me...
1. Split Pea Soup
2. Salad Bar
3. Bean and Potato Soup
4. Cream of Veggie Soup
5. London Broil
6. Pork roast
7. Shepherd's Pie

So, now you know...

At the Request of Some High School Chums

Interesting to me that the two requests I get for recipes from my most recent "meal plan" post are for food I don't really have recipes for. So, for the benefit of Harmony and Mand, here's the best I can do:

Cream of Veggie Soup

I grew up eating this one. I learned how to make it from my mother, but there are not really clearly defined proportions. In fact, when I made it yesterday it turned out too thin...

I use: potatoes, carrots, celery, and onion in whatever proportions you like most.

Cook the veggies in water, or a more tasty option broth, until they are tender.

Add salt and pepper to taste. (Lately I have been throwing in some parsley and playing around with other seasonings. It's pretty good.)

My mom always made a big pot full so this next part is a little sketchy when you are cutting down the amount of soup.

She would use a full can of evaporated milk mixed with a cup of flour. The milk will thicken a little.

Add this milk/flour mixture to the cooked veggies and cook a little longer. Generally enough time for the flour to cook and thicken the soup a little.

We always ate it with cheese on top which makes for a very delicious cheesy veggie soup.

Good luck...

Spinach Feta Crepes

Mix crepe batter as follows (From Jacob's mother's recipe, though it's very similar to others I've used in the past)

For 12 crepes

1 1/2 Cups flour
1 TB sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 TB margarine, melted

Use a blender to mix it all together, adding the wet ingredients first. Pour a small amount of batter onto a lightly buttered skillet, rotating the pan to cover the entire bottom with a thin coating of batter. Cook over medium heat until lightly browned, flip and cook on the other side.

For the spinach and feta crepes I left out most of the sugar and vanilla. I added it later when we were making fruit/dessert crepes.

Here's what Jacob and I did for the spinach/feta filling:

While the crepe is cooking on the second side, put defrosted spinach, tomatoes, feta, onion, green pepper, mushroom, olives (pretty much whatever you want) on one half of the crepe. Fold the crepe, like an omelet, over the ingredients. Flip the stuffed crepe half way through cooking to make sure you don't burn your crepe but get the filling all warmed through.

They were tasty...

What I Did Today

So after much deliberation, I decided to spend this day off doing whatever I felt like doing.

Jacob laughed at me a little for still getting up when he was leaving for work at about 8:30 but little does he know I went back to sleep after he left. Not for much longer, but a little. It was very nice to sleep until 9:15.

I then proceeded to waste some time surfing the Internet and watching some tv on HULU. I ended up spending the next few hours removing the stubborn wallpaper border downstairs. I was pleased that with a little DIF the wallpaper seems to be coming off. It's still taking the majority of the texture and sometimes dry wall with it, but I'll take what I can get. It will be an adventure trying to repair that section and trying to match the existing texture. I love a project!

It was then my pleasure to spend a couple of hours catching up with a friend who was in town visiting after returning from her mission to Japan. Christina always had the best stories and turns out that held true for her mission! So fun hearing her adventures.

I was also productive in finishing my visiting teaching for the month and grocery shopping with Jacob (a 44% savings at King Soopers tonight with coupons and such). We also scored some Chex cereal at Albertsons for pretty stinkin' cheap.

And Wednesday night is always reserved for a little vegging in front of the TV watching some GLEE. I won't whole-heartedly endorse the show, but I do enjoy it. I mean, come on, it's a tv musical dramadey! I love any show that incorporates some good tunes. I folded some laundry while watching the show so it wasn't a total waste of time.

I just finished loading the dishwasher and doing a little meal planning for the next few days. Shannon commented that I hadn't shared our meal plan in awhile and I told her that was because I hadn't been doing a very good job of planning. So this is for Shannon...

1. Split Pea Soup
2. Homemade pizza
3. Breakfast - eggs, bacon, whatev
4. Spinach Feta Crepes
5. Chicken Stuffing Casserole
6. Salad bar
7. Bean and Potato soup
8. Cream of Veggie soup
9. London Broil
10. Lemon Chicken Pasta
11. Pork Roast
12. Shepherd's Pie

Now the challenge for you all is to guess which meals Jacob contributed to the list and which were my ideas. If you can figure it out I would be pretty impressed.

And now I'm pretty ready to call it a night. It's a shame that I have to work a very full day tomorrow...I liked my day off.

A Full Day To Myself

I love random holidays that my employment decides to acknowledge.

Enter Veterans Day.

I have the day off tomorrow and I've spent all night trying to decide what to do with my time.

I have a house in desperate need of cleaning. A basement bedroom that requires wallpaper removal, patching walls, retexturing and painting. I have a Relief Society lesson to prepare for Sunday. I have laundry that needs folded, cooking that could be done, and hair that could use a good cut.

But I think I'll probably start the day with a good dose of sleeping in, lazing about, blog reading, and possibly tv watching. I might even go to a movie alone. I could also see myself getting a little crafty with some holiday decor in the works.

I'm so torn between the "to do" list and some good old fashioned lazy, relaxing, "me" time.

What's a girl to do?!?

Especially when I have no one to share my time with. 'Cuz who gets Veteran's Day off?
Except you, Scott.

How We Spent Our Halloween

Prepare yourself now for a lengthy post with many a picture. If you stop here I won't be offended.

Jacob and I had been putting off going to the Temple this month as things just kept coming up. I'm sure you all know what that is like. So it was down to Saturday, October 31st and no excuses. We planned to leave Saturday morning and make a day of it all with a few shopping stops included in the trip. We anticipated leaving at about 9:00 am (well I anticipated leaving promptly at 9 am while Jacob anticipated 9-ish). Turns out we didn't hit the road until about 10:30. We had a slight delay with a lost wallet.

But we made it on the road and decided the first stop of the day would be Costco for a few items but mostly for Jacob to replace the struggling battery in his car. His old battery was still under warranty so we figured we could get a slight reimbursement for the new one. It worked out just fine. But we drove his car so he replaced it in the parking lot, in his Sunday best. My favorite Costco moment was when the checker asked us if we wanted a cart for the new battery purchase. Jacobs responded with "No, I'm pretty strong."





After the Costco detour, we drove the remainder of the way to the Temple. It was a beautiful day! There was still plenty of snow on the ground from the downpour a few days ago but it was melting rapidly in the 50 some-odd degree weather. It was also lovely in the Temple, as it always is.





We had been given a gift card to Crate and Barrel from one of Jacob's uncles and decided to make a stop at one of the stores to use it up. And let's just say I am a big fan of the Crate and Barrel!


The rest of the evening was spent eating chili, passing out candy, and watching Fringe and Flash Forward episodes.

Happy Halloween to all!