Lots and lots of pictures

So to start off with, we decided to decorate for Christmas this year even though we will be going to CA shortly. We wanted to make sure we made the most of this year since we dont know if Brett will be out to sea this time next year. So we got a tree a $20.00 from Walmart, and I have to say, I am really impressed with it. Bretts grandma sent us some decoration and we also had some of our own. We love how it looks.

 

His grandma sent us a ton of fabric along with the decorations so I came up with a few things to do with it.

I made a tree skirt...

 

Some "misletoe" to hang above the door.

  

And a little Christmas tree...

Overall I am pretty pleased.

We also had a project of decorating our own stockings. They look pretty...amazing.

Sorry about the quality of the picture, but as you can see, they are pretty awful. But thats what we were going for.

Next up, the MAN CAVE...

Brett has been wanting a man cave since we got married, but in our last place we had no room as it was and not an inch to spare. But now that we moved into a bigger place I am proud to say, he got his room. We got all the furniture for under $25 thanks to wonderful Craigslist. Its not the best or the newest but its all in pretty good condition and is clean and works great. He loves it. So now he has a place for all his guy stuff and a place to play his games.
 

On December 14 Brett became a Petty Officer 3rd Class and we were so excited. He has worked so hard during his time in the Navy and he totally deserves it. To surprise him I made him his favorite brownies...

   

 Got him the Transformer he has been wanting...yes, my husband is 12 trapped in a 25 year old body.

 

 

Then we went out to Red Robin and had a great dinner.

And after that we came home and he blew out his candles.

  

Needless to say I am very proud of him. He is Amazing with a capital A

We are going home!

Finally! We are going home for two weeks starting on December 19 and we cannot wait! Its been 10 months for me and a year for Brett. We have a whole list of things we want to do.

1. Spend as much time with family as possible
2. See all our friends that we miss so much
3. Eat all the food that we have been craving.

So we have kind of come up with sub categories for each. For spending time with family we are staying with them...so Check!

For friends, we are planning on throwing a bonfire so we can hopefully see as many people at one time as possible. Then go and hang out with who ever can.

Food... oh food, how we have missed the good stuff. Our first stop right away will be In-n-Out for sure! Then there are other places that you would think you would never miss, but when you are away from it for so long, eventually nothing sounds better... For example, Jack in the Box, TOGOs (I am dying for a Turkey Avocado), Del Taco, Chris and Pitts, Chris Burger, Pattys and so many others.

We cant wait and believe me we are counting down!

Brett is the best!

I love my wonderful husband. He is the most amazing man I have ever met. I cant say it enough. I feel so lucky to be his wife. I am so excited to be sealed to him in one short month. I love him with all my heart.

Thanksgiving

So my first Thanksgiving actually hosting was...horrible and wonderful. I baked and cooked up a storm. On the menu (all homemade):

Appitizers:
-Cheese roll

Main:
-Turkey

Sides:
-Green bean cassalore
-Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
-Cornbread Stuffing
-Candied Sweet Potatoes
-Rolls
-Ambrosa Salad
-Creamed Corn
-Carrots and Onions

Dessert:
-Apple Pie with a strussel topping
-Pumpkin Pie
-Pumpkin Cheesecake with a ginger snap crust
-Fudge
-Pecan Pie

Here are some of the pictures. Honestly, it was way to hectic to get all the pictures I wanted. By the time I grabbed my camera again, the dinner was over and the food was gone.


So to start off, I made all the desserts the night before and I started the roll dough then to to let it rise. The next day I put in the turkey at 11:00 planning to have it done at four. This huge 27 lb turkey ended up being perfectly cooked with in 3 hours. So to keep it warm until the dinner at 5:30 we cut it apart and put it in the crockpot with the jucies and let it simmer...it turned out pretty good.

Brett had to leave to a quick watch on the base at 3:30 so I was on my own to cook all the sides. He was going to pick up 3 of the guys from his class to come over cause they couldnt go home for the holiday. So, I start cooking and my kitchen is small. I have two feet of workable counter space. So I get going and knock a few dishes out but when I go to put the pot of water on for the potatoes, after five minutes I notice a little flame is starting to burn (and my stove is unfortantly electric) so there should be no flame. Something fell down on the burned and was starting to smoke. I run over, take the pot off and put out the fire.

Well once everyone got here, 9 people in all, we start getting ready to eat. We put out the silverware and take out the plates and bring out the drinks. Problem, problem, problem. We are missing 2 forks so me and Brett get to eat our thanksgiving dinner with spoons. We dont have all the plates we thought and we forgot to get ice for the drinks...

Other than those problems, dinner with the people that came over was really fun. It was nice to have company on a holiday. So happy thanksgiving to all!