Special Delivery...

This morning the door bell rang while I was prepping the goodies for tonight's festivities. It was my blogger gift! So excited that I didn't miss it while I was away for the holiday. I immediately headed to the living room to check it out....





It's a mug with White Hot Chocolate Mix and homemade treats! I love homemade treats, and it was my first time getting to taste a cake ball.






The cake ball was made with cinnamon cake and vanilla frosting, then covered in chocolate! Love it! I'll have to learn more about how to make these tasty treats.

All these gifts were thanks to Maren over at Maren's Morsels. I just skimmed her blog, and I can't wait to read more!

Sorry I must run now...lots of pre-party preparations to handle!

Thanks Maren!!!

Christmas Recap...

Sorry I've been away and I'm finally getting a chance to go through some pictures from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I plan to post again tomorow, but for now here's a photo recap of the excitment.

See you soon for a 2010 recap and 2011 goals.....

Merry Christmas....

I'm currently spending time visiting friends and family, so I haven't had a lot of time to spend on the computer or read other blogs so I thought I get something in quick before Santa comes...

I participated in this year blogger gift exchange organized by Tina at Faith, Fitness, Fun. And today my recipient, Katy at The Singing Runner, recieved her gift! I'm so happy she recieved it in time for Christmas! Check out her post to see the goodies she got- a gift anyone could love!

Alright off to wrap some last minutes gifts, pile them under the tree, and then head off to evening church services.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

What is today?

Well I guess I should tell you that I know it is Monday, December 20, 2010. But someone needs to let the crowds at the gym know that it isn't January 1st yet...

Today it was packed! I was there for almost two hours, and noticed that it got busier as time passed.

Normally I don't go to the gym for two hours, but tonight was different. My workout was doubled up to cover both upper and lower body today so that I can avoid missing workouts due to the holidays. I plan to try to work something into the holidays excitement, but just in case our plans get too hectic.



When I got home dinner could not be prepared quick enough...luckily everything was precooked and just needed to be heated through. I created a protein bowl to fill my very hungry self.

My protein bowl contained:

-Baked Chicken
-Black beans
-Quinoa (I think it might be my favorite grain!)
-Greek Yogurt
-Salsa



It didn't photograph well or I'm not good at using my camera- either way it tasted great!

Working for the weekend...

I have been working hard this weekend checking off my baking/gift list. Here are some pictures taken along the way, though most are credited to my husband because my hands were either covered in dough or frosting. It was a sugar filled weekend!

Sugar and Chocolate was melted...

New Recipes were tried...
Icing was piped onto cookies....
Lots and lots of cookies...
Other cookies cooled on racks....

Cookies were 'flooded' with color...
Cookies trays were assembled....


Everything, but the fudge....

Gift boxes were assembled...

Filled with goodies to spread Christmas cheer...

Ready to be delivered to family and friends...

I'm tired and the kitchen is covered in powdered sugar- but I'm ready for some holiday fun.

How was your weekend? Ready for the upcoming holidays?

Also, I'd still love to hear what you'd like to see change on my blog in the upcoming year if you have thoughts?

Feeling like Ms. Claus...

I'm beginning to feel like Ms. Claus over with all the baking...and I've got more great cookie ideas than I have time for by reading what other bloggers are doing. I'll put up a post later with links to my favorite ideas so you can use them too...

Tonight I noticed that many of the goodies I'm making are filled with extra treasures, I've been using Oreos, Peanut Butter Cups, Rolos, and Sweet Dates. Are you intrigued?

My family and friends are in for a real treat this year, but first I have more work to do including tomorrow's goals:

-Get to the gym (A great way to start the day!)
-Mail my blogger secret Santa gift
-Bake two remaining types of cookies
-Decorate my cut out cookies
-Grocery Shopping

And hopefully if all that gets accomplished I'll get some relaxing in! It's going to be a full day so I'm off to get some rest...have a great night!

I'm still here...

It's the holidays and life has gotten a bit busy, and when I get a few minutes I'm typically reading other blogs. Let's just say I'm torn- write my own blog or gain inspiration from other blogs. I seem to be taking the inspiration!

In my absense I've been doing lots of stuff:

-Working as usual, but looking forward to some holiday vacation!

-Going to the gym to stay fit and get stronger!

-Getting New Winter Tires (They plow through quite nicely.)


-Scrubbing our floors on my hands and knees. I do own a mop, but I just feel like getting down there with the dirt gets it cleaner.

-Putting my dining room back together for the first time since the remodel that started in May!
During the remodel:

Present Day:


-Decorating the dining room so we can show a little Christmas spirit- hopefully next year we can have a tree!



-Baking Matt a batch of Ginger Snaps, and probably the only cookie I don't like.


-Starting work on my homemade Christmas gifts.

-Enjoying Sunday Brunch with the girls as part of our Christmas celebration!


-Falling down the stairs, which a good friend of mine can understand. I'm sure she is in much more pain than I am- I only have two small bruises. (Feel better soon!)

-And trying to come up with a plan for improving my blogging, which I hope to do more of starting in the new year. I just need to figure out what will work for me and what you all will want to read.

So with that I ask: Anything you'd like to see or read on my blog? What am I doing well? Want more health/fitness? More Cooking? More Baking?

Tell me what you think- I could use a little feedback.

Winter Wonderland...

It's official, my house is now part of the Winter Wonderland. We are surrounded by snow on all sides and have had to shovel the driveway, brush the cars, and cautiously move along unplowed roads.

In the last 24 hours my husband has spoiled me and my car. I got a new extended reach snow brush (love it!), new rubber floor mats, and he ordered me up snow tires! We decided we might as well be super safe, and have quality winter tires this year that will make the all-wheel drive even better.

I'm looking forward to not getting stuck in the snow piles that I park in at work everyday. A few years ago I had a really bad incident where I got stuck, pulled out of the snow pile by a truck, and pushed a few times before I made it home. It was not a good day!


Moving on to our fabulous dinner from last night:



That is lavash stuffed with caramelized onions, sliced apples, chicken, and a little cheddar with a mixed green salad. It was amazingly tasty!

Now if I could just stop sampling the Christmas cookies!

Lazy Sunday Morning...

Yesterday was a productive day of grocery/Christmas shopping...



Left side is a bunch of baking related groceries, while on the right are the typical groceries we consume during the week. And then I did my first cookie test, a new cookie with cranberries and white chocolate. The verdict was positive but it needs a little bit of work according to the husband. (Although he hasn't stopped eating them yet, so they aren't too bad.)


After a long day of working around the house we went out for the evening to enjoy a movie and dinner. We had a nice relaxing time, sometimes it is fun to get out of the house.

This morning we continued out laziness with a late breakfast of pancakes. Matt made me chocolate chip pancakes, and he went for strawberry topped pancakes.




And now that we've spent all morning lounging around we need to get to work around here because we have another outing planned for tonight! Bowling is $1 per game on Sunday so we'll be meeting our friends for some fun.

Have a good day!

Cookie Time...

I'm off to go Christmas shopping! For me that doesn't mean the mall or the retail stores, it means the grocery store and craft store. I have recently been dubbed the 'Cookie Lady', and each year I plan my gifts around treats I love to make.



Last year lucky friends and family received a bag filled with:

Homemade Peanut Butter
Homemade Hot Chocolate
Spiced Nuts
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Homemade Cookie Mix with instructions

This year there is a whole new line-up because I like to keep people guessing. And with that I'm off...

December...

Welcome to December in the Buffalo area. Imagine driving home from work or running errands on Wednesday night and getting stuck in traffic due to snow. Then slowly realizing that the traffic isn't moving and the snow isn't stopping. Hours pass and you haven't moved, you're suck there overnight and well into the next day.



This was the reality on 7 miles of a Buffalo highway from around 8pm Wednesday night until roughly 3pm Thursday afternoon- and even then the road did not open until Friday morning. Crazy right?

This stretch of highway is only about 5 miles from my house with around 2 feet of snow falling in a 24 hour period. The neighboring streets and towns were also buried, with residents spending many hours digging from out the heavy wet snow.



Now you're thinking, did you shovel yourself out? The answer is no because we didn't get any snow. Weird right? Gotta love our crazy weather, but I know we'll get ours soon enough so for now I'll just enjoy it.

Getting Back on Track...

During the holiday we took sometime away from the gym to allow our bodies to rest and reset. I did originally have intentions on going for a walk/run, but the cold brisk temperatures deterred me and I left my Garmin at home.

Now that we are home the plan is to get back on track, though it isn’t always easy to do when you’ve been out of town over a weekend. Normally one day of my weekend is spent grocery shopping, doing laundry, and getting ready for the work week. While I did have a productive Sunday of driving and visits with family along the road home- there was no time left for any normal tasks.

So Monday night got an extra dose of activity:

Gym Workout
Grocery Shopping
Unpacking
Baking Chicken for the Week
Getting in a quick blog post

And Tuesday night will get more activity too:

Gym Workout
Laundry
Baking Hidden Treasure Cookies


What tricks do you use to get back on track?

Thankful....

On this Thanksgiving I am thankful for:

-My understanding and supportive husband. (I love you!)


-Our families and friends that are always there for us.



-Our home and the ability to make improvements on it.


-My health, and my personal decision to make changes for a better me.


-Our jobs. (Even though some days we wish for longer weekends.)



I'm thankful for so much that some days I don't realize all that God has made possible in my life.

What are you most thankful for?