Living in Wonderland (& Thanksgiving!)

Life has been so beautiful here the last week.  I haven't had a moment to sit down and reflect about it all adequately, let alone write about it!

We were so lucky to have my family in for Thanksgiving  We had a beautiful day and a beautiful dinner. Last Thanksgiving was exciting, waiting for Colin to make his appearance, but this year was so relaxed and fun.  Colin loved having so much family around to spoil him, Gavin appreciated all of the help in the kitchen and I appreciated having some time to relax and sleep!!

I truly do feel like I'm living in wonderland.  I made Colin a book for his birthday and I found the perfect quote for it from Dr. Seuss:

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."

My life today is better than my dreams, better than any dream I could imagine.  And while we were pretty sure there was nothing in the world that could make it better, we were wrong.  Our family will be growing this summer!

Thanksgiving

Mid December and I just now get around to posting about Thanksgiving?  

I've lost my umph as it was SO long ago, so just a few pictures and a quick summary:

Table, should have used a brighter table cloth, there's always next year!

Dinner, which I now realize you can't even see in the photo...

Bread Pudding

Dinner:

Butternut Squash Soup

Homemade Wheat Bread

Gavin's family stuffing ( a meal in itself, really)

Sauteed Baby Carrots

Cheryl's Green Bean Casserole

Deviled Eggs by my mom

Fresh Turkey from El Toro Meats

Mom's Apple Cider

Bread Pudding with Canadian Maple Syrup Glaze

Everything came out great and it was a nice day at home cooking with my husband and enjoying my family.  The never frozen turkey turned out fantastic.  I'd certainly recommend it over a frozen turkey any day.

What's for dinner? Thanksgiving edition!!!

A blog about what we had for dinner!  If you want to see our cookbooks, check out the cookbook shelf link at the top my the blog

I almost gave Thanksgiving it's own post, but then realized this week would really consist of only two meals in preparation for and recovery from Thanksgiving, so skipped it!

Monday: Pasta with garlic and Olive Oil  Molto Gusto 
This recipe looks plain and I was really expecting to hate it.  It was actually pretty good! (I guess when you add enough salt and cheese, anything is good!;) ).  I'll give this cookbook points for ease, but you certainly aren't going to impress your in laws with any of them that we've tried so far.

Tuesday: Mexican Cheese Soup.
This is a great little slow cooker recipe. Gavin loves it with chips. I had it over french fries Wednesday for lunch.

Wednesday: Alyssa's Pasta Salad.  
For some insane reason we  still had collage class on Wednesday.  Alyssa brought pasta salad which was very good.

Thursday:  Thanksgiving!
Gavin and I spent the holiday home together, but it didn't stop us from cooking like there were going to be about 12 people coming over for dinner!!

Our Thanksgiving Table

 We recently received our first set of China and could think of no better first use than Thanksgiving dinner!

Dinner!

 Turkey: Gavin and I roasted the smallest turkey we could find! (11 lbs).
Stuffing:  Gavin made his Grandpa's stuffing recipe.  It was delicious, but clearly intended for a larger turkey, we ended up with an entire baking dish of extra stuffing!
Buttered Carrots
Mashed Potatoes: My husband makes the best mashed potatoes.  <3
Dinner Rolls

Pinot Noir Poached Pears with Muddled Wine

 Poached Pears with Muddled Wine: Our first dessert course was mine. I combined a recipe from the William Sonoma Healthful cooking cook book with one from the Ikea 365 cookbook. The wine smelled delicious in the house all day and we loved both the pears and the warmed wine.  I would serve them with ice cream next time.

Tofu Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate Mousse:  Gavin made the second dessert course which was a Tofu Chocolate Mousse, also from William Sonoma healthful cooking cook book.  We had a little issue with the texture, but it was still excellent.


Friday: Turkey and Vegetable Soup.
I always try to make soup from the leftover turkey bits, and sometimes have some major problems, so changed my methods up a bit this year and made some awesome homemade broth and soup with fresh veggies! I considered making homemade noodle, but we were out of eggs.

Saturday: leftovers   

 

Sunday:  leftovers

It's only Saturday morning, so I'm still guessing about today and tomorrow, but I'm pretty darn sure that's what we're having at least until Monday or Tuesday!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving

A.    Amy.  Yep, I’m grateful for me.  I’m grateful for who I am and who I am becoming.

B.    Bubble Baths.  I’m grateful for the ability to relax in an awesome bathtub will a million little bubbles to cheer me up.

C.    Cuddle blankets-  Enough said.
 
D.    Droooid- Don’t tell Gavin, but I’m grateful for the droid.  I’m grateful I have a phone for work, to keep in touch, to listen to the radio, to play games with friends.  Yep.  I like my Droid.

E.    Elephants- I’m grateful for my education (CSUF=Titans, Titans = Elephant, E not used yet, just go with it).  I’m glad I live in a society where I was able to get an education and can continue to learn and take classes. (I realize Education would have been an easier, albeit less exciting word for this)

F.    My Friends.  I am lucky to have friends who I can call in the middle of the night to say, ‘I’m not crazy, right?’,  or to spend a full day wandering around Ikea with or just sharing life with.

G.    God.  I’m not sure where the best place to find God is yet, and I am not sure when I ever will.  But I’m can’t deny that He has helped me, and I’m grateful.

H.    My husband.  I can’t imagine a more perfect fit for me.  He has proven so many times that he is exactly what I need.


I.    My In-laws.  In addition to finding an awesome person to share my life with, I got the added bonus of a family who loves and cares for me.  I am so grateful for the friendship, support and love I’ve found in them

J.    My Job-  I don’t always love my job, but I’m grateful for it. I’m grateful that I have a meaningful and useful way to use my skills to contribute to the world.  I’m grateful the world is willing to pay me for my contribution.

K.    Kids-  I’m grateful for children.  I’m grateful for their enthusiasm about everything.  Especially my nieces and nephews.

L.    Library-  I’m grateful for the library where I can check out audio books to keep me safe and sane while driving

M.    Music-  I’m grateful to have access to music that can cheer me up, comfort me, or make me dance.

N.    Nights at home.

O.    The Ocean-  I’m grateful for the beautiful view Gavin and I discovered a few weeks ago.

P.    The Present-  I’m grateful for Now.  Even when now isn’t exactly as I wish it were, I’m grateful that I’m alive and healthy and have so many things to be grateful for.

Q.    Quiblar-  I’m grateful for the little nightlight I bought last weekend to cheer me up.  I’m grateful that a 7 dollar toy from Ikea can cheer me up.

R.    Roberts-  I’m grateful for Family.

S.    Sundays-  I’m grateful for a day to catch up and hang out.

T.    Tomorrow-  I’m grateful for the future.  Whatever it holds, I’m grateful I have tomorrow to plan for, look forward to and experience.

U.    The Unexpected-  I’m (usually) grateful for the unexpected.  A letter in the mail, a note or candy in my lunchbox, a rain day in the middle of a hectic week.  I’m grateful life isn’t too predictable.

V.    Video Games-  I’m grateful for a form of entertainment where I can be a famous singer, an assassin, a hero, god, or a Sim.

W.    Whiteboard-   We have a whiteboard in our kitchen with our weekly menu on it.  The whiteboard is great, but really I’m grateful for a husband who is willing to shop, cook and clean with me so we can eat fresh healthy food at home.

X.    Et cetera-  Everything else, my healthy, my car, my safety equipment at work, our house, love, sunsets, Halloween, change, memories, photographs, art, shadows, freeways, email, perception, soda maker…

Y.    Yesterday-  I’m grateful for the past. I’m grateful for it’s role in getting me to where I am today and for teaching me what I needed to learn

Z.    Our Zoo.  I am so happy to have our beasties around to cheer me up and cuddle and run around like crazy to make us laugh