Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!! I hope everyone has a wonderful time with family and friends, making memories. I know Dave and I will.

We are spending Christmas Eve dinner with my parents and grandparents. Then for Christmas we are spending Christmas Day with Dave's family.

When we get Dave's side, they like to do a Chinese christmas. That's where you bring a nice gift of a certain amount that's been preset. Then everyone draws a number and then picks a gift. If someone steals your gift, then you can either steal someone else's or pick another one. This our gift limit was $25 a person. So I went to Marshalls (which is one of my favorite stores) and put together two food gift baskets, one from my husband and one from me. Why is it that I always like the gifts I bring?

Here are the two gifts we are taking to my In-Laws for christmas.

This basket has hot chocolate, mixed nuts, and shortbread cookies. There is also a dish towel rolled up in the front for an added touch. I love the shape of this bowl. 

This basket is a nice deep bowl with mixed nuts, lemon scone mix, chocolate covered cherries and a dish towel. 

Merry Christmas!!

Making Orange Marmalade

Friday was my last day of work for two whole weeks. I work in the IT department for a school district, so we get two weeks of vacation at Christmas time. It's wonderful. I get to rest, spend time with family and bake/cook.

Speaking of which, yesterday while I was at work my husband texted me and said he was at his mothers making orange marmalade and when I get off to come over. So I drove to my mother-in-laws house and there on the counter was these beauties. 

And this is how my husband and his mother made orange marmalade. Then I came in and finished it off!! :)

First you buy mason jars (I think we used 10 or 12 ounces. They were given to us.), lids, and the camps or rings. Then you need to sterilize them. Basically you put them in a big pot of water and boil them. 

The hubby and Mom-in-law had already made the orange marmalade before I got there. I got to scoop it into the mason jars. :) 

This is the pot that we put the jars in after we put the lids on to seal them. You boil them for 15 minutes. Make sure you have them covered by by two inches.

Here are the first two jars that came out of the cooker.

The hubby-miester cooking away.

A watched pot never boils, but in this case it did. 

Here they are cooking in the pot.

Taking more jars out of the cooker.

The finished product. Now to let them rest for a week or so. That way they can become thicker.

This will be delicious over a nice smoked ham. Next we are going to make grapefruit jam.

Laundry Room Makeover

I found this picture on Pinterest the other night and thought it was cool. I loved the color. So I decided to paint my laundry room. I'm not going to do the chandelier since I don't have a window to help supplement the light. I do have to say though, I like the curtains and the shelf over the washer and dryer.

Since I'm off from work for two weeks, guess what I'm going to do. :) I like the white boarder trim with the hooks but since my room has two doors and not much room, I don't think the hooks will work for me. But I do like how it looks. So this will be my new project. It beats doing the kitchen wall paper.

Here are some pictures of my room.

Behind the door with the wreath, is my ironing board. I put a coat hook on it and hung it up. It made it so much better for storage.

True Love

On Friday 20 children lost their lives. It was a horrible and tragic event. Precious children who won't get to open presents this year, see family members, or play in the snow.

Then tonight, my husband and I had a discussion about christmas and that we both didn't want anything, then what should we do, should we save the money, take a weekend vacation, etc. Well, I had left the room and gone to my art room to work on a fun project. 

Well, that got me to thinking. What if I were to die tonight, or tomorrow? Would he really know how I feel about him? So I started to think about this.

Every day he gets up and goes to work in a plan as a contractor for an electric company (he's an electrician). He always kisses me goodbye and says he loves me. One night we had a fight about something (who knows now) but I remember the next morning I was still wanting to make my point. My wonderful husband looked at me in the morning glow of the rising sun and said, "Shhhh!! Let's not fight. I may not come home tonight." Astonished, I asked the ever pressing question. "Why wouldn't you come home?" He replies, "Because I work in a chemical plant and its dangerous and I don't want the last thing I remember of you to be a fight this morning."Again, I was astonished. My husband had actually put thought into this.

So tonight, as I think about last Friday and those poor children, I also think of my husband. The man I love and the man I married almost 2 years ago. 

So all that to say, here is what I would want my husband to know if I were to die tonight, or tomorrow, or the next day.

Dear Honey,

For the past year and 9 months, you have brought joy to my life. I know we have our fights and are still finding out how to make this marriage work, but know that I love you very much. It's the smile on your face when you walk in the door after you get home from work that lights up heart. It's the way you kiss me to death and stall me from making dinner some nights. 

You have a tender heart and a wonderful soul. Everyone at church services always tells me so and the truth is, you do. I see it when you talk to our friends. You try to do what's right and put God first. You are kind, caring, and loving. I couldn't have asked for a better man, a better husband, and a better partner. I look forward to what the Lord has in store for us.

Love,

Your wife.