Happy Birthday Andrew!

Two years ago I barely knew you. I had no idea what God had planned for us. I couldn't have picked a better man to spend my life with. You make me laugh, you love Oliver (although you don't always like to admit it!), you put up with my love of history and all things antique and my constant need for new books. I know that you will always lead our family down the path that God directs us to. Life is a wonderful adventure with you by my side. I can't wait to see what God has planned for the next year.

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband. I love you!

Shortbread Bites

I love Christmas, but boy am I tired. In order to fit everyone in and see all the family, we celebrated for 4 days straight. Throw in me being up at 2:30am for work 2 of those days, and I am ready for a break! 

Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Even though we were busy, I enjoyed seeing everyone and had a fantastic Christmas.

Being diabetic, we try not to have too much of the Christmas goodies around the house, but I did make one thing. I found this recipe on Pintrest and they are so addictive! 

Warning: if you make these, I highly suggest you plan on bringing them to a party or give them away as gifts. Otherwise they will haunt you and you will end up eating way more of them than you planned!

Funfetti Shortbread Bites

1 c. salted butter, cold and cubed

2/3 c. sugar

1/2 t. almond extract

2 1/4 c. flour

2 1/2 T. nonpareils sprinkles

Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray and line with parchment, leaving about 1 inch overhang on all sides. Cream together butter and sugar. Add extract. Slowly add flour and mix until combined. Mix and fold in sprinkles. Press dough into pan and chill in refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lift dough from pan and cut into 1/2 inch squares. Transfer to ungreased baking sheet, placing them 1/2 inch apart. Bake for 8-12 minutes. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

As we don't have a stand mixer, I used our little handheld mixer for this. It gets the job done, but if you have a stand mixer, I highly recommend using it unless you are looking for an arm workout!

Sometimes you just need coffee...

...in your favorite mug at 1:00 in the afternoon.

When you have to be up for work at 2:30am, you need a little bit of liquid energy by the time noon rolls around. 

Oliver and his blinds

What is it with cats? They are always doing something unusual. 

Every morning, before I have even gotten my first cup of coffee, I open the blinds in the living room so that Oliver can sit on his cat tree and keep an eye on the neighborhood. 

He has recently decided, however, that this is not good enough and places himself on the desk in the bedroom hoping that we will take pity on him and open those blinds too.

Poor, sad little cat. I have, on occasion, opened those blinds for him. He does the typical cat thing and looks out the window for all of 2 seconds before jumping down and heading for his normal perch in the living room. 

Cats. Can't live with them, can't live without them.

Christmas 2015

Where did this year go? I am honestly not sure how it can possibly be Christmas time already!

Somehow it is, and so, I thought I would give you a little tour of our decorated, festive home.

Our wreath. Simple, but festive.

It's hard to see in this picture, but our tree does have a string of red lights running up the center. It provides a nice splash of color.

Some of the ornaments on our tree have special meaning.

It's hard to see, but this was a gift given to us when we got married. It has our names and our wedding date on it.

Our tree wouldn't be complete without a santa carved by my dad.

We also have a carved, standing santa.

These stocking were a bridal shower gift. Aren't they beautifully made?

And finally, our card holder. I cannot take credit for this idea. It was all from my husband. A dowel, some burlap, and some jute and you are set(with the help of your wonderful sister and her sewing machine, of course.)!

To top it off, and with the help of my two creative aunts, I bought these cute little clothespins and stamped them. 

They are perfect for holding Christmas cards, or pictures if you want to leave it up year-round.

That concludes our tour. Thanks for stopping by!