A wintery pup.

I’m headed to our house inspections in a few, so not much time for a real long post…just some pics from this weekend. Eugene & I took the pup to play in the snow. And, of course, he loved it as always!

 

 

I love my pup…even when I come home from an event & find our loveseat eaten to the wood! {True story.}

Filled to the brim.

This weekend was chock full o’ events. It started with a Friday night event at work – a local business’ Christmas party. The party went well & all seemed to have a good time. Aren’t the decorations I labored over pretty? :)

You finally get to see the “after” shot of my green nemesis.

 

I worked late till the end of the party & then had to reset all the tables & chairs or the next party in less than 24 hours. Bright & early Saturday, Eugene & I headed to Cedarville to his girls’ basketball game. They played really well {best all season} & had such a great win! I would have pictures to share, but I dropped my camera before the game started so it was broken for about an hour…thankfully it started working again later {wondrous thing.} Unfortunately, this is the only pic I got that morning!

From there, we ate some lunch & pretty soon I was off to two more events for work. One was a Shriner’s Christmas party & the other was a wedding reception at my other banquet center.

Here’s extra big tree #2 I put up – I had help for this one though.

 

I love ornaments with the white lights. The wedding reception went really well & the mother of the bride thanked me with a nice tip! She was so appreciative for all my help. It was nice to get such great thanks since usually my clients are so busy & overwhelmed on their big day they rarely think to tell me thank you.

And Sunday after church, I went to another baby shower for my friend, Libby.

 

I bought her the cutest little infant crocks…

What a pretty momma!

We’ll get to finally meet little Griffin in just a little over a month. :)

{P.S. If ya could, please say a prayer that our house expectations go very well tomorrow afternoon & nothing comes up that we didn’t already expect.}

Our own Thanksgiving tradition.

This is a bit delayed, but I’ve got nothing else remotely interesting to share today. It’s been a down week for me because last week was so full of family, free time, and time away from work, so this week going back to work, my sister & her family flying back to Oklahoma, not seeing Eugene much at all b/c of our work schedule, not feeling well {etc.} it’s been a rough week.

Anyhoo, I’d like to post a new tradition Eugene & I started this year for Thanksgiving. We are blessed to live close to our parents, so it’s really easy for us to go along through the holidays and participate in everyone’s already-set traditions without actually creating our own, for the two of us. So, we decided to try something new this year – nothing mind-blowing or creative, but something just for us.

We cut sheets of colored paper & each took turns writing a blessing we’re thankful for this year & the date. We shared each idea out loud together. We only did a handful, because we want to add to the same collection each year, so next year we’ll write another handful of blessings on a different color of paper strips. That way we can look through the previous year’s blessings & be even more thankful.

I hope to find a beautiful container to display our yearly blessings, but for now a mason jar will work just fine…

 

So even though it’s a down week for me, I know I have tons of blessings...and a new tradition for my husband & me to share together. :)

The stocking are hung.

After the Ohio State vs. Michigan game, Eugene & I decided to deck the halls. Here’s a pic from earlier that day…yes, we’re a house divided, but we make it work. ;)

Eugene’s decided that once we own a house, we’ll get a “real” Christmas tree, but for now, we just borrow an  one from his parents since they have an extra {thanks!}
Poor thing looked so sad, half put together!

Next came the lights…
  
And then the ornaments {I added another box of ornaments after I took this picture too.}


For our wedding gift, my sister gave me such a neat Christmas ornament set that she pieced together item by item to fit with a note explaining the significance:
According to the old German tradition, the tree of a newlywed couple should include these twelve ornaments to insure blessing and happiness for their life together…

• an angel  for God’s guidance in the home
• a rose for beauty and affection
• a rabbit for hope and faith
• a teapot for hospitality
• a pine cone for motherhood and fruitfulness
• a santa for unselfishness and goodwill
• a house for shelter and protection
• a fruit basket for generosity
• a bird for happiness and joy
• a flower basket for good wishes
• a heart for true love
• a fish for Christ’s blessing

Here’s the big gold heart ornament…

And my favorite of all, the fish…

I love that I have all these beautiful ornaments on our tree & I love the meaning behind each one – not to mention the fact that they were a gift from my sister on our wedding day. :)

After Christmas last year, Eugene & I bought stockings on clearance, so I was excited to actually hang stockings this year {it’s the little things in life!}

And the stockings with the {not-so-real-looking} garland. One for Eugene, Espn, & me.

I guess the pup’s not too excited about the decorations…this is how I found him 20 minutes after we got home from my parents’ place. He gets so worn out from their big yard!

Next on the list is to hand stitch our names on our stockings using embroidery floss & to sew a tree skirt {someday}.

Oh, and in keeping with the Christmas spirit, I love this Christmas song by Jars of Clay.

Warm potato soup & the first snow.

I’ve been craving my cheesy potato soup for the past three weeks, and I just haven’t gotten around to making it.



Yesterday, I finally decided I didn’t want to wait any more, but I made this decision after work, and the recipe’s a slow cooker recipe. Never fear, I decided to just try it on the stove & hope for the best.  I also had bacon leftover from last night’s omelets, so I used bacon instead of ham. {I think ham’s just a little bit better in this soup because it gives more flavor to the potatoes.}

It wasn’t the best – I actually prefer the slow cooker version more – but it was pretty darn good! This recipe’s great because I usually have all the ingredients on hand & other than peeling the potatoes, it’s super simple. Plus, it’s a great recipe for having a crowd over.
Oh, and I lost the recipe card, so I had to call my dad {who asked me to write the recipe down for him a while back.} Luckily, he found his copy! So now I’m positing it here so I have it saved for next time. Also, I accidentally deleted the ingredient picture, so you’ll just have to use your imagination for that one today….

Slow Cooker Cheesy Potato Soup

Cooked ham, or bacon {however much ya want}
1 can of chicken or vegetable broth
8 {or so} potatoes
1 can of corn, drained
2 carrots
1 celery stalk
1/2 onion
2 cups milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3-4 cups water
3 tablespoons flour

Pour the broth & water in your slow cooker {remember, as you can see below, I did mine on the stove top, but I recommend doing it in the slow cooker.} Add your diced ham {or 1/2 your bacon}, peeled and diced potatoes, carrots, celery, & onion, and add your can of corn.








Cover & let it sit on high for 5-6 hours in your Crockpot. {For the stovetop version, I boiled it on high for at least an hour.} The soup will turn a golden color from the corn & carrots.



After five or six hours in the Crockpot, you’ll want to measure out your milk & add your flour to the milk & stir it well to dissolve all the flour. {This avoids the chunks that you typically get if you add the flour straight to the hot soup broth.




Now, pour your milk/four mixture into your soup {still in the Crockpot.} Let this cook in your Crockpot for 30 more minutes on high.



Now, using a potato masher, mash your soup to break up the potato chunks.



If you’re using bacon instead of ham, add the rest of your bacon now. {I was afraid the bacon would get too soggy if I added it all at the beginning.}



Also add your cheese & stir until it’s fully melted.

 

Serve it up with some saltines or grilled sandwiches & it’s SO good! Perfect for a chilly day!




Speaking of a chilly day – we got our first real snow of the winter here today. And let me tell you, the pup could not be any more excited. He LOVES snow! I took him on a walk & the second he stepped out the door & saw the white on the ground he went berserk! He just jumped up & down {literally} and ran in circles. I snapped some phone pics of him digging his nose in the snow trying to eat it.




Silly dog. I’m not a fan of the cold, but watching him go crazy about the snow makes it a little better!