A Year in Review

We've had an enormous year, and to commemorate, I wanted to put together a brief overview of what it looked like...sifting through pictures was tough, but to spare you, I just chose a few:

January: 

We rang in the new year from Denver, CO visiting family... and it was COLD!

February:
Nothing major happened... it's kind of the forgotten month.

March: 

I turned 24!

Our good friends got engaged, so we went to Bernhardt winery to celebrate. When Daniel and I got engaged, we went to Messina Hof winery with Rachel and Ross to celebrate, so now it was their turn! Can't wait for their wedding June 2012!

April: 

I had my bridal shower! It was gorgeous and a wonderful time!

 Easter Sunday also occurred in April this year...yeah we were in the hot tub in April...

Ah to live in Texas!

May: 

Was a busy month... the first of many! We celebrated Mother's Day...

 Both Daniel and I had showers at our schools...

 ...and Daniel moved into our little townhouse that we would live in after the wedding!

June:
Oh yeah, and then WE GOT MARRIED!

 ...and took our honeymoon to the Bahamas.

July:  

We spent our first month married adjusting to our new life, introducing our cats to each other, and enjoying time off! My mom got engaged, and I can't wait for their wedding in January!

August: 

Back to school time! Daniel resumed teaching elementary Art, and I started 

5th grade Language Arts and Social Studies.

September: 

Not much happened...Celebrated my sister's and brother-in-law's birthdays

but those pictures are on my mom's camera...

October: 

I started my blog this month, so pretty much everything has been cataloged for the rest of the year... Daniel turned 25! We had our first Halloween passing out candy to the neighborhood (oh adulthood...). And our friend's Matt and Jill had an engagement party in Austin.

November and December:  

Want to see what we were up to? Check out the rest of my blog! We celebrated 

Thanksgiving and Christmas with a lot of family, and tons of food! 

We have been truly blessed this year, and are excited to see what 2012 holds! I already am anticipating my mom's wedding in January, Daniel starting graduate school, my sister having her first baby in June, along with three weddings of good friends... looks like 2012 will be a busy year!

Merry Christmas!

Santa: Myth or Magical?

Teaching fifth grade is tricky around the holidays. Most of my students are still ten years old, and the magical illusion of Santa has not yet been broken. The sweet innocence still glows through their smiles as they talk about the break and Christmas Day. And yet, as my class worked, their conversations drifted to the ever elusive discussion about the reality of Santa, and whether or not you believe. I wandered around listening to what was being said, my curiosity peaked. One group, full of believers, was heatedly talking about what they were hoping to get, while another was debating whether Santa was real, starting to figure out the parental magic at this time of year. The room was dotted with students keeping their mouths shut, uncharacteristic of them, but not wanting to spoil the surprise for their fellow classmates.

My favorite, however, was watching "Mr. Cool" listen to everyone. (Yes, the same boy I wrote a previous blog about, who gave me a huge hug before leaving for break). I knew he had probably known about Santa for years, being a little more "street wise" then I ever want my ten year old to be. He sits next to one of my most intellectual students, who albeit is very quirky, and yet I heard him say "Well of course I believe in Santa!" She looked relieved. When others shot skeptical looks his way, I mentioned, in the words of my mother-in-law "If you stop believing, you'll stop receiving." Well, Mr. Cool thought this was just about the greatest saying he's ever heard, and by the end of the day, I'm pretty sure anyone who thought they knew the secret of Santa, had been persuaded to resume their childhood presumptions, that indeed, Saint Nick is real.

Now I know by next year, all my students will probably know the "lie" cooked up by parents for centuries, but for now, let the innocence remain on their faces for one last year, before the magic is squashed out of their brains, and they are forced to grow up far too fast.

Cuddly Cats

I have been sick all day with a sinus infection and some ongoing asthma issues. After an early morning trip to the doctor, a lecture about not getting a flu shot (way to kick me when I'm down Doc), four hefty prescriptions, and a long nap, I was finally able to get enough strength to move...

...to the couch. Where I am currently laying down. As I sit here and waste time on my computer, my sweet cats came to comfort me. At least that's what I tell myself. I know that they are actually seeking heat from the only warm body in the house, but still, it's nice to have two warm cats snuggling up to you. Boots' peeked his little furry face around the computer screen, while Ellie prefers to monopolize my legs... yes ALL of my legs. But aren't they sweet?

Baking Day!

Today was baking day in the Yager household! While we already made our peppermint meringues on Monday, today was filled with my favorites that always remind me of the holidays, and baking with my mom. I was, and still am, always her helper in the kitchen and seemed somewhat incomplete making these without her today. My first Christmas baking with my new husband, however, made up for it! Nevertheless, the "mom void" will soon be filled as we head to her house tomorrow for another baking endeavour. While in years past, we grew up eating a wide assortment of sweets, we had to keep in mind that we are only two people, and we can't go cookie crazy. We landed on two recipes that are tried and true: Biscotti and Heath Bars! I included the recipes for these two because they are so worth it!

First on the list: Chocolate Chip Biscotti! This cookie is a little labor intensive, but delicious and totally worth the effort. If you have never eaten home-made biscotti before, you are missing out... believe me! Store bought doesn't even compare.

View Biscotti Recipe Here

Heath bars were next on the list, and are basically Christmas crack... be careful! 

Oh, and an added bonus: only 5 basic ingredients!

 Place saltine crackers, salt side up, in a 13x9 baking dish.

 Melt two sticks of butter (Paula Deen would be proud!) and half a cup of sugar on the stove top. Let boil for three minutes and pour over crackers. Bake at 450 for three minutes in the oven. Then pour an entire bag of chocolate chips over the top (yeah, the whole bag!)

Spread the chips when they have melted, and top with chopped nuts 

(pictured here are walnuts, but any of your favorites would work.)

We also made another round of "buttons" that were pictured earlier (pretzels, Hershey kisses, and M&Ms). Although, someone left them in the oven for too long and the chocolate seized up... so the whole tray ended up in the trash. Now who could have done such a thing???

Merry Christmas and Happy Baking!

Peppermint Heaven

School is out for two weeks, Daniel took his G-MAT yesterday, and the presents are shipped (UPS store employees are extortionists... I swear!). Thus enter my favorite part of the holiday season... CHRISTMAS COOKIE BAKING! We started out small, but today I suspect much baking to occur.

While Daniel was at his test (grad school here he comes!), I made "buttons." Pretzels, Hershey's kisses, and M&Ms. Not a cookie, but good nonetheless. More will be made shortly, I suspect...

The main event of yesterday were Peppermint Meringue Cookies. Light, little drops of peppermint that literally melt... delicious! Daniel was pretty proud of them, and they are really easy! Basically just egg whites and sugar beaten until stiff peaks form. The only hitch is that they have to bake for 2.5 hours then cool for another hour. Whew! But I think it was well worth the wait!

Christmas Wreath

I was very proud of my Autumn Wreath and was sad to take it down this year, but enter... Christmas! I was given a basic greenery wreath with multi-colored lights that would have been trash otherwise, added some ornaments I got in the dollar section of Target (my favorite section!!!), and some ribbon that was leftover from a present a student gave me (way to be thrifty!!). My photos don't show the lights all lit up (if anyone would like to get me a new, really good camera for Christmas, feel free!) but I think it looks cute, minus the cord hanging down... Not up to my fall wreath standards, but it'll do!

Wedding Love

Christmas Day will be our 6th month anniversary, and to remember our wonderful day during this time of year, we made an ornament to commemorate our wedding. All we did was cut up one of our invitations into strips (we also used a program, because the invitation wasn't enough), curled them, and stuffed them into a glass ornament. No matter which way you turn it, there are important words from our joyous day. A special keepsake to pull out during the holidays!

Easiest Mac-and-Cheese Ever!

I came across this recipe on Pinterest last week, and it was so intriguing that I had to try it. In my world, macaroni and cheese is its own food group. I could eat it everyday (and let's face it, I probably do in some form or another). So, when I found a recipe with only 4 ingredients, that doesn't call for Velveeta or powdered cheese, I knew I had to try. It was really creamy and yummy!

Cook pasta in milk...

It absorbs pretty quickly!

Add cheddar cheese and stir!

The recipe calls for Dijon mustard also, but we didn't have any on hand. 

It still tasted really good and was super creamy... give this one a try!

Deep Dish Pizza Casserole

Meal planning again...I hate meal planning. When does this adult stuff get easier?? However, I came across a recipe that my mom used to make, and it is super easy with great results. Pizza dough, ground beef, peppers and onions, sauce, and cheese! Makes great leftovers too, although next time I will add a little more cheese to the top. Delicious and another success in our household!

Break Time!

School is finally on break for the next two weeks! Wahoo! Our last day of school was filled with holiday activities and movies, and tons of treats (of course!). Normally the kids are insane on days like these, but ours were fairly well behaved (for the most part). My favorite part of the day was not when all my sweet little girls huddled around my desk, just wanting to chat with me. Or when my class was overjoyed with the small gifts we gave them. Or even when the teachers were given a very generous gift from all the parents. No, it was when one of my most challenging, ill-behaved students, who usually gives me a fair amount of grief, came up and gave me an enormous hug at dismissal. "Have a great break Mrs. Yager!" he called out...

Sometimes it's the smallest gifts that mean the most.

Crafty Christmas Creations

I read a quote recently that said "A poor author uses alliteration when they don't have a good idea." Well, no offense to whomever wrote that, but I personally love alliteration, hence the use of it in so many of my titles. I encourage my students to use this technique in their writing as well. 

But that's besides the point. As our first Christmas as a married couple, we have a sweet little tree in need of decorating. Now don't get me wrong, we won't have a Charlie Brown tree this year because I have an ornament collection of which could rival what you see at a Hallmark display, but we still wanted some new ornaments to call our own. However, the funds just don't ever seem to be enough. Enter... THE ARTIST! At times like these, it sure is handy to have married a very skilled (and might I add patient) artist who loves to create. So we dusted off the mod podge bottle, got some new glitter from the craft store, and Daniel went to work. Nevermind that I will probably be finding glitter in our kitchen until the day we move out, but I thought his first few came out great! I especially like the blue and silver snowflake. The snowman and ribbon aren't quite finished yet, but I, unlike my husband, am NOT a patient person, and wanted to get them on the tree!

Cornbread Pie

For dinner we made a delicious chicken cornbread pie. Basically cornbread and chili in one pan. Definitely a winner! Cook the chicken with taco seasoning and peppers, add cheese on top, and spoon cornbread evenly over the mixture. Bake for 20 minutes and you have an easy meal. This recipe could easily be changed to fit any taste.

Falala!

Bare with me as I  try out some new photo editing software... yes all these pictures have been on my blog before, BUT  I needed to try it out!

Italian Night

We got a new kitchen decoration :)

We hosted our first dinner in our house last weekend, made pesto spinach stuffed shells, and had a big success! As an added bonus, I got to use my new serving dish for the first time. Despite the inadequate size of our kitchen table, we were able to just barely squeeze the six of us around, and shared some yummy food. My sister brought the salad, and dad brought wine and appetizers. Pretty easy!!!

Cheese, egg, pesto...

Add the spinach to the mixture...

Cook the shells... stuff...

And snuggle into the dish to bake. Top with more sauce before putting it into the oven...
my camera lay forgotten after this, so we don't have any pictures of anything else.

Christmastime is Here!

My favorite season is officially upon us, now that Thanksgiving has ended. Last week we pulled out what few decorations we currently owned, and started decorating our little house! Surprisingly enough, our hand-me-down decorations spread pretty far, along with a sprinkle of some newly bought ones. We aren't finished with everything quite yet, but it's a start!

Merry Christmas! The Cats were thrilled, can't you tell?!

Finishing with the tree!

HO HO HO!

Next to our wine rack

Even our kitchen is in the spirit!

This is still a work in progress. I'm going to do something with the light bulbs, but I'm not sure what yet. I think dip them in glitter to add a little bit of sparkle.

I think this is from Whoville :)

Snowmen friends that Boots enjoys playing with!

Giving Thanks!

Hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving yesterday, I know I did! My husband and I spent the morning at my mom's house, then the afternoon at his mom's house. Two wonderfully delicious meals... and we are stuffed. Being newlyweds, and finally having our own kitchen this year, we felt as though we should contribute to both dinners in some fashion or another. To house #1 we brought the Ultimate Chocolate Caramel Pecan Pie (YUM) and to house #2 we brought Senator Russel's Sweet Potato Casserole (jam-packed with brown sugar, butter, and all things delectably bad for you... double yum). Pictures didn't turn out great because I kept forgetting the camera amidst the amount of dirty dishes that piled up so rapidly making two small items.

Cook the sweet potatoes but don't cook too many like we did.
We'll be eating mashed sweet potatoes for a week!

Mashing time!

Add sugar, butter, vanilla, and some other yummy stuff... pour into baking dish

Top with more sugar, butter, and other yummy stuff like pecans...
Bake and serve hot! DELICIOUS!

This is pecans, sugar, and butter baked into a dish, a whole bag of caramels melted
and pour on-top (around this time is when I forgot the camera), then sprinkled
with even MORE pecans...awaiting its chocolate en robing.

Melt chocolate, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth and shiny

Pour on top and chill! Serve with whipped cream...

 Best part... we still have leftovers of both in our fridge (along with the excess mashed sweet potatoes if anyone would like some)...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!