There is so much going on! I LOVE IT!

Good Morning Readers --

Okay to start off I am 5 days away from vacation! I can't wait for Christmas vacation! In my last post I stated that I had the Christmas spirit bug. Well I still do! It's amazing! I'm in such a good place, and I am praising God for it! He is so wonderful to us, sometimes we just need to step back and realize what he is doing in our lives.

Since Jesus is the reason for our wonderful lives, I have to start with my blessings!

1. I am blessed to have a wonderful home (which we purchased this summer)
2. I am blessed to have a career and to be able to earn money for my family.
3. I am blessed with an amazing husband, who always deals with the good, the bad, and the ugly!
4. I am blessed with an amazing family. 
5. I am blessed with the ability to see, hear, smell, and think for myself.
6. I am blessed to be able to cook!
7. I am blessed for my awesome friends (even if we don't see them often enough)
8. I am blessed with a STRONG faith!

I could keep going and going, but I won't! I know that God is the reason for all these blessings!

Over the weekend I took some time out for cooking therapy. (If you don't like to cook, I don't recommend it). Cooking therapy for me is time in my kitchen with an audiobook or music playing, and just cooking. It can be baking or preparing a meal. (This is not the same as cooking for a large group of people you are trying to impress) Maybe it is experimenting with some new recipes. This weekend I decided to make Christmas treats! I was so impressed that they all turned out so amazing. So with actual picture from my kitchen, I am sharing my treats with you today.

Peanut Butter Fudge Cups -- by Inspireddreamer.com

These were so good, with the nice fudgie centers. I will say that there is not a complete recipe here so you have to wing it a little bit. 

I filled my mini muffin container with little balls that didn't fill the hole, and then cooked them until they looked like they were browning (8-10 minutes -- keep an eye on them). Once I had them cooling I made the filling in a  pan on low. Poured into a ziploc bag and then cut the corner off. BE CAREFUL the filling can be hot!

Next was MONSTER COOKIES -- by Raininghotcoupons.com

Follow the directions exactly and they work awesome! Including the cooling time, and baking time. These are so perfect and delicious. I think this might be my new favorite cookie.

Let's move on past the cookies. 

Next we have Peanut Butter Fudge -- by communitytable.com

For some reason I had in my head that fudge was hard to make. This was so easy! I want to try it again with crunchy peanut butter to make there be a little more texture.

My final experiment or cooking project was Peppermint Bark -- by sallysbakingaddiction.com.

This was so good, but doesn't make very much. Mine made about a 9x9 pan! Which is enough to sample and enough to give some away! It probably works best to try to cut it or break it after it has had a chance to warm up just a little bit.

I hope you enjoy the tasty treats, and I would love to hear what you think of them when you try them.

Past Thanksgiving On to Christmas

Well we made it through Thanksgiving, and got to spend some great time with family. It was so nice to be able to see everyone, and get a little chatting taken care of. I always find family gatherings interesting.

Andy and I have been absolutely enjoying decorating our new home for Christmas. We decided that we would do a little bit here and a little bit there. We don't want to get sick of Christmas or loose our spirit before the holiday actually gets here. Since our house is bigger, we have decided to set up 3 trees. I love it! We have a themed "pretty tree" decorated in red and gold, and then we have our "memory tree" with all the personal ornaments from over the years. We have ornaments dating all the way back to 1982! Please don't do the math! :) Our final tree is not decorated yet, but will just have bulbs on it. It is only 4ft high and sits in our beautiful bay window. I can't wait until our house is all decorated. I have absolutely loved decorating our mantel and setting up the nativity scene.

I think the coolest part about Christmas this year is we will be hosting our very first FAMILY CHRISTMAS at our house! How exciting. Part of me hopes that it becomes a tradition to come to our house, but my tune may change when I am preparing the Christmas meal. It's a cool feeling to think that people are actually going to see our Christmas decorations! (This is normally rare, because we are always at other's homes)

I will leave you with my latest project of making Christmas cards. They are starting to take over my craft room. Now the question will be will anyone see the cards in their mailbox. I often make them and hardly ever remember to send them out.

Well that's all I have for now. Couple recipe recommendations to leave you with.

This first one was my dish for Thanksgiving, it was even requested that I bring it back for Christmas.
Cajun Corn Casserole - by Unexpected Elegance.com
 ( I leave the seeds of one of my jalapenos in, and I add an extra one.

Another recipe that I have a tried this past week was Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti from Plainchicken.com
(Next time I make this I will try to figure out a way to spice it up a little bit. It would make a nice meal for 4 people)

Give them a try you will love them!