We Got it!

The house is ours, as it gets closer I'll announce a move in date;). But for now please pray for me, for over that last 24 hrs I've been vomiting, we believe it's food poisoning which should only last 48hs, so I'm praying it's almost over.

Update on the house!

We put our offer in and someone else also had put an offer in this morning but ours was higher so hopefully we'll know tomorrow;) . Also if anyone knows of anyone who has a refrigerator and a washer and dryer they can give us or sell for cheap, we would appreciate it.

Pictures of our house!

We found a house!

We found the perfect house for us, a tiny bit of fixing up but easy and cheap to do. Alex will be signing the papers tomorrow and we'll put in our offer. Please pray that if it's God's will for us to be in this house everything will go smoothly. Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to decorate.

Happy Thanksgiving ...back!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope everyone had a really great holiday! Alex and I drove to San Diego to be with his extended family, definitely a different experience for me. Then on Friday, my family came over to our house, the stinky part is I had to work Friday morning and on top of that, Alex and I decided to get up at 4AM to go shopping! Call us crazy, it was an adventure and it was fun. We got most of our Christmas shopping done for almost nothing which is great. So Friday afternoon I came home, tried to nap and started cooking. Luckily my mom did the turkey, I think they are intimidating, and it kind of grosses me out to mess with them raw...but she did a great job and it was the juiciest turkey I've ever had. I made all the other yummy sides and Wassel, which is a German hot apple cider, everyone else seemed to like but I didn't care for much...go figure. So dinner was yummy and I loved being able to host Thanksgiving finally! It will probably be a while before I can do that again seeing as how next year I'll have a little baby to tend to;). My table turned out beautiful and I'm so excited because I spent almost nothing on it. I thought this was cute, so I'll share it with you;).

Table runner - $4
Pumpkin - $1
Candle Holders - $3
Gold Chargers -$8
flowers in the pumpkin -$4
Salt and Pepper shaker -$5
Being told by my mom's friend that my table was too expensive for his taste - Priceless!

P.S. this was the final product of my centerpiece, I added some maroon daisies to match the runner;).

Centerpiece Idea #1

What do you think?

Sweet Potato's and pumpkin pie!

I'm so excited for thanksgiving and to cook and bake and feed people wonderful yummy food! I can't wait!

So my new job is going pretty well. I'm learning what I can and can't do. It kind of stinks because I'm used to being pretty independent but there are some things that are not worth hurting me or my baby. I'm only working a few days a week for 4 hours a day but it's nice to get out of the house and be social and I love helping people get ideas to decorate their house. I was super blessed by an experience today.

This elderly gentleman came into the store and was very polite and asked me if I could help him for a while. Of course I said yes because that was my job. I wasn't thinking anything of it because people ask questions all the time and don't seem very appreciative of it but this was different. He asked me about a few pieces of bedroom furniture and told me that it was just for him because he was a widower. So I went around with him after finding out his tastes and his needs and found him a bed, a dresser, a night stand, and a side board all for $1,000. He was so happy and it felt so good to help him. He was one of the sweetest old guys I've ever met and I hope he comes back because those are the kind of people I love helping.

I feel like I just got hit by a semi truck...

Pray for me...

My new creation!

Here is my latest creation! I would like to thank God for giving me the wonderful idea and Alex and Kristen for encouraging me to make it. It is delicious. If you like Reese's peanut butter cups you will like this cake;). I made it this morning and it came out wonderful, of course there are a few small improvements I would like to make, and I am worried that it might be a little too rich for some people but it sure was a hit with my family tonight, who I love to use as guinea pigs.

This is my Chocolate Peanut butter fluff cake;).

I also came across the fact that not only is Chicken Parmesan easy to make but it taste so much better at home than it does at the restaurant. I was looking for something easy that would feed three meat eaters and my vegetarian brother and thought, hey I can make Chicken Parmesan and Eggplant Parmesan and it wouldn't be that hard. I had this amazing organic spinach pasta that I got from Whole Foods and then I browned the chicken and eggplant in a little olive oil and milk and flower with spices and then baked in the oven with some cheese and sauce, it was too die for. The best was my brothers compliment on the meal, he is a hard critic to please when it comes to food;). So I felt very good about dinner tonight, followed of course this fabulously rich dessert.

I don't know though, I wonder if this cake would be better with something more bland consumed before hand. Anyway, I'm excited about all the yumminess of one night, if you would like either recipe just let me know and I'd be happy to share;).

I got the job!

I'm very excited! One of the coolest things was that the manager was the first person in 6 months to point out that I was pregnant. It helped my self esteem, I was starting to think people just thought I was fat. So I start on Monday, yay! I really excited!

New Job? We'll see...

So, yesterday I had a job interview that went well but I don't feel like it's a good fit, they want someone long term and I am not looking for a career right now. So Alex and I went to dinner last night and decided to stop in at the mall and went into Bombay (which is almost the same as Zgallerie) on the front door there was a help wanted sign. But then when we walked in there where big "going out of business" signs. So I decided to ask one of the salespeople, who turned out to be one of the managers, she said they were hiring but they were also closing but not until January so they need holiday help. She asked me to fill out an application right there and I told her about my stint at Zgallerie and she asked me to come in for an interview today!

I'm kind of excited for this, and I'll tell you why. There are multiple reasons this gives me warm fuzzies. #1 It's almost a shoe in that I'll get the job because of all my experience at Zgallerie. #2 With me missing all of the Holiday goodness of IL it will actually be nice to work in a mall during the holiday with all the Christmas music and decorations. #3 You all know how much I loved Zgallerie, it was like a second home to me. I'll be having flashbacks, lol. #4 The streets outside the mall are already covered in twinkle lights and the smell of fireplaces and it actually feels like winter so that will be nice and just what I need. #5 It will give me something to do to occupy my time while waiting for this little one;).

And those are my reasons, so my interview is today at 2:00pm. Wish me luck!

I miss snow...

Among other things. I was just reminiscing about last year, Alex and I got our first Christmas tree, which turned to be a bit of a headache but it was so beautiful and smelt wonderful. We also had the joy/pain of having a lot of snow. Scraping our windshield, defrosting our cars, making snow angels, wearing scarves and gloves. I got to drop Alex off at the train everyday and the street was always lined in twinkle lights and lovely Christmas Ornaments, houses with nativity scenes and snowmen and over sized candy canes and enjoying my peppermint mocha that warmed me up on the inside. I realized how much I'm gonna miss that this year, and even if we had the money we couldn't fly back to IL for a little bit of Christmas charm and the beautiful display on Michigan Ave, also known as the Magnificent mile. Considering I will be almost 8 months pregnant at Christmas!But we do have places that snow and as soon as we can we will drive up and enjoy some snow, put on a scarf and some gloves and my snow boots and enjoy one God's most beautiful and extravagant creations. I am not one for a beachy Christmas, I think it's a shame to not need a coat during the winter months. But alas, I am here, I will try to make the best of it. This is my second Christmas with my husband and I know it will be as magical as our first.

San Luis Obispo and One year of marriage...

So we stayed on Friday night with our friend Bobby and Jenna, it was so cool to be able to see them and hang out for a while. In the morning I made french toast with texas toast, it was so yummy. I love making meals for a lot of people...4 1/2 people is a lot to me;). And then Bobby and Jenna took us to downtown San Luis and we got to walk around, I was so happy it was absolutely beautiful, it reminded me a lot of Evanston. Of course it was a college town, maybe that's what all college towns are like, who knows? I did a lot of walking so I'm very sore still...but it was worth it. The weather was amazing, it was cool and then as it warmed up there was a little humidity followed by a cool breeze, it was like natures air conditioning. It was so cool.

After my plea for some caffeine we came across a starbucks and Alex agreed to feed my craving;). And then we walked around until we were about to drop and came across the coolest ice cream place. You get a cup, fill it with soft serve and then fill it with all the toppings you desire and they charge by ounce, so two huge cups of ice cream with toppings were like $6. Pretty sweet!

So then time comes for us to check in to our fabulous Apple Farm Inn and we get there and I am just like a little kid in a candy store, outside has giant toy soldiers and over sized Christmas ornaments hanging from the roof and it was all just beautifully decorated and very homey. When we walked into the Lobby, there was coffee, iced water with lemon, and cider, and a big bowl of apples just waiting to be taken. We checked in and they informed us we were just in time for the welcome reception out in the garden. We walked out to the garden and the offered us wine, apple cider, and hor'derves. It was loveley, I think we were too excited at this point to think about taking pictures but we did get pictures of our room. Thanks Alex!

The room was super nice but the decorating was a little on the cheesy side, ginham with floral, matching wallpaper to curtains...need I say more. But it was comfortable and perfect. I mean come on, they didn't have me decorate;). We had a King size canopy bed and the canopy was like foot from the bed so I felt a little claustrophobic. There was a besket of sparkling cider and chocolates which was so cute. And there was a cute little seating area next to the window with a real window seat. And last but not least, this amazing fireplace at the foot of the bed. With a light switch to turn it on. It was very romantic and we loved it.


We had dinner at the hotel restaurant, which was a little out of our budget but the food was delicious and the atmosphere was perfect. I saved giving my present to Alex till we were at dinner and it was great, he got all choked up, it truly was the most romantic dinner ever. After dinner I was very coy and thought how cool it would be to surprise him by taking him somewhere and singing to him since he sang to me when he proposed, well I didn't get a hold of the bar so I just decided to take him there anyway, under pretenses of he needed an after dinner drink.;). We showed up and he saw it was a karaoke place!

I ended up singing I can't take my eyes off of you and then he sang Your Song (Elton John) and then we both went up and sang You're the one that I want. We had a lot of fun. We got back late last night and crawled into bed with sweet dreams of Apple Farms with no Apple trees...;).

Our 1 year wedding anniversay!

So tomorrow is the big day! We are leaving for San Luis Obispo tonight! I'm sooo excited! Tonight we are staying with our good friends the Odenthals, and then Saturday we are staying at the Apple Farm Inn, I'm so excited! As I was finishing up packing for our trip I received a huge beautiful bouquet of stargazer lilies, if you've been reading my blogs, you know that's my favorite flower. I really did marry the best man ever! See the cute little teddy bear? I am sooo lucky!

Halloween!

So I had it all planned. I was gonna make a yummy fallish dinner and pumpkin shaped cookies, but I also had to do my laundry and go grocery shopping. Well needless to say dinner did not happen, but I did make half of the cookies.

I did a fairly easy costume this year. I was a pregnant kitty;).

So instead of my fabulous cooking skills, we had not so good take out and watched Pushing Daisies, our new favorite show. It is hilarious! Ok well that's all for today.