A Week Off

We both have the week off this week and it has been nice spending time together! Besides a sick puppy (post to come) we have spent the past couple days in our pjs, lounging around, watching episodes of Friday Night Lights on Netflicks. Ohh how I miss that show.

Hannah was in town for Christmas so Jules had the girls over to hang out on Monday. It was so nice to see her and finally meet her boyfriend Brooks. We tried to go bowling but they ran out of lanes so we headed down to Barley’s for a few drinks.

We were lucky enough to have our good friend Dustin stay with us on Tuesday so Brian could take him to the airport the next day. Dustin gets so tickled by the things Brian does or the college stories he tells. He has a laugh that just makes everyone else laugh which made for a fun evening out. Addie and Eric came up and Julianna joined us for Taco Tuesday. We planned to go bowling but once again it was packed. We headed down to Power Play and had a ball. We were just going to bowl but when we walked in and saw everything they had we decided to play Lazer Tag and ride the Go Karts!

It was a night full of fun and non-stop laughing! After a few cocktails their love for each other showed a little more! Haha!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas flew by but we had such a fun time spending it with our friends and family! Friday, the Ziegler/ Zimmerman clan invited us over for dinner and then a carriage ride around Potwin to see the Christmas lights. Brian had to work but I wasn’t going to miss out on this! It was a fun ride with a great group of people.

Later that night Addie and I headed over to the Snook’s house for a many reunion. I met Brian there and it was so great to see everyone. It felt like we were still in high school or maybe we just acted that way!

Christmas Eve was spent with the McNeil side! Yummy breakfast followed by lunch, presents and then our favorite Chicken and Noodles for dinner! We were stuffed! We got some great gifts and ended the night with the tradition of singing Christmas Carols!

Christmas morning we woke up at my parent’s house. Everyone wanted to sleep in but Brian was too eager to see what Santa had brought! We enjoyed another yummy breakfast and then headed back to KC to celebrate with The Foths & Auntie M. My Aunt Amy is super creative and used our baby pictures as our gift tags this year. What did our parents put us in back then?!? Enjoyed a good dinner, got great gifts, and had a blast playing Pictionary on the Wii. We headed back home and was asleep when our heads hit the pillows! It was a wonderful weekend but we were exhausted!

Hoping you all had a wonderful Christmas as well!

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Photobooth Tradition

We were lucky enough to have a photobooth at our wedding thanks to my Daddio! To look back at all the fun our guests had and the special notes they left us is such a wonderful keepsake. We decided we would carry on the tradition each year to have something to look back on. Who knows maybe by Year 4 there might be another little addition to our picture! :-)

Check out this site for this year's picture & and a fun video!

www.blababooth.com

Type in the code: GZVT-29CC4

An Anniversary to Remember

It’s hard for me to believe our special day was 2 years ago. It honestly feels like it was yesterday that I was walking down the aisle to meet my handsome groom. After all those months of planning your wedding day is here and gone. But I’m so thankful for the beautiful day we had and how gorgeous everything was.

This year I thought it would be fun to have a remake of our wedding dinner. Of course I waited till the last minute to get everything I needed so I had to go out in the cold rainy weather which sucked. Way to be a procrastinator!

Got home around 4, rushed around to set the table, take a shower and start on the food. Running behind it is now 6….table set, salad made, potatoes boiling on the stove, chicken cooking, shower taken….time to get dressed. Finished blow drying my hair and BAM….. power out. Not just our apartment but like the whole neighbor in the dark. Once again I’m not prepared. No clue where the flash light is….lighter out…. This is a girl left with frizzy hair, no make-up on, food on the stove, sitting in the dark….It was an anniversary to remember.

Hubs came home with beautiful flowers just like we had at our wedding. We waited around till 7:30 threw on comfy clothes and a hat and hit up Cheddars for a yummy dinner! Power was on by the time we got home so we popped some bubbly and enjoyed our wedding video.

We saved dinner for the next day which again was a total bust. It may look good but it wasn't. Let’s just say we will be going out from now on! Thanks for all the wonderful cards and wishes. Can’t wait for the many more years to come!

Year Two.

Two years ago today, I married the love of my life. Each year keeps getting better and better!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Kate and her friends had their annual Holiday Baking Party yesterday. About a month ago Julia had emailed me asking if Brian would like to play Santa. I thought he would for sure say no but I was wrong. There has been a lot of Ho! Ho! Ho-ing in our house as he wanted to be perfect for the kids.

He did a great job and the kids were super surprised. He was expecting the kids to just run up to him so he wasn’t quite sure what to say when they just stared at him. Everyone loosened up after awhile and enjoyed their fun treats Santa brought them.

What a good sport he was and what a great Uncle he is! Even the big kids wanted to sit on Santa’s lap.

Santa’s exit was pretty funny as he just walked right on outside! I think he got a few stares from the neighbors.

Jayden’s gifts from Aunt Lane & Uncle Pudge came early since we won’t see him on Christmas. He loved his Tractor Ornament and showed off his baby brother’s blanket. He loves Hot Wheels so what wouldn’t be more perfect then a Hot Wheel’s bath toy. He loved it and wanted to take a bath right away.

His Mama even sent me this picture of him on the drive home. He told his Mom he would be in the bath for 2 hours and after an hour I heard he was still in there! What a sweetie! I’m bummed I didn’t get a picture of Evan with his penguin ornament but he was happy to show me the sign for penguin after he hung it on the tree!

Monogram Ornaments

I found this idea out in Blog World and now can’t seem to find the source. But it was a cute idea someone was making as favors for her guests. I thought it was a cute, inexpensive and thoughtful gift especially for my newlywed friends. I made one for Trent & Shannon and Emily & Bryan but plan to make more for the Clothier ornament exchange.

All you need is:
*A box of Ornaments mine were 50% off at Hobby Lobby
*1 Large Rhinestone Letter & 1 Sheet of Letters in the Scrapbooking Section. (Make sure you take your coupons)
*Ribbon

*No glue needed as these are stickers and seal to the ornament.

They turned out super cute and my friends loved them!

Baking Fools

I decided to do some different treats for the neighbors this year instead of cookies. But I was kind of getting the baking bug and it wouldn’t feel like Christmas if I didn’t bake cookies. I invited Emily over and we baked away while listen to some Christmas Tunes. My kitchen looked like a tornado had hit it by the time we were finished. Well my side did at least. It was a fun day and we had lots of goodies to share.

We made 6 kinds of cookies. My Chocolate Chip cookies were a flop like always. I cannot seem to get those right. Emily made some Pistachio-Cranberry cookies she found off Pinterest. They were yummy but I don’t have the recipe to share. I made No-Bakes, my SIL’s Lemon Cookies and Snickerdoodles. I’m going to try my Mom’s recipe next week but I’m not complaining about mine. They are compared to Mrs. Fields and I would say they were pretty close. Flat and gooey, just how I like them. Brian wanted them crisper but I’m the baker! Emily made her Grandmother’s Molasses cookies, which are a fav in the Clothier household. It was a fun day and I’m looking forward to our new tradition!

Grammie’s No-Bake Cookies

Bring to a boil:
2 cups sugar
¼ cup cocoa
½ cup milk
½ cup margarine
Boil 1 minute

Remove from heat and add:
1tsp vanilla
½ cup chunky peanut butter
3 cups quick oats

Mix well and drop by tsp on wax paper.
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Kate’s Lemon Cookies

Combine:
1pkg Lemon Cake Mix
4oz container (1 ¾ cups) frozen cool whip, thawed
3 TBSP oil
1 egg, slightly beaten
Sugar or colored sugar

Chill Dough for 1 hour for easier handling.

Heat oven to 350. Lightly grease cookie sheets. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 mins or until light golden brown around edges. Allow cookies to cool for 1 min. before removing from cookie sheet.

Makes 3 ½ dozen cookies
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An Even Better Snickerdoodle

In Large Bowl on High Speed Cream Together:
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar

Add in:
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla

In another bowl combine:
1 ½ cups flour
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp cream of tartar

Pour into wet ingredients and mix well.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees while you let the dough rest for 30-60 mins. In the refrigerator.

In a small bowl combine:
2 TBSP granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Take 2 ½ TBSP of dough and roll into ball. Roll dough in cinnamon/sugar mixture and press onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 12-14 minutes and no more. The may seem to be undercooked but will continue to develop after they are removed from the oven. When the cookies have cooled they should be soft and chewy in the middle.

Makes 16-18 cookies.
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Marcella’s Molasses Sugar Cookies

Cream Together:
1 ½ cup shortening
2 cups sugar
½ cup molasses
2 eggs

Add:
2 tsp baking soda
4 cups flour
1 tsp cloves
½ tsp ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt

Form into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar and place 2 inches apart on cookies sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 min.
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Second Saturday

You will start to see lots of posts with this title starting next year. Since my friends and I have busy schedules and it's hard to find time to get together we have dedicated every 2nd Saturday of the month for a girl's night out. I'm glad we have started to do this because I just love when we all get together.
We had something special to celebrate this Saturday as Shannon is trying the knot on December 17th in Vegas. We threw a surprise Bachelorette Party that she was super surprised and extremely grateful for! Don't worry that's Grape Juice!

She got lots of cute things to wear on her wedding night and I made her a monogram ornament, which I will post directions later!

We enjoyed a yummy Mexican dinner at Ponak’s and then back to our house for some late night chatter and some hilarious photo ops. Those I will have to keep private!

Matchmakers

Emily and I played Matchmakers on Friday night. We decided it would be fun to hook up my best friend Addie and Emily & Bryan’s friend Kyle. Finding a date between 6 people’s schedule was pretty hard especially around the Holidays but thankful it worked out.

We met at Stix at the Legends for dinner. Brian and I have been several times but haven’t ever eaten dinner in the Hibachi section. Chef Ron, yes Addie that was his name, was a blast. I can’t remember the last time I laughed that hard at dinner. He was slightly inappropriate but you know us we think things like that are hilarious. After dinner we headed back to our place for some drinks and a few card games.

I would say there might be a little something there. Addie isn’t one to ever kiss and tell so I have no clue what she is thinking. They were super cute together but I guess we will have to wait and see. I’m hoping we will all be able to go out together for NYE. Fingers crossed!

Ding-Dongs

I guess I haven’t revealed my new addiction. Drumroll…..PINTEREST. I’m absolutely obsessed. I found this cute idea on Pinterest awhile back. This idea was one of the first things I pinned. I had the perfect neighbor who I knew would get a kick out of it!

All you need is….

*1 box of Ho-Hos
*1 box of Ding-Dongs
*Ribbon
*Gift Tag

Finished product…..



Such a cute and fun way to wish your neighbors a Merry Christmas!

On A Roll....

Man have I been on top of things this Christmas season. Compared to 2008 when I was out shopping on Christmas Eve! Crazy I know! Our tree is up, presents are wrapped and under the tree. Christmas cards are sent out, treats made for the neighbors…what else am I missing….for once I'm ahead of the game.

Levi didn’t make it into our Christmas card this year but he sure has been in the Holiday spirit!

This year I'm able to really focus on the real meaning of Christmas. We all get into the hustle and bustle of our big to-do lists this holiday season and people tend to forget Jesus is the Reason for the Season! One of my favorite Christmas Cds is by Steven Curtis Chapman titled “The Music of Christmas.” I love every song but my favorite is “This Baby!” Such a great song and this video is amazing. Our God knows and understands us like no other one. He IS God With Us!!!

Change is Good

I am not one to accept change very well. I really struggled last year as things were changing with friends, school, being married.... it was just a lot to handle. You could say I didn't handle it very well and it has taken me a while to accept that things are going to continue to change. I would say 2010 was the worst year ever. I was trying so hard to keep things the way they use to be. It was hard for me to realize that people change; things change, it’s never going to be that same. But working on changing myself and realizing I can’t change others has made 2011 a much better year. I'm kind of sad to see it go but am looking forward to all the new adventures to come.

Reading through my daily Advent scriptures the one for December 1st spoke right to me. I’m sure many people don’t like change. We stick to what is familiar. But if we accept the changes the Lord has in store for us things are only going to get better!

The McNeil Family Christmas Tree

It has been a tradition in the McNeil family to have a real tree. In the Clothier household we do the fake thing. So I gave into getting a real tree when we started living together. I’m not a huge fan because I don’t think you can ever find the perfect shape, I never notice them having the “tree” smell and they die leaving needles all over the place.

Until this year….I think we found the perfect tree! See…

Yesterday we headed out to find our tree. The place we have gone the past 3 years closed last season so we first tried a place down the street. They had some good trees but were kinda $$$. We then headed over to Bierman's Christmas Tree Farm and it was like we had hit the tree jackpot! We spotted the perfect tree right away. Hubby grabbed the saw and cut it down. I think this is his favorite part! We also enjoyed some Hot Cocoa and cookies before heading home.

We put the Christmas tunes on and spent the rest of the day decorating the house inside & out. This is by far my favorite time of the year. I love our little family traditions and look forward to sharing them with our kids some day!

A Cousin Weekend

How many cousins can you fit on one couch?

Every year after Thanksgiving dinner we go to my Aunt Cyndi’s for chili. She wasn’t having everyone over this year so I invited all the cousins over for the night. It was a blast getting together. We enjoyed good conversation and some rounds of Timmy! Timmy! Sophie my 10- year cousin was there to entertain us with her one-liners. Man that girl is funny!

Girl Cousins!

Saturday once we got back from Topeka we headed over to Brad’s house to see our Uncle Jim. Brad is Annabelle’s boyfriend and my Uncle Jim was staying with them for the weekend. My Aunt & Uncle divorced a few years ago so the last time we saw him was at our wedding. I don’t think you could of asked for a better greeting. He gave us lots of hugs and kisses and was thrilled to see us.

Sister! Sister!

We spent the evening laughing and catching up. Most of the stories were inappropriate of course but that’s us! Sophie said it best, “Brad if you're going to stay with us you're going to have to learn our family is crazy!" Fortunately for me, Brian loves my crazy family. And they love him! It was a fun cousin weekend and great time seeing our Uncle Jim!

We love our Crazy Uncle Jim!

See...Brian fits in perfectly!