The holidays are almost behind us and they have been so much fun!! I have been crazy-busy with holiday parties and family time, among other things...I feel like I haven't even had a second to sit down!
I want to start by saying how thankful I am for all the blessings I have in my life. I try to remind myself of this each and every day. Often times, I know I get caught-up in minor mishaps or trivial things and then every once in a while something happens in which to reground me. A few months ago one of my former Southwest students was brutally murdered in a drive-by shooting. I was sick about it. He was a great kid (which one's aren't?) who had a plan for his future. He must have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. I spent a few days after losing Ricky at Southwest just to be with my kids and let them know I was there if they needed anything. Most of them would tell you this wasn't the first loss they'd endured this year. I was heart-broken for them. They spent the following week raising funds for Ricky's funeral and banding together as a school. We had a candle-lighting in his honor outside on the front steps of the school where several community members were present, including the pastor from then neighboring church who said some words on Ricky's behalf. It was amazingly powerful.
In happier news, I have been in the party spirit lately!! I've had people to the house and been to several at others' houses. Tom and I went to Kiewit's annual Christmas party (it was actually a two-night event!!) out at the Overland Park Convention Center. He has a really wonderful job, so it's always nice to get to meet more of the people he works with! This was our second year attending and it is always fabulous! We also made sure to go by my parents' annual Christmas party. Their friends are so much fun! My mom played the piano while we sang Christmas carols (after several glasses of wine, of course!) and I got to catch-up with some of my parents friends that I have known almost my whole life. In addition to these, I had my first Kauffman Christmas party, our annual girls white-elephant party, and my sister's annual Christmas party (this year was Mexican and Indian cuisine). We finished it all off by spending the night before Christmas Eve with my immediate family, having dinner and seeing the Descendants (it's SOOOOO good you must see it now!) and then left Christmas Eve morning to head to Omaha to be with Tom's family for a few days. This is the first time we have been able to stay in Omaha during both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so it was very special for us. It was also Tom's nephew, Easton's, first Christmas so that made it even more special!! We were able to all go to the Christmas Eve church service, then went to dinner at a place in Omaha called 7M, which is amazing by the way. Speaking of being thankful, I am most of all thankful for both of our wonderful families. We are very close with both of them and Tom and I always talk about how lucky we are to be surrounded by all these amazing people who support us through everything that goes on in our lives! Oh-and how could I forget? I had a cookie-decorating party with my girlfriends a few nights ago. SO FUN!! We decorated Christmas cookies which I bagged and am handing out to various people who I appreciate (the mail man and the trash guys for starters!!).
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| At my parents' Christmas party |
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| Tom's sister and nephew |
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| Tom's brother-in-law and nephew |
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| Tom and Easton |
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| How cute is this card idea? On the back, it gives a description of what each number is. |
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| The French family is growing!! |
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| Kate, Jacque, Katie, Natalie, Mandy, and Carly at the Cookie Party |
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| Decorated Cookies! |
In DIY news, I haven't had many projects lately that are super-creative. I have made a few things for the various parties I attended, which are posted below. I also painted my kitchen....buuuuut I have to spare you the photos because the color I picked out, that I thought was going to be totally different, ended up looking almost exactly the same as the original color! It was fine because the walls just needed a repaint, but there's no drastic difference to report on...sad. I also made a few sets of coasters for Tom's sister and mom for Christmas. They had photos of Easton on each of them. So now I know you are able to make the coasters not only with scrapbook paper, but photographs as well! I think for my next picture project, I will get a large tile (like 12x12 or something like that?), blow up a picture to that size and make wall art! I'll let you know if that ever ends up happening...
Tom and I had a few friends over to watch the season finale of Sons of Anarchy (best show on TV) and this is part of the menu I prepared:
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| goat cheese, apple and walnut spinach salad |
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| My specialty pizza bites!! Oh Lord, what you can do with a wonton wrapper!! I put turkey pepperoni, reduced fat mozzarella cheese, pizza sauce, oregano, and red paper flakes in these bad boys and bake on 350 for about 20 minutes. Super delicious and Tom-approved!! |
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| This was our main course. Stuffed chicken rollatini. Recipe here. |
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| Chocolate almond saltine toffee. Recipe here. |
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| Photograph coasters |
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| Goat cheese bruschetta |
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| Caprisi Bites |
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| Before oven cove |
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| After oven cove |
And just a few other events I have managed to pack into my vacation time off work...one being my first actual Chiefs game!! I was last-minute able to find a ticket to go with Tom and some of our friends when they played the undefeated Packers last week...and WON!! What an exciting game for my first go!! Plus it was an absolutely beautiful December day. Last night, I also went to see a showing of the Bolshoi Russian Ballet perform Sleeping Beaty with my mom, dad, and sister. It was awesome!!
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| Tom and I at the Chiefs v Packers game |
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| Bolshoi Ballet performing Sleeping Beauty |
