On The Eve of a New Year.

My fun flannel pj pants from the PINK! collection.

Yummy fried rice with Sweet Fire chicken and Orange Chicken from Panda Express. :)


Blood oranges from Natalie's Mom and Dad in Florida.


How perfect. I won't ruin it with my own words..


Sparkly nail polish! I rocked this straight glitter polish for our entire Disney vacation as well.

Jason and I spent our evening in, watching movies until Rockin' Eve came on. It's hard to believe that we were in NYC a year ago, having the time of our lives. We watched the city's fireworks from the old Navy base we stayed on in Staten Island.

We spent our NYE this year in our pjs and enjoying take-out. I also made us some blood orange punch, by mixing blood orange soda with ginger ale and frozen sliced blood oranges to keep it chilled. It was delicious! I am on a new blood orange kick, after having them when we visited with our friends' families in Florida.

I am so excited for all the wonderful things to come in 2010 and I hope it is wonderful for you all, as well!

2009 in review.

Rockefeller Plaza. NYC.

JANUARY

Jason and I welcomed the year 2009 in NYC.


Times Square. NYC.

FEBRUARY

Jason traveled to Germany.

I made us a mean homemade King Cake for Mardi Gras when he returned.

MARCH

We celebrated my birthday with a surprise visit from our parents.

Jason & I did ShamrockFest for the second year in a row.


Cherry Blossoms in DC.

APRIL


Jason promoted at the National Archives in front of The Constitution.

We left at the end of April to go down South.




MAY

Megan and Derek got married in New Orleans and we got to be a part of their day.

Sister graduated from high school (& I took her Senior pictures. :) )

Jason and I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary. And, husband bought me a gorgeous black and white diamond square knot ring.


St. Louis Cathedral. New Orleans, Louisiana.


Whitney.


Square knot ring.

JUNE

Jason and I were able to work at camp, another summer. And, spent all summer eating in the new Dining Hall.
Jason and I celebrated being together 5 years, this month.


New Dining Hall.

JULY

We finished camp, and came back to DC, with Bryan and Chris in tow.

We had a fabulous time showing them around. They especially loved Ben's Chili Bowl, one of our favorite landmarks in the city.

Our car was broken into, while we were shopping at Eastern Market for steaks for our farewell dinner before they went back to Texas.
We waited around 2 hours for the cops to show up, and got lots of attention from passersby. Maybe it was the fold-up chairs we were sitting in beside the car and the broken glass everywhere. Or maybe not. You can read the full story here.

We ate breakfast at the Blue Moon Cafe in Baltimore. It was featured on Food Network, and we just had to try the Captain Crunch French Toast. We also found and took photos in front of Charm City Cakes.




Our 'farewell dinner.'


Captain Crunch French Toast.

AUGUST

Remembered my Dad. This month marked the 3 year anniversary of his death. We always miss him.

We visited Boston, where I fell in love with the city, and Double Tree chocolate chip cookies, so I came home and got a recipe to make them myself. We also toured Fenway Park.


The original Boston Cream Pie and where it was invented.








SEPTEMBER

Jen visited us in DC!

We spent Labor Day in Virginia Beach with family.





OCTOBER

We took a little camping trip and had lots of fun and some fabulous s'mores!

We watched the Yankees play in the World Series, and later win it!

We Trunk or Treated with at our church and carved pumpkins with our sweet friends, the W family.







NOVEMBER

We went to the unveiling ceremony for the 100th Year of Scouting stamp.

I redid our bedroom.

We had Thanksgiving with wonderful friends, who have become our family. And, I successfully made my Grandma's Cherry Coke Salad. It's congealed. :)

We stood in line, in the cold and rain, to get in Target when the doors opened on Black Friday. I found out on Christmas Day, Jason also bought my 'big' Christmas present there.








Our free gift for braving all that is Black Friday, at Target.

DECEMBER

The squadron Christmas party at Murphy's was a wonderful night!

I successfully used a candy thermometer and made great pralines on my first try!

We went to Disney World. We had dinner with princesses. We attended Mickey's A Very Merry Christmas party. We had some amazing blood orange custard.

We had a wonderful Christmas here in DC, with a small dinner and a day at home. We sure missed everyone, though!







HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! We hope it's a blessed year!

Our Rainy Day Activities..

My new umbrella. :)

So, what do Jason and I do on a rainy-day-after-Christmas? Sleep in, then go shop, of course!

We had a few things to get and wanted to buy some Christmas stuff for next year on the cheap. :)

We started out at Target and found some great colored lights for the outside of the house, a matching tablecloth set with napkins and a red tree made of sticks for the duration of the winter, a cupcake stand for me, and I also got this little baby for my DS.



It's a Tinkerbell stylus, complete with a little screen cleaner (the little bug).

After Target, we went to Wal-Mart and got some Christmas wrapping paper to match our annual decor, new sparkling icicle lights, some color-changing over-sized lightbulbs to line the walk-way outside, and I bought my gingerbread shirt I have been trying to find in my size. Yay!

We grabbed a bite to eat at Panera and I discovered my new favorite sandwich. The Mediterranean Veggie. Yum!

Of course, no shopping trip is complete without a trip to Ross. And, as usual, I found lots of lovelies that I HAD to have. :)

Including these:




Libbey glass Ka-Dinks colored sundae glasses, I have been wanting for over a year now, and finally found them again. They make me want to eat tons of ice cream, just to use them, because they make me smile. :)

I also got some Disney princess stickers for my Disney World scrapbook that is soon to be a work in progress.

Last stop? Best Buy, to look at DS games. We ended up leaving with..




The Biggest Loser for the DS. It has healthy recipes, work outs, calorie counter, and a calorie 'book' where you can look up grocery and restaurant items and their caloric and nutritional information. It is going to help me get back to healthy eating and weight loss, again. :)

AND, we got..



TOY STORY MANIA for the Wii!

FYI: Toy Story Mania is an interactive ride at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. And, one of mine and Jason's favorites, at that! We were so excited to find that they had this game, based off of the ride. Needless to say, that is what we spent our evening doing. They have the same themed-target games, plus some extras. Also, it came with 3-D glasses for some of the games that you can unlock in 3-D, just like at Disney World!

Well, that's all for now. Look for Disney posts and pics to come. They will go up on their respective dates, so the 11th-20ish of December.

I hope everyone had a Merry and safe Holiday!

We Have Arrived!

Our ear hats above the bed.

Today, Jason and I got to Orlando at around 3:30 and checked in to our resort and unpacked.

We took a little trip down to the local Wal-Mart for groceries, so we could take our own lunches during our week at Disney, so we could spend money elsewhere. :) We also found lots of Disney goodies for our trip. I got a Minnie ears headband, to go along with my personalized ear hat and my Santa hat with mouse ears, that Jason got for me from Disneystores.com, before leaving for our trip.

While at Wal-Mart, in the frozen treats aisle, I almost fainted when I saw Blue Bell ice cream! In my excitement for our trip down South, I did not even think about having Blue Bell, the best ice cream EVER! :) So, we got some! Yay!

Our next stop was Downtown Disney, to purchase our park tickets. We also got a little sneak peek of all the cool stores and goodies there, for future reference. Even though we weren't in the parks yet, it was still so exciting to know we were so close. We could already feel the magic there and were ready for everything else Disney World had in store for us!

The rest of our evening was spent relaxing and adding pins to our brand new lanyards, so we could trade pins during our trip.

Nice of you to join us, videocamera!

This little baby arrived at Casa del Castle today, just in time! We are leaving after midnight tonight for Disney World!

Apparently, the 10 days estimated arrival date when Jason ordered it, was from the time it reached the continental United States, not when we would actually get it. It was ordered almost a month ago, and Jason had already prewarned the company we ordered it from, we were going to send it back if it didn't reach us in time, since they didn't list the reaching the US thing when he purchased it from them. No point in keeping something if you don't get it when you need it, right? Not to mention, I just about had to chase the mailman down the street to get it from him!

Anywho, it's here and all is well!

EAR HATS!!

Jason surprised me with a box full of Disney goodies, today!

He ordered us personalized ear hats to wear at Disney, Mickey shirts, 2 Mickey head ornaments and a Mickey/snowman figurine.

Yay! The anticipation is just too much! We can't wait for DISNEY!

Think You Have it Bad?

First off, and I mean this in the nicest possible way, this is my blog and this is how I feel. And, any time you come to my page, you are entering into a place that I reflect, vent or share my life with you. You have been forewarned for future reference. :)

During the holiday season, many people reflect on what they are thankful for, but this year, more than ever, I have been so disappointed by people I have come in to contact with or am familiar with. I don't mean this in a hateful way. I hope it is not taken that way. I just mean that it hurts my heart to know that people I know are going through things that most people can not even begin to imagine, so hearing about people and their selfish, petty 'problems', just isn't on my list of things I care to hear about. My heart hurts. It hurts for people who have or are experiencing the magnitude of losing a parent, a child or spouse. Losses that cannot be compared to any other loss. Friends who are spending their Holiday season apart from their family members, because they are protecting you and I, and the freedom that so many take for granted. Most of them, serving in places that are not safe, places where the next moment is a gamble and they know that they are blessed to still be alive.

I don't understand how people get so absorbed in their petty and selfish lives that they can't see that other people have it so much worse. I know that may be such a cliche, but that is the best way I know of putting it. I know that life is hard. I really do. I just know that people have it worse than I. I know that there are people hurting more than I could even imagine. I know that where I don't have my Dad to spend the holidays with, I did have him. I did have time with him, and that was such a blessing. I have learned to appreciate what I had, instead of focusing on the loss. Yes, it hurts. All the time. No, it doesn't go away. I just know my Dad would want me to experience life as he did, to the fullest. He wasn't one to complain and whine about life, and he definitely had some hard times and sacrificed a lot to give to his family, but one thing I can tell you about him, is that he never forgot that someone always had it worse, and he helped others in anyway he could, even when times were hard for him.

A family so very special to me, experienced such a great loss, and it is such a blessing to me to see how they are relying on God through it all. They don't complain. Of course it hurts, but they don't feel sorry for themselves. I am so thankful to all the people they have been blessed with being able to rely on, but a bit disappointed in people that I thought would be there. I wish I could personally give a hug or a smile. Or just be there. I just wish the people who are there would realize that my friend needs someone to be there. I would give anything to be there, but can't.

I have a sweet friend who is blessed with the pregnancy of her first child. She keeps so positive and so focused on the amazing thing God has blessed her and her husband with and I haven't once heard her complain. No, her pregnancy has not been easy. It is so wonderful that she chooses to give thanks, instead of complaining. So, yes, it is possible to be pregnant and be positive, simultaneously. I just wish others would stop being so focused on their mindset that they have it so bad. That no one else has experienced pregnancy as bad as they. You are blessed with something many women may never get to experience, pregnancy. Your own child. God entrusted you with a wonderful miracle that is a child. Please, focus on that.

So, I ask all of you, please take time, reflect on things, and ask yourself whether the thing you are complaining about really is THAT bad. I am confident that most of the time, it isn't. Are you really 'depressed' or just upset that everything isn't all going your way? If God made everything easy, we wouldn't appreciate what we are given, what we are blessed with. We would glide through life and expect everything to be peachy and wonderful. We would have no need to give thanks.

So, give thanks, because someone else DOES have it worse than you. ALWAYS.

If you still don't believe me, go here. Or here. Or here.

Sweet Cream.

I. LOVE. THIS. STUFF.

I bought this fabulous Philosophy 3-in-1 recently, and I just love it. The scent is light and yummy. I relish getting to smell like it after a nice, relaxing bath.

Yum.

Santa, Baby..

Dear Santa,

Thank you for coming a bit early this year. I know you don't normally come in the form of a 25% off sale on Coach purses at the BX, nevertheless, I really appreciate the effort on your part. I also appreciate the fact that the purse I already had picked out for a later purchase, was still available and I was able to get the VERY last one. Oh the luck! Santa, you are too much!

Love,
Heather

Giving Thanks.

Whole berry cranberry sauce cooking.


My gorgeous flower centerpiece my sweet husband brought home to me.


Decor.


My brie en croute.


...And some homemade pumpkin pie.



Today is Thanksgiving. Jason and I had some of our friends over for a Thanksgiving dinner that we prepared and cooked. Everything was homemade.

It was a wonderful day of friendship and fellowship.

We had an appetizer table that consisted of a cheese and meat tray, brie en croute, cocktail shrimp, a cheese ball that Jason and I made, onion dip and chips and my Mother-in-law's (who passed away last September) party mix.

For dinner, Jason made a Cajun fried turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, cherry coke salad (my Grandma's recipe and my favorite thing at Thanksgiving and Christmas), & Jason's Grandfather's stuffing recipe. We also had homemade macaroni and cheese, made and brought by JP, always delicious. Natalie brought squash casserole and a carrot souffle, both were amazing!

For dessert, we had pumpkin pie, with a Bourbon whipping cream I made, my Grandma's apple pie, and chocolate pecan pie, made by Anna and Natalie.


Today, I am thankful for:

* life
*family
*good friends
*my home
*laughter
*everything I have been blessed with
*second chances, when I don't deserve for God to give me another
*trips
*the ability to learn and improve my photography
*my church

And, so much more, I could honestly have a list with no end. I am so blessed.

I hope you all remember to thank God for all your blessings.

A New Lavish Bedroom..

Recently, I decided it was time to change up the decor in a couple of our rooms. My starting point? Our bedroom, of course.

When we first moved here, we went with a beachy feel in our master bedroom. This is what we started with..


Old bedset.

I got tired of having so much beachy stuff in our house, AND, our bed set was discolored from being washed so many times...so, I was on the hunt for new bedding. I found a really nice 2 toned purple damask bed set on Overstock, but I was hesitant, because I wanted to see it first. So, I kept my eyes open for anything I might see while shopping around. I am a BIG fan of Marshall's and Ross. I buy most everything at either those two stores, or Target. I love a deal.

I have been shopping for Christmas presents every Monday. It's my date. With myself. :) So, a few Mondays ago, I found this gorgeous bedding set that is a kind of light khaki grey, a great neutral color, at Marshall's. So, I bought it. It came with the three cute throw pillows and the shams. I bought the plum sheets/pillowcases separately.

I LOVE THE NEW BEDDING. I feel like I am in my own personal boudoir. AND, the bonus is, Jason likes it, too. Maybe because he knows I love it, but either way, what a sweet husband I have.

The color scheme is shades of browns, bronzes and golds and random purple accents. A little white here and there, also.


New bedding and new wall decor. I love the Fleur de lis!



Throw pillows and pillowcases to match sheets.


Pillows!


Gorgeous crushed gold curtains.