Christmas Tree

Two of our frequently visited blogs (Destiny and Rae & Kevin) have posted pictures of their Christmas trees... so I feel that we should follow suit. I love Russell's emotions, if you enlarge the picture you can see he is clearly frowning.

We bought a much smaller tree this year. It is an impressive 4.5 feet. I was tired of dragging out a gigantic tree and hanging our sad 10 ornaments on it. A small tree is perfect for our small family.

I like how Destiny had pictures of some of her ornaments with a little story about them.. so I will steal that idea as well!

My instructor from my first clinical gave each of us this ornament on our last day. That is my course number on the clipboard.


Laser rocket arm. (Yeah, it's from a BK kid's meal)


Last year, Ken and I made a couple ornaments with glass balls and paint.


Ken likes this ornament.


Diane gave this to us after our ice skating in Chicago last New Years.


Our first married Christmas. What... it was in Cabo and this seemed to fit.

Other decorations we like:

Snow globes from Diane. (Sorry I don't have a fun story for these.. Ken is a man of few words)

I bought this Santa gourd in the middle of the summer at a Bluegrass Festival in Corydon. I packed it away when I bought it and it was an awesome discovery when I opened up the Christmas box!! I stand by this purchase.

When I was little, I made ornaments at my Grandma's house. She always had sequence and styrofoam balls and supplies for ornaments. Maybe that is where I get my craftiness from?? Anyway, she painted me this Santa in 1999.

Russell Walks

This is what most of our walks with Russell look like. He walks as fast as he can, sniffing from one side of the road to the other, choking himself with his collar. He doesn't seem to understand that the harder he pulls on the leash the more it chokes him. My shoulder and arm are still killing me.

I was not aware that dogs could smile... but apparently they can.

Christmas...

Speaking of Christmas (see post below), is it possible for adults to love Christmas as much as kids? I found this picture the other day and can't quit laughing about how excited Jay is to have a tube of toothpaste. On top of that, it looks like Strawberry Shortcake toothpaste.

Mystery Package

9 times out of 10 I would not recommend opening something like this that comes to your doorstep. Drive away slowly and contact the local authorities.


We were given a heads up that presents were coming in the mail... so I deemed this safe to open. I'm glad I opened the package!! It was filled with steaks, fish, and stuffed potatoes!! I love early Christmas presents... thanks Dad and Mary.

Billboard

This makes me happy. I will get to see it everyday on my drive to work. The exact same degree is just under 40,000 a couple of blocks down the road.

(Don't worry... I pulled over to take the picture)

Canal

Attractive isn't it?? This is the canal mid drain and clean.

According to the White River State Park: "This project will include slowly draining the canal, relocating fish to the White River and removing and disposing of all sediment, organic matter, and flora from the canal from 11th Street to the White River. The expectations for this project are to allow the original concrete lined channel and side slopes to be reasonably exposed and visible."

This was the canal in October.

Book Signing

We were in Corydon today for Randy's book signing. He has published a book of photography chronicling Corydon history. It is a WONDERFUL book! (Ken makes a cameo on page 96.)

Here is the man of the hour. Randy is quite proud of himself, as well he should be.
I'm excited about my book!
Busy at work.
After the book signing, we took a mini-tour of Corydon. Along the way we found this fluffy buddy to pet outside of the coffee shop.
I became obsessed with this apron at one of the little shops downtown and Diane bought it for me! It's yellow and has butterflies. What's not to love?

The site of the book signing. (Don't worry Jay, I see the humor and have already incorporated it into your Christmas)

Family Night

We spent Thanksgiving in Terre Haute with my Mom's side of the family. When we got home, Ken wanted some quite time so we played board games. Our newest game is Scene It? Music Edition. It is a trivia game based on music. We bought it at a dollar store in Terre Haute at the same time we bought a pack of t-shirts and toothbrushes (don't ask). It was a deal at $12.99!

My game piece is the boom box and Ken was the piano.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

I got a trifle bowl from Pampered Chef a month ago, and had no idea what a trifle was or how to make one. After some research I decided to make a Thanksgiving-ish trifle. This was the gem I stumbled upon from the Food Network.


I'll lay it out there... this does not look good. The pumpkin/pudding layer looks like carrot baby food and I almost tossed the thing out at that mixing point. After letting the trifle set in the fridge overnight I was super surprised to find out that it tasted excellent! It tastes like a pumpkin pie with a gingerbread crust. I like it. Fight through it's looks and I promise you will think it is tasty!!

The prep work does take a bit of time since you have to cook the gingerbread and make pudding. I have no idea if there are different sizes of trifle bowls, but this makes almost 2 full trifles in my bowl.

Ingredients:
2 (14-ounce) packages gingerbread mix
1 (5.1-ounce) box cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix (I used instant, I don't believe that pudding should ever be cooked)
1 (30-ounce) can pumpkin pie filling
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 teaspoon ground cardamom or cinnamon (I used cinnamon)
1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping
1/2 cup gingersnaps, optional (I added them just before serving to keep them crunchy)

Directions:
Bake the gingerbread according to the package directions; cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare the pudding and set aside to cool. Stir the pumpkin pie filling, sugar, and cardamom into the pudding. Crumble 1 batch of gingerbread into the bottom of a large, pretty bowl. Pour 1/2 of the pudding mixture over the gingerbread, then add a layer of whipped topping. Repeat with the remaining gingerbread, pudding, and whipped topping. Sprinkle of the top with crushed gingersnaps, if desired. Refrigerate overnight. Trifle can be layered in a punch bowl.

Stir Crazy

We celebrated my getting a job by trying out a new restaurant at the Greenwood mall. We decided on an Asian restaurant called Stir Crazy. The food was awesome! We both picked the Market dinner. I was a little nervous about this, because I am afraid of new food. The waitress brought us each a wok and told us to add whatever ingredients we wanted from the wok bar. There were a ton of veggies, herbs, and sauces to chose from! The hardest part was picking out the sauce to be stir fried with. I went with a mixture of kung pao and peanut sauce. Ken picked the peanut sauce and thai curry.

Once your bowl is full, you hand it to a "wok master" and they do their thing.
Since we have completely no self-control, we ordered the Banana Wontons. They were completely devoured in 5 minutes. (yes, we have the time-stamped picture to prove it)

It's Official!!!

I have a job! Starting January 7th, I'll be working at Peyton Manning Children's hospital. I'll be working 3 12 hour night shifts a week, and every 3rd weekend. Weeeeeee!!

Cards

I love these cards. They make me laugh, are inappropriate, and I will probably send them to people. Check out the whole mess of them here! C'mon... you know they are funny. (Rae, I have a couple with your name on them!)

Walters Wedding

It seems to be our trademark that we never get a picture of just the bride and groom. Anyhoo, here are some tid-bits of fun from Jamie and Velvet's wedding. Photos alone cannot convey how much fun/shenanigans were had by everyone.

On the way to the reception.

The tradition pic.

Yes, I wore my awesome red shoes. They are 1/2 a size too big, kill my feet, and are totally worth it.
Kevin, Ken, Rae

Groomsmen gifts. The guys had engraved beer glasses and the girls had engraved wine glasses.
The guys.

And then the dancing started.....

Dan breakdancing
Everyone loves Bon Jovi!
These glasses are MIA.

Walk like an Egyptian.
A little bit softer now...

It wouldn't be Wally's wedding without some DMB and an air guitar.
(Correction: It wouldn't be a day in Wally's life without these two things.)
Dancing?

Someone got the guns out!

Bridal selfie.