Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! Have a safe, joyous, and meaningful holiday celebration :-)

A Christmas Carol - in 3D!

We went to see the new "A Christmas Carol" movie last night. I was hoping it would be a fun holiday film that would help start off our December in the Christmas spirit. Now I have heard that it is dark and somewhat scary for little kids, but I thought it was creepy and scary - for me! Not my favorite movie ever and not something that left me feeling particularly festive, but hey, we got 3D glasses out of the deal :-)

I attempted to document how cool we looked in our high-tech spectacles with my cell phone but was having difficulty getting the flash to work. After a few minutes of fumbling I finally got it. By then Casey was irritated with my attempt to capture the long-passed moment hence his attempt to escape from the one actually well-lit photo.

Ah, well. We had a fun date night anyway :-)

Turkey for Two

This year we had a great Thanksgiving celebration with just the two of us. I worked on Thursday so we had our holiday on Friday. We cooked a whole Thanksgiving feast. Casey has done this before but it was a first for me. And it was fun :-)

We made some of the old standbys, but also branched out and tried some new dishes too. It was all so, so delicious. We had turkey (of course), gravy (we finally got to use our gravy boat!), sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, and cranberry sauce. The new recipes we tried were browned butter mashed potatoes (fantastic), brandied carrots and parsnips (delicious), and apple bacon stuffing (a-mazing).

I also made my first pie ever. I've made countless cookies, cakes, cheesecakes, muffins, and other goodies but never a pie. I'll admit I was a little nervous but it turned out great. Let me rephrase that - it tasted great! It didn't look like this:

It looked like this:

Not magazine-worthy, but not too shabby for my first attempt. I somehow ended up with extra dough for the crust so we made some little mini pumpkin pies, too. You can never have too much dessert!

We had a great Thanksgiving and really enjoyed cooking together. But I think we pretty much used every kitchen item we own. I was thankful for our dishwasher :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

There is so much in my life to be thankful for.

I'm thankful for...

...my husband. He makes me so happy and I love him more than words can express. He gets me, he laughs at my jokes (even the lame ones), and he takes such good care of me. My life is so much better, richer, deeper, and more fun because of him. Love this guy!

...our families. We are so blessed by incredible families who love us unconditionally and support us through thick and thin. We also got to expand our family by one this year - we're so happy to officially claim you as one of the family now Todd!

...our little kitties. They are so much fun and keep us entertained every day. We can always count on Scout and Alice for some easy amusement or some good old fashioned snugglin'.

...our friends. It seems that most of our friends are far away these days but it makes us more thankful for the opportunities we do get to spend time with them.

...my job. I absolutely love what I do and thoroughly enjoy my job (most days). I love my co-workers, my hospital, and the opportunity to be a part of my patients' lives. In these tough economic times I am thankful to have such a great career.

...our health. We are both young and healthy - definitely something to be thankful for.

...Casey graduating. After two years of hard work Casey graduated in October. I am thankful for his persistence and dedication to better himself in hopes of providing a better future for our little family. I'm thankful he had the courage to pursue his dream.

...technology. Though I may not be the world's best or most consistent blogger I love this form of keeping in touch with people. It helps me to share what's going on in our life with far away friends and family and I really enjoy keeping up with others' blogs.

There is so much we have to be thankful for this year. God has blessed us richly.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Phoenix Suns Game

Casey got a call from the dean of his program on Friday asking if we wanted free tickets to the Suns game yesterday. Free NBA tickets? Yes, please! Not only did we score free tickets, but a tour of the US Airways Center where they play, a photo-op during warm ups, and a Suns tote. Nice!

I'll be honest, I'm not a huge basketball fan. But there is just something about going to a pro game of any sport that is so fun. It's an experience. The Suns were actually really fun to watch and they won which was just icing on the cake.

This was the view from one of the swanky private rooms. It had comfy leather couches, it's own bar, and it's own bathroom. Not too shabby, eh?

Here we are smiling, before they told us we didn't get to stay in the suite.

(Just kidding of course - we're grateful for the free tickets!)

This area was the whole reason we got the tickets. The Suns contacted the dean of Casey's program to comission a new gaming experience for this kid zone at the pavillion. This night at the game was for "research."

After we finished playing in the kid zone and finished our tour, we got to sit courtside to watch the Suns warm up. It was pretty sweet.

I'm really glad we had this opportunity - it was superfun and I don't think our time in Arizona would have been complete without it!

Dining Set Redo

Since we got married we've been using a mismatched table and chairs - we have never had a proper dining set. The table is the same one Casey had in his post-college apartment and the chairs were a hand-me-down to me that I used in my first apartment. This never really bothered me - they were perfectly functional and to be honest we rarely eat at our dining table anyway. But as I've become more focused on making our house into a home and making it feel a bit more polished the mismatched set became the perfect opportunity for improvement. Here is what our table and chairs have looked like for the last several years:

It's fine, nothing wrong with it, just a little ho-hum. So after perusing tons of pictures online and convincing Casey that this really was a good idea I got to work. It took a lot more time than I thought it would and I'm pretty sure the friendly folks at our neighborhood Ace think we're now BFF's, but I got it done.

And now, without further ado, here is our "new" dining set:

I really love the overall look, but I'm not happy with the way the finish on the table came out. In fact, that's the part that gave me more grief than anything. I initially used a spray on polyurethane but I just couldn't get it to look even. So I then bought regular polyurethane and tried both brushing and rolling it on, but there were terrible brush and roller marks. So at the suggestion of my awesome father-in-law I sanded it one last time and wiped on the final layer of poly. This looked better than the rolling, but still is not perfect. But I can live with imperfect. Or maybe I'll just have to get busy sewing up several table runners ;-)

I really love the transformation the chairs underwent:

When I first got these chairs my mom and grandma came over to my apartment and helped me recover the awful upholstery with some fun striped fabric. It's been cheery and bright the last few years but I really like this new upgrade:

I'm also glad I decided to use two different fabrics on the chairs. It's a little unexpected and I like that :-)

So there you have it! Hope you enjoyed your peek into our new and improved dining room!

Dining Room Preview

Well, after lots of sweat and a few tears, the dining room set has officially been made over. I don't have time to post it all right now, so I'll leave you with a little preview for now...

Before & After pics to come later today or tomorrow!

Happy Halloween: Owl Cookies!

For as long as I can remember we have had Owl Cookies every fall/ Halloween. My grandma has been diligently making these tasty treats for my brother and me, and then later on my cousin, year after year.

I love these cookies because they aren't too sweet and the saltiness of the cashew really adds something. Plus they are just so fun and cute!

My mom flew down last weekend to help us celebrate Casey's graduation (separate post on that to follow) and lo and behold my grandma had sent the frozen dough for owl cookies with my mom in her suitcase. Because my grandma is so awesome she also sent chocolate chips for eyes and cashews for noses. Love it! Several years ago my grandma copied the recipe for me and I'm a grown up now who is perfectly capable of baking my own fall goodies, but I love that she made them for me. When grandmas make something they just taste better, right? I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks this...

Alright, enough of my wonderful fall memories, here's the recipe:

"Hoot Owl Cookies"

Sift together 2 1/2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt. Set aside.

Cream together 3/4 cup butter. Gradually add 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar, creaming well.

Add 1 unbeaten egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla; beat well.

Blend in the dry ingredients gradually.

Combine 1 1/2 squares (1 1/2 oz) melted, cooled unsweetened chocolate and 1/4 teaspoon soda.

Remove 2/3 of dough to floured surface. Blend chocolate mixture into remaining dough; chill if desired for easier handling.

Roll our half of light dough to a 10 x 41/4-inch strip. Shape half of dark dough into a roll 10 inches long; place on strip of light dough. Mold sides of light dough around dark; wrap in foil. Repeat with remaining dough. Chill at least 2 hours.

Cut into slices 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick {I like to cut them nice a thick - it makes for a chewier cookie} and place two slices together on a greased baking sheet to resemble an owl. Pinch a corner of each slice to form ears. Place a chocolate chip in the center of each slice for eyes; press a whole cashew nut between slices for a beak.

Bake at 350* for 8 to 12 minutes. Remove from baking sheets immediately. Store cooled cookies between layers of foil in a flat, tightly covered container.

Hope you enjoy these cute little cookies as much as I do!

Yum!

Nicki and Napa - What a Great Combo!

The last weekend in July I flew up to Fairfield, CA to help Nicki pack up her apartment for the big move to Great Falls, MT. A whole weekend of Nicki-Molly time and an afternoon in Napa Valley - SWEET!

It was so so so so wonderful to see my best friend. There is nothing like some high quality girl time to refresh your spirit. We laughed, talked, watched girl flicks, went for walks, went shopping, went to the gym, oh and packed up the apartment :-) On Saturday we did a champagne tour of Napa Valley. It was freaking fantastic. The weather was perfect, the company delightful, the scenery unparalleled and the champagne delicious. Of course I'll visit you wherever you live, Nicki, but I'm sad you won't be so close to Napa anymore. It's just so gorgeous and so much fun!

Ah, McCall

McCall this year was a blast as always. It was one of the coldest years I can remember up there - we wore sweatshirts and jeans most days. (I must confess it was a nice break from the 110* + temperatures in Scottsdale, though.) This chilly weather meant less time hanging out by the lake and more time inside but we of course made the most of it and had fun anyway.

We watched fireworks from the dock on the Fourth of July, played bocce ball, ate tasty food, watched Camelot, played games, played poker, ate Grandma's awesome cookies, walked to town, read books, relaxed, put together puzzles, went kayaking, and just generally enjoyed ourselves. Oh, and Grandma refreshed me on how to knit and taught Katie, too. So fun! We also got to see lots of friends and Casey's family before we left Boise for McCall. I love spending time with our families and friends - I miss them so much.

The Todd & Mom

Kate & me

Payette Lake

Getting dark, almost time for...

...fireworks! It was so fun to watch the fireworks over the lake from the dock.

Happy 4th of July!

My family :-)

The Todd, Emma, Daniel, Mom, and Grandma hanging out in Roseberry.

We all tried our hand at bocce ball - love that game!

Three generations of Richner women.

Kate, Grandma, and Mom chillin' on our favorite swing at Ice Cream Alley.

Grandma with her knitting students.

Aunt Sessie brought waterproof disposable cameras with us when we went kayaking so I'm hoping to see those soon and upload a few of them here. Kayaking was so much fun. The weather finally warmed up a bit that day and we took full advantage of it. Only one person managed to tip over (I won't mention any names, Mom), but she made a full recovery :-) We saw loads of fish, a heron, and a mama deer with two babies. I love the outdoors!

McCall is always lots of fun and I look forward to it every year. Thank you Grandma for treating us to such a great family trip each year. Only 11 more months until next year!