Merry Christmas 2011

Hope you all have had a wonderful 2011, filled with love, laughter, friends, and family. Praying 2012 will be an even better year.

If you are sharing a card on your site, feel free to leave a link in the comments below, I'd love to visit!

For more warm holiday fuzzies, visit the Fourth Annual Great Bloggy Holiday Card Exchange. 

vinyl family

You know those decals of stick figure families that adorn so many minivans? I think they're pretty cute. Well, at least I did until I started seeing them everywhere.

They just became too popular for me and lost part of their appeal. I'm fickle that way (this does not apply to the iPad - I don't think that will lose its appeal ever or at least not until something cooler comes out).

Anyway, my fried Bridget is pretty much the most creative person I know. Seriously, check out her blog, she has a ton of awesome ideas on there, as well as some really great writing. She started an etsy shop where she sells really cute car decals. And they're not the standard stick figure kind either.

She sent me one a couple of months ago and it surprised me how much it captured my little family. My husband even asked if it was actually us.

So, quick, go to her  etsy shop and get a decal that represents your family. I know she'd be happy to work with you on something that you will just love. Then, you can say you were one of the first to own one!

The internet has brought me a lot of cool things. I think Bridget is one of the coolest. Thanks Bridget for the decal, but more importantly, for your friendship! 

wordless wednesday: breakfast with santa

Even though we didn't actually eat with Santa, Punkin enjoyed "Breakfast with Santa" at his school last Saturday.

Linked at 5 Minutes for Mom and Two of a Kind.

the best sweet potato casserole ever

Not that I'm bragging or anything.

But seriously, I have never made sweet potato anything before, but when discussions of what food everyone was bringing for Thanksgiving came up, I found myself agreeing to bring sweet potatoes and a dessert (though the dessert is another post).

I turned to pinterest (of course) for recipe inspiration, and pinterest did not disappoint. I went through many, many variations, before I settled on this recipe (pin here). I liked this recipe because it offered a marshmallow topping on half and a nut topping on the other half. I wasn't sure if everyone loved marshmallows as much as me, so I thought this would do the trick. Also, I liked that the nuts were cashews and not pecans, especially since my husband is allergic to pecans (and hello? cashews are delicious!)

The recipe calls for a food mill. I had never heard of a food mill before. Apparently, they come in handy with sweet potatoes because of their stringy nature. I turned to twitter (specifically my friend Katy) to find out what I could do instead. She suggested a food processor or a blender. I hadn't done that before either, but I figured it was worth a shot. (And I found out how easy it would have been to make my own baby food... tons of dollars down the drain there, folks. Seriously, try it!)

Anyway, I'm not a food blogger, so let's get straight to it. I didn't take any pictures during the process, and even forgot a finished product picture, so this half-way through lunch picture will have to do.

You can see which side was favored: marshmallows win!

But honestly, both sides were delicious! I'd definitely make this recipe again!

I wish I still had some leftovers...

the end

I have completely shocked myself that I have posted something every. single. day. in November. When Shireen suggested I join her, I honestly didn't give it much thought. I just thought, sure, why not? But deep down, I knew I would not follow-through. I knew I would start strong, but would eventually forget or just say screw it and just stop.

But I didn't. Sure, some of my posts are completely throw away posts that I have considered deleting when December rolls around, but I have learned a few things about myself and about this blogging thing. I realize now, I won't be deleting them. For they show that I stuck with it and even when I didn't want to continue, I did. In the past, I would have never considered posting such filler, because what's the point? and no one wants to read that. And that would have made it easier to not post the next day or the next.

I have learned that it's okay to be myself.
To write what I want to write.
To not worry about what other people might think.

I learned that even though I wanted to be organized about this month's posts, and write some things ahead, that is not who I am.
I think I already knew that.

I have learned that very few people comment on blogs these days.
And that it's a lot less fun when there are no comments.

I have also learned how important it is for me to leave comments on other blogs I read.
Even if it's not much more than I really liked this post. Thanks for sharing.

I learned that I just have to sit down and start typing.
And stop worrying.
Or being self-conscious.

I learned that I do enjoy blogging. Though I don't really like rules.

So, I think what all this means is that I will be blogging more than I used to (though that is not difficult).
And I hope that I can find more of my own rhythm.
And reveal more of who I really am.