Doggie Central

The Marshik's are in Cancun with Jaime's family, and one of their dog's, Sammie, is staying with us. Which is awesome, because Cosmo and Sammie, are like, totally bff's!! They get along great, and it's nice for Cosmo to have someone to play with. Cosmo also likes to hump Sammie, which is weird, but also slightly hilarious. Here's a cute picture I shot of the girls watching a squirrel out the window the other day.

When Cory and I leave for PA on Friday, Sammie goes to the kennel for a day or so until the Marshik's get back, and Cosmo goes to the Parris's to play with her friend Lola! Then when we get back, the Parris's leave, so Lola comes with us back to the Sholl casa. It's great to have friends with dogs so we can all help each other out!

Snow Day!

Seriously! In Texas!! Last Wednesday, it was really cold, and not just cold for Texas, it was in the low 30s on the way to work and it didn't really warm up like it usually does. On the way home it started raining a little bit, but as I sat at a traffic light, I noticed this 'rain' kind of bouncing off my windshield. It was actually sleeting!! Then in the evening, Alicia called me and told me it was snowing at her house, but I looked outside and was sad to see it wasn't snowing at ours! I forgot about it for a little, and then Cory and I went to deliver some holiday goodies to the Marshik's, and it was snowing!! And real snow! I wouldn't call it a 'snow storm', but it was real honest to goodness snow, that even stuck on our lawns and our rooves! Of course it was almost all gone in the morning, and they tried to ruin my good mood by closing the bypass that I take to work, because it's pretty much all elevated and they have no way of salting roads here because it just doesn't snow! But that night I was just so happy, and so was everyone I saw! Snow just brings out the kid in everyone, and it was really neat to see here in Texas! Here are some picutres that Cory took!

Holiday Baking and Cooking

My kitchen has been a busy place the past few weeks, I've been baking up a storm! Last year I started a tradition of giving goodies to my friends for holiday presents. I love to bake, and who doesn't like extra treats at the holiday's? This year they got homemade chex mix, fudge, and chocolate snowflake pops. I thought it all turned out really cute!

I also recently made a pecan pie and oreo truffles for a friend's holiday party. I was so happy with my pecan pie because last time I made it, it didn't set up and it was runny. This one was perfect!

This past weekend I did a lot of baking and cooking. I went to Beth's on Saturday to help her make 8 zillion dozen cookies for her friend who was in the Dickinson Tour of Homes (kinda like an open house thing). We came up with a new cookie variety, the Peppermint Butter cookie, let us know if you want the recipe, it's sure to be famous. (For serious, we put way too much Butter Flavored Crisco in them, accidentally, not knowing that butter and crisco do not have a 1-to-1 substitution. But seriously, they tasted fine. Just ignore that coating on the roof of your mouth, ok folks? We worked hard on those!)
I also made a Thanksgiving feast on Sunday and the Wilke's and the Woods's came over to help us eat it! We got turkey dinner on the cruise, but it just wasn't the same as all my mom's traditional recipes, so I bought a turkey on sale after Thanksgiving, and made that, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and cope's corn (a Lancaster county dish)! Oh and a divine chocolate pie, if I do say so myself! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of that; or maybe fortunately, so you don't drool on your keyboard ;) Everyone loved it and Wilke even said I am, and I quote, "one of the best cooks I know". I really do enjoy cooking and baking, but it's even better when my friends enjoy it too!

Cruisin' for Turkey Day

I'm a little behind on blogging, please forgive me! I have a hard time keeping up.
Over Thanksgiving, Cory and I were lucky enough to go on a cruise with my parents and my sister and her husband. A few years ago, my parents had the idea that instead of exchanging presents for the holidays and birthdays, we should take a trip together each year instead. We all easily agreed, as time together is hard to come by these days, especially with me and Cory living so far away. Well this is the first year we made it happen, and we all met up in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on Thanksgiving Day! We cruised with Royal Caribbean, on the Navigator of the Seas, which was a huge, beautiful ship. It was a great time - we had lots of sunshine, lots of good food, and most importantly, lots of good drinks. I mean, most importantly, lots of quality time with my family! Thursday and Friday we were at sea, and the ladies sunned on the top deck of the ship with several pina coladas, while the fellas headed to the Casino. Saturday we were in Cozumel, where we did a jungle hike excursion and got to see some Mayan ruins. They were really, well, ruined, but our tour guide was awesome, and it was really neat. Sunday was pretty much a repeat of Friday. It was a great little vacation!