Christmas at the Beach

Candy Apples

Mark has been asking me for a while to make candy apples. Finally, this week we are both done with school until the end of January, so we actually have time to do other things then read and study. I found a candy apple kit at a local Lowe's Grocery store and was able to find Gala apples at SuperTarget for ONLY $.99/pound. Great deal huh? Tuesday night I made 12 Candy Apples, which my first time ever to make them, and I must brag and say they are awesome. It was lots of fun as well and they look very festive for the Christmas season. We shared the apples with our neighbors, and they were quite happy.

Christmas Baking

I LOVE baking for the holidays, so I started this week cooking all of our favorites. Some of those favorites include: peanut butter balls (chocolate covered), cranberry squares (YUMMY), fudge, sausage balls, and more! As of now, our house is stocked with a chocolate chip cheesecake, the first batch of fudge and cranberry squares. Along with recommending all of these tasty treats, may I also recommend my workout program which is HIP HOP ABS. Buy it cause it works and because you LOVE the name. Seriously, it is a very fun 30-40 minute workout and you truly see results in 2 weeks or less. Check it out! I am also giving you my EASY and DELICIOUS microwave fudge recipe. ENJOY!

1 box powdered sugar 1/2 cup cocoa 1/2 cup butter or margarine 14 cup half and half Put all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute on HIGH, stir and microwave AGAIN for 1 1/12 minutes. IMMEDIATELY ADD: 1 tsp vanilla, dash of salt, 3/4 cups chocolate chips. STIR UNTIL SMOOTH (add nuts of you like), and empty into an 8x8 pan. CHILL.

THANKSGIVING IN THE MOUNTAINS

We spent this whole week in the mountains of Boone, NC. The weather was perfect the first few days and nice and cold the end of the week. We celebrated Thanksgiving with Jennifer's family and celebrated her grandfather's 80th birthday on Friday. We hiked Grandfather mountain, saw lots of animals, fed horses, sat in the hot tub and ate a TON of good food. Hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving Holiday as much as we have!! Enjoy the pics.... Josiah playing with his cousins... Grandpa eating his s'more made in the fire place.... Mark and I had a date day hiking Grandfather Mountain...

All bundled up in the mountains

Apple Butter

Ok, so I have to brag on Mark for a bit. I am allowed to brag because he is my husband, right? Well, he LOVES apple butter and has been saying for a while he wants to make some from scratch. A couple of days ago, he went to the store, bought all the apples and other ingredients needed and got to work. The process to make homemade apple butter is a 24 hour ordeal. He cored all the apples himself, peeled them all, (which he says took about 40 minutes because you have to do it after they cook and are really soft), and followed the directions exactly. He made enough to fill 4 canning jars, which he canned himself as well, and it is DELICIOUS!!! Now I have to convince him to make more for Christmas gifts....

Celebrating 7 years of Marriage

This weekend Mark and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on November 4th. Wow, how time does flies. It is true that each year gets better and better. We have traveled many places together all over the world, lived in another country, and are now proud parents of our first son. I am blessed to be married to my best friend who I can and do talk to about EVERYTHING, and most of the time, he listens! He is my biggest fan and I hope I am his. We spent the weekend back home in Wilmington, eating at our favorite places (Goody Goody, Trolley Stop, etc), and just sitting on the beach watching the waves and talking. Of course, Mark was able to surf some perfect waves both mornings, which was a bonus, and my mom took care of Josiah, giving us as much alone time as we wanted. This was one of the first years we did not travel somewhere for our anniversary, but being back in Wilmington made up for it for sure. There is nothing like sitting on the beach with a cool breeze and the warm sun on your face watching and listening to the ocean. We look forward to the many years to come that God gives us with each other.

FaceBook

I hear Facebook is the hot new thing. What are your opinions? I joined this weekend and it is nice to reconnect with old friends, roommates, etc., So far I like it much better than MySpace, which I am not a big fan of at all.

Sick

Josiah has his first real sickness! Yesterday, he was acting very tired and lethargic, so we knew something was wrong. He is usually full of energy, and like his mom and dad, he rarely sits still. He has had a cold the past few days, but has not acted sick at all until yesterday afternoon. We took his temperature and it was 102.3. This is the first time he has had a fever his entire life, so of course we took him to the doctor to find out he had an ear infection. Poor guy!! I have to brag though because he was not fussy at all yesterday, before the doctor, at the doctor, or after, even with his earache and the fever. He only acted more tired and subdued than normal. He is a trooper! He is on medicine now, slept great last night, got some extra cuddle time with Mom and Dad and is currently bouncing around in his crib as I write. He is so sweet!

More Josiah...

LOTS OF BIRTHDAY PICTURES!!!

Birthday Boy.....

Happy 1st Birthday Josiah

Unique World Trends

I (Jennifer) started a new import business that I am really excited about! Check my site out at http://www.uniqueworldtrends.com/ Let me know what you think....

Cruisin the Hood

Our handsome little man

Day at the park

New pics

We decided to change it up and actually put pictures other than just Josiah on the site..hard to do though! Ths is our neighbors new puggle. They actually got two of them. HOW CUTE!!

What...you wanna race me?

One of the favorite pics...

TOO CUTE!!!!