Happy Birthday Veronica!

This post has noting to do with WV but all to do with one of my best friends in the whole world. Veronica Jo was born this day 29 years ago and walked into my life 22 years ago and we have been besties and sisters every since! We grew up going through so many things with each other, we played, laughed, cried and had so much fun. We saw boys come and go and share some of the best and worst memories. We have been each other rock and support system for forever.

Last October I got the pleasure to stand up with her as she married the man of her dreams. That day was so perfect because she was so happy and it was exactly the day she dreamed of! 

Most recently she gave birth my beautiful niece Melody Jo!! Sadly I haven't yet met this little beauty but I have enjoyed getting to watch her grow with almost daily updates.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY VERONICA!!!

Crazy Holiday!

Here is our Christmas Card from this year!

Life here around the house have been a lot of crazy and a little lazy! I did my normal holiday baking craze! I have also been on a Chinese take out kick! First about the awesome take out I have been recreating.
So I got a craving for some Chinese take-out sadly for us that doesn't really happen. There a few Chinese restaurants but all too far to bring home and still be warm so I decided it was time to lean. I decided that I would try my favorite Moo Goo Gi Pan and Egg Drop Soup!! The MGGP was pretty easy to make, I just sautéed the veggies set those to the side, cooked the thinly sliced chicken, made the sauce and cooked it over the chicken and then added the veggies back in a tired till they were coated in the sauce and served it all over rice. I would say it turned out awesome, Mountain Man really liked it and he's not a huge fan of Chinese. The Egg Drop Soup is defiantly a work in progress, but ready to try it again! Then later I got an urge for some Szechuan Pork. So I went looking for a recipe and of course tweaked it a bit. I marinated the pork for a hour in soy sauce and sake and then cooked it in with some oil, then we cooked up the veggies (broccoli, green beans and mushrooms) then added back the pork and cooked the sauce with it and ate it over rice with a side of spring rolls! The pork and veggies were so good with just the right amount of heat.

During the Chinese take out adventures I was in a frenzy of baking!! Every Christmas I bake my little heart out, its just something I LOVE to do. This year had quite a few new recipes with some old trusty standbys. I made Red Velvet Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Walnut Pinner Cookies, Peanut Butter Cookies, Chocolate Filled Pretzels, Party Mix & Fudge. I took baked yummies to Mountain Mans Mom's Work and to friends and enjoyed a little ourselves!

We celebrated Our First West Virginia Christmas on December 20th at Mountain Man's Aunt and Uncle's up in Princeton. It was so great because a bit of the family could get together. We had a great dinner, I took green bean casserole and of course some cookies! We had so much fun laughing and talking. We also had a fun doing a gift exchange! I made two awesome gifts for us to take. I made an arm knitted scarf with some cookies for the first gift and for the second I made a movie night box with mugs, popcorn, two movies, hot cocoa and cookies too! We had a blast trading gifts. Mountain Man and I came home with some cash and M&M's!

We had a very low key Christmas Day. I was sick so I mostly sat inside and watched ABC Family Christmas movies all day, which was actually fun and relaxing. We had a nice dinner of ham, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole and homemade rolls. For dessert we had bread pudding with a bourbon  sauce, very very yummy! They had a cool fire going on outside, I made it out for a couple minutes. I got this awesome owl soap dispenser for christmas to match my clock in the kitchen. we also got some fun cookbooks and ornaments from my mom and grandma made us stockings of our favorite football teams!

We spent NewYears at home, it was a beautiful day and we grilled steaks over the fire and had backed potatoes to go with them! We stayed up till midnight and then at midnight we decided to call some of Mountain Mans Navy Buddies and wish the a Happy New Year!

Overall we had a great holiday but I am glad to get back to the daily routine and make things happen!

Hope everyone had a Wonderful Holiday and a Happy New Year!