I found out that I have tomorrow and Friday off!!!! I am SO happy. I get to head to Tampa two days earlier than planned!! Woo woo!! I hope everyone enjoys their last few days of 2010. Happy 2011!

Let's discuss my new favorite meat...the Rib Roast. It was amazing. As Paula promised, it was fool proof! I almost screwed it up by not reading the directions soon enough. Who knew you needed to keep it in the oven for 3 hours after cooking. It turned out fabulous. If I could, I would eat it everyday. We will definitely be adding this to our Christmas tradition.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! Love him!!
Lots of presents!!

Just a few of my favorite gifts. My mom is really, really good at finding fun gifts that aren't on your list. When I grow up I hope to achieve this. :) Coasters

Chip Clips

Last time I went shopping with Mark, this happened. Today, we went shopping and this happened.
Me: We need toilet paper.
Mark: Lets get this one!!
Me: No, I normally get the Target Brand.
Mark: No, we need to get Cottonelle because it has Bailey's friend on it. Bailey really wants this one!!

Needless to say, we ended up with Cottonelle.

Today, confirmed that I have absolutely no knowledge when comes to meat. I have no idea how to purchase it, which parts are which, absolutely nothing. Is is that bad?? Planning our Christmas meals confirmed this. Pork Loin, Rib Roast, Dark Meat, Light Meat, who the heck cares, as long as it taste good. I may or may not have google images of meat. Wow, I can't believe I am admitting this.

In case you need meal ideas, here is what we have planned.

Christmas Eve:

Jessica Seinfeld Pesto Crostini

Salad

Meatball Lasagna

Peanut Butter Pie

Christmas Day Breakfast:

Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Baked French Toast

Fruit

Mimosas

Christmas Day Dinner:

Paula Deen Rib Roast claims to be fool proof, this coming from someone that had no idea what a rib roast was until today

Steamed brocoli

Paula Deen Mac n Cheese

Spaghetti Pizza

1 8 oz box of spaghetti, cooked and drained
Mix 1/2 cup milk and 1 egg together. (It wasn't until typing this out, that I realize I completely left out this step. Oops.)
Add mixture to spaghetti.

Grease a 9x13 pan and put spaghetti mixture on bottom of dish
Spread your favorite spaghetti sauce over noddles
Top with your favorite pizza toppings. I used mini pepperonis (they are just too cute), Italian sausage, and green peppers.

Top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese

Bake at 35 for 30 minutes.

Thanks, Mrs. Hopkins

Peppermint Bark

My 1st attempt at making Chocolate Bark was pretty successful. I decided to use white chocolate with mini marshmallows and candy canes. I was a little nervous about making it, but, it ended up being super easy. A tip before you get started: Make sure all your toppings are crushed and ready to go before you start melting the chocolate.

Step 1: Prepare the pan. Line a baking sheet with wax paper.

Step 2: Pick your ingredients

Topping Ideas- almonds, walnuts, peppermints, toffee, coconut flakes, peanut butter chips, banana chips, figs, dried fruits, raisins, sea salt and lots more.

Step 3: Melt chocolate

Step 4: Spread chocolate out with a rubber spatula.

Step 5: Add your toppings!

This was sooo easy!! I will definitely be adding this to my Holiday Goodies.

Addition: Since the 1st attempt was successful, I went for round 2. Milk Chocolate with peanut butter chips and marshmallows. Oh boy, this is awesome!

White Chicken Chili

1 T vegetable oil
1 chopped onion
3 garlic cloves (crushed)
2 (4 ounce) cans mild chopped green chile peppers (I didn't do this)
2 t ground cumin
1 t dried oregano
1 t ground cayenne pepper
1 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
3 cups cooked chicken breast (chopped)
3 (15 ounce) cans white beans
1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese (I completely forgot to add the cheese..oops)

In large pan (I used a dutch oven) saute onions, garlic, chilies, cumin, oregano and cayenne pepper. Stir for about 3 minutes.
Mix in chicken broth, chicken and white beans. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and slowly stir in cheese until melted.

Until I saw this recipe I had never even heard of White Chicken Chili. I'm weird.

Proof that Bailey thinks he is a person.

Last minute gift idea: Is it bad that I have no idea who Denis Leary is? Oh well. He has a new book that sounds pretty hilarious. It's funny quotes that he has tweeted with silly photos of the celebrities he is making fun of.

If you aren't in the Christmas Spirit, you should probably move on to your next blog. This past weekend I went home to Jax. 1st stop, Festival of Trees. Below are a few of my favorite trees. My Mom's Tree!!

Notice the dog. Not really sure what it's made out of but it's super cute.

Pie dish Angel This was my favorite!! It was actually red. Veterans Tree.
Our mini tree that has all of our travel ornaments. Isn't the tree skirt super cute!?

Our Snowflake Themed Christmas Tree

The Joys of College Football...

"And this is why we will never buy a house." Mark's reaction to UM resigning. Zero job security. Most people don't realize, that when a Head Coach resigns (or gets fired) it puts both the assistant coaches and staff members jobs in jeopardy. Every resignation or firing is different. The new coach can "clean house" and fire every member of the staff down to the secretary or pick and chose who he wants to stay. You never know how many "people" a new coach will bring. We all knew that the UM Era would not last forever. To be honest, I am excited to see what the future holds. My mood could change in a few weeks, but for now, I am going to be hopeful!

Christmas 2010

Peppermint Bliss Christmas Card

Shop Shutterfly for elegant custom Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Would you like a $25 Shutterfly gift card? All you have to do is "share" one of your projects.

Log into your Shutterfly account

View your projects

Choose one and click "Share Project"

Give it a name and embed the code on your blog (I thought this would be hard..not at all)

Send the confirmation email to shareproject@shutterfly.com

Happy shopping!

Kelly, you look hot!

Random Ramblings

Apparently, our tv does this. This is how we watched football this weekend. Did I mention the audio was turned up so loud I could barely think. Not to mention, Mark kept switching back in forth between multiple games. Good thing Mark works in football because I do not think I could handle this every weekend.
Fig newton, not to be confused with Cam Newton (loser) dradle.

I made the top Post It a while ago. My co worker added the 2nd one ;)

You know you want several pairs of these.

Christmas came a little early for Bailey, thanks to Hannah!Bailey pretty much does this to every present at Christmas. We have no control. Before

He loved his new friend so much...

Things did not end well. Bailey has currently ripped all of his limbs off and even his hat.