getting in the holiday spirit!

So the last few weeks have been fun, not super busy but enough going on. I've had fun decorating my apartment and hanging out with friends. 

I watched the holiday (and had some football on) whole writing my Christmas cards!

Here is my tree - it is cute and the first time I've put my ornaments on a tree not at my parents house!

So the boy had his work Christmas party and he made a Mexmas hat - since the food was all Mexican. He took a sombrero and turned it into a Christmas tree. It was pretty funny and it turns out he is pretty crafty. It made me laugh when before going over one day he was like bring your hot glue gun...

We had a decorating contest at work and I kept mine pretty simple - my coworkers made almost forts out of theirs! I had a little tree and some garland, plus enjoyed making snowflakes! We also had a gingerbread contest. It had to be DC themed and when our plan to make the Washington Monument failed - we went with the Pentagon.


And my friend Susan had the fun idea to do Elf on the Shelf at work with one of our co-workers. It was funny each day to plan different letters and put Jerry in different fun thing. Here was one of the last ones we did! Shane had to create him an ugly sweater for our work Christmas party!

And since I'm going to NJ tomorrow and the boy is headed home to Texas we did Christmas on Thursday.  We cooked a nice breakfast and opened presents. It was fun surprising each other because we each had NO idea what we got each other. I got him a cutting board in the shape of Texas - and I full well know that that will be prominently displayed in our new house. And he loved the wine charms I made him too. He got me this statue of George Washington - which is awesome! And then diamond earrings. I had lost my everyday earrings a few weeks ago and he noticed I wasn't wearing any and so he got me some. It was SO surprised! 

Later that afternoon since it was gorgeous we went to Great Falls and walked around a bit and just took in the 60 degree December weather.  And then we went to check on the progress of the house. I have a feeling the next time I see it there will be walls up! 

Just as gorgeous in winter as the rest of the year!

Looks like we have some walls! 

The basement - the concrete has been poured! Next up -- walls and the roof!

And to add to my holiday baking - I made these Oreo White Chocolate Peppermint cookies - they came out awesome. The only thing I wish I had was the holiday Oreos, I just used regular ones. But still delish! 

So I'm just finishing packing - and I'm off to a holiday party tonight and excited to see a few friends and then tomorrow I'm driving to NJ where I will be until Saturday.

Merry Christmas!

oops

 So somehow it has been a month since my last post! Oops! November was a pretty busy month and I was home in NJ for a lot of it.

My grandfather passed away on November 11th, so I was home in NJ that week with my family for his funeral. It was wonderful to see so many people - my grandfather lived in the same town pretty much his whole life and my 8 year old cousin at one point during the visitation when the line was out the door goes - "Pa is famous". While it was a tough week, it is better. He had severe Alzheimer's for over a decade and was in a nursing home the last 4 years. So a tough week. I was home from the 12-15th.

When I got back to Virginia I had a few fun things that week. I went to my National Parks 81 & 82 with the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House NHS and the Carter G. Woodson NHS. Both are in DC and while the Carter site is under massive repair when I was at MMB the ranger gave me a lot of info about it and I got my stamp. When it re-opens I'll have to really go back and check it out. I've now been to all of the DC NPS sites! I recommend MMB- it is another hidden gem and I had a personal tour of the house!

Mary McLeod Bethune Council House NPS #81

Carter G. Woodson NHS - #82 - a little under construction

So I've been on a big baking kick recently - maybe just the fall weather. But I've been more creative than just making cookies. So I LOVE cheesecake - but I'd rather eat bite sized pieces than cut a cake. So I found a red velvet cheesecake cupcake recipe on pinterest - amazing! 

love the different colors!

adding the red velvet to the cheesecake

And then for my work's Thanksgiving potluck - I made these gems. Salted Carmel Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes - these are fabulous. And I'm someone who doesn't really love pumpkin. They won my 3rd place in the contest! 

all that carmel! 

cupcakes out of the oven - plus homemade carmel!

So the weekend before Thanksgiving - I went to the range and got to shoot new guns. The boy is in Nebraska this weekend hunting - so he wanted to test out his muzzleloader. So I got to shoot it too! I had a bullseye on my first shot! You still won't catch me hunting! It was SO cold that day! I was seriously wearing like 6 layers!

annie get your gun!

So in some big news. I will be moving in with the boy in early March! In November he bought a house! But I guess I should say is building a house. Here is the land where the house will be. It is a ten acre plot near Gainesville, VA! This was from when they had just cleared some it it - when he was there on Wednesday they had already started on the foundation! My commute (and his) to work is going to suck, but I'm excited to be further out and less in suburbia. 

It should be done the end of February/early March

I went home to NJ for a few days for Thanksgiving! It was very quiet, but nice. We had my grandma over and it was relaxing. I ran a 5k that morning - it was so cold! I couldn't feel my feet the first two miles and I think it was the worst 5k I've ran. Oh well! I hadn't ran since Tennessee! 

All ready for Thanksgiving dinner!

On the drive home I stopped by Hampton National Historic Site! National Park #83 and park #22 for the year! I only have one more in Maryland! I'm hoping to get a few more in before the end of the month, but I made my goal of 20 in 2013! It is going to be harder in 2014 as my close parks are becoming less. I think I have under 5 left with a 2 hour drive from where I live! Hampton was cool - the house was gorgeous - and when it was built it in 1790 was the largest house in the US and was the first site selected by the NPS to be a historic site for its architecture! The family had the house from 1970-1948! It is in Towson, right off of 695 and I totally recommend going there. I want to go back in the spring to walk the grounds!

National Park #83

Hampton Mansion - it is Georgian which is fascinating for this time period (1790) in the US!

 And to go along with my baking skills - I've made a few attempts to be crafty. I made this wreath this week! A little lopsided in some places, but I'm happy with it! I bought all the balls last year post Christmas at like 75% off! The others are wine charms. The boys best friend has joked a few times that he needs wine charms when we are all over - we drink a lot of wine! And I wanted to make him some manly ones. I found these gun charms on Etsy and just added little earring hoops to them. I'm excited to give them to him! I also made some for the boy too - since we also drink a lot of wine!

So there is my last few weeks - I have a few holiday parties coming up soon and just enjoying a few days off of work. I have a lot of long weekends in December and I'll be in NJ for a few days as well!

Hope everyone is doing well!