It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Yes my friends that is my Christmas spirit showing. Now that Thanksgiving is over, I feel like Christmas is fair game. So yes, that means I have started decorating the house... Occasionally switching to radio stations that I know will be playing Christmas songs... and planning my Christmas shopping. Ahh. Gotta love the holidays! This past Saturday I dug our Christmas decorations out of the storage area & dragged them upstairs. The inside is mostly done, with the exception of our Christmas tree which we will most likely be purchasing this weekend. The outside however, still needs to be done. This is the first year we have a house/let alone a house with a porch and our very own trees to do what we please with. I'm sure we wont go overboard but I imagine we'll line the porch and maybe throw some on this little tree we have in front. No oversized snow globes and lighted reindeer for us :).

A little sneak peak of our fireplace/entertainment center...


Another thing that comes with Christmas is just the general holiday spirit. Many of you may find the mall terrifying around this time of year and avoid it at all costs. While I don't do a lot of my shopping at the mall, I still enjoy putting Hunter in the stroller and soaking up some of the holiday buzz. There's nothin' like window shopping w/ a delicious gingerbread latte in hand.

This past weekend we took a trip to Bass Pro Shops to take a look at the decorations (amazing!) & to visit Santa. Hunter loved looking around, he loved the giant fish tank and all of the animals (yes, the dead stuffed ones on the walls...). It was worth the trip (about 40 minutes from our house) and we picked up a cute bass pro hoodie for our little "hunter" for Christmas.


This weekend while Trevor's at drill, I'll probably get some of our Christmas shopping done for the general family. We have a Christmas party on Saturday (in Buffalo @ the Armory) and I have a birthday party on Sunday for one of my co-workers adorable 3-year old. Busy weekend, so I hope we can find some free time to grab our tree... I just wonder how Hunter Charles will handle it this year now that he gets into... everything. This year I think he will enjoy the idea of opening presents. Last year he just looked at us like we were morons.

My favorite season of the year is beginning... can't hold back my excitement...

Summer Island & Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah

Still tryin' to catch up on posts... Just about caught up but to make it easier I am going to do a "double-book review". I have been trying to read as much as possible lately as I find it to be my "escape" from life's pressures. Plus, since Hunter is obsessed with the laptop, it makes reading the only acceptable form of entertainment for me while he is playing. I've been keeping up on this Kristin Hannah kick and have decided to read all of her books. Well, I'm gettin' there...

First I read Summer Island.


This was a book I actually started over a year ago... lost my copy of the book and never finished it. Well, this past library run I saw it on the shelf and decided I needed to continue where I left off. It turned out to be a really good book. It was a little hard to get into at first but the story picks up quickly. It has two narrators throughout the book, Ruby-an outspoken twenty something who finds it easy to hide her true feeling behind her "humor". She has never been capable of falling in love or holding a steady job and blames most of this on the fact that her mother just up and left her (and her older sister) when they were young.

The other main character is Ruby's Mother Nora, who sees things in a completely different light. Although she feels terrible for leaving her kids behind, it turns out there are reasons behind why she left. The story takes you on a journey where Ruby and Nora are reunited due to a scandel and slowly the truth comes out about why Nora left. I will obviously keep all major details from you but the story teaches you that "things aren't always what they seem".

I also read a book of her's called Magic Hour.


This one was a little more "unpredictable" then Summer Island. I spent a majority of the book changing my ... "I bet this is what happens" thought. This story is about a child therapist who is hiding from a recent scandle, who is called back to her small hometown by her chief of police sister who is trying to solve a case involving a wild child that appeared in their town. It shows the power of coming together as a family when tragedy strikes. Both were great reads!

Thanksgiving Recap.

Thankful,

This year I am thankful for a lot of things! Just to name a few...

-My son (who is the light of my life)

-My fiance Trevor, who I am excited to start a new chapter with

-My family-my brother, my twin sisters, my dad & mom and their spouses, my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins... the list keeps going!

-My great group of friends.

-My best friend who I've known for years & gets to be my MOH in my upcoming wedding.

-My co-workers, who make each day of work something to look forward to...
-Having a car that gets me to and from work each day with minimal distress. (Now if only we could adjust gas prices/thruway tolls)
-A warm house that we can decorate & entertain in... our way.

And that's just the beginning...

On Thanksgiving Day I went over to my Mom's house to spend a few hours with my family. Hunter & I visited with my Aunts, Cousins and Brother for a bit then headed over to Trevor's Moms (who lived coincidentally about a mile up the road!). We had some wine, watched some football & relaxed. The food was great of course! Hunter Charles sure enjoyed it as well...Later that night we headed home and I took a "nap" for a few hours because Amanda and Delaney were due to my house @ 11:00ish so we could head to the Mid-Night Madness Black Friday Outlet Mall extraveganza!! We did the whole "Black Friday" shopping last year and we actually scored some good deals. So, we took off around 11:45 (most stores opened at midnight) and stopped for our annual "starbucks run" (on the thruway of course) and 25 short minutes later we were pulling into complete madness. The place was packed, we had to circle forever before we finally found an acceptable "illegal" parking spot.

It was definately worth it though, I got some really cute things @ Osh Kosh for Hunter & the other babies in my life. I found (3) really neat hats for Trev (who goes through hats like it's his job) and a pair of $10 jeans for myself. Score. I still have a bunch more shopping to do but hopefully can have everything set a few weeks before Christmas. Tis' the Season!

Bourbon Chicken & Irish "Venison" Stew (Respectively)

It's true what they say about the Holiday's being the busiest time of the year! I have several posts I'd like to do, and slowly but surely I'll get them up! For starters I'd like to just rave about two recipes I've tried in the past week or so. The first one being Bourbon Chicken. I'm always searching for new quick/easy dinners to add into the mix. Amber's Delectable Delights had the answer to my dinner-prayers! I figured I would give this one a shot Monday night for dinner. I made some Garlic Red Mashed Potatos & some Mixed veggies & let me tell you... Trevor, Hunter and I all cleared our plates. What a great find! The recipe isn't too difficult especially if you have someone to cut up the chicken for you (Thanks babe :) ). This one will definitely serve as a regular dinner choice from now on.

Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1-2 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ginger
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce

Directions:
Heat oil in a large skillet.
Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned.
Remove Chicken.
Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium heat until well mixed and dissolved.
Add chicken and bring to a hard boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Can you say yum??

Today in honor of Trevor's first "normal" shift since he started working at the hospital (9-5), I wanted to make something that we enjoy in the crockpot. We had some venison in the freezer that we need to use up (my lovely hunting man thinks he's going to have a bunch more venison to add to the freezer if he could just find that one helpless deer to shoot). So, I looked through some of my cookbooks and surfed the internet for good "venison" recipes. I stumbled across this...

Irish Beef Stew. It sounded perfect, with the substitution of venison for beef of course! I also didn't have any guiness on hand so I used Blue Moon, which tasted just fine. I cooked this recipe according to the directions except after I sauted the vension and cooked the potatos in butter, I added them to the crockpot with the remaining ingredients. I cooked it for about 5 1/2 hours and it was perfect! We had it with some warm buttered italian bread. Trev loved it & we ended up having a bunch of leftovers that we froze for a cold winter night.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/4 pounds well-marbled chuck beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces (NOT extra-lean)
• 6 large garlic cloves, minced
• 6 cups beef stock or canned beef broth
• I cup of Guinness beer
• 1 cup of fine red wine
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
• 3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 7 cups)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled carrots
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

1 Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Lightly salt the beef pieces. Working in batches if necessary, add the beef (do not crowd the pan, or the meat will steam and not brown) and cook, without stirring, until nicely browned on one side, then use tongs to turn the pieces over. Continue to cook in this manner until all sides are browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add beef stock, Guinness, red wine, tomato paste, sugar, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

2 While the meat and stock is simmering, melt butter in another large pot over medium heat. Add potatoes, onion and carrots. Sauté vegetables until golden, about 20 minutes. Set aside until the beef stew in step one has simmered for one hour.

3 Add vegetables to beef stew. Simmer uncovered until vegetables and beef are very tender, about 40 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Tilt pan and spoon off fat. Transfer stew to serving bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. (Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before serving.)

Delicious!!

Like I mentioned, I have a few posts from this week & weekend including a few book reviews but I'll get to that shortly. For now, I am going to snuggle with my sweet little dragon who is ready for bed. Hope everyone has a good night!

Housewarming Party and ...

Whew, what a weekend! We had our Housewarming party on Saturday and although I'd say it was a success, it was tiring. We had roughly 20-25 people there at any given point throughout the night. Luckily most of the guests kinda came in "groups" so our not so large house wasn't ever too crowded. :). We had a great time! How could you not with plenty of snacks, wine & people you love?

We are so thankful that everyone could make it & are grateful to have so many awesome friends & family members. Thanks again for making it a very special night for us. Honestly, I wish I had taken some picture lol... But I didn't.

Oh, and on a side note......



We got engaged!!!



Completely unexpected (on my part) and apparently Trevor had been planning this for a while (everyone knew but me...). It was even more awesome that he let my best friend Amanda & his Sister Heather know "when" he was going to do it... so they were both able to videotape it for me :). Although, i'll admit, I was almost TOO surprised so I look kinda goofy. But, after all the nerves and (fear of people having all eyes on me), the excitement set in. I looooove the ring, it's very "kara"... and I loooove the guy who gave it to me so it's all good... :). Plus, when everyone started clapping, Hunter did too so I found that pretty funny.

Now with showing it off at work & making it "Facebook" official.. I'm getting the question of, "Oh, so when's the wedding?". That sure caught me by surprise as it just finally set in that I was even engaged. I'm not too familiar with these sorts of things as I'm the oldest one on my side of the family & only one of my friends are married so far. Hmm. Well, all I can tell you folks, is that it's going to be before Trevor leaves for overseas-August 2011 (he leaves in Nov, but has to go down for training earlier).

So needless to say, i'm super happy :)

Shutterfly.com Rocks!

Happy Holidays All! Well, sort of at least. We are comin' up on my favorite time of the year. Christmas time! Now, don't get me wrong-I love Halloween & Thanksgiving too so I try to give each holiday their "respected space". But.. with that being said, I also didn't realize that we are coming into *gasp* December in only a few weeks. So what we need to do is get our holiday cards out! Last year, we had Heather do them for us. This year, she's got her own little one to make pretty cards for, so we figured we'd be pro-active and see what we could come up with. Our first choice of course, is Shutterfly.com. I have heard so many good things about this website & not to mention they have the most adorable templates.

So how excited was I when I found out that they are giving out 50 free cards to bloggers. Score. I fell in love with only about 50 of the templates...it's going to be really hard to pin down what card we are going to use, so I supposed I should get started looking soon!

While your there, check these areas out!

Christmas cards -Well duh, because the Holidays are coming up! You will be amazed at how many amazing choices there are! (Please allow yourself rougly 2-3 hours to look at the site, I sure did ;) )

Personalized Photo Mug -Perfect gift for Grandma/Grandpa or any coffee lover...Or, ya know, yourself.

Personalized Calendars -For those family members/friends who don't drink coffee.. who wouldn't love a personalized Calendar. I happen to have one hanging in my cubicle ;).

Either way, no matter what your lookin' for this Holiday season, check out Shutterfly.com. You wont be sorry !!

DIY Kitchen Island

So, I am finally finished with my kitchen island project! It wasn't too difficult at all, and I am very pleased with the final result. If you are looking to do this on your own, I highly recommend research research research. Look online at Kitchen Islands that you would like to buy (If you were Bill Gates..). Take note of the dimensions and details involved. Decide what your style is... and then it's easier to sort through ones that will "work" for you, and which ones wont.

Depending on your location *although I'm pretty sure Craigslist.com, or something similar to it is popular in most areas these days* start searchin'!

For me, I knew what I was looking for, it was just finding the right one, in the right location, for the right price (since it was a DIY project, I didn't want to spend over $50 initially...). Once you've nailed down the right dresser you will start "preparing".

First I'll start with my before pictures...

(Before) Front View. There were actually (4) white knobs on the top shelves but I took them off before the pic.

(Before) Side View...

(Before) Back View. Just your typical dresser with an unfinished back. (Notice Hunter in the foreground, he wouldn't get out of the pic, he was far too busy getting into things...)

First, I pulled off all of the hardware...The knobs, the drawer "tracks" and made sure the nails in the back were pounded in. Then, I laid down a large tarp (I could have done this all in my basement but the dresser/island was VERY heavy and Trevor was gone for the weekend). I then began painting the entire body of the dresser (excluding the top). This part is completely up to your preference though. My kitchen has wood floors and white cabinets, so although the original wood on the dresser was in great shape, I wanted it to blend into the kitchen instead of standing out.

After I painted the body, I painted the "extras". I purchased plain wooden knobs from Home Depot and a plain wooden "towel ring". I then painted the knobs/towel rings the same color as my windowpanes, which match my curtains, etc...).


Here are the "before" pics of the add-ons I chose. If you click on the picture, it will take you to Homedepot.com and the page you can purchase them on. Keep in mind that these are super cheap because they still needed "finishing", if you decide to buy hardware in stainless steel or something fancier, it may be a little pricier.

Once I had everything painted, and of course after letting it dry I began to "reassemble".

*Just as a side note, the dresser/island was about 2 inches to short for my preference, so I had the lumber guy @ Home Depot cut me (4) 2x2 blocks of wood. After painting them white, I screwed them onto each leg to make it just that much taller. (I know, I know, I never claimed to be sane).

Instead of putting the drawers back in, I decided to leave the bottem part as "open storage", so I can slide by mixing bowls and baking sheets in it. Obviously this isn't too pretty to view, so I attached a set of curtains to it that match mine. This covers up the "storage" space, and adds some color to the island.

After attaching my towel ring and the new blue knobs, I began to work on the "backside".

What to do w/ the unfinished backside was the hardest part of the "decision" process. After reading reviews and DIY guides I had a couple ideas in mind.It was a close toss up between buying a sheet of white beadboard and just attaching it to the back or.... (be prepared for an extremely long run-on sentence........)

Buying a large (obviously measured to fit the back) piece of plywood, spray painting it with "Chalkboard Paint" (what a concept right??) and therefore creating a functional island for me and a fun activity for Hunter Charles to do while I'm cooking!! SOLD. Whew. This part was simple, I just measured the backside of the dresser, took the measurements into Home Depot and had them cut me a piece of wood. I purchased the Chalkboard Paint, painted the wood with a few coats and after it was done drying, just drilled it onto the back of the dresser/island. Ta-da!

I'm super excited to show Trevor, although, knowing him he may not even notice the new object smack in the middle of the kitchen. I say this, because last night I got about 4 inches cut off my hair & some bangs and he didn't notice ;). Men...

Now, for the finished product. Drum Roll Please........

Island from the Front (sorry to the pic is so dark).

View from the Side/Back. Like I mentioned before, I painted a piece of plywood with chalkboard paint and attached it to the back.



Hunter Charles enjoying his new Chalk Board. He was obviously only making scribbles but he seemed so proud of himself!

The hard work paid off, that's for sure!

It's 9:30 am, Do you know where your remote is?

Funny little story for ya on this lovely Tuesday Morning. This past week/weekend Trevor & I were going crazy looking for our Bedroom TV Remote. It's not very big, so we assumed it got lost in the mass confusion of our bedroom. It wasn't as "crucial" to find as the living room TV remote because we really didn't spend much time watching tv in our room unless it's bedtime. But still, everytime I walked in the room I'd fumble around in a box or peek behind a shelf, because it was making me insane thinking it could just "disappear". So for about a week straight we changed the channel the old-fashioned way...and just assumed it would "turn up". Well on Saturday morning I was doing some heavy cleaning (for our housewarming this coming weekend) and I went to load the dishwasher and much to my surprise...look at what I found...




Hmm, a remote in the dishwasher. I wonder how it got there....



Yes, that is Hunter Charles in the bottom part of the stove. He finds it hilarious to pull the drawer out and stand in it. *Before you call child services we would never let him do this when the stove was on* :). I believe he probably snagged the remote off of the bed-side table and when we had our backs turned, snuck it in the silverware tray. Sneaky sneaky little dragon.

Two Parties & a Baptism.

Sounds fun right? It was. Usually I'm not that busy but this past weekend was an eventful one. It started Friday Night with dinner at a Thai Restaurant to celebrate (again) my friend Jen's 30th Birthday. It was a fun mix of her friends and her family. Trev worked late Friday so he wasn't able to make it, but Hunter and I wanted to join the fun. He was actually very well behaved (not that he's a terror, but sometimes he gets restless). He had some Chicken Satay and he looved it. Hopefully he loves Thai food like his Mom :).

Mr. Smiles enjoying some Chicken Satay...

Hunter and I, near the end he got a little anxious but can ya blame him?


Me, the Birthday girl Jen & her friend Jay

It was a fun time and the food was delicious. It's kind of on the way home for me, so this will definately be a take-out choice in the future.

Saturday I spent the entire day cleaning. Next weekend is our Housewarming Party so there is a lot to be done and I wanted to get a few things done that I've been meaning to do since we moved in. Later in the day, my two cousins came over (they were babysitting for me that night) and we ran a few errands. We got some pizza for dinner & Mike came over. Trevor, Mike and I left for the Birthday Party around 7:00ish. The rest of the night was very fun. She has a lot of nice friends and a bunch of people from work were there as well. We had a good time, and I think the Birthday Girl did too ;).

Sunday, Hunter and I headed out to Nora's baptism. It was at a church about half an hour away. It was fun and Nora looked beautiful in her white dress.. I wish I had taken a picture. After the baptism, we went to Trevor's Mom's house for a little get together. It was good time, Hunter Charles got to play with Heather & Michael's nephews (2 adorable little boys). Trev suprised us by showing up (he originally had to work from 8-5) but got out around 11 because they were slow.

Later after the festivities we headed home and Amanda & Delaney came over for dinner. We went to Wegmans and grabbed some subs and watched Toy Story 3 also, which was really cute!

This coming weekend we have the Housewarming so it's going to be a busy week getting the last minute things I'll need. I'm really excited about it though, we have a good amount of Friends and Family coming, so it'll be a full house. I'll be sure to post pics afterward.

Deployment.

Let's be honest, I knew this was coming. Trevor joined the military a few months after we started dating. We knew that sometime throughout his time with the Army, they would have to tour overseas. Most likely to Afghanistan. At the end of 2011. So I never really thought too much about it. Fast forward almost 4 years, and we are coming up on the end of 2010 *maybe I'm just in denial but did this past year go by waaay too fast?*. This past weekend, while Trevor was at Fort Drum, they gave him his "orders". They did this because we hit the "one-year-til" mark. One year. I couldn't even believe it. We've talked about it a bunch of times and of course I don't hide it from others, but this was a huge reality check for me. Before I continue, I need to point out that Trev and I have been through a lot. Like I pointed out, we started dating in 2007, and only months later he left for basic training. Then AIT. We had a good 8 month gap away from each other in a crucial point in our relationship. And we made it. To me, distance is not going to be the issue. I am very independent and sometimes even enjoy time to myself. The year will be rough, but I will survive. Hunter Charles will be the best company for me, in addition to friends and family of course! So I'm not worried about myself. I'll make it. I am however worried about Hunter.

He is going through a stage right now where he is attached to Trevor's hip.

Hunter wants to see what he is doing at all times. He walks around chanting Da-Da, Da-Da... Even though we all know he can say Ma-Ma, and other words. A part of me is just afraid that his "spirit" will change when his b.f.f Dad is away for a little while. I know that's a terrible thing to think and of course every single part of me is going to remind him everyday that Dad's comin' home, Dad misses him, Dad this.. and that, but it's still in the back of my mind. Luckily in our day and age, we have the technology to "stay connected". Trev and I wrote a million letters back and forth while he was in Texas for training, and although Hunter is too young to write, we will still send him pictures and other fun things. Skype will also be a huge help.

Needless to say, I knew what I was getting myself into...and although Hunter Charles was born into this, he couldn't be prouder of his Dad...

I know that families deal with this every single day, so this is not meant to make anyone feel sorry. We will get past this... It's just sort of strange to think about. I think mostly, we'll just miss him while he's gone...And we'll always have this a wavin'...because we couldn't be prouder of him.

"Winter Garden" by Kristin Hannah

Let me start off by saying, I know I've spoke very highly of Kristin Hannah and the books I've read in the past, but I feel as though this one is set apart from the rest. In the sense that, it's probably one of the best books I've ever read, period. I have never read a book that has made me cry like this one. Tears of happiness and of sadness. What a tear-jerker. For real... Not only does it have a loving, family feel to it, but it also has a mystery feel to it. Throughout the whole book I was turning the page not knowing what to expect...

A little background on the book. The two main characters Meredith & Nina are somewhat close but really the only thing they have in common is how much they love their father. He is a kind hearted, hard working & friendly man that they both look up to. Their mother on the other hand, is somewhat cold and although provides a "warm" home and plenty of food growing up, never really opens up to her daughters and tries to get to know them. The girls get into their late 40's and their father suddenly passes away, but not before letting them know that there is more to their mother than meets the eye. He makes them promise to ask their mother to tell them her "Fairy Tale" from start to end.

Throughout the book you hear parts of the "Fairy Tale", and you experience what impact this story has on their mother and on them as well. I don't want to spoil anything so please excuse me if I sound vague, but if I can give you any advice today it is.... READ THIS BOOK! Seriously, you will not regret it and I can almost gurantee you will shed a tear or two. Leave me a comment if you end up reading it and let me know what you thought!

Wine Tour & Birthday Fun!

I'm fallin' waay behind on posting here, so I apologize! Let's start out by this past weekend. My best work buddy Jen is turning 30 this month so in honor of this she wanted to have a few events. My job was to plan the Wine Tour. I didn't mind doing this, as I have planned one before and am very familiar with how they work. After a month or so of planning details, collecting money and making reservations, the event finally arrived this past Saturday! We started off meeting at the mall for "pickup". We (Amanda and I) got there early so I could finalize the itineraray with the driver and make sure everyone was in the right place. We ended up taking a Limo Bus, which let me tell you, was a life saver! It was a great way to travel with the (21) people we had. Very spacious, and all around a pretty sweet ride.

We originally had 4 wineries on the list, however, by advice of another limo driver *don't ask why we were chatting w/ another limo driver, I don't remember lol* they reccommended stopping by one of my fav's (Torrey Ridge) and "sneaking" in with groups of 5. Well we did *because we had time to kill*. It worked! We got in, tasted and snuck back out. Mwa hahah. All around it was a good time. I had a lot of fun and can't wait for this coming weekends festivities! (Dinner at a delicious Thai Place Friday and Partayyyy on Saturday!). I'll leave you with a few pics...*Decided not to post the incriminating ones, since we all know they are all over facebook at this point lol*.

A small group of us, on the way to our first winery!



Me and the Birthday Girl aka my "work wife"


@ Villa Bellangelo (had a beautiful view!)

And that's when things got crazy. Apparently a "little" wine brings you back to your Cheerleading days...

Also, Trevor came home from Fort Drum last night. Hunter Charles was super happy to see him of course. He didn't have to go into work last night so we got an unexpected Monday night with him. He also doesn't have to work tonight, so I'll probably grab a movie **** GROWN UPS! **** on my way home so we can see it. Other than that, nothing too exciting until the weekend.

"The Things We Do For Love"

I feel as though I am experiencing Deja Vu. Once again, I picked up a Kristin Hannah book that I could not put down. There's something about the way she writes, that really paints a picture of what's happening. This one was no different...Actually, I can almost say that this was my favorite one yet. But, with that being said, I've liked them all so far so that's not really a fair statement.

The Things We Do For Love was a very easy one to get into. It is really about two women who live two very separate lives but are both missing a similar piece... Companionship. The main character Angie is in her late 30's and recently divorced. One of the biggest struggles her and her husband faced (and what was believed to be the demise of their marriage) was that they were never able to conceive a child. She let this destroy her life, in the sense that she never really felt "complete" without one.

The other main character Lauren, came from a broken home. Her mother was an alcoholic who never amounted to much. Lauren however, was the "ideal child". Despite the cards she had been dealt, she held a job from the time she was old enough to do so-and managed to get a scholarship to a prestigious private school. Aside from that, she was an excellent student and a participant in various sports and clubs. Also, while her Mom has men in and out of her life, Lauren has managed to land a steady boyfriend of four years.

When fate bring Lauren and Angie together, they find the true meaning to the word family and because I don't want to spoil anything for those of you that haven't read it-the title of the book really holds strong throughout the story. This is a true indication that family is what you make of it. The people in your life that are your "blood" do not define who you are. I think this may be my new favorite Kristin Hannah book. I would highly recommend it, it's hard to put down.

Next up, Winter Garden. I'm picking it up from the library tonight. Also on my radar, Safe Haven, the new Nicholas Sparks one. I have it on "reserve" so as soon as someone brings it back... It's mine. Mwa hahah.

Halloween Weekend-Sunday...The Main Event!

Please excuse the lateness of this post, too busy of a weekend! Unfortunately on Sunday (Halloween) Trevor had to work late at the hospital, so he was bummed about missing out on Hunter's "first" trick or treating. I had to convince him that in all honesty, this really isn't the year for him to enjoy trick or treating, next year will be more fun! That made him feel a little better though. Either way, we took a ton of pics/video to make sure we documented Nora's first, and Hunter's second Halloween.

After Trevor left for work, we headed over to Trevor's Mom's house for some dinner and Halloween fun. Her boyfriend David cooked us some delicious pot roast and vegetables (Hunter loooved it). After dinner, we snacked on homemade caramel popcorn (thanks heather!) and of course enjoyed some beverages. When it was near dark, we got the kids into their costumes... Nora as a leopard and Hunter as a puppy.

Had to steal the pic from Heather's facebook because I left my memory card at home, plus I suck at taking pics like i've mentioned a gazillion times before...

Hunter and Nora enjoying some candy...


Mom, can we go yet??


Look at that face? Even though he kept getting called a "she", he was in very good spirits. I think next year will be a blast...


For a ton more pictures of cuteness just check out Heather's Blog, she's got a bunch there that she took of the 2 little ones!

In other news, I finally purchased the first piece in the "Kara makes her own kitchen island saga". Ever since we moved into the house I've felt like there was something missing in my kitchen. Don't get me wrong i'm in *love* w/ the tile countertops, and the "cottagey" feel of it... but there is a perfect space right in the middle of the kitchen and the "eat in" (which I don't use for that purpose, my dining room table is next to the living room). So, I priced out kitchen Islands. Not microwave carts, but actual standing islands. Well, that was an eye opener. Some of the ones I really liked were in the $800 range. Holy crap. Not happening! Even if I had the extra money, it would go towards something far more useful..

So my creative side comes in and as i'm picking apart each island, I notice that it is very simliar to that of a dresser. A free standing dresser.. with some minor adjustments. Well, this brings me to my favorite place ... craigslist. One person's junk is another person's treasure right? Yeah, I keep trying to convince Trevor too. After a few weeks of searching, I finally came across a dresser that looked like what I needed. It was very cheap, and located in Geneva which is only about 20 miles from me. The last thing I was missing were the dimensions...I had a pre-set idea of what the dimensions "should be" based on the real kitchen islands I shopped around for. So, I crossed my fingers and called the number on the ad. Sure enough, it was almost exactly the same as my $800 choice! Wahoo! So I went to pick it up last night w/ Trevor's truck and brought it home. I plan on being "done" by the end of the weekend to surprise Trevor when he gets back from his 5 day drill.. I will be documenting the whole process and will show you the finished product! Wish me luck!

Halloween Weekend-Saturday....

Saturday we woke up to a beautiful fall day. Hunter and I got up and made breakfast and then relaxed and watched cartoons. We headed out to Wegmans to pick up some things for dinner and made a quick stop at the Apple Farm in Victor. I didn't pick up any cider & donuts last time I went, so since it was sort of on the way home we decided to make a pit-stop. When we got home we made some lunch and then went into the backyard to play. It was such a nice day out, we got some video of him playing with the ball, but his real distraction came from next door. Our yard is fenced in, so we really can't see over it unless we are standing on something. Our neighbors dog was very curious to see what we were up to, so proceeded to walk back and forth along the fence sniffing along the bottem. Well, Hunter saw his little nose poking out under a spot that was broken and became obsessed with trying to pet him. Since I don't know the dog too well, I didn't feel comfortable with Hunter sticking his hand under and we figured it was time to head in for a nap.

Sure enough, he passed out almost immediately and I got a good portion of my book read. Later, we started cooking dinner (flank steak, mashed potatos, homemade mac & cheese, acorn squash, rolls and salad). Why you ask such a big dinner? Well Amanda and Delaney and their Mom Laurie joined us for dinner. They started arriving at about the time Trevor started grilling the steak (I think he was happy for an excuse to sit outside away from all the girl chatter), and we ate shortly after.

After dinner, we had some wine and hung out (and were joined by our friend Mike). Hunter had bath time and fell asleep around 9ish, and Laurie took off shortly after. We decided to head down into the basement and play some card games. I love having friends over for dinner and entertaining (one of the perks of finally having the space to do so). It was a pretty low-key night but another fun one.

Surgery Day!

Trevor and I both (obviously) took off from work Friday Morning. We were up at the crack of dawn' (I kid you not, it was 5:00), because we had to be in the city by 6:30. We brought Hunter in his PJ's so he would be comfortable. Unfortunately he was not able to eat/drink anything that morning, so Trevor and I stuck to just coffee to be fair. When we got to the hospital, we checked in, and shortly after we were done-he was ready to go back. This was pretty difficult because originally they told us that one of us could go back w/ him until he fell asleep. Well, when we got there, they didn't seem to think that was a good idea for a number of reasons. 1) you have to get decked out in full scrubs, 2) sometimes the parents cause more of a scene then the children do, and 3) they said Hunter would be "out" within a minute or so. So, I gave my baby hugs and kisses, and sent him on his way.


Hunter Charles in baby scrubs with his new toy they gave him!

I put on a smile while he was still in the room, but nearly lost it walking away. We hung in there though, we went down to the cafeteria and had some breakfast *and more coffee* and tried to keep our mind off everything.

After breakfast, we headed back upstairs to sit in the waiting room, to make sure we heard any updates. The cool thing about RGH is that when Hunter checked in he was given a code, and throughout his surgery, you could see his progress by using that code on the screen in the waiting room. I thought that was pretty cool! Trevor and I just hung out in the waiting room, I read my new book (more to come on that) and he played on his laptop. When the doctor finally popped her head out and asked us if we wanted to come see him, we couldn't get up fast enough!

It was hard to see the little guy so distressed, but they said it was mostly the anestecia. They said he wasn't in any pain, just felt weird because of it. He passed out shortly after on Trevor in the recovery room (we had to wait there for an hour before being discharged).

When we got home, he ate something (he was starving!) and then took a 3.5 hour nap! We welcomed this though, as we were all pretty beat! That night we just hung out and relaxed. We watched "A Perfect Getaway" which was suprisingly good. It had a good twist in the end that neither of us were expecting. We also watched "How to Train a Dragon" *finally*. Given our ongoing jokes about Hunter being a dragon, you think we would have seen it sooner. It was a really cute movie, we both enjoyed it. Hunter however, passed out about 10 minutes into it. I didn't even notice until I heard him snoring on my lap. What a good spirited little one!