I mustache - Do you like to cross-stitch?

Over the next few posts I'll be featuring some of the handmade Christmas gifts I made this year. The first is this fun mustache cross-stitch I made for my buddy Travis, the owner of a truly lovely mustache in his own right. My mom taught me to cross-stitch when I was probably about 10, but I hadn't done anything with it in years. Enter Pinterest. (This is pretty much how all my crafty adventures begin these days). I stumbled across an awesome pattern from a website called Hancock's House of Happy that featured vintage Pyrex patterns, which I love (another something I got from Mom.) That pattern is great, but hard. So when I saw this mustache pattern, I put the Pyrex on hold and started this one, hoping to finish by Christmas. (Which I kind of did. We didn't see Trav until a couple of weeks after Christmas, so that helped, because I started ANOTHER cross-stitch in the mean time... more to come on that later.) This pattern is great for a beginner or someone who hasn't cross-stitched in a while, because it is just straight stitching and only one color. Perfect for the mustache-lover in your family.

The Best Books I Read in 2012

I read some great books in 2012. My original goal was to read 50 this year, but with a new baby and all, I didn't quite reach my goal. I did read 30 books, which is probably a more realistic number for me anyway. These are my 6 favorite books I read this year. This isn't really a "Best of 2012," because only half were published this past year. You can see all 30 books I read on this Pinterest board: Books I Read in 2012.

The Fault in Our Stars, John Green, 2012. 

This was probably my favorite book I read in 2012, which also happened to be published last year. You've probably already heard a lot about it, as it has been on all kinds of "best-of" lists. It is a young adult novel but is a great read for anyone. It tells the story of two teenagers with terminal cancer. Doesn't exactly sound like a light-hearted read, I know, but in John Green's hands it is moving, engaging and entertaining. Like all the other books listed here, I consider it a quick read because I could not put it down.

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, Cheryl Strayed, 2012. 

Wild was my favorite non-fiction book I read last year. You have probably heard about this one, too, since Oprah selected it for her new book club. This is a memoir of  Cheryl Strayed's hike on the Pacific Coast Trail, which is similar to the Appalachian Trail but on the west coast. But really the book is about more than that. It is about Strayed's struggle with the death of her mother, the disintegration of her marriage and her struggle with addiction. Though I'm not a backpacker myself, I am married to one, so I have enjoyed reading accounts like this before (such as A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson), meeting the friends made and places seen along the way. 

State of Wonder, Ann Patchett, 2012. 

State of Wonder weaves a complicated story about a doctor's work with a tribe who lives on a remote section of the Amazon River. I kind of stumbled across this book by accident because it happened to be available as an e-book from the library when I was looking for something to check out. I had read Bel Canto by this author a few years ago and enjoyed it, so I checked this one out and was very glad I did. Patchett has a unique style of writing, almost poetic in a way. But beyond that, State of Wonder also has a fascinating plot that will leave you wondering what will happen next. 

Garden Spells, Sarah Addison Allen, 2007. 

Early in the year, I kind of lost my interest in reading. The baby was coming in March and I was busy getting ready and scouring What to Expect When You're Expecting. But a few weeks before the baby was born, I discovered Sarah Addison Allen. All of her books were available as e-books from my local library, and I read all 4 of her novels in less than a month. They are all great, but it just happens that Garden Spells was my favorite of the 4. These books were made for me. They all take place in imaginary small towns in Western North Carolina, where I was lucky enough to live for 2 years and I hope we settle back down there one day. They also all contain elements of "magical realism," where small bits of magic are weaved into otherwise realistic stories. I am not usually a fan of what is called "high fantasy" because I tend to get confused when reading about entirely new worlds and creatures. But the little touches of whimsy in these novels brought a smile to my face. Ms. Allen's next book is due out this year, and I can't wait! 

Beauty Queens, Libba Bray, 2011

Beauty Queens was definitely the most fun book I read all year. I have read several works by Libba Bray, and have really enjoyed some and really not enjoyed others. But I think Beauty Queens is her at her best. The satire is spot-on and it is laugh-out-loud funny. It was one of those books I wasn't sure I wanted to read in public because it made me laugh so much I thought people might think I was crazy. 

The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag, Alan Bradley, 2010

This is the second in the Flavia de Luce series of mysteries. Flavia is an 11 year old chemist with a knack for solving crimes in her English countryside village. I read this along with the others published so far in the series last year, and this was my favorite. I adore books and tv shows that have kind of quirky main and peripheral characters. My best example of this is always Gilmore Girls, because you kind of know all the townspeople and they all have their own funny backstory. So the village in these books is a little like Stars Hollow, and that always keeps me coming back. I think the next in this series will be published sometime this year as well. 

I'd love to hear which books you read and loved last year. I'm always looking to add to my to-read list!

World's Most Delicious Instant Rice

Quite by accident, I managed to create a really tasty side dish last night. I was already planning to make rice, and thought, "Blah. Plain rice. How can I make that more yummy?" I had bought a large bag of pecans at the store yesterday for something else I am making this week, and as I thought about it I remembered that I had heard of pecan rice and that sounded pretty good. So I kind of threw this together and IT. WAS. DELISH. The best part? It took about 15 minutes from start to finish since I used instant rice. (Sorry there's no picture, I didn't think about that until it was all gobbled up. I'll add one next time I make it.)

Here's what you need (this is for 4 servings of rice):

Instant rice (or the real stuff if you're an over-achiever)
Chicken broth or chicken bullion
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup of pecans
Salt
Pepper

Cook the rice according to package directions, using chicken broth or water with chicken bullion instead of just water. (Don't skip this and use water, it won't be anywhere near as good.) While the rice is cooking, melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Chop pecans to small pieces and then toast them in the skillet with the butter. WATCH THE PECANS CLOSELY and stir frequently. They will burn quickly. I had to do this step twice because I stepped away from the first batch for literally about 90 seconds and burned them. After about 5 minutes of cooking the pecans, remove them from the heat, but keep them in the skillet so you don't lose any of that yummy butter. When the rice is done, add the pecans and stir. Season with salt and pepper.

Happy 2013

Hello world. Happy 2013 to you all. Well, it's a new year and that means it is a new chance to try to revamp this blog. I have a lot of goals for 2013 and I hope this blog will help me keep track of them and share my progress. Some of my goals so far:

1. Create an inventory and open an Etsy shop.
2. Take and be in more pictures with my family.
3. Get organized and prepped for our next move (coming in August).
4. After reading 30 books in 2012, I hope to read 36 (3 a month) in 2013.
5. Purge some of our possessions, particularly my clothes that I can't/don't wear anymore.
6. Follow a budget.

So, as you can see many of these goals lend themselves to being tracked on this blog. I hope to throw in some fun things as well and just use this blog as a place to find and share things that bring me joy. Happy New Year!

Meal Plan for September 17-21

I am really excited about my meal plan this week! A nice thing about shopping at the commissary is that their prices on meat and produce are pretty stable so I don't need to try to plan my meals around what's on sale this week. It gives me a little freedom to just try new recipes that sound good!

Monday: Grilled Chicken, Corn Cakes and Cucumber and Carrot Salad

Tuesday: Cheesy Ham and Potato Soup, Salad, and Cheese and Chive Biscuits

Wednesday: Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings, Green Bean Casserole, and Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

Thursday: Dinner out with a military spouses' group

Friday: Spicy Sweet Glazed Shrimp, Cheese Grits, Sauteed Zucchini

All the links except for the cheese grits on Friday are new recipes. I can't wait to see how they turn out!

5 Months Old

Addie is 5 months old! Technically, she was 5 months old over 2 weeks ago. But some months I get a little behind on getting the picture made. Ah, well. This is my favorite of the bunch of 5 month shots. I just can't get enough of that sweet face! At 5 months old she is almost sitting up on her own, she has learned to blow bubbles and she started eating cereal! She is such a big girl!

Easy Cheesecake Pie

This is one of my favorite desserts because it is easy, it is fairly healthy, and you can switch out the cheesecake for lots of other flavors! Here's the recipe:


2 cups of milk
1 large or 2 small boxes of Cheesecake flavored pudding (sugar free if you'd like)
1 tub of Cool Whip (sugar free or light if you'd like)
1 Graham Cracker Crust

Whisk together milk and pudding until well mixed. Fold in Cool Whip.  Pour this mixture into pie crust. Refrigerate for a couple of hours. Top with fruit if you like (I like it with raspberries).

 See? So easy! And there are all kinds of flavors of pudding you can use in place of cheesecake: banana cream, chocolate, lemon, coconut, butterscotch, whatever.

Trying again (again)

Hi there. I'm going to attempt to get the blog back up and running. Yes, again. :) Much has changed in our lives recently. We are now living in Dayton, Ohio, where Andrew is stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. He is finished with his course work for his PhD and is completing his internship year here. A year from now we will probably get orders to go to our next base... but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

We have lived in Dayton about 3 weeks now, so everything here is new to us! In addition, I am now a stay-at-home mom! It is a new adventure. Not quite what I expected, but I think I am going to enjoy it (especially on days when nap time actually happens). Addie is 5 1/2 months old now! She is such a good, sweet baby. I love spending my days with her.

So the blog will hopefully be new and improved. I hope to do some blogging about cooking, crafting, books, life as a stay-at-home-mom, life in a new place and learning about the military and our new way of life. Stay tuned!

If you liked the Hunger Games...

... I think you would enjoy Matched By Ally Condie. I just finished this book and I loved it! Like the Hunger Games trilogy, it is young adult dystopian literature and has a strong female lead. It is set in undetermined time in the future, when every aspect of life is now controlled by the Society. The Society determines what you eat, what you wear, what job you will have, and, the focus of this book, who you will marry, all with the goal of maximum efficiency. Soon after your 18th birthday, you attend your Match banquet, where you learn who you will marry after your 21st birthday. When Cassia Reyes is matched with her friend Xander, at first she is thrilled. But then her mysterious friend Ky causes her to wonder what it would be like to make her own decisions. This was a great read. I can't wait for the sequel to come out in November.

My Pregnancy: 10 Weeks

Wow, it has been a long time since I've updated my blog! But after having a few people ask me about it, I thought I really should get back to blogging again. As you probably already know, we've had some life-changing news in our family since the last time I blogged. Our family will become 3 this March! We are thrilled about being parents. We've been married for 6 years now, and we've been through a lot as a couple. We've lived in 3 different states. I've had several jobs. We both got our masters degrees and Andrew is nearly done with his Ph.D. Andrew joined the Air Force. We became an aunt and uncle. And on and on. We have enjoyed being just the two of us so much. But we can't wait to add a little one to the mix and start the next chapter.


Right now I am 10 weeks along! That means our baby is about an inch and a half long (or the size of a prune). An amazing fact about our baby this week is that its elbows are already working!

I am feeling the pains of having a "barnacle" growing inside me (the baby's newest nickname). Morning sickness hit with a vengeance at week 6 and hasn't let up since. I feel like I am sleeping all the time! I included a picture here of me this week. Now, I am the first to admit that I wasn't a skinny girl to begin with! So this picture doesn't have much "baby bump" to it, just my normal chubbiness. But I know that I will like to look back eventually and see how my belly changed over time.

So I'm back to blogging. I promise to blog about more than just my pregnancy! Although the recipes may be on hold until the second trimester...

Books 23-26 of 2011

I'm a little bit behind on blogging about the books I've read recently. Life has been slightly hectic. But I have been doing some great reading. I've really been on a roll lately of reading books that are so good I can't seem to put them down! Here are the latest.

Book #23 was Little White Rabbit by Kevin Henkes, the amazing author/illustrator of one of my favorite children's books, Kitten's First Full Moon. I liked Little White Rabbit a lot as well. It is a sweet story about a rabbit using his imagination as he looks at his surroundings. The illustrations are great too. 5 stars


Book #24 was If You're Hoppy written by April Pulley Sayre and illustrated by Jackie Urbanovic. A fun and silly book about animals with cartoon-y illustrations? Right up my alley! I loved it so much I came home with my own copy of it. 5 stars


Book #25 was The Heights by Peter Hedges. I really enjoyed this book about a young family living in Brooklyn Heights. It was an impulse read, I found it while wondering around the library without any particular purpose. While the blurb on the book flap hinted at a mystery that didn't actually exist in the book, I still thought it was engaging and the format of short chapters with alternating points of view made it a quick read. 4 stars


Book #26 was The Help. Like probably everyone else on the planet (or at least in the Southern United States) I have been hearing raves about this book for a couple of years now. I've been wanting to read it, but just hadn't gotten around to it yet. My husband was actually assigned this book to read for one of his classes, so I thought I'd try to read it as well while we had it checked out from the library. It was fantastic! Well worth all the praise. I could not put this book down. It's 451 pages and I read it in 3 days. It's thought-provoking and eye-opening, especially for someone of my generation and up-bringing. It made me mad and sad and happy and... it's just great. Go read it. 5 stars

Really Big News!

This is a very big day in the Presnell household. Andrew was just sworn in as a First Lieutenant in the United States Air Force! He will be participating in the Air Force Health Professionals scholarship program. They will pay for the rest of his schooling (2 1/2 years including his internship) and then he will serve as a psychologist for the Air Force for 3 years with the opportunity to re-enlist at that point if we decide that's what is best for us. It has been a big decision and we have mostly kept it quiet, because it was a competitive scholarship and we wanted to wait until it was official. I am so very proud of him. It is an opportunity to help our soldiers in a way that is very needed. And a way for us to get some great experiences and opportunities. So that's about all we know for now. I'll share any more details when I have them!

Book #22 of 2011

Book #22 was The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. I loved this book! And I was really excited to find out it was the first in a series of 7 books. The heroine of this book is Flavia de Luce, an eleven-year-old aspiring chemist living in a picturesque English village in the 1950s. When a dead body turns up in the garden of her family's estate, it turns out that Flavia is pretty good at solving mysteries, too. Reading this book was just fun. I highly recommend it to pretty much anyone. 5 stars

Cadbury Creme Deviled Eggs

Usually, I hate deviled eggs. Just thinking about them now kind of makes me want to gag. But THESE are some deviled eggs I could get behind. Although I'm pretty sure I could only eat about half of one of these sugary concoctions, made from Cadbury Creme Eggs and buttercream frosting. If you want to make them, check out the info over at Serious Eats.

Ferris Bueller Board Game

I love this Ferris Bueller board game! So fun, colorful and creative. I have seen this movie probably 100 times (at least). I'll stop every time I see it on tv. "You're Abe Froman? The sausage king of Chicago?" Click on the picture to see a larger image. From Max Dalton.

Books # 20 & 21 of 2011

Well, I'm now a fifth of the way through my goal for 2011! Book #20 was The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly. I thought the movie looked pretty good, and I always like to read the book before seeing a movie if possible. I thought the book was pretty good, although there was a little too much lawyer-speak for me. I was hoping there would be a little more action and less focus on the courtroom proceedings. 3 stars

Book # 21 was The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Ranch Wife by Ree Drummond. Ree is one of my very favorite bloggers. Her website, www.thepioneerwoman.com, is full of great photography, recipes, and other fun and pretty things. However, this cookbook was just ok. I didn't feel like it offered much past what is available on her website. In fact, I think there are some much better recipes on her website! 3 stars

Books #18 & #19 of 2011

Book # 18 was Let Sleeping Dogs Lie by Mirjam Pressler. This is a young adult book translated from German. To me, the subject matter, about a teenage girl who learns about her grandfather's involvement with the Nazi party, had more potential than the writer was able to live up to. While I'm sure it's possible that the writing could have suffered in the translation, the novel was disjointed and at times confusing, going back and forth between the main character's inner dialog and actual advancement of the plot. However, this book does offer an interesting perspective of how the German people are dealing with the sins of their fathers (and grandfathers). 3 stars


Book #19 is Runaways Deluxe Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughn. This is maybe the best graphic novel I've ever read, or at least my favorite. A group of teenagers learn that their parents are super-villians and set about an attempt to thwart them. Published by Marvel, Vaughn sprinkles in some fun references, including Captain America coming in to "save the day" but really not doing anything of the sort. I can't wait to read the follow-ups to this first volume. 5 stars

Thought for Today

"All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Apple Butter Banana Bread

I love this banana bread recipe from Better Homes and Gardens. The apple butter adds an extra little something that makes it taste better than regular old banana bread!

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 slightly beaten eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (2 small)
• 1/2 cup apple butter
• 1/4 cup canola or cooking oil

Directions

1. Grease and flour the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan; set aside. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Make a well in center of the flour mixture; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl combine eggs, sugar, banana, apple butter, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Spoon batter into prepared pan.

3. Bake in a 350 degree oven about 45 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing. Makes: 1 loaf (16 servings)

Tuesday Giggles