A Tennessee Christmas

This year was our first year not going anywhere for Christmas. We were really sad, but with us being so far away now, it's not as easy to go home for holidays. But we still tried to make the best of it.

Christmas Eve we made homemade pizza, which is a tradition in the Creviston family. Then before going to bed, we hung our stockings above our Christmas tree. We didn't get a tree this year, so Daniel's sister mailed us this little one. It was perfect.

Christmas morning, I woke up like a little kid, and jumped up and down until Daniel got up too. We opened presents, and made a huge breakfast. We spent a good part of the day cuddled up on the couch watching movies.

We were so thrilled to be invited over to the Brooksby's for Christmas dinner. Courtney really out did herself. The food was so delicious. We had ham, potato casserole, fruit salad, rolls and deviled eggs. We were sent home with left overs that didn't last more then 12 hours. It was that good.

Overall, we had a wonderful Christmas. Even though we didn't get to see family, at least we got to hang out with great friends.

Almond Roca

Daniel's family has a Christmas tradition of making almond roca. Every year, his mother makes a variety of yummy treats, but my favorite is by far, her Almond Roca. This year, Daniel and I are not going to be with his family for Christmas, and so have decided to take on the task ourselves. It is the best Christmas treat you'll ever make.

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 sleeve saltine crackers

2 cups chocolate chips

1/4 cup almond slivers

Preheat oven to 425'F. Layer a 9x13 dish with aluminum foil, and then a single layer of saltine crackers.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar together. Boil for 3 minuets on medium heat, as not to burn the mixture. Remove from heat and pour over crackers. Place in oven and bake for 5 minuets, or until mixture bubbles and crackers begin to float.

Remove from oven, and sprinkle an even layer of chocolate chips. Wait a few minutes for chips to start melting, and spread. Sprinkle almonds over melted chocolate. Allow to cool. Lift foil out of dish, and place on cooling rack to cool faster.Once the chocolate has set, remove foil, and cut into pieces. Making the pieces uneven adds a nice variety.This is seriously the most delicious thing you will ever taste, and so easy to make.

Bad Rat

We have been out of town for a few weeks. First me by myself, and then once Daniel was done with finals, he came and joined me. When we arrived back home, we went into the office, to make sure our pet rat, Poppy, was okay. We walked over to his cage, to find the door open, and no rat around. In panic, we started searching around, and found him in the corner of the office by our bookshelf. We were relieved to find him okay, and placed him back in the cage.

I was a little upset that his cage was left open, but also thought how much fun he must have had the past week running around free.

A while later, I went to get on the computer, to find that the Internet wasn't working. This wasn't totally abnormal, so Daniel went behind the computer to check all the plugs. And that is when we discovered the mess Poppy had created. He had chewed through our Internet router cord, monitor plug, speaker cords, hub extender and our printer cords. I was so livid, that I just had to walk out of the room. This was not the way I was hoping to start my Christmas break!

So if you ever get a pet rat, don't ever let them roam around your computer unsupervised!

Christmas Special

Thanks to my sister-in-law Darcy, I saw this, and couldn't stop watching. It is absolutely amazing!!

Pound For Pound Challenge

I am a huge Biggest Loser fan. I love watching the show, and seeing the amazing transformation the contestants undergo in the desires to loose weight.

Well, The Biggest Loser is trying to help people at home lose weight, and at the same time, feed people who go hungry everyday. They have partnered with General Mills and some other food companies to help feed America. For every pound that America looses, General Mills will give 1 pound of food to local food banks.

If you want to help, all you have to do is go to the Pound For Pound website (here) and pledge. It doesn't cost you anything. Say how much weight you are planning on loosing until June 2010, and then you have to give a few details about yourself. It only takes a minute to pledge. How ever many pounds you pledge, that's how many pounds they will donate to the local Food Bank in your area.

Help feed America and pledge today.

My Crazy Husband

A few years ago, I mentioned to Daniel that I was curious about how he would look with a goatee. He would shave one for me to look at, after not shaving for a few days. But by the end of the day it was always gone. He really didn't like the way it looked. But last week, Daniel surprised me by shaving one again, but this time he left it. It has now been 2 weeks, and it is still there. It grew in really red, and it shines in the sunlight. I think he has started to enjoy it now, but I refuse to kiss him with it there. It is just to prickly for me. So, hopefully it wont last too much longer.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful thanksgiving this year. It was just Daniel and I. We were supposed to go to Kentucky, and have thanksgiving with one of my old roommates, but my work wouldn't let me have the day before thanksgiving off, so we had to settle with having it alone.

It was a lot of fun though. We watched a movie in the morning, and then spent a few hours in the kitchen cooking. It's not very easy planning a big meal, just for two. I didn't want to eat leftovers for weeks afterwards.

Once the food was ready, we were too excited, and forgot to take pictures, but we do have these two shots.

This is me trying to separate the skin from the meat, so I can season under the skin with sage butter. This was only an 8lb turkey, that we were very lucky to find. It was perfect for just the two of us.

These are some amazing dinner rolls I made, that got way bigger then I had planned. But, you can never have too many dinner rolls, or make them too big.

We also had stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and sparkling apple cider. It's nice to have a day where you can look back and think about all that you are grateful for. But also how sad, that you have to have a day set aside so that people can think about what they are grateful for.

New Moon

Daniel's family have a family tradition, where they go out to watch a movie on Thanksgiving Day. Daniel and I celebrated our Thanksgiving alone this year, but we wanted to keep up the tradition of watching a movie. We decided a long time ago that we would like to watch New Moon on that day. So a few days before, once the tickets were up online, we went and bought our tickets. We planned for the earliest showing (12:15), in the hopes that not many people would be there, and because it was cheaper.

We arrived at the movie theater an hour before the movie was scheduled to start, in case there was a line. When we went to watch Twilight, even though we already had tickets, there was a line just to get into the movie theater, and we ended up sitting in the front row. I did not want that to happen again. But, when we got to the theater this time, they weren't even open. We sat in our car and waited, but I was so paranoid every time I saw I car pull into the parking lot. They eventually let us in, and not only where we the first one's in the theater, we were one of 5 other couples there. It made me feel really stupid for acting so crazy all morning.

The movie was of course amazing. A million times better then the first one, and a lot closer to the actual story line. We both really enjoyed it, and it was a wonderful way for us to start our Thanksgiving Day.

Why Babies Have Mothers

One of my friends sent me this clip. It made me laugh really hard, and I wanted to share it with everyone.




For some reason, men just weren't built for diaper duty!!

Driving Pet Peeves

I have two major pet peeves when it comes to driving. Before moving to Memphis, they were only small pet peeves, but now it seems like I live in a city of people who don't know how to drive.

#1 - Use Your Blinker. I hate it drivers just swerve in front of you without signaling that they are going to do so. You can't even prepare yourself, when you have cars from all sides swerving everywhere. It makes me really nervous. Or when you are waiting to turn onto a main road, but waiting for one car to pass. And then they turn onto a side road. If they had used there blinker, I would have known they were going to turn, and didn't have to sit there waiting for them to pass. Use your blinker people, it's not that hard!!

#2 - Following Distance. Drivers are supposed to have a following distance of 1 car length for every 10mph you are driving. So if you are driving 50mph, you should be 5 car lengths away from the car in front of you, not half a car length. I don't follow that rule exactly, but I definitely come pretty close to it. If other people want to drive close, and be stupid, then that is their problem, but don't get into my space. I create a wonderful following distance for myself, and others see it as a gap they need to fill, and pull in front of me (without using their blinker). So I have to slow down to create another safe following distance. It drives me crazy. Especially when cars follow me too closely. If I have to suddenly hit my brakes, who's to say they aren't going to slam into me. Back up people, and stay out of my space!!

I Miss Him

This is what Daniel does for a living.......study!! I come home from work everyday, make and eat dinner, and then leave the room, so that I don't disturb him. Weekends are also filled with him with his nose in the books. We always try to do little things together, which I absolutly enjoy, and it definitly makes things better, but ............. I miss him.
Only 182 more weeks until it is all over, and then we can live again. YAY!!
I am just so proud of how hard he works, and know that it will all be worth it in the end!

Carving Pumpkins

Today Daniel and I went to the Piddy Farms Pumpkin Patch. We went with our friends, Courtney and Jay. It was a cute place, and they had lots to do........ ....if you were under the age of 10. The patch wasn't so much a patch, rather a row of pallets with some over-priced, sad looking pumpkins. But we were there, and made the most of it by picking out some pumpkins and taking them home (even if they did cost WAY too much) It was a nice experience since we had never gone to one before, but I think in the future, we will do a little more research before going to a pumpkin patch again.
But we were excited for the chance to hang out with, and catch up with our friends.

Once we got home, we started carving our pumpkins. We both learned a lot from our last year mistakes, and took that into consideration this time round. We chose patterns that didn't take an hour to carve, and took more caution while carving, We really had tones of fun!

We ended the night by roasting some pumpkin seeds (which only lasted for 10 mins).

Nurture the Rising Generation

I just got back for Visiting Teaching, and I really enjoyed the message this month. It's all about how the children of today are the chosen generation, and how to raise them in righteousness.

I'm not a parent or anything, but I'm sure that all parents worry about how their kids are going to turn out. I'm sure they think about whether they have taught them everything they need to know, or if they are going to stay strong in the gospel and make good decisions along the way. I know I think about that already.

President Hinckley gave some comforting words to that topic. He said:

"Take care of your little ones. Welcome them into your homes, and nurture and love them with all of your hearts. They may do, in the years that come, some things you would not want them to do, but be patient, be patient. You have not failed as long as you have tried."

I just think that that last line is such a comfort. I mean, everyone has been given agency, to choose their own path. But as a parent, as long as you did everything you could, you have not failed!!

Do Something About It!!

I heard someone say once, "You're life is exactly the way you want it to be." Or something like that.

I was thinking about that, and it's kinda true. If there are parts of your life that you are not happy with, they are going to stay that way unless you do something about it. If you want something bad enough, you should go after it, and not just complain about it.

Okay, lecture over!!

Running two 5K's

On Saturday, Daniel and I participated in two 5K's. We signed up for the second one first, but then he learned about the first one, and one of his Professors said that anyone who participated in that event would be able to drop their lowest quiz score. So, Daniel went and signed us up for the first one.
The first event we participated in was the Vision Walk. It was at a park, and it was a gorgeous path we followed through the trees. It started at 10am, and it was freezing cold. The temp was about 52'F, and wasn't planning on getting any warmer. We definitely didn't dress appropriately for the weather. It was a fundraising walk that went towards the Foundation to Fight Blindness. There were about 415 people there, and it was really a lot of fun. It was only a walk, and I think that is what made it fun!! You can still see people completing the walk behind me in the second picture.

The second event was the Eye 5K. This was to help raise money for SVOSH, which is a student organization that goes to foreign countries every year to help give eye exams and glasses to people who can't afford them. This race was at 5:30pm, and the temp was 54'F. After the first event, we were a lot smarter, and made sure that we dressed warmer. It wasn't a very big race, only around 75 people participated. Most of the runners, were competitive, and had been training for this for a long time. So, needless to say, Daniel and I came in last. Well, actually, there was another guy with us named Adam. He was way ahead at first, but slowly started falling further and further behind, until we finally caught up with him. He wasn't in very good shape, and looked like he was in a lot of pain. He wanted to stop, but Daniel and I told him that we would walk with him. So, Daniel and him chatted the rest of the way, and we all finished the race together. The whole way, there was a cop right on our tails, and a truck behind him picking up the orange cones along the road. We felt pretty cool ;)

Overall, we had a great day. A little achey, but not so bad. At least we can say that we completed them both!!

White Coat Ceremony

Last night Daniel had his White Coat Ceremony. It's when they receive and wear their white 'doctors' coats for the first time. The President of SCO spoke a little, and then awards were given for scholarships and outstandingness. It was very exciting, and it made me happy to see Daniel get so excited about his future as an Optometrist.

Visiting Missouri

Daniel and I took a trip to St Louis Missouri this past week, and got to see the beautiful temple. We saw it as we past it on the interstate, but then we had to try and find it, and that wasn't as easy as thought. After driving around, and up and down many streets, we found it. It's really beautiful.

We found these big leaves in the garden, and had some fun.

Bugs and Stuff

The best thing about Tennessee that I have discovered so far, are the wonderful bugs that wait outside your front door. And then the moment you open the door, they find there way in.
It's actually quite annoying. I leave my flip flops by the door, daring them to come in.

These 2 spiders live outside our door.

This is a huge moth that just sits in one place. He lives outside.

I caught this little guy a few days ago. I think it's a salamander, but I'm not sure. I found him in the kitchen. Once I pulled myself together, and realized that I wouldn't be able to sleep until this thing was caught, and got into action mode. I coaxed him to the carpet where I stuck a glass bowl over him. I was going to wait until Daniel came home to take him outside, but after a few hours, I felt bad that he might not be able to breath very well under there. So, I dug deep to get the courage I needed, and took him outside myself. I am my own hero.

Gotta Love It

Daniel Practicing Retinoscopy

Today, we went down to the campus so Daniel could practice Retinoscopy for a big test he has on Monday.

The best part about being married to a future eye doctor, is that Daniel gets to practice on me. So I have the priviledge of having a light shown in my eye for the next 4 years. YAY!!

Dieting

Daniel and I decided that this would be a perfect time to start out right. Eating right, that is. Since our fridge and cupboards were empty, it would be the perfect time to fill them with good food. We also decided to start the South Beach Diet. It is seriously the best diet we have ever been on. The weight is just melting off.

There are 3 phases in the diet. In the first phase, no fruit, sugars and carbs. Only low fat diary, lean meats, eggs, and veggies. It was different at first, but once we got the hang of it, we really became creative. And I made some fantastic discoveries.

Who said your salad has to have boring dressing? We were excited to find that we can still have our favorite dressings, because they come in 'fat free'.

We found this juice that is sugar free and 0 calories, unlike Crystal Lite which has 5 calories. And the wonderful sugar free Jello, at only 10 calories.

But the best discovery of all, is the sugar free Fudgsicles. Oh my goodness!! It's like heaven on a stick. When you are sugar deprived, you have no idea how good it tastes!

We have been following this eating plan for 4 weeks now, and still going strong. Lets just pray that we can continue to hold strong!!