Thanksgiving Break

OK, so I don't have any pictures to share on this post so I'll make it a short one. I know how boring it is to read a post with no pictures!

Wednesday morning we loaded the car up, picked up my parents, and headed south to Huntsville, Alabama to my grandma's house. We had a great Thanksgiving with tons of aunts, uncles, and cousins that I only get to see about every other year, and TOO much food! I think I ate more calories in those 3 days than I usually eat in a month. I gained the weight to prove it! We also got to make a trip to Birmingham to see my mom's side of the family that I haven't seen in about 3 years (since my wedding!). I even did a little Black Friday shopping, online! Amazon is the best invention ever! I got exactly what I wanted for the best price and free 3 day shipping. I bought a new camera (just a point and shoot) and some new luggage.

It was great to see everyone, but it sure did wear me out. It was about a 10 hour trip one way! And David did ALL the driving!

Even though it was really great to see everyone, I was still not in a very good mood. I was supposed to go on that trip with a baby belly and I was supposed to be sharing my excitement with my extended family for the first time. I'm not going to go on and on about depressing moments, but all I can say is that hopefully next year I will be Thankful for something. It just didn't happen this year.

So, moving on to the next...David and I are going on a cruise in 2 weeks! And the diet is on! I know I'm waiting til the last minute and Thanksgiving didn't help the situation! But I'm staying strong these next 2 weeks and I'm determined! I'm going to the gym EVERY day dang it! And I already have my meals planned out. It's crunch time! I've never had to be in a swimsuit in December before!!! Eek!

Chocolate Pecan Pie

There's a bake off at work today. And I normally wouldn't enter anything because I'm not very experienced in the kitchen. I do love to bake way more than cook but my baking usually consists of emptying a box of brownie mix into a bowl and added an egg and the end! And not to mention there are a bunch of very experienced bakers and cooks up here at work that are always bringing something homemade, especially around the holidays. But when I got word that almost everyone was taking off today for whatever reason (it's Friday and people usually take off to have a long weekend or for a quick weekend trip out of town somewhere), I figured I might actually have a chance at this. The bake off judging starts at noon today and as far as I know, I'm the only entry so far...pretty good odds, huh? :)

I also wanted to take this opportunity to attempt my first ever pie. I chose to bake Paula Dean's Chocolate Pecan Pie from Kelly's Korner. And here it is:

I apologize for the iPhone pic but I was ready to go to bed! And looky there...I even bought a special pie plate for the occasion! They're judging on presentation too!

This actually wasn't my "first" pie ever...it was my second. I had to make a test one for David to try out before I attempted the one that was going to be judged!

The first one turned out really gooey and not done enough (but it actually looks better this morning and I brought it to work to share with everyone that isn't judging). But I'm afraid this one might be a little over done. Oh well, I tried and now I know how to do it. I'll let you know the results!

Master Bath Re-do

A few weeks ago, I decided I needed a project. So I decided to start with what I thought would be a pretty simple one...painting our master bathroom. I felt like it was pretty boring in there and I figured if I messed it up it would be easy to fix and it's probably the most hidden room in the house since a lot of guests usually don't venture into your master bathroom.

All I'm lacking is a brown curtain for the window.

Before

After
Yep, that is a leopard wall. I did it with a stencil and I'm pretty happy with it. I know it might seem weird to some people, but if I get sick of it, it's a simple fix to get rid of it, just paint over it! But I thought I would at least try it out.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After


I'm pretty proud of myself. I did it all by myself, with the exception of David helping me touch up and take all of the tape off last night. I know it doesn't look like much because it's a small room, but it took a long time to tape everything off just right. And there are so many little things to paint around. And painting the ceiling was a horrible experience. I finished painting the first day only to realize that I would need to do a second coat to make it all blend in. The stencil was actually the easiest part of the whole thing.

I feel good about my color choices and I like walking in there now!