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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Recipe: Raspberry Almond Shortbread Cookies


In honor of the holiday season, I'm sharing one of my absolute favorite Christmas cookie recipes. Well, I actually make these all year because they are freaking amazing, but my mother-in-law makes them at Christmas time so that's why I'm categorizing them as a Christmas cookie. It's very well justified.

The recipe makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies. Sounds like a lot. But it's not. It's actually never enough in our household.

The directions are word for word from the original recipe my mother-in-law sent me last year. I always follow them exactly and the cookies come out perfectly every time!
Ingredients:
-2/3 cup sugar
-1 cup butter softened (Katy speaking: I sometimes use margarine and they are even better...and worse for you but oh well.)

-1/2 tsp. almond flavoring
-2 cups all purpose flour (Make sure dough is not greasy... if it is, add a little more flour until it is like a soft play dough)
-1/2 cup raspberry preserves or jelly (Or strawberry jelly, you can try different flavors, whichever you prefer)

 Glaze:

-1 cup powdered sugar
-1 1/2 teaspoon almond flavoring (You can add a little less if you think it may be too strong)
-2-3 tsp. water

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix sugar, butter and almond flavoring. Beat at medium speed 1-2 minutes until creamy. Reduce to low speed and slowly add flour. Continue until well mixed 1-2 minutes. Shape into 1 inch balls and place 2 inches apart. Make a thumbprint and fill with about 1/2 teaspoon raspberry preserves (or any other flavor you like).

Bake 14-18 minutes until light brown (I usually check at 10 minutes). Remove from pan and cool. Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies. I usually just drizzle thin lines across the cookies.

Now go and enjoy some cookies! You deserve it.

I took pictures of my Christmas decorations yesterday....we'll see if I get around to posting them this week haha.

Adios!






Holiday

Monday, November 28, 2011

Baby Boy.



I cannot wait. I can't wait at all!!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Catching Up

I thought that I would fill you all in on what all has been happening since we found out that we were expecting. So, here's the low down:

We found out that I was pregnant on Wednesday, August 24th. We had gone to church that night and went to Chipotle to eat with our small group afterwards. Once we got home, I snuck into the bathroom while Bryan was on the phone to take a test. I had this weird feeling that it would be positive, and wanted to see if I was right. Well, I was!

So many people have asked me if I told Bryan in a special way. It's funny because I always imagined myself doing something cute to tell him, but when the moment actually occurred, I was in such shock that I just walked into the living room, mouth wide open, and held the pee stick out to him. The poor man was completely caught off guard. He was on the phone with his brother and pretty much dropped the phone (and hung up) once he realized what was going on.

We were both VERY excited, but it still felt so unreal. I cannot descibe the feeling of finding out that your life is about drastically change, but in a very, very good way. I suppose that you know this feeling if you already have children, and that you will find out soon enough if don't. We actually drove to the grocery store and bought two other brands of pregnancy tests just to be sure. And eight (yes, eight--you already knew I was crazy) tests later, we were pretty positive.


The next two weeks were the longest of my life. I started feeling sick about a week after finding out but still couldn't believe what was actually happening until we went to our first ultrasound. Despite the fact that I was about to pee my pants in the waiting room (I mean seriously? Making a pregnant woman drink a massive amount of water and then hold it for an hour is just ridiculous), it was a very happy day for the both of us. Seeing that little heartbeat on the screen was worth the wait and worth the worry. We were both so happy and I was in tears. Bryan could see the ultrasound screen before I could (the mean ultrasound tech had it turned away from me), and I remember watching his face and seeing the realization of what he was looking at before she had even said anything. It was so sweet and I will never forget it.

Soon afterwards, we begin the (very daunting) task of telling our family and friends. I have never felt so blessed and so loved. We have a family that are all ecstatic to welcome and love another little one just like they have loved each of us, and friends who have been so supportive and are so excited to meet our baby. I have loved seeing and hearing the reactions from those we care about most.

I have pretty much blocked out the 8 weeks since then. I have never been so exhausted in my life and I honestly don't know how women do this more than once. I experienced some pretty bad nausea and some very annoying food aversions. Our eating out budget was hit hard in September and October because I could never tell what I wanted until it was time to eat. And once it was time to eat, I had to eat RIGHT THEN. Poor, poor Bryan....I have learned that he is a very patient, and very loyal husband these past couple of months. And as I'm sure that some of you know, gagging at the thought of cooking the food in your own house gets pretty old after a while. I am SO tired of eating out, but thankfully these past 2 weeks have been much better and I've managed to cook a decent meal every night this week!

I'm probably leaving out a lot, but I'm tired and I want to watch Harry Potter.

And what's the most exciting part of all of this for my blog readers? Why yes, you will get to see me try to put together a decent nursery! Pumped. I can't wait and already have many ideas!

I'm proud if you got to the end of this post. Well done! Talk to you all later!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Another Year: Check!





Well friends, another season of Lubbock High football has come and gone. And once again, I'm sad to say that this season was not too much better than the last. The Westerners went 0-10 (for the second year in a row), but I will give them credit for playing MUCH better this year and getting some points on the board at almost every game!

It is strange supporting a school who is, um, "winningly challenged" when you come from a high school who won everything. Definitely not as entertaining. Good thing I was able to spend my game nights with the coach's wives and their cute little kids!

It is also strange to think that next year, I will have a little boy/girl to take with me to games! Oh, the fun we will have. I'm already planning outfits. It should be good.

P.S. Thank you all SO much for your understanding (to my lack of blogging) and sweet comments to our big announcement!! We feel so blessed. Cannot WAIT!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Just a little announcement.....



BAM. Did I suprise you? I think I did.

Yes, that's right! Despite my little blogging hiatus (was that 7 or 8 weeks?), I thought I should finally come back to tell you all a little something.

We are VERY excited to announce that our "special delivery" will be arriving on or around May 5, 2012!

Bryan and I feel so completely blessed. There are no words to describe how happy we are about this new addition to our family. I cannot wait to meet this little one!!! He or she will be very loved.

Please pray for a safe pregnancy and a happy, healthy baby! Thank you in advance, friends!


P.S.I'm not making any promises, but I'm going to try and post at least a few times a week. This break from blogging has been very refreshing (and much needed since I spent 99% of the time sleeping), but now I want to come back and document my pregnancy and the life of our precious little one!