In retrospect, 2014 was a relatively static year. There was plenty of moving forward, but after lots of change in 2012 and 2013, this past year was one in which we were able to settle in a bit. From starting some house projects to making more friends and getting involved at church, we’re feeling more established here. But 2014 did bring some unexpected twists and turns, both good and bad.
Archive for December, 2014
Goodbye 2014
Posted in DIY, Faith, Gardening, The house, weather, tagged 2014, new year on December 31, 2014| 2 Comments »
Oh fudge, Murphy
Posted in family, Food, Holidays, Murphy, travel, tagged chocolate, christmas, dog, fudge, road trip on December 30, 2014| 1 Comment »
Today is at least a passing attempt at returning to my normal schedule after a break over the Christmas holiday. Bart and I drove back to Arkansas for over a week and returned home late on Sunday night. We made it back just fine, but for once I think it would be nice to make the return trip to Virginia without a bunch of drama.
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Nine years
Posted in Faith, family, tagged anniversary, husband, wife on December 17, 2014| 1 Comment »
Did I ever tell you about the time I kind of messed up my ninth wedding anniversary?
Bread dressing with herbs
Posted in Food, Holidays, tagged christmas, dressing, holidays, recipe, stuffing, thanksgiving, turkey on December 16, 2014| Leave a Comment »
It’s been a while since we have cooked together on the blog. I’m not sure why I’ve been so delinquent to share fun recipes with you, but Christmas seemed like a good time to share a recipe I’ve made with success for the holidays a couple of years in a row. While turkey and stuffing is standard for Thanksgiving, it might also be on your menu for Christmas, as it was for Bart and me when we invited a couple of friends over for smoked turkey this weekend (this might just become a tradition). I like this recipe for bread dressing and wanted to share it with you!
All the creatures were stirring
Posted in Faith, Holidays, Murphy, The house, weather, tagged animals, bird feeder, birds, dogs, fox, poem, twas the night before Christmas on December 12, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Twas two weeks before Christmas and all ’round the yard
All the creatures were stirring, which caught me off guard.
Deck the halls 2014
Posted in craftiness, DIY, Faith, Holidays, The house, tagged Christmas card holder, Christmas decorations, Christmas tree, fireplace, mantel, nativity, stockings, wreath on December 8, 2014| 1 Comment »
Last week, Bart and I decorated the house for Christmas. Since we usually travel for the holidays, we only have a few weeks after Thanksgiving to enjoy our trimmings, so we try to get everything up fairly early so we have time to enjoy it. This year, we had some old favorites and some new additions to our decor, and it seemed to come together very well.
Mount Vernon by candlelight
Posted in Holidays, The District, weather, tagged christmas, epiphany, George Washington, holidays, Mount Vernon, New Year's Day, twelve days of Christmas on December 3, 2014| 1 Comment »
Since moving to Northern Virginia just over a year ago, we have wanted to visit George Washington’s estate at Mount Vernon, which is surprisingly close to us. We’ve heard many people say how wonderful it is; my parents went when they came to visit us in October and had a great time. Bart suggested last month that we could go see it on Veterans Day when we both had the day off, but someone told us that it was really special to see at Christmas time, so we opted to push our trip off a few weeks and finally made our way over there on Sunday evening.
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Thanksgiving with family
Posted in family, Food, Friends, Holidays, regional travel, Traffic, travel, tagged family, holidays, thanksgiving on December 1, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Bart and I spent Thanksgiving down in Raleigh (where else?) with family last week. Since his sister is due with her second in January, she won’t be able to travel over Christmas, so we decided to all meet there for Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday festivities.
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The Taylor Approximation 