It's not Christmas without the Cookies!

After my wildly successful pot pie experience on Sunday, I went into my cookie party with friends on Monday feeling very confident in my culinary expertise. And I was not disappointed because my peanut butter kiss cookies turned out great! That was in part to Amy, who helped make sure my cookies got out of the oven on time.

But let me back up, on Monday, I had a few friends over for a cookie exchange. We all brought a recipe to make, and most of the ingredients. Then we spent a few hours chatting and baking. It was really a ton of fun! Plus each of us got to take home a bunch of cookies!

Here are some fun pics:

Cookies!

Christina's gluten free bars

Some turned out better than others...

Jeni and I's cookies

Jeni and I

Amy and Christina

Where's Waldo?

Our cats have really been enjoying our Christmas tree. Fibi especially likes to curl up under it and take a snooze. Riley on the other hand likes to be a naughty kitty and eat the branches and unwrap presents!

Anyway, I wanted to take a picture of the tree looking all pretty stuffed full of presents. But Fibi was hiding in the tree and wouldn't come out so I ended up with her hidden in the photo. Can you spot her?

I will give you a hint, look near the bottom

And there she is!

Cooking Successes!

Much to my mother's surprise, one of the things I've really enjoyed a lot lately is cooking meals for my husband. True, I never really took an interest in cooking when I was living at home, or even when I was living on my own. Before I got married my dinners consisted of popcorn, or peas. Yes, I would just eat peas for dinner. Multi-step meals were something I simply did not do.

I don't have a particular aversion to cooking, I'm just not that patient. I'm truly the queen of multi-tasking and tend to try and accomplish many things quickly and efficiently. Which as my brother can attest to, doesn't always work when cooking. A running joke in my family is the time that I was babysitting my brother and burnt the tomato soup. I then strained the burnt chucks out and served it to Jame. Hehe. Supposedly he begged my mom to not let Jessie cook for him anymore when she babysat but that's just hearsay. : ) But there was also the time that I overcooked Ramen noodles to the point of coagulation. So yea, most people would agree that although I have many talents, cooking is not among them.

But I am smart, and can read a recipe. And given adequate time to rise to the cooking challenge, can generally do quite well.

And now being newly married, I have extra motivation because Matt really likes to eat. I sometimes tease him that his day revolves around his meals. He does spend a lot of time preparing, cooking and eating meals and is so appreciative whenever I step up and take over. Food makes Mattie happy. And I enjoy making Mattie happy! : )

A couple of weeks ago I made a steak dinner with cauliflower mashed (sort of like mashed potatoes only healthier). The other day I made breaded chicken breasts with sun-dried tomato pesto pasta. But this past Sunday was my biggest cooking venture to-date, a chicken pot pie almost completely from scratch! (I did use a store bought pie crust, but baby steps, right?)

I actually got the recipe from a new book I was reading called Mrs. Miracle. It was a book I picked up randomly at the airport on our way to see Dana and Phil over Thanksgiving. It really was a sweet little book. The kind that makes you cry, but makes sure the plot is wrapped up in a nice little bow at the end. Plus it was Christmas themed which also caught my eye. I did have to chuckle though when half-way through the first chapter I discovered it was a Christian book! I always seem to pick those up wherever I am without meaning too. I think it's God's way of helping me read things that are good for the heart. Anyway, back to my chicken pot pie...

So I started by boiling a chicken. Now most of you experienced cookers are saying, "yup, what happened next?" But let me tell you that before this experience I had never purchased or prepared a whole animal of any kind. It was very weird boiling a whole chicken in a pot. Then I took the meat off of the bones and finished the filling. I even had to peel, chop and boil a potato and two carrots. Again, both firsts.

Anyway the pot pie turned out amazing and Matt has had the pleasure of enjoying the leftovers all week!

What a good looking pot pie!

Mmmmmmm

And the book that inspired it all!

The Leibrocks First Christmas!

I'm so excited to FINALLY get these pics up! It's been such a busy couple of weeks of work that I never thought I would find the time to do another blog post again! : )

Anyway, last weekend Matt and I decorated our lovely new house for Christmas. We have the absolute perfect house for decorations with a beautiful wrap around banister leading up to the loft area and an adorable little fire place. Here are some pics, enjoy!

Our first married tree! Mattie really wanted a real one but since it was my cat Riley's first tree, I wanted her to get used to one that wouldn't get needles all over the house!

A cheap decorating tip, I wrapped the pictures! It really makes the whole room look more festive.

Our adorable mantel. Matt and I joke that we feel like we live in a catalogue!

Our banister. I have to give my husband credit. The green garland and white lights were his idea. Can you spot our tiny Nativity Scene?

Another view of the banister. Now to give myself credit, I added the red bows. : )

We even decorated the top of the TV!

Awww, don't you just want to sip a cup of hot cocoa right now???

And that's just what we did! We had Matt's family over to see the decorations and enjoy some hot cocoa and hot apple cider by the fire. We missed you Dena, Phil and Adam!

Matt and Jess stockings.

And we couldn't forget our kitties Fibi and Riley

We both feel so blessed to have such a beautiful home to decorate and to be able to celebrate our first Christmas as a married couple!

Gracies 2009

And the winner is...

This past weekend was the 2nd annual Gracies at our church in Eden Prairie. Many of you have seen my status updates and pictures on facebook and are very confused as to what the Gracies are. Allow me to explain:

The Gracies are a film festival where our small groups (D groups) get together, have a sleepover and produce a 5 minute film. Then on Saturday night we all gather back at church for a red carpet awards ceremony. Think Oscar's. Group's win in categories like Best Actor, Best Set and overall Best Picture. There's also a scavenger hunt component where groups can earn points for including certain props, people or places in their movies.

We all have a blast making our movies and competition among groups can get pretty fierce. Although the event is centered around the movies, the real point of the Gracies is to encourage fellowship and bonding in our D groups so that we can grow deeper in our relationships with Christ throughout the school year.

This is the third year that I've been working with my group of girls, and since this was their senior year, they were all super excited to kick butt in this year's competition. We started out our night on Friday at about 7 p.m. After a couple of hours of brainstorming and pizza we set out to film our movie. From about 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. we shot the movie. We mostly stayed at the Critzer's house, who were our incredibly gracious hosts for the evening. But we did venture out at about 12 a.m. to shoot a robbery scene out at the spoon and cherry at the Walker (worth 500 points).

Our acrobatic robber Jalyss doing some tricks out at the

spoon and cherry about about 12:30 a.m.

My fearless co-leader Bethany making a costume at about 1:30 a.m.

So thankful to have her as a co-leader, last year I did this alone and it was A LOT more work!

Then from 2 to 8 a.m. we edited the film. Since I had the most editing experience, I did the majority of the editing. But my girls were troopers and most stayed up until 5 a.m. or so to help out. One other girl, Jessica, hung in the longest and actually stayed up the whole night with me helping. After we turned in the film, I went home to take a much needed nap. Not going to lie though, I got home at about 8:30 a.m. and did have a glass of wine before hitting the sack!

At about 4 p.m. we all reconvened at the Critzer's to get ready. Yes, girls need about 3 hours to get ready! : ) Lauren's parents also had a super special dinner planned for us. We all got to eat really yummy food in our fancy dresses at the dining room table. The meal was even topped off with sparkling grape juice!

Our group enjoying our fancy dinner.

Poor Lauren, here hair was still in rollers because I hadn't finished it yet!

Then at 7 p.m. we made our way back to church for the red carpet award's ceremony. The student ministries staff did an awesome job decorating and getting everything ready. We even got to take a special party shuttle from Door 4 to Door 1 that was complete with music, a disco ball and dry ice. After that it was time for our stroll down the red carpet. Parent volunteers were lined up as paparazzi and kids even had notebooks and pens for autographs. Before the ceremony we enjoyed some fancy appetizers, and a candy buffet.

A guy's group on the party bus.

Red carpet. SO fun.

Our group, fresh off of the red carpet.

All of the seniors.

Yummy candy jars.

At the awards ceremony, our group won two award's one for best costume. And the second for most points (scavenger hunt points). We were all SUPER excited! Overall, it was a busy, yet wonderful weekend. I really enjoyed spending time with the girls and getting all dressed up on Saturday. I wish Mattie could have been my date, but he had to work. Thankfully he won't have this restaurant job much longer!

Why we won best costume. Margaret was an awesome Optimus Prime.

Us accepting our award.

Check out our Gracie award-winning movie here. Just scroll throught the videos on the middle of the page, ours is titled "Superhero Courage."

So, how's married life?

Since getting married almost two months ago, one of the questions I always get (besides “when are you going to have kids????" The answer to that by the way is not for a few years at least!) is “so, how’s married life?"

And whenever I get asked that I don’t quite know what to say. Mostly, I just say “great.” Because it really is great. But I also feel like people are looking for a bit more. So I decided to satisfy all of your curiosity and list the top 10 best things about being married.

10) I have someone who makes me dinner. Seriously, Mattie is a pretty good cook. And like my mom says, he’s motivated because he really likes to eat.

9) I have no idea what type of filters our furnace takes and I have no intention of ever learning. It is really so wonderful to have a husband to take care of all of that for you!

8) I don’t have to change the cat box, or vacuum the floors. Seriously, division of the chores is such a blessing. Especially with our new house which is a lot bigger than my old apartment. Plus with two people, there is twice the mess, so twice the help has been wonderful.

7) Now before I make my husband sound like someone I married just so I can cook and clean less, I wanted to say that I really enjoy taking care of him and our house too. Something has really taken over me since I got married and I find so much joy in doing laundry, cleaning bathrooms and keeping everything clean and orderly for my husband and our home. It’s really a strange thing, but one of the things I love most.

6) I now have a built in cuddler for movie nights. After a long day at work, we both have really enjoyed just curling up and watching a movie after dinner. I feel like it’s a bonus date night in the middle of the week.

5) I also have a built in walking partner. Matt and I have really enjoyed exploring our neighborhood and just learning more about one another on our walks. We really try and get out every week and just take that time to be together.

4) Dreaming about the future. I absolutely love talking with Matt about our future plans together. Like Matt pursuing a career in firefighting, my future career opportunities, starting a family someday and growing together in the Lord. I know these conversations are helping shape our life together.

3) My own personal heater. This may sound silly, but Matt is so warm! I really love snuggling up close to him. Whether its sleeping at night or watching TV, I always joke that he is my own personal heater.

2) Having that last call of the day. It’s so great to always have that someone to call and say “I love you” to in the middle of a bad day. And always have that person there to kiss goodnight.

1) Just being married. It is really hard to describe, but I once heard in a movie that the reason people get married is to have witness to their life. Now I can kind of understand what that means, it’s such an amazing blessing to have someone to share all of your moments with. The good and the bad. All the days of our lives.

So there’s your answer.

We DO Remember: Veteran's Day 2009

I was at the grocery store last night and while in the check-out line I spotted a small sign selling little “Thanks” pins in honor of Veteran’s Day. The pin cost $1 and all of the proceeds went to benefit the Minnesota Veteran’s Association. So naturally I purchased one. Whether it’s donating a $1 to help an animal shelter, contribute to a local food shelf, or support our Veteran’s I almost always oblige. I mean c’mon, it’s a dollar. Who can’t afford to add one dollar to their grocery bill when you’re at the check-out counter?

Anyway, after I told the lady I would like to purchase one, she proceeded to open her drawer, flip through some papers and then press her call button and turn her flashing light on to indicate that assistance was needed in aisle 7. Immediately I started to get irritated. I mean, have so little people really bought these pins that this woman doesn’t even know where they are? I began to think of all of our troops, both active and retired, and how sad it was that more people didn’t support then. I mean seriously, Veteran’s Day is more than just a time to take advantage of great sales.

As the manager approached the clerk turned and said, “I need more ‘Thanks’ pins, I’m all out.” OH…talk about a foot in mouth moment! Super glad I had kept my mouth shut…

But that did make me start to think. Why was I assuming the worst? Just because I see the anti-war people on the street corners every Friday on my way home from work doesn’t mean that everyone thinks like them. In fact, I would even venture to say that the majority of Americans, regardless of their political affiliations, support our military personnel and their families. So this Veteran’s Day, I for one am going to choose to see the supporters, and join with them in honoring our military tomorrow, Nov. 11. And I invite all of you to do the same!

I’m very proud of the members of my family who have served, or are serving. Both Matt and I’s grandfathers served in either WWII or the Korean War. My Uncle Mike served in Desert Storm and my cousin Josh served in Afghanistan. My cousin Joseph is currently in Italy, awaiting deployment to Afghanistan. Also, my brother James is in the Army Reserves, my brother Weston is in the Air National Guard and my new brother-in-law Phil is an officer in the Air Force.

So let’s all remember to honor our veterans, thank our troops tomorrow, and show them that we DO remember.

I just wanted to leave you with a beautiful video tribute to Josh from his mom, Janice. This past Sunday, Janice had the opportunity to speak at church about Josh and also sing the song Heaven was Needing a Hero. It was such a beautiful performance by a very brave and strong lady. Also, it was great to hear her talk about Josh’s faith. When I was in Italy last year I got to speak to some of Josh’s comrades about their relationship with God. One of them told me how amazed he was to see our family’s strong commitment to the Lord, and how he wanted that for himself. And how one day, Josh had gone off by himself and spent the whole day praying and reading God’s words. For those brave, tough, army guys, that was quite out of the ordinary. It’s amazing to see the impact that his faith had on those men.

One more thing, there's a cool video that we did at the City of Eden Prairie a few years ago for Veteran's day. It's really neat if you have time to watch it.

Ha ha ha ha happy HalloWEEN!

A few weeks ago Matt and I took my new little sister Gracie out to pick out pumpkins. We headed over to Pahl's market which is this great little place that sells fresh farm produce and is only a few blocks from our house.

Hmmm, I think that's a bit too big for you Gracie girl

Found one!

Mattie took the longest trying to find the perfect pumpkin

Alas! the perfect one

Grace's masterpiece

Mine. There were WAY too many details but it turned out great.

Matt's! He was so proud of himself and said that this was the first craft project that had ever turned out for him! You go honey!

Overall a very satisfactory pumpkin carving expedition indeed. And as my stuttering husband at the age of two used to say: Ha ha ha ha happy HalloWEEN to all!

WARNING: Cat lovers beware, this post contains disturbing images that may not be suitable for all audiences. Viewer discretion is advised. Hehe

Saturday morning comes along and I excitedly leap out of bed like an 8 year-old on Christmas day. I finally have a free day and TODAY is the day I'm going to thoroughly clean my house from top to bottom. So with the help of my wonderful husband, we spend the next four hours scrubbing toilets, mopping floors and cleaning absolutely EVERYTHING!

Now those of you that have experienced this can relate. You have a wonderful house, but eventually the dirt starts piling up, junk mail lines the counters, laundry baskets overflow and before you know it you are suffocating in your own disarray. Then comes the liberating feeling when you FINALLY get to clean it all up. It's like a 100 pound anvil has been lifted off of your shoulders. It's completely euphoric!

However, about half way through cleaning we realized a common theme amongst our clutter and that was little white and gray clumps covering everything. As many of you know, Matt and I have two cats, Fibi and Riley. Riley is my kitty and she's a little over a year old. Now Riley is adorable but she's quite fluffy. And she also has this nasty habit of pulling out clumps of her hair.

So after spending four hours removing every trace of Riley fuzz from every imaginable surface in our house I decided that this could not and would not go on. So the way I figured, we had two choices: 1) get rid of Riley 2) get rid of Riley's hair. Well, I will let the photos explain the rest...

Yup! Riley got an 'ahem' trim

All the hair that will not end up on my floors, couches or clothes!

A very skinny and much less fluffy Riley

All that's left is her head, legs and a little bit of fluff...

...on the end of her tail

So here's the story about my cat Riley, once she had fur that she shed everywhere:

And then she had none:

My poor little cat!

Go Twins!

As many of you know, this season was a great one for the Twins. And since it was the last year in the Metrodome, Matt and I went with some friends to check out one of their last games in the dome.

Me and Mel

Rockin the face paint

Not bad seats for only $7!

Yup, that's my husband. ; )

First social outing and Mr. and Mrs. Leibrock