I'm in LOVE 

with these two 

    

Katrina's Saturday Consisted of.....

Sewing a Baby Blanket
Spray Painting our dresser black

Baking a Sour Cream Lemon Pie

SOUR CREAM LEMON PIE

1 c. sugar

3 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch

1 tbsp. lemon rind, grated

1/2 c. fresh lemon juice3 egg yolks, slightly beaten

1 c. milk

1/4 c. butter

1 c. cultured sour cream

1 baked pie shell

1 c. heavy whipping cream

whippedLemon twists for garnish

Combine sugar, cornstarch, lemon rind, juice, egg yolks and milk in heavy saucepan; cook over medium heat until thick. Stir in butter and cool mixture to room temperature. Stir in sour cream and pour filling into pie shell. Cover with whipped cream and garnish with lemon twists. Store in refrigerator

Enjoy :)

Here’s to new beginnings.

Through out the day yesterday I watched the inauguration of our first African American President along with the many balls that the Obama’s attended. As I was watching or listening to what was being said all I could think about is how blessed we all should be to be in this generation that has witnessed such a change in history .

Mini Adventures: Part One

I try so hard to get caught up in this blogging thing and I never seem to be able to do so. I am sorry about that. I will keep trying and one day everything will be in order and not a month behind.  This post is a little out of order because tomorrow I am hoping that I will be able to post all about our mini adventures through out the Christmas Holiday. The following, however, was this past week and weekend. 

First: MIAMI 

I flew to Miami for business but it felt more like a vacation. 

I was in Miami for a week for our annual meeting with everyone from our company. It was a great trip (minus the fact that I missed Bear terribly) and a wonderful experience. I was able to enjoy the sun and the beach. Our hotel was right on the ocean so every morning I got up and went and hug out on my balcony and watched all the many people already enjoying everything the beach had to offer. I ate wonderful food, got a little bit of sun, and enjoyed being out of New Jersey for a little while. 

The Hotel entrance 

                                 Myself and one of my co-workers (Liz) at our final dinner. 

Second: Baltimore

The weekend before school started up again we took a short trip to Baltimore to visit Jack and his girlfriend Brittney. It was great to spend time with Jack again and also to get to know Brittney. We miss our friends, so anytime we have the chance to visit them we make sure to take advantage of it. We were only there one night but we managed to have a drink at a cool little bar by the harbor, patron a two-story Barnes & Noble, and spend all Saturday afternoon touring the Baltimore aquarium. The aquarium was really quite amazing. The four storied building was packed full of hundreds of species of animals ranging from the exotic from all across the world to the more familiar found within the Chesapeake Bay. Highlights included a walk-through atrium with species of birds found only in the Amazon basin, a small scale recreation of Amazon River plant and animal life (the Amazon River, stretching over 4,000 miles long and containing 2/3 of the world's fresh water, is also home to more species of fish than found within all of the Atlantic Ocean), and an open water aquarium containing a variety of full size sharks. I (Bear) left with a far better appreciation of the world's natural diversity and am thankful we made the trip. 
                                                        Give me a kiss, said the fish. 
                              Jack, Brittney, and Bear all waiting for the dolphin show to start 


                   There was a monkey that was just hanging out in the trees. Sadly, over 95% of his natural habitat has been destroyed by logging and development.

Christmas in New Jersey

Merry Christmas from New Jersey ( A little late) 

 Christmas morning was a little different for both Bear and I. We spent it without our families for the first time. It was a little sad and very quite but we made the best of it and enjoyed it together. We were able to sleep in and take our time opening all of our wonderful gifts. I have to admit that I had so much fun Christmas shopping this year. Shopping is a lot different when you grow up and have a husband to buy for and seeing his face when he opened the gifts was the best part. He is such a little kid at heart and gets so excited and I love it. I thank my husband for  making this Christmas so much fun. 

 

Our Adventures in December

I am sorry that it takes me so long to up-date our blog. We have been having some computer problems. Here are some (although a lot!!) of pictures that we took during the christmas holiday.

Decorating Christmas Cookies

It Snowed!! We had to take a walk in the pretty white slush..

We had some friends over for a Gingerbread house making party. We turned it into more of a competition of who could get the roof to stay together first. We don't have any pictures of theres but it was pretty good. I can't tell you who won but Bear and I were pretty proud of our little house.

Thank you to Susan and Butch (Bear's Parents), Vicci and Charlie (Aunt and Uncle), and Caroline (Aunt) we had the amazing experience of being able to enjoy the holiday season with a Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, "The Christmas Spectacular". It was amazing how much design and production went into each scene from the set construction to the choreography. Even grown up kids like us thoroughly enjoyed the Rockette's performances and wonderland-like aura of it all. The parade of camels, donkeys, and sheep that at one point marched across the stage in a reenactment of the three wise men's journey to the nativity was my (Bear) favorite. Despite that night's bitter coldness we spent the rest of the evening touring the City's various Christmas displays at Rockefeller Center, Macy's, and Lord and Taylor department store windows. We were immediately rewarded with falling snow througout our whole stay in the city. Rockefeller was aflow with sightseers galore catching a glimpse of the infamous Christmas tree overlooking the ice skating rink. The Lord and Taylor windows reminisced Christmas memories with their displays of traditional puppetry while Macy's brought out the imaginative aspects of Christmas with their far more whimsical and cartoonish creatures and sets. After wandering the streets of mid-town Manhattan we ventured into the gigantic edifince that is the Macy's department store. Nine massively expansive floors challenge even the most experienced and hardened holiday shoppers. As a result, we spent most of our time on the ninth floor perusing the Christmas ornaments and decorative material found there. After picking out a pair of birds kissing ornament we decided that it would be fun to make the yearly choosing of a new ornament a holiday tradition to carry on together. Our trip to New York was perfect to get us in the Christmas spirit and to experience the sights and sounds of the city a little more. However, we are looking forward to spending future Christmases with our families in the west.

Keeping with Tradition
Thanks to my Mom and Dad attending the Messiah during Christmas time became a tradition, a tradition that only started in the past couple years but to me it was a tradition and most people know that I can NEVER break Christmas traditions. So when I saw that the Messiah would be at our State Theater I had to get tickets. Bear had heard in the past about me talking about the Messiah that my parents and I went to but had never experienced it for him-self and I think he really enjoyed it. We can't wait to go again next year.

More to come soon on: Christmas day, our first trip to the Jersey shore, and our trip to Ellis Island.