Our Thanksgiving Getaway

We are still recovering from a completely fantastic Thanksgiving weekend! We spent 3 days in a cozy cabin in the middle of a winter wonderland with great friends, plenty of delicious food, and non-stop laughs and entertainment. The cabin is in Western Maryland near Deep Creek Lake and is basically brand-new! It was awesome. I am so glad Hannah found the cabin and organized it all ... this was one of the few holiday weekends since we've been in Md. that I haven't spent studying, and I'm grateful we had the chance to spend it with great friends who will be moving away soon.

10 people cooking Thanksgiving dinner in one small kitchen was a little crazy but somehow everything came together wonderfully. Jeremy did a great job on the turkey and the rest of us pitched in with the appetizers, mashed potatoes, yams, salads, rolls, and stuffing (Joe's specialty). Oh, and plenty of pies, of course! I think key lime may have been the hit.

Joe always is a great cook on Thanksgiving and this year was no exception!

We took a nice little walk in the snow which led to trouble when I started threatening Joe with a snowball.
But how could I not forgive a guy who belongs on the cover of GQ? So dang cute!

All in all it was a great 3 days. It was so much fun to spend time with the Skinners, Burnhams, Walkers, and Millers ... and we wished others could have been there as well! Favorite parts of the weekend were: playing games, laughing, and telling stories into the early morning hours, cooking and sharing delicious recipes, and hanging out in a new and beautiful place. The only not-so-good parts were: a terrifying episode involving wooden stairs, a nasty smell coming from the fridge, and not enough sleep. But thankfully we are all home safe and sound! Now it's back to real life and lots of studying until December 19th!

Just Dance.

Joe and I are huge (HUGE!!) fans of So You Think You Can Dance. And just to show what incredible fans were are, when the top 10 tour came through Baltimore we were there with our friends Chad and Emily, cheering as loud as we possibly could! I was sure I was going to lose my voice since Emily and I were screaming like 13 year old girls - although not quite as loud as the real, live 13 year old girls that were sitting near us in their tutus. (Can I just say 'WOW.') Joe was pretty excited as well. He and Chad pretended to lament the fact they were missing Monday night football, while secretly being grateful they had wives who were so into this that they were sure to be dragged along, without having to actually look like there was no where they would rather be.

The show definitely did not disappoint! Twitch was twitchalicious, Will was even more ripped in real life, and Chelsie, Katee, and Courtney were better than ever. It was so fun to see all our favorite dances from the season brought back. The performances included dances involving a door . . . a bed . . . . and yes, a briefcase. :)

At the end of the show as everyone was leaving Emily and I rushed to the front just in time to see them starting cleaning up the confetti. :( It was over much too soon. By next year we've definitely got to figure out how to snag those front row seats!

Birthdays are Delicious Part II

Last weekend Joe got his birthday dessert (caramel apples!) but unfortunately I did not have time to make him his birthday dinner. Unthinkable, I know. But we both had a busy few days so he understood. And today I made up for it by attempting to replicate one of our very favorite foods - Cafe Rio Pork Salad! I know a lot of you out there may already make it but it was my first time. Fortunately it turned out amazing!! We were both so happy to realize we don't have to wait a whole year to have something close to the Cafe Rio experience. Given the time and $$ involved in making everything I think it would be more economical just to hit up the restaurant ... but since that isn't an option I plan to continue perfecting my speed and technique on the homemade version.

P.S. Joe's 28th birthday is now officially OVER.

Birthdays are DELICIOUS!

I told you a few posts ago that Joe likes apple pie ... however he did not get an apple pie or even a cake this birthday (or cinnamon rolls like last year). But don't feel bad for him. What he did get was a caramel apple party! In this picture you can get an idea for how it works - the shiny apples, melted caramel, crushed m&m's, oreos, and heath bar, and melted chocolate. Yummm. Joe was a great sport and helped me out a lot with his own "party." Even though it was a small group it was still kind of crazy since I wasn't exactly sure what I was doing. Although the milk chocolate melted up fine (by holding a plastic bag of choc. chips suspended in a pot of boiling water) we couldn't get the white chocolate to melt right. Why is that??

You really can't mess up a homemade caramel apple ... although some people's apples turned out "prettier" than others.

Nate did quite well decorating with a kid on his arm. Impressive.

After decorating, we stuck the apples in the freezer for a couple minutes for the caramel to set up.

The result was completely declious! The tart apple and all the sweet stuff on the outside is a combination you just can't beat. Soooo good!!

And here is a picture of the cute little gourd vases I made. Darling! But don't try it unless you have a hacksaw handy ... those gourds are insanely hard to cut.

28 and entitled

Joe says that now that he's 28, he is "entitled" to have a car payment. Whatever that means! But apparently, this is how he really feels:

As for me? I am super chill, couldn't be better.

Just kidding! I am totally flipping out! I couldn't even trust myself drive home from the dealership because I was bouncing off the seats. Literally. And letting out a little scream every few minutes.
And this is what I will be doing every time I get out of my new car for the next little while. Niiiiiiice.