Christmas

We had a great Louisiana Christmas this year. The highlight has become watching Cole and Kate. Who knows what we did before they came into the picture.

Here's my mom and dad on Christmas morning.

And Dana and Kate playing with Kate's newest toy

Here's Kate concentrating on the cell phone. I think she was trying to learn how to call Aunt Jill.

We took Cole to see a movie. He was so adorablely cute in the movie. He was clapping his hands and dancing in his seat the whole time.

Here's Kate with her cute Christmas leggings

And Julie and Mike

We also traveled to St. Francisville to see Jan and Ken and their kids. They live out in the sticks but it was worth it to see old friends.

So that's about it. I'm working on blogging more in the new year so stay tuned.

Thanksgiving

I'm a little behind on my blogging. Here's my Thanksgiving post.

We drove to Nebraska for Thanksgiving. Not much to see between here and Nebraska but we made it in one day. We stayed with D's sister in Lincoln - the home of the University of Nebraska. I was so tired of seeing red by the end of the weekend but it was fun.

The day after Thanksgiving we went to the Nebraska vs. Colorado football game. It was soooo cold to me but they tell me I am a Texas wimp. The temp was in the 30s but I'm suppose to be grateful it wasn't snowing. Anyway, the Huskers won and made it to a bowl game so I guess it was worth it. Here are a few pictures of D's nephews at the game.We had to get there super early so we could go the bookstore first. We did this last year too and D basically picks out a bunch of stuff and I buy it for him and then I am done Christmas shopping. Works for me.

We were sitting in the visitors section because tickets were hard to come by but even the visitor's section was filled with mostly Husker fans. This is our view...

We ate at Runza's every day but Thanksgiving Day. It's one of those Nebraska traditions (like Raising Cane's in Louisiana). So that's about it - the weekend went way to fast.

Sweet Soul

Monday was a sad day in our household. Reilly, our 10 year old dog, passed away. As you know, I wasn’t the biggest dog person in the days before D. But Reilly was the dog that converted me to a dog lover. The absolute best thing about her was that EVERYTIME you would say her name she would wag her tail. And it wasn’t just her tail that wagged – it was her whole backside. If she was in another room in the house all you had to do was call her name and you could tell by the thumping of her tail which room she was in. Even on Monday morning when I said goodbye to go to work she wagged her tail for me one last time.

The vet called her a “sweet soul” and we definitely agree.

Race Day

We ran in the White Rock this morning (me the half - Mike and D the whole). This is Mike and D before the race... And me and D before the race...

D nearing the finish line... Me and D after the race...

Mike and D after the race and after food at IHOP...

It was a really fun experience. I don't know that Mike and D would agree because they are feeling it pretty bad tonight but hopefully they will agree once their soreness has eased a bit.

I ran with a girl named Sarah that I met at the starting line for the first 6 miles. It made the time go by so much faster. The race benefitted Scottish Rite Hospital and Sarah had been a patient there when she was younger. She is an inspiration. And she shared some chapstick with me so I will be forever grateful to her. I know that kind of sounds gross to share chapstick but I am addicted to Carmex and I failed to bring any. By mile 6 I really didn't care that much. At least I didn't have to use the gross port-a-potties.

I was a little disappointed with my time but it was my first one so I can't complain too much. I finished in 2 hours 18 minutes. But D did great - he beat his goal time of 4 hours by 18 seconds! I was so proud!

Julie's Engaged!

The big news around the Metz household is that Julie is engaged! They are planning a wedding this summer. We all love Mike and are so happy for Julie. So here's a photo montage of the happy couple...

Instead of Pecan Pie

I went to a Pampered Chef party this past weekend and we had the best snack ever! And even I can make it.

Harvest Spiced Nuts

1 egg, separated

1 package (8 oz) pecan halves

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon pantry cinnamon plus

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, Line pan with 11 inch piece of parchment paper. Using egg separator, separate egg into large bowl (reserve yolk for other use). Whip egg white until frothy.

2. Add pecans to bowl. Toss to coat evenly with egg whites. Sprinkle brown sugar and spice blend over pecans, toss to coat evenly. Pour pecans out onto parchment, separating into a single layer.

3. Bake 18-20 min or until nuts begin to brown. Remove pan from oven. Let cool completely. Place in serving dish. Serve using tong (its sticky).

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Not Martha Stewart

I've always said that I hate cooking. But I decided to be a good sport and make a Pecan Pie for our anual Thanksgiving Luncheon at work. So I researched recipes and decided to try Pioneer Woman's recipe mostly because she gives step by step directions with pictures. I followed the directions exactly and even made an extra pie for D to take to work. They looked so good last night when I took them out of the oven.

I cooked them for 1 hour (a full 10 minutes beyond what Pioneer Woman told me to do) but when it was time to cut them today before the luncheon I realized that even an hour wasn't enough. The inside of the pie was literally the consistency of Karo syrup - like I hadn't cooked it at all! I just took my pie back to my little cubicle and hid it under my desk. Then I brought it home so I could take a picture for the blog.

And it looks way worse in person! I might try to cook it for a while longer tonight to see if I can salvage it at all because pecans are expensive! And now I'm back to hating to cook.