I'm full of Christmas spirit!

We had a really great Thanksgiving at a friends house here in Korea.  Met some new people, ate some yummy food, and just relaxed!  Although I wish my husband and I could have spent the day with our family back in the states, we still enjoyed our day and were able to Skype with our families later on that night.  And I just have to say, thank GOD for Skype!

And now.. my favorite.. putting out the Christmas decorations!  I absolutely love everything about this season.  We put up our tree, wrapped some presents, put up the rest of the Christmas decor, set out all the Christmas-y smell good candles, and hung pictures and curtains (we are still getting settled after getting all of our things shipped over here... it's getting there!).  Right now I'm downloading a bunch of Christmas movies:  Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Carol, Elf, Christmas with the Kranks, Santa Clause 1-3, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, etc.  I can't decide which one I want to watch tonight!

Just a few things I love about Christmas time..

Snow!  So beautiful.

Hot chocolate... HOMEMADE hot chocolate.  And I make the best! ;)

Because the holidays give you a good excuse to wear more shimmery makeup than you normally would!

Christmas BAKING.  I have a lot of goodies that I want to make.. can't wait to share them with you!

PEACH PIE.  Not really Christmas-y... but I have one in the oven right now and it smells SO good.  Can't wait to have a piece with a huge scoop of vanilla bean ice cream!!

We've got some exciting news!

We're pregnant!

We knew for about 3 weeks before we started telling our friends (which was the hardest thing to keep quiet.. ever) because we wanted to have an ultrasound before we started telling people.  Just to make sure everything was a-okay.  We had an ultrasound at 8w1d and the tech said everything looked perfectly normal.  We saw our little baby in there moving around and the flicker of the heartbeat.  She said it looked strong.  It was truly one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.  I cannot wait until we get to see our baby again!  Our next appointment is in about 2 weeks, and I'll be 11w3d.

Our little nugget at 8w1d.  Even though it's pretty blurry, it's definitely the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!  We're praying that the rest of the 1st trimester (as well as the rest of the pregnancy) goes smoothly.

Right now I'm 9w1d and want to barf every 15 minutes.  I mean, some days are better than others.. but the bad days are really bad.  I swear it lasts all day long.  The things that absolutely do not agree with me include:  anything with red sauce (spaghetti, lasagna, etc), bananas, the smell of the dishwasher, strawberry yogurt (not the best coming back up), meat, eggs, milk.  I'm sure there's more and the list grows every day.  I'm ready for this part to be over with now.  And I'm sure my husband is too.  :)

Chocolate Pudding Cake

Because when you want something chocolately, there's nothing better than Chocolate Pudding Cake.  It's like one big heaping pile of chocolate.  Mmmmm...

Chocolate Pudding Cake
slightly adapted from allrecipes.com

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2/3 cup brown sugar (that's what the recipe called for.. I used a little less than that)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups hot water

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Stir together the flour, white sugar, 1/4 cup of cocoa, baking powder, and salt.  Add milk and oil; mix well.  Pour into an ungreased 8x8 square pan.  Sprinkle brown sugar, remaining (1/4 cup) cocoa, and chocolate chips over the mixture.  Add the vanilla to the 1 1/4 cups hot water, then pour the water over the top.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the surface appears dry.  Serve warm with a spoon.  Goes good with a big glass of ice cold milk or even a scoop of vanilla ice cream!!  Roughly serves 4 people (depending on your serving size... uhh.. my husband and I almost ate the whole thing in one night...)...

Blueberry Muffins for a Sick Hubby {recipe}

Yesterday was a very lazy day here in our household!  My Husband was a bit under the weather and came home from his Doctor appointment with an insane amount of medication.  Poor Guy.  So I decided to make some homemade blueberry muffins to cheer him up.  An afternoon of warm blueberry muffins, Tosh.0, Army Wives (yes, he is a trooper), and naps.  Those days are nice every once in a while.. and Husband is feeling a bit better today.  I think it was the muffins.  ;)


Blueberry Muffins
taken from Smitten Kitchen

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt (I used sour cream)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, no need to defrost)

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Line muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners or spray muffin tin with nonstick spray.

Beat butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy.  Add egg and beat well, then sour cream (or yogurt).  Stir flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a separate bowl.  Pour half of dry ingredients over batter.  Mix until combined.  Pour remaining dry ingredients into batter and mix just until the flour disappears.  Gently fold in your blueberries.  The dough will be fairly thick, closer to a cookie dough, which is why an ice cream scoop is a great tool to fill your muffin cups.  You’re looking for them to be about 3/4 full, nothing more.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops are golden.  Cool on a wire rack, if you can wait that long (we couldn't!).  They are yummy straight out of the oven with a little butter!

New Discovery!

Actually, I should probably say... a rediscovery!  I have previously owned a John Mark McMillan CD, but I seemed to have lost it a while back.  I don't even remember the last time I saw it.  So I had kind of forgotten that he existed.  But I have rediscovered him (thanks to my Husband)!  And now I can't stop listening to him - so thank you, Hubby!  :)

I'm sure a lot of you have heard this song because it's covered by just about everyone.  This song is just amazing to me.  He has so much great music.  If you haven't heard of him, I highly recommend checking him out!!

Busy, Busy... and Crochet Projects

We have so much to look forward to in the coming months!  Lots to keep busy with.  On November 20th, we are going on a trip to the DMZ, which I've been itching to do since I've been here.  On top of Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up... and oh, the Christmas shopping!  I love Christmas shopping.  Also, my sister-in-law is due soon with her baby - I'm hoping it's a boy!  Husband and I have 3 beautiful nieces, so I'm ready to pick out some cute baby boy clothes.  In the meantime, I've picked out a few crochet projects to experiment with --

A teddy bear, a bunny blankie, and a stacking toy.  I'm really excited to try them! I'm hoping they turn out.  :)

We have a few other things coming up that we're really excited about, and we'll share that with everyone very soon!  Until then... I have to get back to watching Tosh.0 with my Husband.  This show makes me LOL.