OOTD

Outfits sure were lacking when I was off work. I usually wore pjs or comfy clothes most days. I went out and bought new pjs because I was getting sick of the ones I was wearing day after day. I would get dressed for an hour or two each day then back into my pjs. I don't want to be uncomfortable laying around resting. lol

Now that I am back to work I have to start getting dressed for around 6 hours a day. I come home and try to get into my pjs as fast as possible. One thing I haven't done much of is shopping. I did Christmas shopping, but I tried not to buy things for myself. I received some Christmas money that is burning a hole in my pocket. I am hoping to make it to the outlets soon!

Dress: Forever 21

Cardigan: Nordstrom Rack

Tights: Target

Booties: Gift

Necklace: Jane.com

Cardigan: Gap

Shirt & Jeans: Old Navy

Shoes: Bass

Jacket & Scarf: Gift 

Tshirt & Skirt: Old Navy

Tights: Target

Shoes: Bass

Scarf: Forever 21

Tshirt: Target

Jeans: Old Navy

Shoes: Bass

I bought the scarf a few years ago at Forever 21. I thought it looked ridiculous tied like I am wearing it when I bought the scarf. Now I love it. lol Funny how times change. 

Menu Monday

Well it's time to use up the Christmas dinner leftovers. I had lots of mash potatoes and ham leftover. It doesn't matter how many mash potatoes I make we have a lot left over. This year we made about half of what I normally make, but still had tons left. Next year I am going to make 2 potatoes, so I don't have any left. lol 

Mash potato leftovers are great for shepherds pie. My mom had put some ground hamburger in our freezer when she was here. I grabbed the hamburger, pie crust, frozen veggies (always have some in the freezer), can of cream of mushroom soup, cheddar cheese and the leftover mash potatoes. I mix the hamburger, veggies, and cream of mushroom soup together. Dump it in the pie pan, sprinkle the cheese over top, spread the potatoes over the cheese and wa-la shepherds pie. I was able to make 2. I put one in the freezer and one in the fridge. 

Ham leftovers I am going to make ham & potato soup. 

Art and I made homemade sausage from scratch. I will have a whole post about our sausage making. We will be having sausage & sauerkraut for dinner. 

Turkey burgers & homemade fries

Stew - My mom made this delish stew while I was visiting my family in PA. Pork or beef stew meat, 2 packages of brown gravy, 1 package of dry ranch dressing, potatoes, & carrots. Mix the gravy & ranch together with one cup of water. Put meat, potatoes, carrots, gravy & ranch mixture into a crockpot for 6 hours on low. Super delish and easy!

Steak, mash potatoes and swiss chard

Merry Christmas from the Post's!

Holiday Style Link-Up: Holiday Traditions

Growing up we had Christmas traditions that we followed almost to a "t" every year. I LOVE traditions and I love the holidays. Christmas Eve at noon my mom would make homemade pizza and we would open presents from my parents. Christmas Eve night we would go to my grandparents for a big dinner, open gifts from my grandparents, cousins and aunt. Christmas Day we would rush out to the tree to see what Santa left in our stockings. Around noon we would go to my great grandma house where all my Grandma Fischer brothers, sisters and their kids would come over. Great grandma had 10 kids, so there were a bazillion people at her house. Everyone stopped by her house even if it was just for a little bit. The young kids went to the basement to play while the adults talked upstairs. It was a LOUD German house. If you needed something you had to SCREAM. lol  I love those memories.

My brother and I didn't really ever believe in Santa. When my sister was born we decided she NEEDED to believe in Santa. We love it that she thought Santa was real and played it up. Poor little Lacey was soooo upset when she found out Santa was fake. 

Even now as an adult when I still eat pizza on Christmas Eve. Even if I spend lunch time alone I eat pizza. It is my families tradition and I am not going to stop eating pizza on Christmas Eve. Today Art is working and I am eating leftover pizza from last night. I decided to order pizza for dinner last night just so I could have pizza for today. 

Lacey and I started a tradition I am not sure how many years ago making a gingerbread house every year. We buy the kit and put it together sometime around Christmas. Sometimes we were putting it together on Christmas Eve, but when we are together it is our tradition. We do not want other people to help us decorate our house either. We will allow our mom to put the icing on the house because she has A LOT of experience icing cakes. 

Christmas 2011 pictures above

This year it didn't work out with all my health issues eating up all my PTO time at work to travel to North Dakota for Christmas. I am hoping next year we can either be in North Dakota or my family can be in California with us thawing out. 

I am linking up my Holiday Traditions Post with More Pieces of Me and On the Daily Express. 

Christmas Menu

I can't believe it is Christmas in 2 days. It just doesn't feel like Christmas this year. It came so fast. I don't know why this year doesn't feel like Christmas. I have decorated the house, Art put up the outside lights, all the gifts are bought & wrapped, cookies are made, menu is prepared, but it still doesn't feel like Christmas. 

I am looking forward to Christmas Day. Everyone is coming over to our house in the early afternoon for appetizers, presents and Christmas dinner. 

Appetizers

Spinach Dip
Sausage Dip

Dinner

Ham
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Sweet Potatoes
Broccoli Salad
Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Bacon
Rolls
Pies
Cookies


Every year Art gets a ham as a gift from work. I love this because we receive a few days before Christmas & it's free. lol The hams are always very tasty too. 

What is on your Christmas menu? Do you have traditional dishes you make?

Peanut Butter Blossoms

It feels like Christmas when the house is decorated and Christmas cookies have been baked. I rarely ever bake for Christmas. I just don't have the time to be baking with working full time and all the demands at Christmas time. This year I have had some time off because of health issues, so I decided it was time to do some Christmas baking. I forgot how yummy these cookies are until my cousin Laura made them for Thanksgiving. 

source: Betty Crocker

Ingredients

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

Additional granulated sugar (about 2 tablespoons)

About 7 dozen kisses milk chocolates

Directions

• 1 Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, beat 1/2 cup granulated sugar, the brown sugar, peanut butter, butter and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda and baking powder.
• 2 Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in additional granulated sugar. Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
• 3 Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are light brown. Immediately press 1 chocolate candy in center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Menu Monday

It has been weeks since I have made a menu. My mom came to take care of me for over 3 weeks. I think during that time I cooked one meal. I am returning to work this week, so I need to have a menu planned. 

BBQ Pork Sandwiches & roasted veggies
Bubble Up Pizza
Brussel Sprout Salad
Warm Balsamic Kale Salad 

I forgot all about Bubble Up Pizza until my mom made it recently. Then I saw it on Pinterest a week or so after she made it. It is so simple and yummy. 

2 cans of biscuits
tomato sauce
pizza toppings 
cheese

• grease a 8x8 pan
• preheat oven at 350
• cut biscuits in half & lay in the 8x8 pan
• pour tomato sauce over biscuits
• put pizza toppings and cheese over the top
• I made it with pepperoni & cheese
• bake until the center of the cheese is melted

I bought 4 cans of biscuits $2.82, tomato sauce $1.19, pepperoni $2.99, and cheese $2.54 at Target = $9.54 for 2 meals. Each pan of pizza serves 4 people. 

Hump Day!

Holiday Party Part 1: Casual Holiday Style

My friend Caryl over at More Pieces of Me is having a holiday link up party! This is her first link of party, so I wanted to support her by participating. 

This week is casual holiday outfits. The outfit below I would wear to church on Sunday, casual work Christmas party or a holiday party at my house. To dress it up more you could add a sparkly tank & heels. 

Tank & Tights: Target

Jacket: JcPennys

Skirt: Lane Bryant (borrowed from my aunt)

Shoes: Lucky from TJ Maxx

Necklace: Jane.com

Bracelets: J Crew Factory & Zuni

Link up to the fun & check out the other outfits!! 

Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas! Some of you will have found this post as followers of my blog and others will have found this post from our Christmas card. I thought I would do a Christmas letter through my blog to be more green, save paper and updated some of you on what has been going on with us. Some of you may know I have a blog and others might just have found out. 2013 has been one of the most eventful years for us. 

One week before Christmas 2012 Art and I became grandparents to little Kaleb. He has been one of the bright spots in our lives. We watch Kaleb every other Saturday while his parents work. We have a blast with him and have enjoyed watching him grow. It is pretty normal for him to be dressed up in some type of outfit or mask while Mimi snaps 100 pictures. 

January brought some unexpected news. We found out I had a rare form of thyroid cancer Medullary Thyroid Cancer. I was scheduled for a surgery to remove my thyroid which was so large it was pressing on my wind pipe. Unfortunately there is no cure for MTC. The best is for a clear surgery to remove all lymph nods, thyroid and any other cancer in the body. Blood tests will be done every 3 months, CT scans will be done if the blood tests show the cancer is growing and I will be under a doctor care possibly for the rest of my life. I keep my blog updated on what is going on currently with my cancer normally after each test. 

You read the more on my journey below:

overview of surgery

cancer update

8 months after surgery

Just Another Day Fighting Cancer

In April Art and I celebrated 5 years of marriage. We went on an Alaskan cruise to celebrate in August. It was one of the most amazing vacations we have been on. I highly recommend going to Alaska. We really needed a vacation, a time to relax, sleep, enjoy ourselves and just disconnect from the world. It was all of those things. We didn't have cell service for 6 days. I couldn't work even if I had wanted too.  Do not wait to go to Alaska until you are old. =) There is sooooo much to see and do that you need to go possibly every 5 years. 

Amber and Marcus got married on May 18. We all went to Tahoe for their wedding. It was the perfect day to join 2 families together. 

The summer we spent a lot of time with our grandson, finishing a couple house projects, Alaska, and I spent lots of time resting. It is amazing how one surgery can throw your body into such exhaustion. In October I had another health issue with the start of possibly MS. I am one of the lucky 1400 people in 2013 to have Transverse Myelitis. My mom was gracious enough to come to California for 3 weeks to take care of me. I honestly don't know what I would have done without my mom coming to take care of me this year. I am so grateful she is able to help me.

The next couple weeks will be very exciting around here. Kaleb is starting to walk, we will celebrate his first birthday and enjoy watching him open Christmas presents this year. 

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!!!

Happy 33 Years to Me!!!!

Today I celebrate turning another year older. This birthday is completely different than the past 33. When I got to be about 28 I started to dread birthdays. I love my birthday, but it was the fact I was getting another year older. When I turned 30 I cried for weeks. The thought of being sooooo old was horrific to me. Then to top it off my grandma sent my aunt & cousin to decorate my yard.  One of the hardest thing to deal with is as I got older was another year older without a baby. Every year I wish the next birthday brings a baby. Each year comes without a baby. 

I still don't know how in the world I can be so old. I ask my dad occasionally if it bothers him I am so old. How in the world can my parents have such an old kid? They aren't much older than I am. I feel like I am a young kid until I hear rap music and wonder what is wrong with the kids these days & their music choices. Or I hear kids talking about the latest show on MTV. Oh boy I don't even know what MTV has on these days. Then there are the times I feel very young when I wear my grandma tshirts.  I love the reactions of other people. The double takes when I say this is my grandson. =)

This year is completely different. I am happy to be 33. In January I heard some of the hardest words....life expectancy is about 60%. WHAT!!!! My life expectancy is 100% not 60%. How could someone say such ridiculous things to me. My world was turned upside down during the age of 32. Cancer changed my life. It took a toll on me for months. Chasing doctors around, feeling like garbage, a big red scar that wasn't healing right, my hormones were a ruckus, weight fluctuation, new spots on my lungs & liver, blood test after blood test, CT scans. I mean really how is this happening to me?  

Then I heard the words "your cancer is stable". While those words were very encouraging to my family & friends they were horrible for me to hear. I spent 2 days crying. I didn't want to hear "stable". I wanted to hear it is gone, you have no sign of cancer left in your body....however, I won't ever hear those words. I didn't have time to be in a pity party for very long because my feet started going numb. Then I was diagnosed with TM and possibly MS. This is going to sound insane, but I think this could have been one of the best blessings. It snapped me out of my pity party and I honestly was SO happy to think my cancer is "stable". 

Health wise age 32 was a ruckus. I learned so much during this year. The Bible became real to me, felt God grace, prayer really works and I have learned I am even tougher than I thought. I haven't ever been a patient person. As a cancer patient you have to learn patience rather quickly as you wait for CT scan results, blood tests, and on doctors who are on their own time schedule. I also learned God has other plans when you plan out of all 2013. A year older and gray hair aren't really that scary to me anymore...wait a minute who am I kidding gray hair is still terrifying to me! Stay away grays! lol

Today I celebrate 33 years of life and I plan to celebrate at least another 56 years! 

OOTD

My OOTD have been lacking since I have been recovering at home. I am lucky to do my hair each day. I usually get dressed, but I just don't want to do my hair. Thank goodness for baby powder! I have been trying to wear comfy clothes that I can take an afternoon nap in. I can't seem to break my afternoon naps. If I don't take them I am cranky and if I take them I am up until midnight. Or maybe the staying up to midnight is the coffee and espresso beans!

Above I was sporting 5 day hair. I had spent 2 days in the ER. The last thing I wanted to do was come home, wash my hair and deal with all that nonsense. I honestly HATE washing my hair. It is such a chore. My boss and I joke it takes a village to handle our hair. lol

Sweater: Nordstrom Rack

Boyfriend Jeans: Old Navy

Shoes: Sperry's

Necklace: Charming Charlies

Another honest fact - I only took this picture with the boots. I had to get them off as soon as the picture was over. I can't seem to wear heels since my whole food numbing issues. 

Sweater: Loft

Skirt: Gap

Shoes: Some online site

Tights: Target

Necklace: Ebay

Sweater: Nordstrom Rack

Camo Pants: Gap

Shoes: Bass

Necklace: Jane.com

Tank: Old Navy

Cardigan: J Crew Factor

Sknnies: Gap

Shoes: Sperry's

26 days of Thankfulness - Day 26 - Z

Today I am thankful for:

Z

Zebras

Zachary's

Zoo

26 days of Thankfulness - Day 25 - Y

Today I am thankful for:

Y

Youth

Yuppies

Yummy Food

26 days of Thankfulness - Day 24 - X

Today I am thankful for:

X

X-Ray's

XXXII Years of Life

26 days of Thankfulness - Day 23 - W

Today I am thankful for:

W

Water

Winter

Warmth

26 days of Thankfulness - Day 22 - V

Today I am thankful for:

V

Vacations

Visitors

My Wish List

Here are the items that are on my wish list at this time. I have a birthday coming up next week and Christmas is right around the corner. Below are a few items on my wish list.

1. 

TORTOISE GLAM BRACELET

2.  

Starbucks Double Wall Ceramic Mug - Alice+Olivia

3.  

Essie Gel Nail Polish 

4.

Women's Merona® Meg Chunky Heel Pumps - Leopard

5. 

Wishbone Necklace

Pinspiration

What would I do without Pinspiration? Sometimes at night I will lay in bed, look at Pinterest, find an outfit and recreate it the next day. A lot of times that is about the only way I can get dressed the next day. 

Striped shirt: Gap

Jacket: Thrift

Capris: Old Navy

Shoes: Lucky

26 days of Thankfulness - Day 21 - U

Today I am thankful for:

U

USA

Umbrella

26 days of Thankfulness - Day 20 - T

Today I am thankful for:

T

Thanksgiving

Target

Technology

Thunderstorms

Quick Pit Stop at Hacker Way

The Facebook headquarters are on Art drive to work every day. A couple weeks ago we had to run some errands on that side of the bay, so we stopped by Facebook. After we stopped to take some pictures a whole bunch of tourist showed up. lol

I snapped a couple picture of mom and then asked her to take some of me. I went to look at the pictures she had taken only to see she hadn't pushed the button to take a picture. She kept pushing the button to go back to the main screen on my phone. Good thing I looked right away or I wouldn't have a picture of myself with the Facebook thumb! How cute is the Halloween thumb and the address? 1 Hacker Way! lol