Holiday Home Tour 2013

I know I'm running behind on this Christmas post, but that seems to be my theme for 2013-2014.  I've been a little slack lately about getting things done and getting motivated over the holidays.  Anyway, just thought I'd share our holiday house tour photos... better late than never!

It's usually a tradition for me to get started with my Christmas decorating the day after Thanksgiving.  No Black Friday shopping for this girl... I would much rather stay home and hide in my pj's.  This year, however, I was a little behind.  There was a bit of a Christmas light fiasco while I was trying to put the tree up, and long story short, after about four strands of dud lights, I almost ended up not putting a tree up at all.  I did manage to get this book tree put up the day after Thanksgiving.  This was one of my Pinterest DIY must-dos and for once I actually finished a project I pinned!

It took every book that I had in the house, but it was really easy.  Just stack the books biggest to smallest in a circular pattern until your 'tree' is the height you want it to be.  Wrap some lights around it and put a topper on of your choice (optional) and done.  I used a cardboard star box that I got at Hobby Lobby for about $3.  I thought about cutting out a design in the box lid and putting a light inside, but then I got distracted by something interesting on TV and the rest is history....

Leon was a big help in putting up the lights.  :o)

I really wanted to put up my big, fancy, pretty tree in the music room this year, but our house is just too small for a full-size tree.  Instead I put up this mini pre-lit tree that was a hand-me-down from my Grandma.  It's midsection lights had blown out so I still had to wrap some lights around it, but it ended up working out okay.  Since this room is all lime green, turquoise, and blue, I thought my usual red & green ornaments would be a little clashy in here.  I decided to use all my white, crystal, and beaded ornaments instead and it turned out all sparkly and shiny and it was just the right amount of ornaments for the size of the tree.

I also put up my Christmas village in here, complete with my favorite decorations of all time - the Clothespin People.  These have been around since before me, and I've loved these ever since I was a little girl.  My mom and my Grandma made most of them, and then I added to them growing up.  They're still my favorite to this day.  

 

All this was done, but I still wanted a tree in my living room.  We have to keep the music room closed off most of the time because of a couple mischievous cats, so I wasn't able to see my Christmas decorations in here too much.  The big window is in here though, so I like to have a tree in front of that, and our living room set up is pretty full, with not much room for a tree.

I decided to get a tall, skinny tree that I could fit in the corner of the living room to make it a little more festive in there.  I got this 5' Alpine pre-lit tree at Hobby Lobby.   I think it tucked away quite nicely in there and didn't take up too much space. (Please excuse the eerie blue glow coming from the TV, I forgot to turn it off before snapping this pic.)  And it turned out to be just the right size for all my favorite traditional red & green ornaments.
 

 

Turned out pretty festive after all.  Daniel says I do way too much decorating since it's just the 2 of us and we don't really have anyone over, but hey, I like looking at it even if no one else gets to see it!

 

Since I have about a gazillion jars lying around the house, I decided to take another idea from Pinterest and make some of these village-in-a-jar things.  I had a blast doing these and ended up with a ton of them scattered all over the house.  I used cheap laundry detergent as my fake snow and got some little pipe-cleaner trees along with some extra greenery I had lying around to use for my evergreens, and then just used some old ornaments that came in an advent calendar for my miniature scenes.

 

   

I also made this Christmas card 'tree' on the side of the refrigerator.  In the beginning, I got mad at my luck with Christmas lights and said, "I'm not even going to do a tree this year!" and then in the end I think I ended up with at least a little tree in every room of the house.  What can I say?  I'm a sucker for Christmas decorations.

   

And then, just for cuteness sake, I have to throw in some pics of my Christmas kitties.  :o)

 

All this Christmas decorating wore them out!

Well, I hope you enjoyed my Christmas Home Tour, 2013.  Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Slow Cooker Pork & Apples

I just wanted to share this super easy recipe that I recently tried at home.  It turned out so delicious and was a big hit at our house, so I thought I'd share it with all of blogland.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Pork Tenderloin

4-5 Granny Smith Apples

Cinnamon

Honey

Poultry Seasoning (or other seasoning of your choice)

Salt & Pepper to taste

1/2 Stick Butter, cut into slices

Chicken Broth

Slow Cooker

I apologize, I don't have exact measurements on this, but in this case I don't really think exact measurements are all that important.  It will turn out good no matter what.  I didn't measure anything and it was delicious.

Start with your pork tenderloin, slicing it (but not all the way through) making grooves to put apple slices inside.

Slice all your apples into fairly thin slices. (You don't have to peel them unless you just really don't like the skins.)

Take the apple slices and dump some in the bottom of the crock pot.  Drizzle these with honey and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Stuff the grooves of your pork tenderloin with apple slices and place that on top of the 1st layer of apples in the crock pot.  Drizzle this with  more honey and more cinnamon.

Top your tenderloin with whatever apple slices you have left, your butter (cut into pats) on top of that, drizzle more honey and sprinkle more cinnamon on top.

Sprinkle with a little poultry seasoning and salt & pepper to taste.

Pour a little chicken broth on top of everything.  (I just put a little... just enough to keep it moist.)

(NOTE: I thought I had waaay too much cinnamon because at one point it came out much faster than I was expecting and dumped a huge pile of it into my crock pot.  It tasted wonderful anyway.  Not too cinnamon-y at all.)

Cook on low all day or on high for 3-4 hours.

The result is tender, sweet & savory deliciousness that will literally melt in your mouth!

It was a big hit with the hubs.  (That's his 'big hit' face)

This is an awesome dish for fall.  I love comfort food this time of year and the slow cooker is my best friend!  It's so nice to come home to the smell of something delicious and ready to eat the minute you walk through the door!

Enjoy!  I know I sure did!

It's Fall, Y'all

Well, it's officially fall... gaining rapidly on winter.  Fall is my favorite time of year.  I love the beautiful colors of the autumn leaves, the crisp, cool air, the sunny blue skies, breezy days, the comfort food, pumpkins and mums, bonfires, hayrides... the list goes on and on.  Fall makes me want to just drive around and gaze at all the beautiful colors and watch as the landscape changes into an array of oranges, yellows and reds.

Early-on this fall, we decided to go on a quick trip to the mountains to see all the beautiful autumn colors.  Of course, it rained the entire weekend, but it was still pretty.

I love all the barn quilts up there... makes me want to build a barn just so I can hang a barn quilt on it.

We had a great time, despite all the rain (and our icky motel, but that's a whole other story....)

We even had some amazing pizza at a little hole-in-the-wall wood-fired pizza place located in a tiny town near Roan Mountain.  This place was just behind the owners' house, in a little barn of its own.

Mmm... so good.  

Autumn wouldn't be complete without mentioning Halloween.  I have been super slack this year about holiday decorating... I usually go all-out with crows, bats, pumpkins, gourds, etc.  This year, however, I managed to put out a few pumpkins and a jack-o-lantern on Halloween day at about 6:00 p.m. just in case we had a few trick-or-treaters.  We didn't.  Not a single one... boo.  Daniel even got out the leaf blower and blew all the leaves out of the driveway and off the porches.  They were all back in about 30 minutes...

We even dressed up this year for Trunk or Treat at my church.  I went as Rosie the Riveter and Daniel went as Willie from Duck Dynasty.  His joke was that all he had to do get into character was tie a bandana around his head.  Mission accomplished.  

That's Daniel on the left in his "costume" just in case you were confused... along with another Willie lookalike.   "OOooo...I got double vision!"  *singing*  

Along with the changing seasons comes a change in weather and it has been pretty chilly at our house so far.  We've been avoiding turning on the heat so we can put off paying those crushing gas bills for a few more weeks.  We have been using our gas logs, which heat up the house nicely with a lot less gas. 

Back story on the gas logs:  I was convinced we were never going to get to use our gas logs because ever since we remodeled the fireplace they haven't worked.  womp womp... Daniel fiddled with them numerous times until we finally decided it was a bust and we were gonna have to buy  new ones.  Finally, he took them apart and found out that while they sat on our back porch during the reno, a dirt dauber had built a nest inside them which was keeping the flow of gas from doing its thing.  He got rid of the nest, and voila, they work like a charm.  The first night we turned them on I was insanely excited... picture me like Tom Hanks in that Castaway movie: "I...have made... FIRE!" (even though it was all Daniel... I didn't help at all, and basically we just turn a knob and the fire comes on...) 

Bonus: it's super cozy and I get crazy excited each and every time we turn them on.  For example, that first night we turned them on, I made Daniel wait and go to the store with me so I could stock up on hot chocolate.  I then had to put on my coziest pj's, cook up some cocoa and sit cuddled up with the hubs and a couple kitty cats while catching up on episodes of 'The Walking Dead'. I'm telling you, fire + cocoa + pj's + hubs + kitties + zombies = a super exciting night in my world.  Plus, a cold house is a great excuse for cuddling up with your sweetie.  *wink wink*

The kitties are fans of the fire too.  :o)

It took a little longer for the leaves to catch up in our neck of the woods, and then, one day... BAM! Color everywhere!

The tree below is in my parents' neighbor's yard.  It's got to be the prettiest maple tree EVER.  Like the prettiest maple tree in the history of maple trees.  I want to clone it and plant one in my yard.

As with all good things, they must come to an end.  It seems to me that fall goes by much too quickly.  All too soon those pretty leaves will fall and it'll be winter.  

On that note, I'll leave you with a quote:

"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall."  -F. Scott Fitzgerald