Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, from my family to yours.

A Christmas Miracle

My Aunt Annie in Florida sent out our Christmas presents via FedEx and we got them today. She told me that when I opened the box I had to have my Mom present to take pictures of me opening it because there was something in there for me but it wasn't wrapped.
So I opened the box and low and behold it was my Grandmothers Nativity set, the one I helped her set up year after year when I was little. I was so happy I almost cried.
So naturally I had to set it up. So I cleared off the sideboard of all the family pictures and set up the Nativity set. Again, I almost cried when I was setting it up. It's just so awesome... It means so much to me...

Our Tree (The Story)

I found the pics from when we got our Christmas tree... Yay!!! So here is the photographic story of us off to get our Christmas tree. (We drove over a half-an-hour to get it. lol. And Dad was actually good about the whole thing.)

This is where we got our tree

Mom found "The One"

Dad cutting down the tree

Carrying the tree to the truck

Angela's Fabulous Chocolate Coconut Cookies

Angela's Fabulous Chocolate Coconut Cookies

4 oz unsweetened chocolate
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups shortening
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
A sprinkle of corn starch
2 1/2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Shredded coconut

1. Heat oven to 350. Melt chocolate in microwave (2 minutes on medium, stir, 2 minutes on medium again), stir 'till smooth.
2. Mix flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
3. Mix eggs, oil, corn starch, water and vanilla in another bowl.
4. Beat the shortening and sugar in a bowl until fluffy.
5. Mix in chocolate until a nice brown colour.
6. Mix in the egg mixture.
7. Slowly add the flour mixture.
8. Add a generous amount of coconut and mix so the coconut until uniformly distributed. (I used unsweetened, but I'm sure sweetened would be just fine.)
9. Shape into 1-inch balls and place on cookie sheet, bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for a couple minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.
Enjoy!

I wanted a chocolate coconut cookie as I already had the coconut but no reason for it. So I took a couple different cookie recipes and changed them a bit as I didn't have the right ingredients and so I made up this one. They came out delicious... now I just have to wait until I have a nice big glass of my lactose free milk to go with them... 'cause koolaid and juice just don't do it. lol.

Never Send a Man to do a Womans Job

My Mom and I were baking cookies today and we needed some walnuts and some other miscellaneous ingredients. So Mom came up with the idea of sending my Dad down to the store to pick up what we needed. So she wrote him up a list and off he went. When he came back he had everything on the list... but what we couldn't stop laughing about were the walnuts...
So needless to say I spent a good amount of time today cracking walnuts... it was hilarious.

Christmas is Family

Saturday was our James Gang Christmas Party! It's always a good time when my family gets together, we're all just such a fun loving group of people. Every year we come together at Christmas time and have a little get together where we eat, drink and be merry. We also have a fun and entertaining way of exchanging gifts that involves cards and stealing; and every year there's this one guys gift and this one girls gift that everyone wants, this year the guys gift was my Dads (it was in a Victoria's Secret bag) and the girls gift was mine (it was sparkly). Hopefully a fun time was had by all, as I know I certainly had a good time.

The James Gang

Cousins!

Mom & Dad

Aunt Mare & Uncle Randy

Nate, Me & Matt

Yes, I may smile too big, but it's just 'cause I'm having a good time! lol.

Christmas Tree

Somehow my camera managed to lose the pictures I took of us getting our Christmas tree. This saddens me greatly as I had some really good shots. *sigh* So here's what I've got of our beautiful Christmas tree...
It's a Frasier Fir. It doesn't prickle me and make me itchy, which is very exciting and it is a rather sturdy little tree. I think it has to be my new favorite as far as Christmas trees go... as most people know I don't like them because they make me itchy! lol.

New York City

Mom feels that it isn't Christmas without taking a trip to the City. So we hopped the annual bus trip down to the City with the ladies from Security Mutual. The bus dropped us off at Bryant Park, where we did some outdoor shopping in the cute little shops they have set up all around the park. Then we walked, yes walked, to Greenwich Village or more accurately Washington Square Park. Having never been to Greenwich Village or the Park it was a very pleasant trip. While we were down there we had lunch at a nice little Italian place called Buona Sera, I really wanted to order the Pene a la Vodka, but as we had the rest of the day in the City I decided on a Pesto Foccacia Panini instead. It was very good... but the smell and the looks of the oh so inviting Vodka sauce is still lingering in my memory a week later. I may have to go to Mamma Guiseppas to asuage that craving here soon, well, if the weather cooperates that is.
After that we ended up at Union Square Park where we again enjoyed the little shops they had set up. Of course, not planning for the crazy amount of wind in the City we decided to buy hats at one of the shops, I ended up getting some flip top mittens as well. They're nice, and they're fleece lined, which makes my head and fingers the perfect level of toasty.
After that little side adventure we walked back up to Midtown and did some shopping and eventually made our way back to Bryant Park. Once there we imediately found an open bar and got a drink. Yeah, anyone who goes to the City for the purpose of drinking and having a good time is insane... we payed $10 per drink. So one round was 20 bucks. Yeah... I about had a heart attack and I thought Moms eyes were going to bug out of her head. Oh well. After our one sad little drink we got a quick sandwich to go from Pax and hopped back on the bus for the return trip.
All in all it was a fun little day adventure.

Statue @ Bryant Park, and Mom

The tree in Bryant Park

Fountain

Tree @ Rockefeller Center

Random cool building

Washington Inaugural Monument

Thanksgiving

As per the usual Thanksgiving tradition we got up well before dawn and drove to my Aunt and Uncles house to have dinner with all of my closest family members. I spent the day in the kitchen helping cook dinner, scanning the sale flyers, and planning our trip to the Outlets for some major holiday shopping. It was a great time and the food was the best, as always.

Doesn't it look so festive?

My Aunt & Uncle (And their dog Phoenix)

Time to get cookin'

The Moo Cows

What can I say, it was a nice day out!

Dog Meets Cheetos

Sometimes my Dad likes to share his snacks with with the dog... and sometimes the dog gets the bag stuck on his head... lmao. Poor Diesel dog...

Dopey dog...

Action shot

Opening Weekend

According to the avid hunters that abound in my family and the area in which I live this year was the WORST opening weekend for shotgun season ever recorded.

Day 1: Saturday:
Was woken up at 4:45 by my Dad so that I would have enough time to get ready. Unknown to him I had gotten all my stuff together before I went to bed so all I had to do was shower and throw on my clothes and have a bite to eat. So I had my bagel and juice and puttered around the house for an hour, then finally got ready. Naturally, I was ready before my pokey father, so I loaded up my car and drove to the hill, walked up to the camper, and met him there. Note: Throughout the entire morning it was raining slightly. After I get out into the tree stand I chose for the day I got settled in and silently thanked my parents for buying me a "HydroProof" coat for Christmas two years ago, as it was keeping me rather dry. Unfortunately it started to down pour and thus my legs and feet got soaked. The rain seeped through my hiking boots and thick socks as well as my four pairs of pants. Needless to say, after my feet got squishy I decided to call it a day and climbed out of my tree stand and went back to the camper. (I only lasted an hour and a half.) Back at the camper Dad was only a couple of minutes behind me, and thus I decided to take a nap. The only animal I saw all day was a squirrel by the camper.

Day 2, Part 1: Sunday Morning
Sunday morning started out fine, I set my alarm and woke up at 6:00. Got something to eat and then met Dad up on the hill. When I got up there the wind was whipping like you wouldn't believe. It almost sounded like huge waves at the beach, but louder and more ominous. (And without the annoying birds of course.) Up there on top of the hill makes a whole heck of a lot of difference as compared to being on the opposite side toward the bottom... holy crap... So instead of going where I had planned to, in the 8 acre field, I opted to sit in the woods not to far from the camper in case I got cold. (This time I lasted about 2.5 hours.) Went back to the camper in time to meet Dad again, and proceeded to go home and warm up, 'cause I was COLD! Again, I only saw the squirrel.

The squirrel

The view from my tree stand
(My new camera can do "auto stitch"!!!)

Snowflake on my mitten
(It started snowing ever so lightly)

The tree I'm sitting in

More of my pretty tree

Day 2, Part 2: Sunday Evening
Hoping that the weather was going to be better and that the wind would have died down Mom, Dad and I headed over to the hill for one last try before the end of opening weekend. I decided to go to the 8 acre field as planned and Mom stayed by the camper in the stand I was in earlier in the day. Needless to say the wind was worse, and it started snowing quite heavily. About twenty minutes before dark I called it quits as my fingers were starting to turn purple. *sigh* And this time I saw absolutely nothing. But I did hear a turkey.

The view from my stand

Me freezing in the stand

The tree I was sitting in

I have video of the wind blowing from Sunday morning and of the snow Sunday evening... but it's not letting me post it at the moment... but I'll try again later.

Tiger Kitty

My cat is the most adorable fat tiger kitty ever! Well... her and Garfield. lol.

Perched on the back of the couch

Napping on the couch

Crawling out of the dryer

Never leave the dryer open with your freshly washed cammo in it... she will fall asleep in the dryer and scare the crap out of you when you try to get your clothes out, not to mention get them all stinky in the process. lmao. (Poor Mom was scared to death when she saw a pair of eyes staring at her when she went to get her hoodie.)

New Camera

I got me a new toy... :)

Meet the Z1012IS

I decided that since I'm subbing quite a bit now that I deserve a present... so... I bought myself a new digital camera. (As the old one is being held together with JB weld and a bobby pin.) It has a TON of settings with a bunch that are customizable. It's a 10.1 mega pixel with a 12 x optical zoom and takes HD pictures and video. It also has a flash that pops up... I was going to get a smaller one that was 12 mega pixels but only had a 5 x optical zoom... but I opted for the better zoom. So we'll see...
Here's some of the pictures I've taken so far... 'cause I just had to play with it...

Pumpkin from the garden

Little pumpkins from the garden, plus some leaves

Ferns (Playing w/ the close up setting)

Tiger was NOT cooperating...

It even has this spiffy setting for taking pics of yourself