Giving Thanks

We spent Thanksgiving in Gardnerville this year. It was wonderful and delicious, the company was amazing, and are still having a blast. I've never been so excited to eat! Second Thanksgiving (day after) was equally good and I savored more turkey and potatoes and stuffing. We've been relaxing, eating, watching football, and even had a gingerbread construction contest.

Anyway, I wanted to share a recipe with all of you. First, I made broccoli salad for Thanksgiving which could start a new tradition because I made it last year as well and it is a family favorite already. It's simple and takes no time to cook. Just assembly and serve. Secondly, I made a recipe today for the first time called Breakfast Bread Pudding with Peaches and Vanilla-Buttermilk Syrup. It's from Oprah's website and the Vanilla-Buttermilk Syrup is amazing! You could really use it with other recipes as well.

Broccoli Salad
- 1 or 2 heads broccoli (I just add how much broccoli I want and slowly add dressing until the salad is the right consistency I like)
- 1/4 c. red onion
- 1/2 lb. bacon (personally I never use bacon in my salad)
- 1/2 c. raisins (or craisins)
- sunflower seeds
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 1 c. mayonnaise
- 2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
Cream sugar, mayonnaise, and vinegar together until smooth. Stir into salad. eNjOY!


Now, let me also add that when I first tried the bread-pudding recipe that a co-worker made it opened my eyes to how many amazing recipes are out there that I don't know about. It made me want to be a gourmet cook and cook amazing meals all day. So follow the link for the recipe:

Breakfast Bread Pudding with Peaches and Vanilla-Buttermilk Syrup

Some recipe notes: I used 1 tsp. vanilla in place of vanilla bean. My co-worker made her recipe with mangoes (1/2 frozen and 1/2 puree which saves time and completely gets rid of the food processing step) and it was way better. Instead of challah or brioche she used ciabatta bread which I did as well. If you go this route then I would also recommend cutting off the top crust.

Baby News: I'm now 15 1/2 weeks and it's getting hard to hide! I feel like I've popped out just a little all of a sudden, but not enough for anyone to tell yet. I feel so incredibly fat. I still feel there is a stigma for pregnant women to look skinny, and some have this talent, but just grow a cute baby bump. It makes me feel horrible about myself. On a good note I haven't had to throw up recently which makes me wonder if I'm really over morning sickness for now.

Word of the day: "tumbleweed onions"

Playing "Just Dance" on the Wii: Drew was really good!

Our Gingerbread house that we really lost steam on

Matching "I Believe" shirts that Julie got from Target
To all the Unbelievers
We had to "stick it to the man": we all know who you are

The busy life I never write about...

Ok, I give already! After not writing a single post in two months it's about time I write :) I feel as though I never have anything to write, but that simply is not true! We have had many wonderful developments in our lives in the last two or three months.

First of all, we are expecting a baby in May! Yes, I'm pregnant!

The first baby Hines and the start of this new chapter in our lives is expected May 18th! We are so excited and most of all Drew is elated and can hardly contain his excitement or keep his hands off my belly without saying hello to baby. It's a new side of him I've never seen and I couldn't be happier or feel more special that he is so happy. He is wonderfully tender, sweet, and has been helpful during the hard months of morning sickness, headaches, and tireless nights. Pregnancy for me is miserable. I don't believe I will be quite happy about all these bodily discomforts until I can feel the baby move. I can't wait!

We find out the sex of the baby in one month. I am now 14 1/2 weeks along and maybe not "showing", but I feel very thick and jeans are getting tighter :)

I found out I was pregnant like most other gals I suppose when I didn't receive my monthly gift from mother nature. Drew and I felt very strongly about starting a family at this time in our lives. It's one decision I felt completely ready and prepared for and inspired about so we had been trying for about 3 months at this point. I took a pregnancy test and asked Drew to look at it for me. That was September 15th just two days after I submitted my official two weeks notice to Center for Hope (my second job, a home for women with eating disorders). That must have been inspired as well because I know that my body could not handle all the work and stress.

Initially there were a few clues I could have picked up on I guess that I was pregnant. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but thinking back on them now makes sense. One, I was exhausted of course, but I attributed this to working two jobs and the sometimes putting in 60 hours of work in the week. Believe me I'm so happy to be working one job, but I do miss the money flow :) Two, on a particular day at the dental office I was helping in the back and cleaning a room after a horrendously messy and difficult extraction. I was cleaning the filters in the suctions and all the blood and tissue made me picture a brief moment of weakness and I felt queasy and I almost went to throw up. But that moment passed and I collected myself, but I remember thinking to myself how odd it was b/c I am never affected by blood or tissue or extractions like that! That was really weird. Three, before I found out I was pregnant one night I was particularly emotional and cried for about an hour over something frustrating (not being pregnant yet in fact) when all along I was pregnant and I'm attributing that to fluctuating hormones. Also, I was woken up early in the morning by extreme thirst. I've never had to get up in the middle of the night to drink water so this was odd as well. Had I been smarter I might have linked all these little clues together, but I didn't want to let my imagination run wild with  false signs of pregnancy.

At first we kept it secret of course. I was very cautious about miscarriage. At my first appointment at 9 weeks however my doctor located the heartbeat and assured me that the chance of miscarriage was less than 5%. That is the time we told family and few close friends. Now that I am 14 weeks I feel comfortable to spread the news.

Triggering foods have been:
BBQ sauce (which normally I love!) ... at the mere mention of BBQ sauce by Drew has made me run to the bathroom and vomit. And the worst offender is the Kinder's brand.
Hamburgers
Super Burrito or burritos in general.
I've never had a McRib from McDonalds, but just watching the commercial has made me want to vomit.

Cravings: I'm not sure if these are cravings or just foods that sound good all the time
Bangkok Cuisine Thai Restaurant
Berries and frozen fruit/anything cold
Yogurt
Cereals
Pasta
Chocolate
Pickles
Chicken
Pizza


Other happenings in our lives:
Drew got eye glasses for the first time in his life!
I resigned from my second job
Drew got a new job
We went to Apple Hill (post coming soon...)
Drew's 28th Birthday (post coming soon...)


Ok, so my goal is to post more regularly! So there will be more posts soon.