Simple Flowers

I love these ideas from BYU Campus Craft and Floral! So simple, but very beautiful.

Winter Flowers

I really, really love these flower arrangements from BYU Campus Craft and Floral. I always wanted to learn about floral arrangement. Maybe someday I can make beautiful things like this too. Oh I just love flowers! Too bad you can't scratch and sniff the screen.

Eggnog

Today I decided that I like eggnog. It only took about 6 years. :) My first taste of eggnog was December 2003 when my roommate bought some and had me try it. Then I married my husband who loves eggnog and buys it every Christmas. I would try and drink it with him, but I could never fully enjoy it. I had to add milk to lessen the flavor and egginess. Plus just the thought of drinking eggs raw is still a little disgusting to me.
I bought some of the last eggnog at the store last week so I could try a recipe that looked good from my new cookbook. I made the cookies today, and tasted the eggnog...and liked it! Maybe it's the different brand, or maybe my taste for eggnog has finally acquired. :) I'm not sure, but it was really good and now I'm a little sad that I started to like it after Christmas! I have to wait until next Christmas to see if this is for real. But until then at least I can enjoy my Eggnog Cookies! Do you like eggnog or is that a tradition you avoid?

Eggnog Cookies
from the Worldwide Ward Christmas Cookbook

2 1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 1/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. eggnog
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
additional nutmeg for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix well with a whisk and set aside. Cream sugar and butter until a grainy paste forms. Stir in eggnog, vanilla, and egg yolks. Beat at medium speed until smooth. Add flour mixture and beat at low speed until just combined. Drop cookie dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet, 1 inch apart. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg. Back 7-9 minutes, or until bottoms turn light brown. Makes 30 cookies.

New Words

Last year we went to the Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert with Brian Stokes Mitchell and even though this is not a Christmas song, I loved it. It was my favorite of the night. It was so touching to me because I was a pretty new mother at the time. I've been searching for it on the internet ever since and finally someone has put a recording of it on youtube! I really want to learn this song and sing it to my son! Maybe if I can find the music I can sing it for the piano/vocal recital I want to give for my family and friends this year.

P.S. Don't you love his voice?

Find a Hobby Quiz

I just took a quiz supposed to help you find a new hobby and was surprised how well this described me. It didn't work quite as well for my husband who said he thought he was in between three different categories. But it was kind of fun. Here's what it said about me:

CREATIVE

You have a gift for expression. Whether it's writing, drawing, creating objets d'art or making music, you see the world in a unique way and are able to convey that to other people. No doubt you doodle on napkins and meeting notes, are always humming a new tune, have already read the latest fiction releases, and know all the local art galleries' schedules by heart. You might like hobbies like sketching, photography, sculpting, playing an instrument, singing, journaling, scrap-booking or designing clothing.

Although I didn't really need a quiz to tell me I would like these things.
You can take the quiz here. Do you agree with what it says? Did it inspire you to start a new hobby? I'm curious to know how it works for others!

Magic Cookies!

I had wanted to make these to snack on for New Years Eve but we had other treats and so I left it for another day which happened to be today! I was pleasantly surprised at how easy and fast they were to make. Not to mention...delicious!
At first I thought I had done something wrong because it didn't seem like there were enough graham cracker crumbs to cover the bottom of a 9x13 pan...but it worked out. Even though the crust is thinner than in this picture from the website. I don't like nuts so I substituted butterscotch chips for the nuts. You might want to watch the timing with your oven...our oven always seems to need less time than what it asks for. Other than that, I followed the recipe which you can find here. Also note 24 squares of graham crackers equalled 1 1/2 cups crushed! Or 12 rectangles.

Mmm mmm good

This Cauliflower Soup from Pioneer Woman looks so warm and cozy. I would love to eat this on a cold night...which is every night lately. Guess what will be on our dinner menu next shopping trip?

Bare your Sole

When we have a house of our own someday, I would like it to be a shoe-free home. It just makes the carpet so much cleaner and nicer. And I love this darling sign! So cute. I will make one for our house...when we have a house. You can find the instructions here.

Book Lists

I. Love. Reading.
Reading more books is not a goal I have to set for myself. However I would like to read better books. I usually love to read young adult fiction--entertaining and quick. This year I would like to focus more on reading classics and gospel centered books like the one pictured above. The Provo Library has this list of 111 classic books and another list of 100 years of reading. But I know there are books I would like to read that are not on these lists. What are your favorite books? Classics, gospel, just for fun...anything!

Guitar Hero

Before I graduated from BYU, I took two of the easiest classes in the world taught by Larry Green. They were guitar classes and they were so fun! I have let my guitar playing slide since not being in school and so this year I am hoping to remember everything I learned in those classes and start playing the guitar regularly again! I love this CD and would love to own it to help inspire me, but since I don't, at least I can listen to clips from the songs here.