December 30, 2009

.alivias first year.

December 26, 2009

.spiced hot chocolate.

This is a very... unusual twist on a winter classic. It is kind of reminiscent of eggnog to me, only it tastes good. Ha, ha! Not a fan of eggnog, obviously. ^_^ This really does make your insides feel nice and toasty!



  • 4 cups of hot chocolate, prepared; preferably made with milk (I used 1%).
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • Whipped cream or marshmallows (optional)

1. Stir spices into hot chocolate.

2. Let stand for a minute for flavors to "marry."

3. Preferably, you would want to strain the spices out using a couple of paper towels lining a colander (be sure to put a large bowl underneath colander to catch your yummy chocolate beverage). If you aren't able to strain out the spice "bits" in the bottom,  just be sure you don't serve the last little bit of cocoa so no one ends up with a mouthful of gritty spices. Not so yummy... trust me.

December 24, 2009

.christmas eve at the firestation.


This year on Christmas eve, my dad had to work. He is a firefighter for the great city of Salt Lake and this year his shift fell on Christmas eve. He wasn't too concerned about missing out since my brother, sister, and I are older now. When the day came, however, most of the other firefighters had family visiting them and he started to feel a little lonesome.

My step-mom, Kristin, called us and asked if we would want to make a surprise visit to the station and we jumped at the chance. I made a batch of Chocolate Crinkle cookies and hopped in the car.


We got to the firehouse just in time to eat some delicious turkey chili and a "mahvelous" fruit tart. After filling up on chili and sweets, we got to take a tour of the firestation. We saw their dorms, the engines and trucks, the entertainment room, the weight room, and even the famous pole.

We got to sit in the in engine my dad drives and see all the fire-fightin' gear. Ben even got to slide down the pole (I declined to take a turn... too high up for me).


Surprisingly, Livi was interested in every thing my dad showed us. She wasn't bored or restless for a second. Of course, we took lots of pictures. It was a great way to spend Christmas eve!

December 22, 2009

.holiday dieting: bah humbug.


Okay. It's official. I picked the worst time to start a diet. It seems like everywhere I look, there is some tasty treat just begging to be sampled. Cookies, pie, candies, molten chocolate cake (mmmm...), fudge... I could go on, but I'm starting to feel some ominous hunger pangs.

I think all in all, I have done pretty well so far. Granted, I have still "sampled" almost every Christmas treat that has wandered my way, but to my credit, I have not overindulged as is my typical tendency.

For some reason, I have become a bit of a two year old when it comes to food in the past couple of years. An odd metaphor, I know, but it's an appropriate one. I have always had some odd little... compulsions... but lately I feel like I absolutely have to scarf down enormous amounts of food when presented with anything delicious. I am like a selfish little kid who wants to eat all the candies in the candy jar to make sure no one eats them before she can get her fill... even if she is feeling a little queasy.

It's like my mind thinks it may be my very last chance to taste mashed potatoes or pink frosted sugar cookies or cheese pizza. So, better eat 'til I'm beyond full and slightly sick.

I have only just started to really notice it because now I am trying to watch what I put in this gob of mine. I often reach for food when I'm not hungry. I may be bored or stressed or "munchy," but not hungry.

So, I take pride in the fact that now I can have one piece of fudge, instead of rationalizing reasons to eat my second, third, and tenth piece, and not feel deprived. I can't guarantee, however, that come Christmas day I won't let the diet slip a little. 'Tis the season, after all!

December 21, 2009

.video tidbit: silent monks.

In the spirit of Christmas, I thought I would share this video with ya'll. It's pretty clever and it's Christmas-y!

December 19, 2009

.christmas parties: round four.


Yes. Round four. I told you we have a huge family and a huge family means lots of Christmas get-togethers. You won't hear me complaining, though. I love it!

Anyway, on to the party. Tonight we had Ben's family Christmas party. We all gathered at Ben's parents house for a delicious dinner and some family time. This year, all the siblings were assigned another sibling to get a gift for and, of course, all the grandkids got gifts from the grandparents.

Livi got a doll that blinks and sucks on its bottle, and Elmo that sings the ABCs, a play Elmo cellphone, and a stroller for her doll. She was so excited and kept saying, "Ehmo, ehmo!"

Ben got a game (Uncharted 2) from his brother, Nick, and I got a gift card from my sister-in-law, Jaige. We also got a very nice, framed family picture from our trip to the Tillotson cabin in Oakley this summer and a framed picture of Ben's mom and step-dad from... Ben's mom and step-dad. ^_^

After presents were opened, Ben's mom served molten chocolate cakes. So yummy (don't they look delicious?)!


To finish up the night, we all headed to Rogers Memorial Theater, a small community theater, to see the musical Scrooge. Our group was so big we took up almost an entire side of the theater. The play was great! The singing and acting was quite good, and though it may have been a little campy at parts, it was so fun!

December 16, 2009

.christmas parties: round three.


One of my fondest Christmas memories as a child is the Riddle family Christmas party. It was held in the basement of a small drugstore and the whole family would come, prepared for food, fun, family time, and a visit from Santa himself. We sang Christmas songs and opened our presents from old Saint Nick.

We haven't had a Riddle family Christmas party in years, at least not one with more than a handful of family members in attendance. This year, 'the Grandmootie' (my cute grandma) took it upon herself to organize a Christmas party.
She and my grandpa arranged to have a chili buffet at the clubhouse in their condo community and everyone was there! All the aunts and uncles, all the cousins, all the grandbabies. We had such a great time catching up with each other.


Santa didn't make a physical appearance, but my grandparents got a gift for each of the great-grandchildren and did a white elephant game for the adults. My takeaway from the gift distribution? A large quantity of onion soup mix, of course!

One of the highlights of the night was family pictures. Since everyone was present (forgive my holiday pun), we did our first family pictures in as long as I can remember. More than one of us got a little misty eyed over all the holiday family togetherness.


This party could not have gone better, in my opinion. It is a party I will remember fondly for many years to come.

December 14, 2009

.christmas parties: round two.

On days like today, I realize we are lucky to have such wonderful friends and family. Tonight, our good friends, Zach and Dawni, threw a Christmas party and were kind enough to invite us. Also, my fabulous sister-in-law, Jenny, was kind enough to watch our little Livi while Ben and I enjoyed a night out.


We had a such a great time at the Haugen's Christmas shindig! They provided pizza, homemade cookies (soooo delicious), games, and good company. Ben and I didn't know anyone at the party except our fabulous hosts and had a great time getting to know everyone.

We played a game of Scene It (which our team won, by the way) and did a white elephant gift exchange. Some coveted white elephant items? A sombrero, some kind of foreign candy, a fuzzy Christmas blanket, and perhaps the best white elephant of them all: a dozen or more Red Dwarf VHS tapes wrapped in a duffel bag. ^_^

By the end of the night, both of us had made some new friends and plans for another get together were put in motion. A big thanks to Zach and Dawni (and Jenny, too)! We really had a great time.

December 12, 2009

.family christmas card.

I had to share a personal holiday triumph. I have an account on SeeHere.com, which for those of you who don't know, is a fabulous free photo sharing/storage site. It's free to upload your photos and store them there, but you can also order prints, photobooks, photo mugs, a stalker pillowcase with a photo of your very favorite person on it...

Anyway, a friend on Facebook posted one of their promotional codes on her profile a couple of weeks ago: order 50 holiday cards and pay only the shipping. It was the last day to use the promo code for this outrageous deal, so I hopped on, created a card, and ordered fifty.

On the site they have oodles of free templates you can use, but of course I had to do thinks the hard way and designed my very own from scratch (perfectionism can be such a curse... good thing I love doing stuff like this).

Now, the moment you have been waiting for! The total for 50 Christmas cards and envelopes to send them in? Over $35.00. The price I paid with said promo code? $3.19. Not bad if I do say so myself. Not bad at all!

December 8, 2009

.maker of silly christmas shopping mistakes, thy name is brittney.

Tonight, I set out about the arduous task of finishing up my Christmas shopping for my sweetie. This year, we have set a strict limit on what we can spend for each other since money is tighter right now. I had no problem at facing the challenge of sticking to the budget, even though I tend to get a bit carried away with Christmas shopping (I get the biggest rush from giving gifts).

Ben had specifically requested a certain video game for our PS3. Perhaps you've heard of it? Modern Warfare II? It only sold 4.7 million copies in the first 24 hours after it came out. Ha, ha! Only...

Well, at most stores, the video games are locked away, seeing as they are pretty expensive to buy and have a pretty powerful draw with potential shoplifters. I went to the electronics department to get the aforementioned game. Of course, I had to pay for the game there as I am a shifty character and would likely smuggle it out the first chance I got.

That task done, I wandered about the store, selecting various items that would surprise and delight come Christmas morning. I kept a careful mental tally of my spending. Remember the budget!

Before heading to the check out line, I grabbed some household items we were in need of: diaper wipes, bananas, etc. 

When it came time to check out, I was about $15 dollars over our spending limit. I sent Ben a quick text asking if it was okay if I was over budget a little bit. He said it was fine and I celebrated quietly in my head.

It wasn't until I was in the car, when I began another mental checklist of my purchases, that I realized my mistake. To my horror, I had not included the cost of the game in my total as I shopped. I was almost $100 over budget!

Ack! So, come tomorrow, I have to return something(s) to make up for the extra money I spent. I just get so carried away at Christmastime!

December 6, 2009

.christmas parties: round one.

One of my very favorite aspects of the Christmas season is spending time with family. Both Ben and I come from large families; he is one of eleven (yes, you read that right, eleven) kids and I am the oldest of six. Thankfully, most of our family members live within a short driving distance, so we get to see lots of those we love.

With all this family, of course, comes lots of parties this time of year. Yesterday, we had the first of several parties to attend. My family was getting together for dinner, cookie decorating, and some renditions of Christmas carols done entirely with colored bells.

Thought I would share pictures of the creative cookie process in action and the... uh... unconventional Christmas treats that resulted (I'll apologize in advance for some of the poor quality... these were taken with my phone's camera, which, obviously, doesn't always take the best pictures).




This was Lucy's "Bloody Face Angel:"



These are the cookies Ben and I made. Going clockwise we have: a bloody spearhead (bet you can't guess who did that one), a yellow smiling star, a pink smiling star, some kind of scary evil angel thing in what Ben called "a disco dress" made of spinkles, two Christmas trees made by yours truly, and in the center, a zombie angel with blue hair, also made by me. On the separate plate is a Rudolph I made from an angel shaped cookie.




Here are a few of the cookies decorated by the kiddies:

December 5, 2009

.the replacements.

Since the passing of Tut earlier this week, his tank has stood empty and lonely. That is, until today, when Ben surprised Livi (and me) with four little goldfish from Walmart. 

Each cost a whopping 28 cents and, though not as frilly as Tut, who was a fan tail goldfish, Livi thinks they are wonderful. She even pretends to feed them, something that is made cuter by the fact that she picked it up all on her own from watching us feed the fish.

You make be thinking that it is too soon to get replacement fish, but I think Tut would want us to move on and be happy with these little fish... as long as 28 cent fish will last.

December 3, 2009

.ya can't hide talent.

Just thought this was funny! My hubby is definitely an artist. He can create beautiful works of art out of just about any medium. Last year, I gave him a little Magna Doodle in his stocking for Christmas. From time to time we'll each doodle on it for fun.

I tell ya, even Ben's "doodles" on a kids Magna Doodle are amazing! Seriously, just take a look...
This is my doodle. Cute, happy, and simple, right?





Now, take a gander at my hubby's "doodle:"




He even shaded the iris! Shaded! On a Magna Doodle! I didn't even know that was possible... Honey, you've got some serious skills!

December 2, 2009

.poor tut: we hardly knew ye.

Today, Alivia's first "pet," her fish, Tut (yes, she picked that name) passed away. He lasted a whole 2 and half months, not bad for a wee goldfish. In memory of Tut, I would like to offer a few words...


Tut the fish: we found Tut at PetCo. one chill autumn evening and knew he was the fish for Livi. Small, cute, and only $2.95. He was a good fish, quiet and pleasant to watch as he ambled around his fluorescent pink tank. He was a happy and lively little guy.

Tut loved fish flakes and could often be found hanging around the glittery, purple tiara he was so fond of. So, we bid thee farewell, sweet Tut. You will be missed.
 

©  2009 Tales From The Trenches