Picture of the Week

Did you remember cookies for Santa and treats for the reindeer?? I sure hope so!!

Christmas 2009

Picture of the Week --Special Edition

And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care... in hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there.

Merry Christmas To All!!!

Christmas 2008-- My first Christmas with Spencer's family...and without my own family

Picture of the Week

Christmas 2007-- My favorite picture of my 2nd niece

Picture of the Week

Christmas 2006-- Estes Park with my Bro and his family. My bro was in law school and would put my niece to sleep by reading to her. ;-)

Christmas Cookies

So, I'm sitting on the couch enjoying my Friday afternoon. It was a stressful morning at work and I was glad to have the afternoon to myself. Spencer is almost done with his 2nd to last semester at CSU. We have our ward Christmas Party tonight. I'm getting into the Christmas Spirit. Things are looking great. However, I had this nagging feeling I was supposed to do something. I couldn't remember what...and just hate that feeling. Ugh! All of a sudden...it hit me. I signed up to bring a dessert to the Christmas party tonight. Perfect...I'll just whip up some Christmas Cookies. Easy Peasy, right? I looked through my favorites a decided on Chocolate Crinkles. Everyone will like them and I even have the necessary unsweetened chocolate squares. BRILLIANT!!

And so, I begin my baking adventure. Turns out...not enough sugar. So I call my friend who lives close by "Can I borrow a cup of sugar??" (THANKS NATALIE!!) Come home, open fridge, find only 2 eggs...I need 4. and I would prefer ones that didn't expire a month ago...gross I know but we don't eat eggs around here and I haven't had time to bake... Spencer to the rescue... we go get eggs and more flour (just in case!!) Get home... almost finished... WHAT?!?!?! Can it be?? Yes...we're out of baking powder! Good Grief!!!!! Yet again, Chef Spencer to the rescue. He mixes up some baking powder substitution. Thank you Spencer! And now...the cookies are chilling before I bake them up. I sure hope they turn out well or else....

Picture of the Week

I am stealing this idea from my cousin...however, I will be posting a picture every Wednesday.

Christmas in Santa Fe 2005

They Will Be Missed

Some of our great friends from the ward have moved to Utah. The boys loved to wrestle with Spencer. The Saturday after Thanksgiving Spencer and I watched the boys while the parents finished cleaning the house.

We watched movies, went to the park (sorry no pics), and of course WRESTLED!!!

We're going to miss them very much...but are now planning a trip to UTAH in March for a visit!!!

Turkey Day 2010-- Shep

Shep is an important part of our family. No matter which house he's at (our's, the in-laws, or my parents) he is the center of attention...or atleast thinks he should be. Needless to say Shep wasn't very happy that no one was sharing food with him. I'm sure he thinks he is a great sous chef.


Shep couldn't be happier when Great Aunt Betty and Grandpa Ferguson walked in the door. He was thrilled!!



After all was said and done, Shep and I snuggled under our newest blanket (a gift from our Bishop and his wife).

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. And now...onto Christmas. SERIOUSLY??? It can't already be December... can it??

Turkey Day 2010-- Food Prep

Have I ever mentioned I managed to marry into a family that LOVES to cook?? Maybe my own family liked cooking before but I know its not my mom's favorite thing anymore (My dad's another story...and NO ONE can make a grilled cheese sandwhich or tuna like my Dad can...TRUST ME!!) Anyways, Spencer and I came home Tuesday night so he could participate in making pies (previous post). He loves to cook/bake/create so it was fun to watch my husband and in-laws create some magic in the kitchen.



My father in law makes some AMAZING rolls...and what makes a holiday better than some yummy carbs, right? :-)




The turkey was done...and boy was I excited!!! :-D

Turkey Day 2010--Battle Pumpkin Pie

Happy Belated Thanksgiving 2010! I am so thankful for the many blessings in my life. One being family another food. :-)

Spencer and Sara helped with pies. Sara make a low carb pumpkin pie, Spencer made a traditional pumpkin pie. Shep and I supervised.

SISTERS!! We have our hair in matching buns however Sara's is a bit higher than mine.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!! Part 2

These are two of my favorite girls. We had a great time!!!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!!

I had a fun and exhausting weekend with Dana and Jordan. Enjoy the pictures

Girl's Weekend

My supervisor at work was telling me about a month ago that everyone needs to take time for themselves. Funny story...the next day I walked into work and said "Jeri, guess what? In a couple weeks I'm headed down to Colorado Springs for a Girls Weekend!!!"

That's right...I'm headed down today after work for a girls weekend with 2 girls I've been best friends with since junior high. Well, Dana I've been friends with since 1st grade.

I was at both of their weddings last year. Amy moved to Boston after getting married in August so we haven't seen her in over a year.

Dana's husband is active duty army and is deployed for another 139 days before coming home for R&R. She definitely needs the girl time.

I'm excited and plan to take LOTS of pictures!!!

A Time and a Place for Everything

I am a huge believer that each Holiday should be allowed it's time to shine. Commercialism has done an amazing job of telling stores its okay to put out Christmas decorations for sale right after back to school. (Ok, maybe that's a BIT of a understatement...It might have something to do with the fact 2010 is flying by.) Spencer and I were out for a drive this afternoon and someone was getting their Christmas lights put up. SERIOUSLY????? I couldn't believe it. I was struggling with the fact that 6 days later there are still Halloween decorations up in our apartment.

That being said, I am almost done with my Christmas gifts. Not only is there Christmas for everyone but also 9 family birthdays between Nov 1st and Jan 6th. That's a lot of gifts I have to consider. Every year I tell myself I'll be done with all Christmas gifts by Thanksgiving... and this year I hope will be the first year. :-) If you need ideas check here... I'd love to help you out!

And now...off to work on something fun!

Happy Halloween

I'm honestly not sure where the camera has disappeared to...so I can't even tell you if there are fun pictures on there that need posting. Things have been pretty crazy around here. I'm still working WAY too much (but honestly that doesn't change often). Spencer took the Fundamentals of Engineering exam yesterday. He's spent weeks studying for this 8 hours exam and is relieved its over. Not sure how long til we get the results, but he's pretty confident he passed. We're both glad October is over. It's been a long and crazy month.

Three years ago we took the 7 year old neighbor boy trick or treating because his mom didn't want to. We had a lot of fun...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Shopping Made Easy

Are you stuck trying to find cute gifts for friends and family?? Check out my shop (or click here) within the next few days I'll be adding pictures too. :-) Everything is handmade with love!

Families Are Forever

I was able to be a part of one of the coolest experiences a week and a half ago. Our family friends were sealed in the Denver temple as a family, so their 3 kids were able to be in the temple with us. It's the first sealing I've been to since Spencer and I were sealed. I wish he hadn't had a test so he could've come too. Thanks for letting me be part of your special day.

When the Moon Hits Your Eye...

Like A Big Pizza Pie...That's AMORE!!!

In the Curtis household...we love PIZZA!! One of our wedding gifts was a pizza stone. It got a lot of use (mostly by Chef Spencer). However, one sad day at the end of August it cracked...See Below. So, I wrote to the company and complained. They had AMAZING customer service. We were sent another pizza stone (this one came with a pizza peel too!!)

And so...Spencer and I now make pizza on at least a weekly basis. In the pictures below Spencer even taught me how to toss the pizza. :-)

Afterall, we are married now. Don't married dates consist of homemade pizza and a movie?? (During which I usually fall asleep on the couch...hmmmm...)

Is it Fall Yet???

Is it just me or is watching Football while its 80+ degrees outside just not right. I'm ready for fall. The leaves are just starting to change colors, well some of them are... I'm ready to wear jeans and sweatshirts.

Missing Laundry Fairy!

Well...I've been hoping she would show up and hasn't. I even tried to help her out a bit by doing 2 loads probably close to 2 weeks ago and folding them in hopes she would show up and put the clothes away. No Such Luck!!

I finally caved in today after being asked numerous times... "Carrie where is my green polo?" My response (with a sheepish look) "In that laundry basket.." Pathetic! So... I got up this morning, folded 3 loads of laundry and put 5 loads of laundry away. Including the towels fresh out of the dryer. I'd forgotten what warm towels feel like. Usually our clothes sit in the dryer for atleast a couple days. I put the final load into the dryer before heading off the babysit. Hopefully the laundry fairy will finally show up to fold them and put it all away. :-) If not, maybe Spencer will.

Help..

We need decorating advice!!

Some good family friends gave us the picture on the right side of the picture below. We like the idea of putting it above the tv but its missing something. Thoughts? Suggestions? We're open to almost anything.

Crafting Curse?

Well, my mending pile isn't any smaller. Go figure... I guess it's only Thursday but I'll be honest. Unless I spend A LOT of time mending in the next couple days, it's not likely to get done. Isn't that the way life goes?? I have a list of projects I want to get done and the To-Do pile just keeps getting BIGGER! I was searching on blogs today and found the CUTEST gift idea. Sadly, I can't share what it is on here because the recipients are my sisters (and they're loyal blog followers...RIGHT?!?!?) But, let me just say...I'm SUPER excited about this project. Since I'm ahead of the game this year it has been put on the list for next Christmas, so I've got atleast 12 months to procrastinate, right? :-)

And so, the crafting curse isn't so much a curse as a realization. The mind never ceases to keep searching for fun crafts to do. Who cares if my list keeps getting longer??

To Do List

I am my mother's daughter. I LOVE TO SEW!!! However, my projects are starting to pile up... So I've made the decision that every week I will work on 1 project. So far I've done 2 projects the past 2 weeks...so I'm on the right track. This week...the mending pile. :-)

I'm a Barbie

Annie was super excited to have Sara and I around all weekend. She even got 2 Barbie dolls and named them...you guessed it SARA and CARRIE. HAHA....I'm a Barbie! So of course, I had to get a picture of all "5" of us. lol

I miss little Annie Bell and can't wait to see her again!!!

As for the rest of August, Spencer has started his senior year at CSU. His senior design project is on the Formula Hybird race car which will compete in Louden NH at the beginning of May. And so, I have "lost" my husband for the next 7ish months. Not really, but I like to joke about it. He is very good at watching TV and spend the entire time thnking about his school project. I'm excited to see what this year will bring.

I've also decided to start working on my massive sewing to do pile. Remember back in November when I bought all that flannel? (click here for a reminder) Well, I've decided Spencer deserves a new pair of pj pants, so that was the project I worked on today. And guess what....I sewed it upside down!! Yeah...The legs ended up as the groin and vice versa. UGH!!! Pants perfect for a VERY short VERY fat guy. Seriously?!?!?!? Of course, as I think about it....I started by threading the machine with brown thread instead of green thread. DUH CARRIE!! I should've stopped while I was ahead. Yeah...guess those pants will have to wait for another day!!

And so....I'm caught up (I think!) Hope you have a wonderful Labor Day weekend.

Royal Gorge!

Just a couple more pictures from the Royal Gorge Train Station. Sometimes I wish I had the photographic touch that some of my amazing friends have...but alas I do not!!

CA Cousins!

Spencer's cousins came to visit from California in the middle of August. We went home to Colorado Springs for 5 days to visit with them. So, what do we do when cousins come to town?? WRESTLE of course!! :-) Kennion is a scrawny little firecracker. He is the middle child. His older brother Mark is 6' tall and younger sister Annie is total girl! So, Spencer took the chance to teach Kennion how to wrestle. I helped detain him for a bit but eventually Spencer carried Kennion to the car. :-)



On Monday we went to the Royal Gorge. I've never been there so that was a lot of fun for me. There is also the fact I absolutely love TRAINS!!!!!!