Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas Time

MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS!

When it comes to Christmas I totally turn into Buddy the Elf.  No joke. Just visit my house after several weeks of wrapping presents!

I think I am going to start answering my cell with "Blain the Elf, what's your favorite color?!"

 I can not wait to spend Christmas with "Charleston's" family on Christmas Eve and then head home to Kernersville for the rest of the weekend to stock up on some of these:

 Love on a little bit of this:

 And spend some quality time snuggling up and hanging out with him:

The holidays put me in such a good mood no matter how busy and stressful it can look from the outside.

I'll be honest, I do become an emotional person during the holiday's becuase it always seems that all the good things in life converge in a span of just several days reminding me how thankful I am to have a family that still cherishes the time together cramped into our grandparents house in order to keep traditions alive.

I am a lucky girl this Christmas season.

A Very Rough Couple Weeks

Without jumping into too much detail too fast, two weekends ago "Charleston" was given some not-so-good-news after he was emitted to the hospital for several days....


It began at CMC Main here in Charlotte where "Charlestons" family and I tried our hardest to ease the pain and be every bit of support that we could for the man of my dreams as he went through some heavy hearted happenings. To give “Charleston” some privacy I won’t go into specifics of what led him to this position but after several doctor visits and a promptly scheduled colonoscopy on Friday the 9th, he ended up in the hospital hooked up to IV’s of antibiots, inflammatory medications and fluids. Long story short, after multiple blood tests and several biopsy’s, “Charleston” was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis which is an inflammatory bowel disease.

It is a chronic inflammation of the large intestine (colon). Ulcerative colitis causes ulcers in the lining of the rectum and colon. The ulcers form where inflammation has killed the cells that usually line the colon. I could go on and on about the causes of ulcerative colitis, the symptoms, the best outcomes, the worst outcomes, and the treatments but, there are so many useful resources on the Internet that I don’t even want to go into all of that. That was not my purpose here.

Resources (if you care to know more):

http://www.medicinenet.com/ulcerative_colitis/article.htm

http://www.webmd.com/ibd-crohns-disease/ulcerative-colitis/ulcerative-colitis-topic-overview

While I sat in “Charleston’s” hospital room, many emotions surfaced over this four day period. So many things became a reality and life became REAL. It became 100% apparent that I truly love this man; although I knew deep down and on the surface I already did. After receiving his diagnosis, my heart and mind immediately jumped into caretaker mode. I will do anything and everything in my power to make his life normal, provide for him in whatever ways he needs and, be his supporter and fan through every stage of this issue in his life. I couldn’t leave his side; I didn’t want to and I never do. He is part of the life plan God made for me and I want him healthy and to never have to worry. I love him, with all my heart.

For the last week or so I have really been at a loss for words. With this event, it has showed me so many things in my life that I need to change and has proved to me that I need to be more thankful everyday for what I have. First and foremost, that being “Charleston.”

Why does it take a life altering event to show us these things?

I am sure in the future this will not be the only post about ulcerative colitis as I will be in the journey to help "Charleston" through the learning curves this diagnosis brings. I also feel it necessary to educated our friends and family so they too are informative and able to help him cope with this never-welcomed news.

Baby Howard #2 !

Yeap, that's right.......

The news came out several months ago but I didn't want to steal Sisters thunder and post it on here before she got the excitement to tell people first so....now it's my turn to say it... 

  I AM GOING TO BE AN AUNT AGAIN!

So far Sister and Sam have done a pretty good job at reproducing:

Exhibit A:

Therefore I can not wait to meet the next little Howard baby!  Sister is due on June 15th which makes this baby and Olivia very close to being almost exactly 2 years apart. (Olivia's birthday is May 27th)  Blair has always said that she wanted her kids close in age and all  I can say is that she is 100% blessed.  They have been fortunate to time this almost perfectly!
 
On January 6th they will find out if Baby H #2 is a girl or boy.  Honestly, I have zero gut feeling on this one!  None.  It would be awesome for Olivia to have a sister and a very close relationship like Blair and I share BUT on the flip side, Sam is an excellent father that I would love to see him have a son.  Sam is such a hands-on, out doorsy, do-it-yourself, smart and caring kind of guy that he would be the most amazing influence on a little boy! 

The Howard Family

Soon to be a family of Four!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

I got all my Christmas decorations and up and I am missing just one little detail.......

My poor little tree is lacking a star, bow, or an angel.....

My family always had a star on our Christmas tree. "Charleston's" family has an angel and my Grandmother always had a bow....I don't know which one I want!

It's a little crowded in the living room with the tree.  I feel like all the furniture is crammed close together but we can make do!  The more the merrier; feels so cozy!

Since we do not have a mantle becuase there is no fireplace at our little casa, the stockings had to go on the banister.  Just make do with what ya got!

Happy Ho Ho Ho Friends!

My Thanksgiving Contribution

We had Thanksgiving dinner this year with the Atkins family and I asked "Charleston's" mom if I could bring anything and she politely said no.  I couldn't take no for an answer (I know that shocks some of you :) ) so I decided to take over a couple appetizers since we would be hanging out for a little before dinner.

It was a no brainer on this first recipe.  It never fails when we go out to dinner, Barbara ("Charleston's" mom), will order some form of spinach dip and I am with her in that decision, it's one of my faves!  I have never made it before so after a short Pinterest search I found one that was super appealing:

Hot Spinach Dip

via Martha Stewart

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil, plus more for baking dish
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 pounds spinach, cleaned, trimmed, and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup milk
• 6 ounces reduced-fat bar cream cheese
• 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
• 3 dashes hot sauce, such as Tabasco
• 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• Baguette slices, bread sticks, or crackers, for serving
• **Blain's recipe tweeks:  I used about 1 1/2 cups mozzarella AND also added a half cup shredded Parmesan**

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat oil over medium. Add onion and garlic; cook until lightly browned, 5 to 8 minutes.
2. Add spinach in two additions, letting the first batch wilt before adding the next; cook until completely wilted, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a colander; drain, pressing to release all excess liquid.
3. In the same pot, warm milk over high heat. Whisk in cream cheese until melted, about 3 minutes. Add spinach, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and 1/4 cup mozzarella; stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into a lightly oiled 1 1/2-quart shallow baking dish; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella.
4. Bake until bubbly and golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve hot with accompaniments, as desired.

Overall, EXCELLENT and super easy!
When I asked "Charleston" if I should take anything else he immediately said "Cocktail Weenies."  WTF its Thanksgiving! not the super bowl!
So lets back up a minute.  I made him watch an episode of Hungry Girl one day on Food Network and on the show she made Cocktail Weenies for a gathering.  Obviously those little puppies stuck in his head and he has been wanting them since.  I was very reluctant because who makes cocktail weenies for Thanksgiving but to please the man in my life, I did what I was told:

Pump-Up-The-Jam Cocktail Weenies

Ingredients 

• 14 hot dogs with about 40 calories and 1g fat or less each (like the kind by Hebrew National)
• 3/4 cup very finely chopped yellow onion
• 1 cup chili sauce (the kind found by the ketchup)
• 3/4 cup low-sugar grape preserves/jelly
• 1 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• Directions 

Cut each hot dog into thirds, leaving you with cocktail-sized franks. Place in a crock pot. Add onion to the crock pot as well. In a bowl, combine chili sauce, preserves/jelly, and mustard; mix well. Add to the crock pot and gently stir to coat. Cover and cook on low for 3 - 4 hours.Stir well and then serve up the hot dogs with extra sauce on top!

So we gathered that afternoon, ate spinach dip and cocktaili weenies, all the while I got picked on becuase it looked like my cooking expertise went no further then hot dogs! Yes they joked and picked on me the entire time BUT I will tell you that my crockpot was EMPTY when we were done.  Every weenie was gone.  Obviously they liked my cooking well enough, even if it was only hot dogs!

Got Too Excited For The Holidays

I am embarrassed.

I ran home during lunch today to grab a quick sandwich and as I pulled up to the front of my home this is what I saw:

Yes that is my front porch and my front door.  You can't see it in the picture but right inside the window is also my Christmas tree that I so excitedly put up on Sunday and sitting in that window (as well as all others) I have Christmas candles.

Immediately the Sesame Street Song that I learned years and years ago came to mind:

"One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song? "

Remember that one?

Yea, I am embarrassed.  I got so excited to decorate for Christmas with my wreath, Christmas tree, and candles that I have yet to throw away my Halloween pumpkin.  The worst is, it honestly hasn't even dawned on me to do it and I walk by it EVERY TIME I go to and from my home. 

Sad times.

Charlotte Turkey Trot

It was cold but it was fun.  The best thing was that we did it together.

I love that running is something "Charleston" and I both enjoy.

I know I slow him down with my short legs and barely-there stride but he sticks with me and doesn't leave me behind.

We participated in the 8K run and started further back in the group which proved to be VERY frustrating.  We ran the first two miles at a snails pace behind the 4,000 some people ahead of us.  Finally when the road widened and the group got a little more spread out for miles 3 - 5 we were able to reach a comfortable pace.  Needless to say though there were no race winning times coming from the two of us (ha ha as if there would be anyways!), but, we finished and we finished together.  Mission accomplished!

And check out this cute chicka I ran into!

Laura was there running with her daddy!

Much love :)

Great start to Thanksgiving morning!