Christmas Day 2010

Hope you got a chance to read the Christmas Eve Recap!!

I forgot to add on there that before everyone got here  

I WENT FOR A RUN!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, you heard it right!!   I was really impressed it was almost

2km and I ran most of it!! (besides the hill)  I haven't run in months!!

If you ever want to know the distance of a run

(no matter where you are) check out this site  MAP MY RUN

Ok on to Christmas morning.

Santa showed up!  We must have been good this year!

If you follow me on twitter, you'll know that Dave's big gift (a banjo guitar) didn't get here for Christmas

(even though it was ordered in October - apparently they forgot to order it - tisk tisk)

So I channelled my inner artist and made him this

I gave it to him with a ukulele!!  Which he enjoyed!

We opened our stockings! (I love stockings)

Sleepy heads

They were made especially for us in Newfoundland

Dave's mom sent them!! (un-stuffed)

I got totally spoiled by Dave...

And I must have been very very good this year!

LOOK WHAT I GOT!!!!

 

**SCREAMS**

I am soooooooo happy! I love it!  I named it LULU!!  (hehe)

The rest of the score

Most of that was just stocking stuffers!! :) 

I got spoiled (and this was just the beginning)

 

I loved this beautiful lotus flower candle holder - he got it at a multicultural trade fair we went too! 

Dave got something he's always wanted

Haha.. it's somewhat of an inside joke, but let's just say sock monkeys scare him!

This is from my childhood and my mom and I decided to regift it to him.

It made many strange appearances during the last two days.

(like in the Christmas tree, hanging in the pantry, up on this light fixture)

He also got tons of tools, and so many other goodies!

The left over of the chaos

Then we made some yummy breaky! (my new camera wasn't charged yet, so I used my old one)

Dave's families tradition is to saute up left over veggies to make "hash"

so into the mix went cooked carrots, turnip and potatoe

I cooked it until it browned... and we also had a mini turkey sandwhich

So super yum!! 

Next up we headed over to Mom and Dad's for more food and more gifts!

~~ ENTER NEW CAMERA~~

bare with me, I'm just learning!!

 

Mom and Dad's tree!

More yummy food
 

I took some close ups, but must have had my finger over the flash!! hehe

Then the gifts began (again)  I got a Wiiiiiiii  with all the fixings!!

So spoiled - but very grateful.
 

Dad was really excited about his "AIR in a bag" - silly man
 

this is what was really in the box

He loves big mugs!!

Then I went crazy taking portraits of everyone (well the ones that let me)

Pretty mama

(and their motorhome that they are disapearing in in September.

Lots of adventures in their futures! )
 

Dad
 

G-ma

 

and Dave and I
 

And an awesome picture of my parents!
 

It was a great morning - one of the best Christmas mornings yet!

I didn't take pictures of all of our gifts, as we got spoiled rotten

but some other highlights -

LULULEMON gift cards - for me -yes!!!!!

Lift tickets for snowboarding for Dave, he was happy

Wii Fit - me - woot

Personal Trainer game for the Wii...  Yes

Supermario brothers for the Wii for Dave

(notice a theme)

I think I may loose Dave to this game - he loved it!

Anyways, I am gone for a few days

We got a great deal on a hotel room for a few days in Victoria, so we are going away for a 

little romantic get away (and shopping at lululemon!!!!!!!!!!!)

Hope you guys had a beautiful Christmas

Lots of love, 

Jessica

Christmas Eve Recap!

Hey guys!

Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas!!   It's amazing how fast it flies by!!

Well as I was saying Dave and I hosted Christmas Eve dinner at our house this year! 

Here was the menu - and just for the record, I am NEVER this organized!

Everything was dairy free - if you have any questions of how, let me know!!

I started off early making homemade cranberry sauce.

Super easy, sooo much better than canned!

1 bag cranberries

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

spices if you want - I used gingers, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Another great option is orange zest!

Toss everything in the pot, bring to a boil then simmer until at desired consistency

(I simmered for about an hour)

 

When it was done, I tossed it into a bowl and put it on the table! - Done!!

Should be served at room temp!

Then we set up the bar
 

Prepped all the food
 

All the veggies ready for the Newfie portion of the feast!

Carrots, cabbage and turnip!

 Then prepped all the appies - sweets, candied nuts, veggie/hummus platter, smoked oysters,

smoked salmon with jalepeno jelly and mary's crackers!
 

Then started cooking!!
 

This is the pot of Newfie goodness- boil a small piece of salt meat.

Then you toss in all your veggies and bread puddings (that's what the bags are) and let boil for about an hour.

The veggies come out soft, and a little salty, they are sooo good!!  

Even Dad (the cabbage hater) really enjoyed it and had seconds!! - YES!

I made two types of puddings - a sweet onion one and a cranberry and spice!

I lovvvvvve them!!

(if anyone wants the recipe let me know!)

Here is the final product

They may not be pretty but they are oh so tasty!

I was kind of happy when only 1 or 2 people tried it, it meant left overs!!

The turkey cooked WAY to fast (boo)

But it gave me lots of time to roast the brussel sprouts.

A little bit of grapeseed oil, balsamic, maple syrup and s&p.

Yum!

I also had a glass of my favorite wine while the cooking chaos continued!

If you have never tried stemless wine glasses, I highly recommend!

Then it was time for carving the turkey!!!

Go Dave go!!

Here is the spead!

 Awwh it was a success!

(ps. the stovetop cornbread stuff is FAB)

I made WAY WAY too much food!

Thank goodness the boys cleaned up, I was pooped!

Then it was time for relaxing!

G-ma and I!!
 

The boys in the kitchen taking a break from baby and puppy talk!!
 

 There were a total of 9 people for dinner and one super cute baby girl!

( I didn't get a chance to snap pictures of everyone as I

was cooking, the people pictures are all from my mom -thanks ma!)

It was great! 

A few people stayed late and we played games and ate the gingerbread house!!  hehe

Keep your eyes peeled for the Christmas day recap

I got something sooooooooooo FUN!!!!

Yay!!!!!!

Jessica

This might be a long one!!

Oh so much to say!

Yesterday was a busy day!! 

I'm excited to say we got the Christmas tree up yesterday, we bought a new one and it's beautiful. 

We don't have all the decorations on yet, but here are a few of my all time favorites!! 

This one is new this year...

his one was always up on my grandma's christmas tree..  it is one of my favorites and is from Austria.  It is made with cloves, I know it's over 30 years old, yet it still smells amazing. 

And here is the clove ornament I bought in Austria when I went there after high school!!  It smells too!

Last ornament picture of the night is my Angel. 

I bought her and the money went to a daycare program in Africa.

I'm a total sucker for anything to do with kids!

I also wrapped all the presents for Dave's family, as we had to send them off to Newfoundland tomorrow.

I had a decaf peppermint soy latte to make the wrapping easier

I was also told to buy myself a gift for Christmas! 

(yes I'm spoiled -only child!!)

I got the choice between money or a gift .. 

I usually just take the money and I would have been responsible and spent the money on bills (BORING) 

This may or may not be what I got...

Don't worry, I don't get it until Christmas!!  hehe

I also finally did it... I took a picture in a restaurant.. haha..  We went to Taco Del Mar.. which was rated one of the top 10 healthiest "fast food" restaurants in North America.   I had a small chicken burrito on whole wheat, with black beans, a wee bit of rice, lettuce, cabbage and salsa... 

It was delicious!   Dave and I also shared (but didn't eat much) a side of chips with guacomole and salsa!!  Yum!! 

This morning I woke up with a HUGE craving for ants on a log... 

So I had it, with a super green monster (to the rescue!)

 

For lunch I made this YUMMY curried turkey salad.

Check it out here.

Of course I didn't follow the directions, but it was really good. 

Even Mom approved (right ma?)

I added some of this to it just for fun too.  Totally added to the flavor

I ate it with nacho chips - because I didn't have anything else crunchy, they were a fun addition!

Then for dinner we went to Mom and Dad's for turkey...  YUM!!  It was good!!

Look at all the pretty colors.  Turkey, stuffing, peas, mashed yams, potatoes, cranberry sauce.

Here is the crew waiting for me (cuz I was taking pictures for all you folks)

Look at the nummy veggie plate in the middle, it hardly got touched (except I ate some cumbers and broccoli stems (my fav) 

Well if that post wasn't long winded enough, I don't know what was!!

Game plan for tomorrow =

Some kind of workout - I'm thinking long walk and some abs.

Lesson plan for this weeks classes

Return something

Teach my class

Yoga/Climbing (last one boo)

Hope you all had a great weekend! 

What was your 2 stars for this weekend ?(2 good things that happened)