Where Do I Even Start???

I apologize for my absence from blog world, as I had promised myself, and also those of you I coerced into starting your own blog, that I would try to stay consistent. Oh well, Life got ahead of me...

Here we go....

After Christmas, Geoff and I felt a strong tug on both our hearts that we should move back to our hometown, Roseburg. There wasn't a real reason why we felt so motivated to move-maybe some financial, some relationships, but mostly it was just a feeling. So we prayed, counseled, and put in our 30 day notice.

God has proved over and over again since that decision, that this was exactly what He wanted us to do. The timing worked out that we were able to housesit for Geoff's parents while they took off on their first retired "vacation" to Palm Springs for six weeks. FOUR days after we moved to Roseburg, I discovered this...



FOUR DAYS!!!! Does God have our paths perfectly planned, or what!?! :)

"For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' -Jeremiah 29:10-12

I told Geoff the next day when he got home. I will post more about how I told him in the next post. Telling him is one of the most precious memories I have <3

Currently, we have been provided for again. A family friend offered us their river home to live on until we move to Portland. It is a beautiful, huge home, and we are especially grateful for the rent money we are saving!

So in the three months since my last post...
-Two moves
-Job changes
-Booming business
-and a growing BABY!!!! (more to come in next post!)

Mmm mmmm!

Peppermint Whoopie Pies...its a beautiful thing! :) Here are the treats I made for Christmas, and let me tell you, they are D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S

Prep time: 45 minutes
Cook time: 12 minutes/per batch
Yield: 18-21 large pies or 33-38 medium (I would cut this in 1/4 unless you are making for a big batch of people!)

For Cookies-

Ingredients:
3 c. sugar
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
4 large eggs, room temp.
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 tbs vanilla
6.5 cups of all-purpose flour
2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder (I used dark cocoa)
1.5 tbs baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 c. milk (I used whole)

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 350. Lightly grease baking pans.

Cream butter and sugar for 3-5 minutes (paddle mixer reccomended). Add eggs, beating each well. Add vegetable oil and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, sift dry ingredients. With mixer on low, gradually add a little milk and a little dry mix until fully mixed and smooth.

Using an icecream scoop, place batter of baking sheet 2" apart and bake for 12 minutes. Transfer to cooling racks and wait until completely cooled to add filling.


For Filling-

Ingredients:
1.5 c. butter
1.5 c. vegetable oil (or shortening)
9 c. powdered sugar
4 c. marshmallow cream
4 tbs. milk
1 tsp. peppermint extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 lb hard peppermint candies

Directions:
Combine and beat first 7 ingredients until fluffy.

Crush unwrapped peppermint candies in a plastic bag with a hammer or meat tenderizer. Sift peppermint candy dust into filling and place large pieces aside for garnish.

Assembly:

Smooth Filling between two cookies and roll in peppermint pieces for garnish.

Enjoy!!!!!!

2010 Christmas Fair...

A couple weeks ago, we had a great evening checking out the annual Douglas County Christmas Fair and spending some time with the "original" Kirkendalls' (Allan and Sheryl) in their WineStem and Alpaca Gifts booth.

They do a great job of displaying their goods! Winestems make such a fun gift and they sold a TON at this year's Christmas fair.

Of course, Dinger is an advertising machine!

I gave these Slate Appetizer Boards to a few people this Christmas. Sheryl had used hers at Thanksgiving and it was such a cute way to label different cheese, sauces, or toppings. Oh and check out the wine barrel votive holders!!! They made them and sold them for $20 whereas places like Napa Style and Frontgate are selling them for over $50 a piece!!!

Every Good and Perfect Gift...

"For I Know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11


"I Have found the one whom my soul loves" ~Song of Solomon 3:4

Today, as I was packing away our bookshelves, I noticed that we have A LOT of christian books on dating, courtship, and protecting your heart as a single. I found it so sweet that Geoff had, almost equally, as many books on these subjects as I did. God was truly and soveriegnly molding our hearts for each other through different books like these...the cool thing is we were reading them thousands of miles apart and at very different life stages (like he was 23 and I was 17 :), but all the same we were being prepared for that beautiful day when we first met.

I am so grateful for a husband who pursues Christ in all areas of his life, and I'm thankful that God made him such a perfect match for me.

Thank you Lord for being such an incredible author of our loves lives!

"Every Good and Perfect gift comes from the Lord, the father of heavenly lights, who doesn not change like shifting shadows" ~James 1:17

Tis' the Season...

Geoff and I set aside this last Sunday for one thing: a full date day of Christmas Spirit...and we loved every minute of it :) After church, we pulled out our decorations and prepped the house to be overtaken with all things Christmas

My grandma Shirley made it her personal mission over the last few months to make sure that these newlyweds had all the decor needed to make our first holiday season as Mr. and Mrs., a very joyful, festive, and cozy one. Let me be the first to say, She TOTALLY out-did herself! So grateful for her sweet, generous heart and impeccable eye for cute home decor. We went from one (maybe two) random ornaments, to this....................

With all these ornaments and decorations...We needed our tree! The tree farm we found was absolutely adorable; complete with a christmas decor shop, a wreath designing barn, and hot chocolate, cookies, wagon rides out to the trees, and plenty of photo opts.....but in true S&G fashion-we showed up five minutes before closing, after dark, and with no camera battery...its how we roll, but my phone sufficed for at least one picture.

Little entryway table...Geoff loves anything that counts down the days til Christmas (He is such a little boy at heart! :) so her LOVED this cute little sign complete with mini chalk and a mini eraser.

JOY TO THE WORLD...who better to spread Christmas cheer than cute little snowman?

Alas, our first Kirkendall family Christmas tree...and how cute are those little elves!?!?

As I put the final touches on the tree, the cats snuggled in to their new favorite spot in the house...

Geoff made us a delicious treat of hot chocolate and Kahlua (my fav!)....

And we concluded our night in the perfect Holiday way....by watching Elf of course!!!!!

Lucky for Him...

I thought this was very sweet marriage advice, and wanted to pass it along to all of you...

(Darn dimples always kill my "angry" face!)

(Yes, we love each other THIS much :)

"On her Golden wedding anniversary, my grandmother revealed the secret of her long and happy marriage; 'On my wedding day, I decided to choose ten of my husband's faults which, for the sake of our marriage, I would overlook,' she explained. A guest asked her to name some of the faults. 'To tell the truth,' she replied, 'I never did get around to listing them. But whenever my husband did something that made me hopping mad, I would say to myself 'Lucky for him, that's one of the ten."

(Roderick McFarland, in Readers' Digest, 1992)

"Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense" -Proverbs 19:11

In Honor of Squash...

Fall picks from the Grover's Growers this week: Butternut and Spaghetti Squash

Last year I made a feeble attempt at Curried Butternut Squash Soup with one of my mother in laws left over squashes. The soup just turned out okay, so this year I was determined to make an improvement. One of my favorite little boutique restaurants in Salem, The Wild Pear, has thee best Coconut Curry Butternut Squash Soup...I mean, it is deliciously flavorful ,decadently smooth, simply amazing. I look forward to its arrival on their menu every year, but now that we live to far away to indulge in it as often as I'd like to.....I attempted to make my own and was thrilled with the finish product! It turned out DELICIOUS! In fact, I may need to make more already because we have already gone through the portion I froze too!

Heres the recipe I used: Coconut Curry Butternut Squash Soup



Next up was the spaghetti squash. I have heard so many people rave about it, so I decided to try to figure out what all the hype was about.





Spaghetti Squash review:
-Very fun to bake and peel the strings apart
-Loved the sweet taste of the squash by itself -Not a huge fan of the marinara-beef spaghetti squash recipe I used, but it was SUPER filling. --Looking forward to trying more variations of it. Any suggestions?

I also used the left over squash to make some morning muffins with walnuts, cinnamon, and ginger. They were really moist and filling, but I thought kind of lacking for flavor (Geoff tore through them, so I guess he had a different opinion).

On a kind of random note: POPCORN!!!!

I found a popcorn popper for $2 while thrift shopping with Grandma this week, and I had to buy it because Geoff LOVES popcorn and hasn't had it since we gave up the microwave in April.

Home popped popcorn+Johnny's seasoning+Amazing Race Episodes on CBS.com=A Very Happy Husband (and Thunder...and Shayla :)

Right before Thunder stuck his face in the popcorn bowl and then slobbered Geoff's face when he scolded him! :)