My great aunt wanted to help me decorate our house for Christmas. No, not my great-aunt, but my aunt who is great. Thanks Deb for pushing and providing for us to buy a wreath!
This past weekend I made a trip to Michael's to pick out a wreath. Over Thanksgiving us girls explored the store and they had quite a selection of Christmas decorations. This time... not so much. After looking through the couple aisles still dedicated to Christmas (seriously, the holiday is still a couple weeks away) I actually found the wreath I had mentally selected from our previous trip. Even better, it was marked down... like way down. I grabbed a few other things (nothing to be disclosed now, some items are Christmas presents!) and made my way home.
Joe was at work, but I was excited to get the wreath up so he would see it greeting him when he drove in. Things didn't go as I planned... I ran into a slight issue once I got the wreath home. Even though I had purchased the cheaper wreath hook, I got it position over the door to hook on and hold the wreath up. I got the wreath in place and tried to close the door. No such luck. I was a bit forceful and tried to shut the door all the way. It wasn't going to work and when I opened it back up a few of the hollies fell to the floor.
Now the wreath is hanging on our back door on the inside. We figured we still liked the wreath so much that we didn't want to return it. Plus this way we can enjoy it as well since that door is just off the kitchen. It's unconventional, we know, but we love it. I would still classify us as learning-as-we-go home owners and we're proud of it.
This is one of those success stories stemming from Pinterest. I pinned this recipe about a week ago and it didn't take me long to find time to make it. Not only did the bread taste delicious, it made the kitchen smell glorious for about an hour. Seriously, I had to text Joe (he was at work) to let him know how good it smelled. Wish he could have enjoyed it as well!
Another fun part of this recipe is the choice of beer. I already mentioned we have lots of leftover beer from Thanksgiving. I used Highland St. Terese's Pale Ale. So much better than just some Bud Light! Not that there's anything wrong with Bud Light... Next time maybe I'll even try something heavier like Guinness.
Directions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan.
In medium bowl mix together all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder and salt). Microwave honey for about 10 seconds to make it easier to stir. Add beer and honey to the dry ingredients and mix. Pour batter in loaf pan. Drizzle melted butter on top.
Bake for 50-60 minute or until the top is golden brown.
After Thanksgiving when all of our company had driven away we were left with lots of something. That something? Alcohol. Yes we did our fair share of consuming the alcohol when everyone was together, but we also bought A LOT. Joe and I have slowly enjoyed a few here and there. The first thing we reached for? Jerry's Heineken bottles. Sorry Jerry, they're all gone. Cheers!
As I mentioned on Friday, the ACC Championship game took place in Charlotte this past weekend. Joe and I thought it would be fun to get involved so when I received an email asking for volunteers we signed up right away. They required volunteers to sign up for two time slots. We could choose from a wide range of activities; from Friday welcoming groups to game day help.
We decided to sign up for the 5k Saturday morning. We were at the water station about half way through the race. We arrived, set up the table and got some cups filled. Then, we waited. And waited. Then we decided to wait in the car where it was warmer. The race started at 8 AM so we got ready around then for the sprinters. Sure enough there were a couple true runners sprinting down the street. Of course they didn't need any water, they would finish the race so fast, no need. Then the mob came and we got busy. It was a fun experience.
Our second time slot was around lunch time when the Fan Fest began. We were walking towards the Dr. Pepper stage when we heard a band doing their sound check. I recognized the song and got super excited. It was Little Big Town playing "Good As Gone." I just recently had heard of the group and listened to them on the radio. It was fun to see them for a bit.
Check out their song "Pontoon." It's a catchy song and the words will get stuck in your head. Consider yourself warned.
The game took place at the Bank of America stadium where the Carolina Panthers play. Joe and I went to a game here against the Bronco's in November (did I forget to blog about that game??) We got to watch Peyton Manning play. That was the main reason we chose that game to attend. Plus it was Veterans Day so there was a nice fly over before the game.
We were assigned to the UNC mascot, Ramses.He was considerably calm compared to most of the other mascots. We waited outside the tent for them to get changed and some of them (the Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket in particular) came flying out with so much energy... it was amazing.
We were also assigned to the Virginia Tech mascot... but he had a stomache virus and didn't make it out of the tent right away. We figured we'd give him some extra time and check in on him later. Well we did see him later wandering around the Fan Fest. I guess he made his best effort to at least be seen.
We basically just followed Ramses around and made sure he was keeping on schedule. That lasted all of maybe 30 minutes before we just let him roam with the UNC cheerleader and other mascots. So many people stopped him and just wanted a picture. Even people wearing Florida State or Georgia Teach shirts. What is the allure of a team mascot that doesn't belong to your team? I'm not sure, but Joe and I fell into that category as well.
Ramses jumped into a car with the Yellow Jacket and was filmed for I think the ACC Road Show or something like that. We later saw the Clemson Tiger and Duke Blue Devil in the car. I think they actually let the Blue Devil drive too. Not so safe.
Then he taunted some kids at the Dr. Pepper field.
Ramses was really good with little kids. I mentioned he was stopped constantly with people wanting to take his picture. This wasn't only kids, it was adults too. This little guy had a UNC sweatshirt on and was a bit shy at first. He warmed up quickly though and gave Ramses a hug and his mom took a great picture. Gotta love it!
We happened to walk by during a mascot dance off. I wish we would have seen more, it was too darn hilarious to watch these adults basically act crazy for attention. Not bad attention, fun attention. Did I mention how much energy these guys had? It was incredible.
Oh yea, I almost forgot this picture. There was a practice field set up for drills where kids would run through and get timed. The Virginia Tech Hoakie must have been feeling a bit better because he joined us here and was actually trying to tackle Ramses. It was pretty funny!
Joe wanted to make sure he got his picture with the Maryland mascot. Joe told him "welcome to the Big Ten." The mascots response was funny... he acted like he was throwing money in the air. Which is appropriate since the main reason Maryland would consider joining the Big Ten is due to revenue dollars they would receive!
I wanted my picture with the Clemson tiger.We already visited Clemson for a game and we decided to become fans of the "local" team. Like I said lots of adults were taking pictures with the mascots. We were not shy about it.
We had a great day volunteering for the ACC Championship weekend. Although I will also say it was great to head home early to relax and watch some football on TV. We didn't end up staying for the game, but we were just fine with that.
Well, it's not much of a show like the title suggests, but Joe and I are proud of ourselves for finally putting up some Christmas lights. Neither of us have ever really put these up before and we've definitely never lived in a place where we've put them up together. One box of lights from our recent trip to Walmart plus maybe 15 minutes stringing the lights around our front porch pillars and we have ourselves some Christmas spirit.
Have I told you about our neighbor's lights? The house right next to us is going all out with their lights so initially we figured no need to put our own up. Well then the other neighbors in the cul-de-sac put some up and we felt a bit obligated. No worries though, we're both happy with how they turned out. We're even thinking about getting some more for the bushes next to the front door.
PS - you can actually see some of our neighbor's lights reflecting in the window in the first picture. He put a sign out front yesterday that the light show will officially begin December 9th. The show, meaning the lights will all blink along to Christmas music on the radio, will be awesome. I can't wait to share!
