Home Made Christmas Gifts....The best kind! :)

Jonathan's sister, Sarah, is very crafty and made us each a Hula Hoop's for Christmas. She used a ton of pvc pipe, ribbon and rice. Good idea huh. Well here's a pretty neat pick that she took of us Christmas Eve with our awesome hoopin skills. Check out Jonathan's blog for more video's pics on the hula hooping extravaganza.

Christmas Wish List

This year me and my husband have decided not to give eachother gifts this year, but instead donate the money we would use on eachother to edurelief. If you have never heard of this, it is our friends Jonathan and Merielle Renich's non profit organization to raise money for children in Mongolia to have books for school on only 20$ a year for each student. Check out the site for more details.

We are more than fine with this...for two reasons....When we need or want things we usually get them (obviously depeding on price, or we save for them) and there isn't anything I NEED this year and I am struggling to think of things!---although i still can ;)
I thought I would share a few things that I want in the gift giving spirit. ---And man, Isn't there always things that we could ask for no matter what :)

1) Gift card to Cafe Yumm
2) Visa Gift card for shopping/eating/etc.
3) Harry Connick Jr.'s new Christmas CD
4) Gift cards to the Movies in Valley River--There are alot coming out that look really good!
5) Used/New car!! or my Blazer fixed....we're a one family car right now :)-this is unrealistic, but it's what we could use in the near future.
6) Sharon/Haley/Sarah Broderick/Aaron B/ my Mom and Dad are very good at being creative and i always love what they get.
7) A rug or money for a rug for our house. There is a lot of space in the front room area that could use this...huh Dad!
8) Black knee high boots and or dark brown cowboy boots from DSW Shoes.
9) Money or gift card for Glory Bee Foods for making candles.
10) New slippers (for wearing around the house) last one's I have i love from Ann Taylor Loft
11) itunes Gift card-10$ or so
In this there is something we all should remember---Christmas is the celebration of our Savior's Birth.
God came to this earth in the flesh to bring life to those who are in Sin.
"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."---John 1:14

Thus is Jesus Christ.

Lets take this time and remember who Christ is and what he came to this earth for. ---For each one of us to recieve life/Eternal Life! Praise God that we're able to be with our families and celebrate and exchange gifts with one another. May your Holiday be blessed and may God be with you.

John Piper: Prosperity Gospel

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 11-22 to 11-29

Here are just a few pics of us in Cabo. My sisters bf Josh(y) came too. We had a blast and I didn't want to come home. We spent the week with our normal routine we'd done in the years past when we'd go on spring break in middle school and high school. We also stayed at the same hotel....and it was extra special to have Jonathan there too :)

Every morning we'd get up around 9 am and walk down the beach to this really good restaurant called the Office--have smoothies and a big breakfast, then head back to the hotel and lounge around the pool and get tan for the next 5 hours or so. Then we'd get ready and walk into town and grab a bite. The food was so good, but by the end of the trip i was sick of eating. I never knew i could feel that way, and i'm not complaining, but we did eat a lot. My scale is proof too. :)
The whole trip was very relaxing and so much fun. The travel was easy good and not very long at all. We're all very lucky to be able to take trips together for how busy we all stay. Thanks to Haley and my Dad for planning this awesome vaca.
But, I have to mention the celebs we encountered near the tail end of our trip.
MTV's reality show The Hills were there! We kept seeing people w/ all these camera stuff like they were shooting a catalog of something. They were walking all around the hotel and we didn't really pay much attention. Me and Jonathan headed into town to buy some snacks and when we got back they were all set up in the lobby like they were waiting for people to enter and film.
Next thing we know, these "celebs" came in and we realized they were filming part of there hit show.
We saw them shoot a dinner scene and were also in the lobby the next day while we were waiting for our taxi to take off to the airport that we even got in the scene (nothing special, just in the background while they film the couple leaving) They asked us before hand if it was okay and then 5 min later they were done and had us all sign releases and take a pic of each of us.
We thought that was pretty neat.
Even though we dont watch the show, well Haley does, but not regularly i dont think.
All in all very exciting and fun week. We love it at ME Cabo (formally the Malia San Lucas), it's our home away from home!!!

Oldies but Goodies

Sunday was my very good friend Julie's baby shower. It was like a reunion w/ almost all of my close friends from High School. One i haven't seen in 4 years. The others i really only see about twice a year---besides my cousin Erin.....:)

I bet you can't tell who's shower it was....
Well actually one more friend is pregnant and the another also just had a baby boy. Me and Erin stopped by to see him afterwards. So cute! Makes you want one.. :)

Dont Make Fun :) ...even though i know you will...

So the other night me and Jonathan were going through some old pictures that my dad got back from my late grandpa Green. Jonathan took a pic of this one w/ his phone. Pretty funny huh. Thought I'd share. I should do more posting of the old time photos too. They're pretty humorous. Go 1980's!!!! We knew style.....

Dessert Anyone???

So today at work we had a potluck. I decided I'd bring the Paula Dean famous Orange Pecan Coffee Cake. It was a hit, of course because Paula's amazing--especially when the recipe calls for butter, which most of hers do....Thought I'd share and give you all the recipe also.

Ingredients
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans-chop w/ knife or meat mallet or even a wooden spoon.
2 teaspoons orange zest
2 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (10 count)
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice--I use the juice of half the orange i already used the zest of

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a small bowl, combine the granulated sugar, pecans, and zest; set aside.
Separate the biscuits. Place about 3/4 teaspoon cream cheese in the center of each biscuit. Fold each biscuit in half over the cheese, pressing the edges to seal.
Dip the biscuits in melted butter, then dredge in the granulated sugar mixture. Place the biscuits, curved-side down, in a single layer in the hollows of a lightly greased 12-cup bundt pan, spacing them evenly (do not stack). Place any remaining biscuits around the tube, filling any gaps.
Drizzle any remaining butter over the biscuits, and sprinkle with any remaining sugar mixture. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. Immediately invert the cake onto a serving platter. Combine the confectioners' sugar and orange juice, stirring well; drizzle the glaze over the warm cake when right side up on platter. Serve warm and perferably w/ coffee :) Enjoy!

Pictures Promised from the Farm....

As you can see, there are no pumpkins left...
Here are all the people crowding around Amy
getting pictures:) Because lets face it..They're Famous!!!

Yesterday, on the walk home from work, i found this....Among all the other different colors on the ground----

Check out the size of that leaf....

:)

Roloff Farm

Me and Jonathan went to Roloff Farms over this past weekend. If you dont know who they are...i'll explain.....They are from TLC's "Little People, Big World" ---Check out the show Monday's at 8:00pm. --Anyways. ...They live here in Oregon on their Farm. They are open to the public during pumpkin season so we took a trip up north Sunday to see our famous neighbors. They have 35 acres, 4 kids and a huge house. They also have what they call a " town" in the back of their house where they've built small buildings including a barber shop, church, post office, etc. --so fun for kids---Zach was there and i got a pic w/ him. :)
We didn't end up staying too long because the place was packed and they didn't have anymore pumpkins left. ---so i did what i refuse to do, and got a couple minature ones from Albies---(just no time to go to another patch this year:)...But anyways...it was quite fun just me and my husband on a wimm going to Hillsboro for the day, and ate some good food at Calafornia pizza kitchen on the way home. i'll post pics soon...

Different House.But a better one....

So me and Jonathan have been in our new house for almost 2 months. It's everything we wanted and more. It's got 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, open floor plan w/ big kitchen, living room and dining room. We're on a corner lot, big zize--almost 1/4 acre in all. There's some yard work to be done, but nothing that can't wait til the spring. Most everyone of our Friends and Family have been over, Thanks to our friend/Agent Joel... Him and his wife did such a good job throwing our house warming and we had so much fun having everyone over. We're all settled w/ a few projects in the works, but nothing too drastic is planned. We're very thankful God had us wait for as long as we did...for houses are expensive....and the timing was just perfect!!!

New House? in the works...

So me and Jonathan put an offer on this house. Basically, it's in our favor! i'll explain why in a sec.
We found it last Sat. just by driving around, saw that it was priced high but thought, what the hey. we'll put a low offer and see what happens.
We went to look at the house w/ our agent last Tuesday and love everything about it. There were pics on line, but not anymore.....
Our agent took over the sale of the house.....
It's what the call a "short sell"....This means the current owners aren't able to make their payments, and are behind, etc.....And their contract was up w/ Assist2sell anyways....Which is good for us....
The owners are actually in route now moving to Portland, they're pretty okay w/ the circumstances....:)
They've done so much to the house, which is sad, including: Newer roof, new windows, new fencing, new indoor/outdoor paint,etc. It has 3 bdrms, 1 bath, hardwood floors throughout, hot tub, deck, carport, laudry room, open living and dining area. It's just PERFECT!
We put an offer on it that evening and the owners accepted. But it's not initially there decision, it's their banks decision. Joel (our agent) is submitting the paper work today to their bank. We should know in a day or so what they said...We're hoping and praying it's ours for that price. I know we'll get it, it's just if they accept our offer.
:)

New Bikes (finally)

The Sunday after I returned from Portland, me and Jonathan went to Joe's (formally GI Joe's) to check out bikes. And yes, we bought some.--Thanks to Uncle Sam we purchased two mountain bikes, helmets, a lock for Jon and a pump. I'm very excited about this because if I could (couldn't because of the rain here in Oregon) i would live on it.
Fortunately the day we purchased was one of the nicest day's since Sept last year and we were able to take them to Alton Baker for a little ride. We've been out a few times since while went to the mall and back to see how long it would take Jonathan to ride to his work across from Valley River. Thus we'll save money on gas and can say we're more "Green."

My First Blog

I went to Portland for my friend Lindsey's 25 th birthday a couple Saturdays's ago. I had a blast and was able to hang out w/ our friend Rachel too. We picked out brides maids dresses for Lindsey's wedding in August, went to dinner at this really fun Mexican Restaurant and ended our evening at a coffee shop her friends from church own and listened to live music. Like i said, it was a lot of fun, but by the time it came to drive home I was blinking my very tired eyes, turning on the cold air in the car and hitting myself to stay awake. (yes this is all true) But i got home safe, and now have some pictures to share.