Tutu Heaven

I made this tutu for my niece Lucie and my sister-in-law sent me this picture on Christmas morning. She seems to like it! I'm loving the Christmas pajamas underneath.

Merry Christmas

From The House's

Lovely Loveseat

I finally found and acceptable loveseat for our house. We have limited space and I wanted something somewhat older looking but in good shape. I found this jewel on Craigslist for $25! It's in perfect shape and goes great with the house.


One day I think it would be fun to recover it and maybe take the ruffle off the bottom and let the wooden legs show...or maybe a different type of ruffle. It's in great shape though so nothing now.

Yes, that is clean laundry on the floor that I took off the couch to take the picture...I need more than just one day off a week. I'm blaming it on Chick-fil-a.

Finally Ready!

We're finally ready for Christmas. It took me longer this year because I'm working a lot more and don't have much time at home. I mailed off the last present to Ga on Friday.

I had great idea's for my Christmas wreath but had to compromise because I didn't have enough silver balls and Target was sold out when I went back. :( The lights came from the Salvation Army thrift store for $1 a strand. I put one up inside too. Thanks to our blizzard last week I need to replace a few bulbs that don't work now due to excess wind.

We bought our tree from Lowe's again this year but got a different kind; Scotch Pine. The limbs are sturdy and it's a lot fuller than the Fraser Fir but unfortunately doesn't smell as nice.

You probably can't tell but it's snowing pretty well right now. Nathans on a walk to the store across the street for a few things. It's really pretty for the first few hours until it gets driven on and turns all gray and dirty.

How did I miss this! So I've never seen Holiday Inn! I love Bing Crosby and White Christmas so I'm very excited to add this to my favorite Christmas movie list. Oh and I wish I could dance like Fred Astaire...

Weather Report

Yesterday we woke up to howling winds and a couple inches of snow that was blowing around. When Nathan took me to work at 7:30 it was 11 degrees and by the time he picked me up at 2:30 it had snowed another 3-4 inches. The wind was so bad and the snow is so powdery here that you can't see.

This morning when we got up it was -4 but it's warmed up to -2 now.

I sank when I stepped off the back steps.

Nathans new form of exercise.

As I was taking these pictures our neighbor who was shoveling his sidewalk and said "and this is only the beginning". As if we haven't been told this a million times already.

'It's a Wonderful Life

Last Saturday night we got all dressed up for the free showing of It's A Wonderful Life at the Orpheum Theater here in Sioux City. It's an amazing theater that was built in 1927.

I bought a new hat for the occasion and wore Nathans grandmothers velvet skirt.

There is a huge radiator heater behind this beautiful grate!

We tried to take a picture of ourselves in this mirror...didn't work out to well.
(Nathan bought me the coat at a thrift store here in town when he was visiting for his interview)

Chocolate-Infused Barbecue Sauce

I made this last week and put it on chicken and baked it. It was really yummy! It makes a pretty good amount so I'm trying it on pork tonight.

Chocolate Infused BBQ Sauce
2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
3 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

Combine ketchup and next 9 ingredients (through pepper) in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring with a whisk. Reduce heat; simmer 8 minutes or until thick, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; add chocolate, stirring until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth.
Yield: 3 1/2 cups