A New Year Tradition

In the South, it is a well practiced tradition to eat black-eyed peas and collard greens on the first day of the year. The consumption of said foods is meant to bring, respectively, health and wealth. I was not raised in the south. But I have enough of the South in my pedigree to cling religiously to this tradition. My mom was born and raised in Texas. Her mother was born and raised in the South as was her grandmother.

As a kid, I was not a fan of this meal. We ate the black-eyed peas straight and the collard greens with jalapeño vinegar (I actually like eating collard greens this way now. As a kid-not so much). I liked the tradition. I just hated actually eating it. Several years ago, my mom started making a dish she calls 'New Year's Rice.' It is quite delicious and includes both of these important ingredients. I make it every year and have grown to love it so much that I could eat the whole lot of it by myself.



This is how I like to make my mom's recipe.

New Year's Rice
2 cups black-eyed peas or one can, rinsed and drained
2-3 cups cooked rice
1/4 cup butter
4 cups torn spinach or collard greens ( I use a whole 9 oz. bag of spinach)
1/2 link of kielbasa sausage, diced
2 T Parmesan cheese
1 t salt
a few dashes of hot sauce- Tabasco, or if you live in my house, Frank's Hot Sauce
1 cup cheddar cheese shredded

Have peas and rice ready
In a large skillet, brown diced sausage. Remove to another dish.
In same skillet, melt butter. Stir in spinach and cook until tender- about 4 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients except the cheeses. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally until heated through.
Just before serving, stir in the cheeses.

Makes 5-6 3/4 cup servings.

Ringing in the New Year

Our new year's eve definitely had the makings of a very dull soiree. We had only been unpacking for a couple of days. We didn't have TV stations yet. But between Sara, Cori and myself, we ended up with a great night. There's nothing that a trip to WalMart and a video store can't fix, right?

Cori made a deal with Grace that if she would take a nap at 5:30, she could stay up until midnight with us. Precisely at 5:30, Gracie informed us that she was ready for a snack and her nap.

In the meantime, Sara and I worked up a little feast for our evening of movie viewing: Cheese fondue (we had to go to two different stores to find some Gruyere, and you should have seen the deli lady's face when we asked her if they had any--maybe it was just my perfect French pronunciation...), crispy potato wedges, and crescent rolled little smokies. While the kids were napping, we ate and watched our big kid's movie. Then once they woke up, we ate some more and watched Wall.E- which was very cute.

Grant didn't make it to the big count down. But Gracie stayed up like a champ. We lit sparklers on the back porch. You can devise from Sara's expression what the temperature was like that night. And if you are wondering about the dark faces huddled together in the corner picture, that is me and Sara. Our sparklers went out the very nano second before Cori snapped the picture.

Then we went in for a little toast. Grace has really gotten into the whole toasting idea. We get to do about 5 toasts every night at dinner now. At least three of them are "cheers for animals." Anyway, here are a few pictures of us doing some "cheers."

Did I mention that she really loves toasts? Happy new year, a week later!

Blessings

Sara who spent her entire break from law school helping us move. There were so many other things that she could have been doing. Even things that she needed to get done before her semester starts tomorrow. But she stayed with us until yesterday. With her help we are almost completely unpacked. I'll post more pictures of her stay, our new year's celebration, and our day in Chicago soon.

Cori who managed most of the details of our move while working a job and a half. I had been so ill and was very overwhelmed by the time we got to the week of Christmas. With out any prompting from me, Cori just took over the tasks that are usually mine to manage when we move. He met the driver and the packers. He took care of all the scheduling and all the tipping. He went up to the house everyday to sign off for things. Then while we were with my family, he really did a lot with the kids. I was given such a great opportunity to rest and recouperate. He has never complained, though I know he has needed a break too.

Grace and Grant. They love our new home. They play so well together. They have been so fantastic during this whole transition.

The new year. It is so great to get a fresh start!

Our Christmas 2008

This is Walloon Lake. We rented a vacation home that is just feet from the Lake. It snowed every day my family was with us. That is until the day they went home. That day it rained and melted half the snow away. But we enjoyed a very enchanted and a very white Christmas holiday.

Because our house got packed up the Monday before Christmas, Mom had the excellent idea to make all our tree decorations. She and Grace made long paper chains. We decorated paper snowflakes with glitter glue and strung cranberries. Mom also brought some photos to put on the tree of gifts that didn't make the trip with them. I think it was my favorite Christmas tree ever.

The house was gorgeous. The kitchen. I couldn't get over the kitchen. It was seriously something out of my dreams. Incidentally, I couldn't get into the kitchen. I was still pretty sick, and the rest of my family banned me from any major work. Everyone divided KP duties and we had lots of great food to eat. Sara spent a lot of time baking yummies for us and always let Grace have a hand in the work. In this picture they are working on the home made cinnamon rolls we ate Christmas morning. We played games everyday. Lots of Skip Bo with Super Grandma Bettie, and Cori and I even got the family to play Ticket to Ride -our new favorite- with us. I also included the picture of Grace looking extra sad. She is going to be a great gal to see a chic flick with down the road. She was watching a Mickey Mouse Christmas special. In the cartoon, Pluto had made Mickey really upset, and so he ran away. Both Pluto and Mickey were really sad, and the next thing we know, poor Gracie had little tears running down her cheeks. We watched all our favorite Christmas movies and then some: White Christmas, The Muppet Christmas Carol (The best!), Christmas Story...

Christmas Eve, we had the Missionaries over for a big dinner and a some festivities. The kids helped us set up our nativity. Grace got pretty good at telling the story. We read together out of Luke II. We sang hymns.

Then, feeling we had been religious enough, we opened some presents, baked cookies for Santa, and made a big plate of vegetables for the reindeer (Grace was very concerned about the reindeer).

Our family Christmas Eve. The only one missing is Jared. And we really missed him! I would also like to draw some attention to Sara's Mr. Miyagi-clad feet. That girl cracks me up. She swears that it is actually quite comfortable to wear socks with flip-flops.

Christmas morning was so much fun. I think I was more excited than the kids were. Christmas gets pretty fun for parents as kids get older.

The rest of the week we did what my family does best. We hung out and took it easy. We ventured out into the snow a couple of times to play. My dad has some cute pictures on his blog of him, Sara and Grace making snow angels, a.k.a. angel jacks, on the frozen lake. We went out to the movies. We also went downtown to my favorite little place, Julienne Tomatoes, to get some tomato gorgonzola soup. Sadly, they weren't serving it that day. But it was still a great lunch. The kids got lots of story time with all of their attentive grandparents and aunts around. Gracie even got to watch cartoons in bed with Grammie Marla.

Many thanks again to Grammie Marla, Papa Jeff, Super Grandma Bettie, Aunt Thea, and Aunt Sara for making the trip to spend the holiday with us. We had a wonderful holiday!

Update

It has been a very long time... Please forgive the following format, but I want to get to it so that I can eventually get back to normal blogging. So in no particular order, since I last wrote at the beginning of December, we have:

Bought a new house. After much to do over a certain power of attorney document, we successfully closed on our house in Illinois. We are now the proud owners of two mortgages. Just for a little while though. Our Petoskey house has been on the market with some activity. If we don't sell within a couple of months, Cori's company will buy it. In the meantime, we get the special treat of paying the two mortgages, as well as two sets of winter month utilities. I can't complain. We are very fortunate to have the buy out on the horizon.


Spent a lovely Christmas with my family. My sisters, parents, and grandmother all came out to spend the holiday with us. The only one missing was my brother. And we missed him. We stayed at a vacation home on Walloon Lake. It snowed every single day which made for an extremely white Christmas morning. It was special spending the week together. I'll post pictures and more details soon.

Faced another miscarriage. The pregnancy was a welcomed surprise. That I miscarried should not have been a surprise as this is not our first, or our second miscarriage. But I had been remarkably sick for some time before the news came, and I was further along than I had been with the others. So it came as a bit of a shock. I waited nearly two weeks before having the D&C. That was a harder decision to make than I thought it would be. We went in the Monday before Christmas. Grace and Grant had lots of family around, and Cori was able to spend the day with me. I'm finally feeling the dissipation of morning sickness and more like myself everyday. The one great blessing to come from this was that during a time when there was a crazy amount of things to be done, I was forced to slow down and prioritize. I got to enjoy my kids in a way that would not have happened otherwise.

Packed up, moved across Lake Michigan, and unpacked (well, we're getting there). The Monday before Christmas our house was boxed up. Everything got loaded onto the truck the next day. We kissed our family good bye on Saturday. We said good bye to our Church family on Sunday and then made our way to our new hometown. The next day we met the movers and began getting settled in. Sara graciously offered to spend her whole break from law school with us so she could help. It has been amazing. With her and Cori around, I am light years ahead of where I usually am at this stage of the game. We actually have the main floor completely unpacked, and there are only four boxes left upstairs. Of course there is a mountain of storage to organize in the basement...

Our access to the internet is a bit limited for the next week or so, but I will post more as I can. We are loving our new home, and feel we have been very, very blessed. I'm always amazed at how things work out. It is a good thing I'm not in charge!

Blessings

My mom who watched the kids, by herself, the whole week while we were away in IL. It was SO NICE for us and the kids that they didn't have to be packed along on the house hunt. Mom kept everyone happy, was cheerful during the crazy snow storms that hit, and brought crafts and movies and fun toys.

A successful trip where in we found a house, made an offer, survived the counter offers, and are in the process of closing. If all goes as planned, we should be able to move in the week after Christmas. Cori started his new job as well with positive review.

Our Church family who took care of my mom while we were away. Every time it snowed, someone showed up to clear the driveway. My mom got other calls and invitations throughout the week. It was very appreciated.

The First Presidency Christmas broadcast It is one of my favorite things of the Christmas season. The messages are heartwarming. I can't get enough of the music. Seeing shots of Temple Square this time of year makes me home sick for UT. The kids have been sick, and so we didn't take them to watch it at church. But fortunately, we get BYUtv at home.

(Image found on Flickr)

An update from afar

Greetings from Illinois. In case you were starting to wonder, I thought I would post a little bit. Cori and I are busy home-shopping and working (well, Cori is working anyway) while the kids are enjoying a week of Grammie Camp. I picked Mom up at the airport the evening our Thanksgiving guests departed, and then Cori and I left for IL in such haste that I forgot to pack my undies. True story.

We had a really, REALLY great Thanksgiving holiday. Our guests were Matt, Stacie and Jacob D* of the Detroit area. Cori and Matt got to know each other working in a group at the beginning of their MBA program. Stacie and I were both working, finishing our degrees and childless and therefore a bit antisocial where the spouse association was concerned. (BYU's MBA program really has a first class organization/support group for wives. Husbands of the program's female students are invited too, but really, it is just the ladies that show up.) But we enjoyed hanging out at football games, and I always liked being around her. Anyway, since we've been in Michigan we have been in better contact with this super couple. Not only did they graciously make the drive to spend the holiday up North with us, but Stacie made rolls, homemade stuffing, and 3 pies (all of which were completely delectable)! We had an impressive feast.




Gracie and Jacob played really well together- certainly as well as can be expected from any 3 and 2 year old. Really, these guys were the perfect guests. So easy going and lots of fun. We ended up having additional guests for dinner 2 of the nights they were with us, and they were so great about it. We played games, took the kids to the movies, made a ginger bread house, and ate pie at every chance. We've got pictures of the final g-house product, but I didn't get them off the camera before we left. Here are a few shots of the initial construction work:


It is really too bad that we are moving away. We would definitely have to do this more often. Thanks again Stacie, Matt and Jacob!

Our house hunting trip has been fruitful. We will know a lot more about our present and future housing as next week unfurls. It is going to be a busy month. I'll post more soon. (Hopefully!)