Much to be Thankful For.

Nothing like missing a Thankful Thursday post on Thanksgiving to say I've been busy, right? Seriously, I thought I was in danger of boredom going into the long weekend, and lo and behold I am now even further behind on things that need to get done than I was before. How is that possible? Especially when you hear the things I've done, you'll be amazed that I burned through those 4 days off without a moment to spare. I even woke up early in the mornings so I could be productive! Oh well.

Last week I got to the point where I hadn't been to the store in way too long, and was missing a good, fresh meat to have for dinner. So I made protein fries - tofu sliced, dried, sprinkled with spices and almond meal, and roasted in the oven. Mmmm!

However, I made up for not going to the store in awhile by going probably 5 or 6 times in the first 2 days of break.

At some point, I realized I needed to clean my vacuum. I've been LOVING my Shark "pet-hair" vacuum for a year and a half now with no issues. It picks up every little piece of hair, fluff, dust, you name it. Except recently, when there's been an odd noise, and less efficiency. So I flipped it over and LOOK, just look what I found:

A creature! Okay, not really, but those are BIG scissors I left in the picture for scale, and it looked like my hair had been turned into a wig and sucked around the vacuum wheel. I think I gasped out loud when I saw it. Poor vacuum, no wonder you were sick. Also that just goes to show how much hair I shed even after carefully cleaning up after myself. Speaking of which, it was time to at least get rid of a little of my hair:

Haircut time! I bet I lost close to a pound of hair - my head feels SO much lighter now! And the best part - I can do pushups now without my hair thwacking me in the face each time. Yay!

Something I did a lot of over break was cook. I did a LOT of cooking and baking. Starting with these beautiful graham crackers:

I take a recipe I liked, modified it to make it healthier and tastier, and voila! Now I can make my own graham cracker crusts whenever I want. I also tried using these babies for a chocolate crust using 1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers, 3 tbsp milk, 2 tbsp cocoa powder, and 2 tbsp agave. It was fantastic! Here's my top secret recipe (modified from Chocolate Covered Katie's graham recipe):

-1/4 cup almond meal

-1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp coconut flour (the key ingredient!)

-1/4 cup brown rice flour

-1/4 cup corn flour or more coconute flour and almond meal

-1/2 tsp cinnamon

-1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp baking soda

-1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp salt

-4-5 tbsp xylitol

-1 tsp vanilla extract

-2 tbsp agave or maple syrup

-1/4 cup melted coconut oil

-2 tbsp water

Mix dry ingredients together, then combine with wet in large bowl and mix thoroughly. Grease a cookie sheet, and dump the dough onto it. Press into corners until dough is about 1/4 inch thick (depending on how thick you want your graham crackers!). Press thoroughly until smooth, then pop into a preheated 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes. Let cool, then cut into shapes and enjoy!


On Thursday, Milo and I watched the Thanksgiving Day parade while I did some chores. He was immovable! So I left the parade on for him while I went to pick up Nolan from his overnight shift at Stanford.

Nolan slept most of the day until we headed over to one of his attending's for Thanksgiving Dinner. It was a veritable feast, complete with champagne-roasted turkey, homemade pickled beets, apple crumble...mmm! It was awesome. And so fun to see some of those he works with outside of a professional setting! After some wine, the conversation settled on zombies for a good hour. Speaking of which: did you know the CDC has a website dedicated to zombie preparedness? I'm not joking - look it up! :)

Yesterday I learned how to make wreaths with some girlfriends, and except for my still-stinging hands from all the wily needles, I'm pleased with my result! Okay - it's a bit wild looking, but it's my first one! I even incorporated some of my burlap into it (I'm drowning in burlap at home because of all my crafts!). I even put it on our front door already:

Last night was Nolan's second night on-call, which on this rotation means 30 hours straight at the hospital. Brutal! He has 7 total to do during these 4 weeks, and so far I've either dropped him off or picked him up for each one, and stopped by with his favourite cup of fancy coffee (Philz, of course!) and a treat. My goal is to do this for each one...because you've gotta have something to make a 30-hour shift more enjoyable! Last night he even had a few minutes to hang out, so we sat outside the hospital while he enjoyed his coffee and little treat. I'll take any chance I get to hang with him! 



He doesn't even look that tired...right?



 And finally, last night, right before I put up the tree, I ALMOST finished our family stockings! Here is how they look right now (if a little wrinkly still):   

Milo's looks a little funky, but he doesn't care so what the heck.

I love the way they turned out! They're fully lined and ready to go...and my fingers are sore! They just need the names added now. I'm thinking of just adding our first letter (A, N) and hanging it by twine on there somewhere. We'll see what I feel up to! Nolan said he really liked the "Tiny Tim" feel they have. I wouldn't think that is a good thing, but who knows?

All in all, a great weekend, though I wish I'd had more time to check other things off of my list! I guess it's time for my list, huh?

1. I'm thankful for my incredible, hilarious, compassionate, uber-smart and ruggedly handsome husband. He's the best partner-in-crime I could ever ask for, and without him I'd be just half an orange (points for you if you know the reference!).

2. I'm thankful for our home. Even though we're just renting, it feels like home, and has been everything we could ask for...repairs and all.

3. I'm thankful for our friends and family who have been such a huge support system as we navigate residency this year. What a huge blessing!

4. I'm thankful for our jobs. So many are unemployed, that it feels almost wicked to not only have jobs, but ones we enjoy! I was actually looking forward to coming to work today - yeah!

5. I'm thankful for, above all, God and his mercy and love. It just never gets old! We're so blessed that He's provided us a great church, a great marriage group, and a desire to know Him. I may be intensely private about this most of the time, but I want you to know how important (He's everything!) God is in my life.

What are you thankful for?