ice skating

The week before we left for NC, John and I decided to be festive and go ice skating downtown.  Let's just say that I am not coordinated at all nor do I have much experience with skating in general (ice or roller).  My anxiety going into this activity was off the charts.  And the people zipping around the rink doing triple axles didn't help either.  That last part was made up.  But maybe I saw one triple axle.  Anyway, bless John's heart, he was so patient with me and didn't get irritated/show signs of wanting to knock me out.  He demonstrated the correct skating method numerous times.  I tried my best to convince him that it simply didn't work that way for me.  Well it did, eventually.  I ended up having a wonderful time!  It was very festive and I loved being able to share that experience with him.  We went walking around downtown (dahntahn....how it's pronounced here, ugh) and took some pictures of the Christmas decor.

the tree at the rink, practically Rockefeller Center :)

I'm pretty sure right before this picture I said "John we need a picture now before I fall and need to be carried out of here!!".  Just a calm, festive evening skating around a tree.

dahntahn decor

John getting artsy with the decor.

sweet tree on the corner of a building

 

big park downtown with blue snowflakes and Christmas trees

 blue Christmas

big tree, from a distance

a little closer now

a cool bridge leading to the downtown park, I think it looks pretty sweet

this was like the 20th take of this picture, finally the three of us (tree included) fit in

The hotel on the left is where we stayed the very first time we visited Pittsburgh. Oh, nostalgia.

adventures in pittsburgh

A few weekends ago Katie and her sweet friend, Jessica, came to visit us. The day after the Christmas party I showed them around Pittsburgh because it was Jessica's first visit.  Here's some documentation...

sisters on the North Shore

trying our best to sit in Mr. Rogers' lap (Fred Rogers lived in Pittsburgh and his show was filmed in the city)

Jessica's first time up the Duquesne Incline (you basically ride a trolley car up the side of Mount Washington)

the three of us on Mount Washington overlooking the city of Pittsburgh

sister sister (downtown Pittsburgh in the background)

christmas party pics

I know I'm like a million days late posting these but better late than never, right?

friends waiting for dirty santa/white elephant to begin...

I'm pretty sure he got an old key ring filled with fake keys

Katie waiting not so patiently for her turn

Lucky her, she got a Stillers cup!  

Friends.  I was trying to get pics of our friends at the party but that doesn't work too well when you only take 2 pictures...

Me and John at the end of the party.  (Yes, I'm too lazy to crop and edit these pictures.)

I know Katie has a thousand more pics on her iphone so I'll see about getting those sent to me so I can post them (ahem, Katie...).

wine quote

For all us winos out there...

Accept what life offers you and try to drink from every cup. All wines should be tasted; some should only be sipped, but with others, drink the whole bottle.

Paulo Coelho, Brida

it's chrsitmas, y'all!

Things have been in full Christmas swing here lately and today is no exception because it's our annual CHRISTMAS PARTY!!  It look and feels like Santa's workshop here (Christmas elves included, i.e. me)!  I'm so excited to post some pictures from the night (probably tomorrow or a following day).  A lot of our good friends are coming and my sister is gracing us with her presence as well!  Yay!  This is probably our last Christmas party here so we'll make it good one!  Have a great Saturday y'all!!

quote

If only you could sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.

Fred Rogers

quote

Yes, Tommy, pray. Pray hard.

Mary, It's A Wonderful Life

ho hey (the lumineers)

I'm not quite sure when this song came out but my sister put it on a CD for me awhile ago and I've been obsessed with it ever since.  Great song, cute video, hope you enjoy :)

quote

People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

 Maya Angelou

old friends

Danielle, one of my old friends from high school, and her husband were in Pittsburgh the past couple of days.  We had the joy of hanging out with them Sunday and Monday nights!  They are currently going all over the US to interview for residency (med school stuff), hence why they were in Pittsburgh.  Obviously we were more than happy to show them the things that we enjoy around the city.  So thankful for long friendships and good times!  Here's a couple of pictures Danielle took on Mt. Washington...

I'm 5'1" and she's 5'10".  Yeah, it was real fun trying to keep up with her walking around high school and what not.  Those long legs could out-walk me any day.

hubs :)

quote

Why, darling, I don’t live at all when I’m not with you.

Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms

dinner tonight

 

Buffalo Chicken burgers

I LOOOOOVE buffalo chicken anything.  I'm definitely obsessed.  I've made these burgers for us many times (usually with ground turkey because I can't easily find ground chicken) and they're always a hit!  They're super easy too :)

(photo and recipe credit go to: How Sweet It Is)

 

Sweet Potato Chips

These were a Pinterest recipe and really good.  Maybe a little heavy on the spice side, I would maybe cut the amount in half or just cut some of the spices out.  But mostly they were really good. 

(photo and recipe credit go to: The Recipe Diva)

quote

We can do no great things--only small things with great love.

 Mother Teresa

quote

This one looks familiar, I think I've posted it before but here we go again :)

Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one’s weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.

 Mahatma Gandhi

lately

I know I'm pretty much the world's worst blogger...ever.  Sorry about that.  I'm just pretty inconsistent with updating y'all with what's going on in our lives.  Usually I cycle between being really overwhelmed with daily activities or there's absolutely nothing going on.  So here's us lately:

We were able to go to TN and spend Thanksgiving with John's family this year, which was a blast!  Our trip was filled with cooking, eating, chatting, football, spending time with family and even...Black Friday shopping!  That's right, Kathy and Heather braved the crowds with me on Friday.  The traffic and crowds weren't actually that bad, which was a nice surprise.  :)  I'm thankful for John's family and all of the time we got to spend together, it was simply wonderful.  Thank you, Kathy and Gary for the sweet hospitality :)  it was nice to be back in the South for a bit.  I'm already looking forward to making our way back down South for Christmas!

Once we returned to PA I went into overdrive decorating our house during every spare minute I had.  I'm happy to announce that our house is completely decorated for Christmas now, yay!  I've also been working on cards and baking.  Now if we can just get to that cleaning up part...hmmm, I feel like a kid when it comes to cleaning.  I have all the energy in the world when it comes to decorating/making a mess but it always seems that I'm just pooped out when that cleaning part rolls around.  Sigh, the troubles of being a grown up :)

And I'm so excited that Christmas movie time is in full swing!  We watched It's A Wonderful Life last night and darn-it if that movie doesn't make me cry every single time.  Then we watched a couple of (cheesy) Hallmark Christmas movies, and it was splendid!  I told John (as I do every year), "If I say it once, I'll say it a thousand times...I COULD TOTALLY STAR IN A CHRISTMAS MOVIE!".  He responds by rolling his eyes and nodding his head, to appease me, no doubt.  Now I love my Christmas movies but I'll be the first to admit that most of them are ridiculously cheesy and the acting is almost always sub par.  Which is why I could totally star in one.  One day, one day.

Now onto wrapping presents, yay!  I sure do love this season :)