The best gift

Day 5:  What is the best gift you have ever received?

This one is easy.  The best gift I have ever gotten was for my 10 year wedding anniversary when hubby completely surprised me with Beauty and the Beast tickets on Broadway in NYC!  I had no idea and it was the best surprise.  That was at the top of my bucket list and the show closed shortly after we saw it.

The best Christmas gift I ever got, probably my camera.  Hubby got it for me last year for finishing photography school.  I love my camera and try to use it every day.

Tonight I made the snickerdoodles I posted about here.  They turned out beautiful and tasty.

Inspired by Lizzy; I have dough for Chocolate Crinkle Cookies hanging out in fridge, just chillin.  Tomorrow since it is an official snow day; they will become cookies!!

Holiday Tradition

Does prompt over at Holidailies is: What is your favorite holiday tradition?
I have tons of traditions.  When Elexis was born, I was determined to create my own and stick with some traditions.  Christmas Eve she always knows she gets to open 3 presents.  One of them will be new pajamas, one will be a new movie, and the last will be the present from my sister.  We have done this since Elexis was a small child.  Another tradition is singing Happy Birthday to Jesus with a cupcake.  We also take a family picture (animals included) in front of the tree on Christmas morning. I guess my favorite would have to be when we decorate the Christmas tree, which is what we did last night.  How it goes is I set the tree up, I put the lights and the garland on it (one of the sets of lights is from my hubby and I's first Christmas together).  We always put on Christmas music and for the last 8 or so years it has been The Cheetah Girls Christmas album (oh my preteen daughter...now it's tradition).  We have collected many ornaments over the years.  We don't even put bulbs on our tree because we have so many ornaments.  As you can probably guess, I have a ton of Disney ornaments.  I also have ornaments from places that we have been (I try to pick one up wherever we go).  This year our new ornament came from Hallmark.  It is Hogwarts Castle (from Harry Potter).  You can put one of your lights through the back and the castle lights up.  It also plays the HP theme when you push a button.  I bought it the first week it came out.  It's a good thing too, they are sold out everywhere.  We also finally found a cello ornament this year to add to the tree.  We always try to get significant ornaments for Elexis.  Like the first musical she was in was Alice in Wonderland and she was a cardsman, I happen to luck upon an Alice in Wonderland cardsman ornament.  Also we have Cinderella from last year because she got the role of Cinderella in a musical.  We were finally happy to find a cello.  Also our tradition is to let Elexis place the angel on top of the tree.  We have had the same angel since the year we got married as well.  Every year I think about replacing her, but then I grow sentimental and I can't find any that I like as much as her.  Her dress is getting a bit yellow, but she still works.  Of course I have pictures from last night.

Love these two

My foyer Christmas tree.  It used to go in Elexis' room, but she never decorated it.  So this year I took it.  

Elexis likes to sit in the tree box and read (since she was 2 she has been doing this)

My cat wondering if she will share the box.

Of course there is Disney on my tree.

Our newest ornament

She no longer can be on Daddy's shoulders to do this.

I got my tree a few years ago at a Hobby Lobby after Christmas sale.  Originally $450 I got it for $40.  It's 7 1/2 feet tall and I love it.  

Don't judge our music...hahaha!!  We also listen to more traditional stuff too.

Snickerdoodles

Day 3 over at Holidailies is: Share your favorite holiday recipe. Where/when did you first try it.

The snickerdoodle was my grandma's favorite cookie.  I always got to help her make these cookies.  To this day, the smell takes me back to my grandma's kitchen.  Both of us are in our aprons and I am on a stool.  I really miss my grandma.  I don't have her recipe, but here is a good one.  My daughter love snickerdoodles too.  It is her favorite cookie...a wonderful connection to a great grandma she never got to meet.

Snickerdoodles

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extact

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp cream of tarter

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp white sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400*

2.  Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups of white sugar, the eggs, and vanilla.  Blend in the flour, cream of tarter,  baking soda and salt.  Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.

3.  Mix the remaining sugar and cinnamon.  Rolls balls in mixture and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

4.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes until set, but not too hard.  Remove immediately from sheets.  

Yields approximately 4 dozen.  

Elexis and I will be making these very soon.  I can't wait to make more memories with her.

Recipe and picture came from here.

Sunday Stealing

A day late, but better late than never...

What would you totally eat right now?:  A baked potato smothered in salsa.

Do you always wear a certain piece of jewelry?:  Mickey Mouse earrings and my heart necklace.

What kind of jeans do you like?:  The kind that fit.

What's something on your want list?: a new lens for my camera; a Keurig

Is animal print tacky?:  some of it can be, but I like animal print

Give me a good quote that you like.:  Good Grief - Charlie Brown

Do you bite your nails?:  I did for 22 years, but I quit 12 years ago.

What kind of smells do you like?:  bakery smells

Do you wear perfume or cologne?:  yes, currently Amber Blush from Bath and Body Works.

What do you think is overrated?:  sleep...ha!

Next movie you want to see?:  Frozen - animated and Disney my two biggest criteria

Would you change your eye color if you could?:  I like my eye color

And what are your goals for the remainder of this year?:  to just keep swimming (Finding Nemo)

When is the last time you were at the hospital?  for myself - 3 years ago for someone else: Last Tuesday night for a friend's toddler that fell and hit his head pretty hard (he is okay)

Who introduced you to your current significant other? If you’re single, who introduced you to your last ex? My now brother and sister in law and my sister in law's sister.  

Favorite Christmas Song

Day 2: What is your favorite Christmas song?

I have a few.  My favorite song because it has my favorite animal in it: I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas by Gail Peevey.  This is my Christmas time ringtone.  I really do want one for Christmas so if anyone has any spare hippos laying around I will take it off your hands.  

Another favorite is Carol of the Bells.  Beautiful.  I listened to my daughter's orchestra play this on Sunday.  Fantastic.  

Lastly: One of my new favorites is Believe by Josh Grobin.  It is on the movie "Polar Express".  His voice is absolutely beautiful.  

Those are mine, what about yours?

Holidailies

I've decided to join Paula and Kwizgiver and do this blogging thing everyday in December.  Ha, already one day behind.  While I am playing catch up on the November challenge and reading everyone's blogs about how their Thanksgivings went, I am going to participate in this as well.

Here is Day 1: Introduce yourself:

My name is Cristy and I have been blogging for a little under a year.  I did my first challenge in March and I had a blast.  I met some great new people that I now consider my friends.  I have been married for 16 years and I have a 13 year old daughter.  She keeps me very busy; I often feel like I run around like a chicken with my head cut off.  I am a professional photographer.  I graduated school about a year ago.  My passion is architecture and food photography.  I plan on going back to school to either get an architecture degree or a graphic artist degree (I haven't decided which).  I have strong obsession with pretty much anything Disney, but definitely Mickey Mouse.  If you have any questions about me, feel free to ask...I am pretty much an open book.

Click on the icon to go to the website.

So sorry...

I kind of fell off the wagon for the November challenge...by one day... You will have to forgive me, my sister and my two adorable nephews are in town and I spend pretty much every waking moment with them.  I will have a huge post on Thanksgiving and how much fun I had, when they leave.  All I can say is; I wished they lived closer.  I will leave you with a couple of cell phone pics.

I may or may not have conditioned my nephew that I am his favorite person.  And this may or may not be the result of copious amounts of spoiling (sorry sis).

We did a lot of photoshoots like this.

Such a chill baby.  I was so happy to finally get to meet him.

My favorite picture!  My two most favorite kids in the entire world!

Two reasons I love being an Aunt....my boys.