Gobble, gobble

There is no way to sum up everything I am thankful for on

this thanksgiving,

but here are a few off the top of my head:

Nicholas

Feeling like a part of the family, even when I'm not with my family

My parents and brothers

My {sweet} new boots

Coffee

Getting a surprise deposit in your bank account

Turkey and STUFFING

Getting Happy Thanksgiving text messages

Playing with babies, then passing them back to Mom and Dad when they do something gross

A safe drive from DFW to NE

Enjoy your turkey and time with your loved ones. 

{I'll post pictures and more about what we are doing when I get back in town!}

the good life

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! 

We are on our way up to Omaha! Left DFW at 7:15 am.

Both Nicholas and I are sooooo excited to see his family, especially Graham! 

The car ride has been painless enough.

I packed a cooler for the gourmet Mac and Cheese that my mom sent me 

{Thanks, Mom - Can't wait to try it!}

and threw in a few other goodies...

stuff to make sandwiches, 

dried apricots,

baby carrots, 

mini Diet Cokes, 

trail mix, 

apples,

Pumpkin Cookies, 

etc.


So we've only stopped for Starbucks {yum} and gas.


I'm so thankful for Nicholas... he is a very attentive driver.
Although I've offered several times, he won't let me drive.
{Which is great, because I'd really rather not!}


Dave, Nick's roommate and grade school friend, is riding along with us too.
Dave is the best at thinking up hypothetical/open-ended questions like
"If you had to be in a commerical, 

what company's commercial would you want to be in?"
or
"What's your favorrite Christmas song and why?"
or
"What landmark or monument would you like to see...?"


So, that's really helped to pass the time.
We'll hopefully be arriving in Omaha around 6:00pm.


The plan tonight = go to Nicholas's sister's house to play with Graham.
The plan for tomorrow = turkey coma.


I {love} thanksgiving and I {love} that we are listening to Christmas music already! :)


I'm excited about the cold weather... I'll finally have a chance to wear my new boots. By the way, I decided to keep the over-the-knee boots and returned the other two. 

mae mae's pumpkin cookies

Just got done baking about 4 zillion of

Mae Mae's {soon to be} World Famous Pumpkin Cookies!

I think I ate too much of the cookie dough though

because my tummy hurts.

I haven't tried the finished product, but they look delish.

By the way...

Yes, I am a dietitian.

Yes, I used three sticks of butter.

These are not necessarily "good for you,"

but it's thanksgiving and I'm thankful that I can

appreciate and respect the concept of moderation.

{For example, because I ate ~3-5 tablespoons of raw cookie dough,

I will not have a cookie tonight.}

Good news though - pumpkins are high in fiber, iron, zinc and Vitamin A.

Recipe:

4 c flour, 2 c oats {or a little more...}, 2 t cinnamon, 2 t baking soda

1 t salt, 1 c white choc chips, 3 sticks of butter, 2 c brown sugar, 1 egg

2 T vanilla, 1 regular size can of pumpkin

1. Mix first 6 ingredients in a bowl, set aside

2. Melt butter and mix with brown sugar and remaining ingredients

3. Mix all together

4. Spoon out cookies onto baking sheet

{They don't spread much when they bake, so use a large scoop and mash them down a tiny bit}.

5. Bake 18-22 minutes @ 350 degrees

6. Cool

7. Top with Cream Cheese icing

{I found it easiest to melt the icing in the microwave for about 15 seconds, pour the icing into a baggie, then cut the corner of the baggie 

- similar to a the icing packet on a toaster strudel - 

and drizzle over cookies.}

{Mae Mae's Pumpkin Cookies}

I do have to give a big

THANK YOU

to Meghan {aka Mae Mae}

for sharing her wonderful recipe with me.

{Meghan, You are such a great friend. 

I miss you and hopefully I'll get to come 

visit you in Oklahoma soon!}

Dancing the night away

Last night Nicholas and I went to

Kenichi and the Dallas Margarita Society Charity Ball

with Justine, Matt, Krista and Lauren.

We had an AAAMMMAAAZZZINGGG time!

There were a lot more people than last year and {a lot} more dancing!!

I love my friends so much and always enjoy spending time with them.

One cool thing about this charity event is that everyone brings an unwrapped toy to donate.

I took a Fabulous Day to Night Barbie Doll

Nicholas took a remote control Escalade!

I think the night is best summed up in pictures....

{Nicholas and I at dinner}

{Sushi time}

{Nick has finally mastered the chop sticks... I'm so proud of you, sweetie!}

{Nicholas, me, Lauren, Krista, Justine, Matt}

{main ballroom}

{dancing the night away}

{too bad we weren't playing with real money}

{tiger attack}

{alllll of the toys....}

Good times with good friends.

Today has been very relaxing...

looong nap...

laundry....

groceries.....

looking forward to the short work week

and the road trip up to Omaha on Wednesday!

Margaritas + Toys = Fab Charity

Tonight is the Dallas Margarita Society's Charity Ball

at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Dallas.

Justine {the sweetheart that she is}

invited Nicholas and I to go with her again this year.

Last year was my first time to go,

 and we had soooo much fun.

So I'm really looking forward to this year.

We get to get all dolled up,

drink margaritas,

provide thousands of present to needy children,

and dance the night away.

Here are some picture from last year...

{look at allll those presents... it really is amazing}

Team Edward!

What is better than a night of popcorn for dinner + lattes + girlfriends + Edward Cullen?? 

I can't think of anything better.

Had {sooooo much} fun last night.

TIMELINE:

5pm: Leave work

6pm: Get to the Harkins Theater in Southlake

6:10pm: Get in line outside the theater with all the 12-16 year olds

{Ashley and Bailey}

7:30pm: Move inside the theater and get the BEST seats
{the ones with the bar in the front so you can put your feet up!}

7:45pm: I walked over to Starbucks to get us some Lattes while the girls saved our seats
{It's going to be a looong night}

8:45pm: Popcorn and Diet Coke in my Edward collector's cup

9:30pm: Twilight starts
{Hold on tight, Spider Monkey}

11:30pm: Intermission between the two movies...
the bathroom line was longer than the line to get into the theater

12:01am: NEW MOON... was amazing.
I loved seeing the movie opening night because everyone
in the theater was having so much fun.

The movie definitely lived up to all the hype!

Everytime Jacob took his shirt off in the movie
{which was a lot}
all the girls in the theater ooohhhed and ahhhhed.

You could just feel all the good energy in the theater!

2:30-2:50am: Drive home {sleepyhead}

{2:47am!! - on a work night}

Next count down: Eclipse {the 3rd Twilight movie} - June 30, 2010!

The opportunities are endless.

I've been very productive on my day off today... 
and by productive I mean sleeping in,

then spending about 2 hours shopping for boots online {in my PJ's}.

Finally, I FOUND some.

Now, usually, I'm hesitant to buy shoes online because you don't get the instant gratification of wearing them the next day and if they don't fit, you have to pay the shipping fees to send them back.

However, my dear friend Meghan, introduced me to endless.com, a {fantastic} website for shoe shopping when I was looking for shoes to wear for her wedding with my bridesmaid dress. 

What makes it so fantastic, you say?

{FREE next day shipping and FREE returns!}

So, I found 3 pairs of boots that I would like to try on...
I ordered them... they'll be here tomorrow...
and I'll return the two that I don't like for free.
{Or, none of them if I feel like being financially irresponsible.}

Steve Madden Women's Frencchh Boot

Naughty Monkey Women's Entertainer Boot
{not to sure about these over-the-knees boots, 

they're very trendy right now, 

but not sure if I'll be able to pull it off}

Naughty Monkey Women's Cool for School Boot

What do you think??

Is it Christmas yet?

Bought my plane ticket home for Christmas today!

And, thankfully, since I'm not the newest person at work this year,

I got much better holiday vacation days off.

I'll be off Wednesday to Sunday over Thanksgiving

and the whole week of Christmas!

Since I'm going up to Omaha with Nicholas for Thanksgiving...

I'm looking forward to spending time with my family over Christmas.

{The fam, Christmas 2008}

I put in some quality time with Mom and Dad

in October on our cruise...

but haven't seen Allen or Austin since...??

4th of July, I guess. Tooooo long.

I miss you guys.....

{siblings, 4th of July 2009, SPI}

On the other hand, I am {thrilled} about driving up to Omaha.

{"God's Country" per Nicholas}

Nick's best friend from home had a little girl

last night so we'll both get to meet her {Lillian}.

{AND}

I'll finally get to meet Nick's sweet little godson {Graham}.

Looking forward to the next two days off from work

since I had to work this weekend.

Probably going to get some reading done,

mentally prepare for New Moon on Thursday night,

and hopefully get some new boots for the cold Nebraska weather.

Purple with a purpose

After waking up at 6:00am on Saturday...

running...

making breakfast and hazelnut coffee {yum}...

{and}

working 9 1/2 {super busy} hours...

{it's finally GAME TIME!!!!!}

{sold out stadium}

{Frost loves TCU}

{Final score... TCU is now 10-0 this season}

{Patrick, Nick's roommate, rushed the field... alone}

{but, he started a trend...}

{Everyone from the stands started pouring onto the field}

{so we went, too!}

{Media interviewing #98 Hughes}

We had such a great night.

I have never cared so much about football,

but I'm loving it this season!!

Don't back down

...TCU's new slogan for our awesome 2009 football season

{TCU is on a mission this year, 

and ready to shock the world.}

A few good {spectacular} things going on for us Horned Frogs:

-   Mayor Moncrief has declared 11/13/2009 as "Go Purple Day" in Fort Worth

-  Nike has released brand new uniforms for TCU to wear during

our big game against Utah on Saturday

i looooooooove them!

the pants are horned frog skin print {think snake skin}

and when a player puts his hands together to catch a ball, 

the inside of the gloves forms a picture of a Horned Frog. 

how cool is that?!

-  ANNNNDDD... ESPN Game Day is coming to Fort Worth this weekend.

I actually have to work, so I won't be able to make it out for the morning/afternoon festivities.

I did, though, get a good deal on tickets... 

so Nicholas and I are going to the game for sure. 

It starts at 6:30 pm.

Also, I got my swine flu/H1N1 shot today...

the hospital had previously just had them available for

high priority employees,

but opened it up to everyone today!

Made me think of this little munchkin..

{soooo cute!}

Hope everyone else is having a great week!

Gettin' my run on

I decided today that I need to start exercising {regularly} again.

When I moved into my apartment in May,
I cancelled my membership at

24 Hour Fitness because my building has a really nice gym.

However, I like to follow a routine...

at 24 Hour I would do kickboxing or a strength training class.

But, at my gym, I just get bored...

don't know what to do...

lose motivation.

{So...} I decided to start a running routine.

{Note: I am NOT a runner.}

But, I decided to do it anyway.

I found a Training Program for beginners on Runner's World

that gets you from {walking to running} in 8 weeks.

{Today was day one.}

Hopefully, since I am publishing this, I'll have the
accountability/motivation to stick with it.

There is a {wonderful} trail along the river right outside my doorstep,

but since it is getting dark so much earlier...
I ran/walked on the treadmill today.

{Run 1 min, Walk 2 min} x10 - Should last 30 min...

I think I may have miscounted because I was on there for
40 min... 2.8 miles!!

Rest of the evening includes:

Taco Soup + a Brownie{!} + Vampire Diaries episode from last weekend

Fall in love

Had such a great weekend.

I'm {looooooving} this fall weather.

Spent most of Saturday at the Botanical Gardens in Fort Worth. 

November in Fort Worth must be prime flower season...

because it was beautiful. 

We took a stroll through the Rose Garden... 

it was sooo fragrant. 

{stop and smell the roses}

Played some Cribbage - Nick won this time

 But, guess who's winning overall...

{ME}

Then, while Nick was studying... 

I did a little shopping!

Spent the evening at BoomerJack's {sport's bar} in 

Montgomery Plaza. 

We sat outside on the patio and enjoyed a delicious 

Jalapeno Ranch Cheeseburger {heaven}, while we 

watched the Good Ol' Cornhuskers BEAT OU. :)

TCU beat San Diego State which makes us #4 in the BCS. {yes! #4}

{Can't get any better than this!}