Sweet Potato Casserole

This is one of my favorite holiday recipes!

My mom always made it, but it has now become my personal contribution to Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. I made it today because we are celebrating Christmas tonight with my parents and brother and his family.

It's very easy to make. Here is the list of ingredients.

Filling

2 Eggs - beaten

3 cups Sweet Potato (4-5 potatoes)

1 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Milk

1/2 stick Butter

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Vanilla

Topping

1 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 stick Butter

1/2 cup Flour

1 cup Chopped Nuts

The first thing that I do is bake my sweet potatoes. I used 5 this time because they were small. I bake them on 400 for 1 hour. I often bake them the night before. I guess it just depends how much time you have the day you're making it.

To make the filling, you just mix all of the ingredients together. I use softened butter but I don't worry about it being completely melted. It melts when it's cooked.

For the topping, you also just mix everything together. I do melt the butter for this because it makes it easier to mix.

Place the filling in a baking dish and pour the topping over it.  I used a 2 1/2 quart dish.

Then bake it for 35 minutes on 350.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

This Christmas season has been very busy! I can't believe it's our 3rd Christmas together since we got married!

It started the day after Thanksgiving when Clay and I decorated the house. I love decorating the tree.

Clay takes care of the outside. He does a great job!

After the decorating is done, Clay reads A Charlie Brown Christmas. It's become our tradition.

The second week of December, Clay and I finished our semester of school. We are excited to have a break!

On December 17th our Sunday School Christmas Party was at our house. It was an ugly Christmas sweater themed party. It was a great time to spend with friends. 

The "white elephant" gifts were hilarious!

A  couple of days before Christmas, Clay and I visited his family to celebrate Christmas.

His dad bought his mom a camera. She was very excited!

On Christmas Eve we had dinner at the Watson's. It was so nice to see them and also see my parents.

Today we got up early and opened our gifts. Clay got me so many nice things! I am very excited about Pride and Prejudice and Anne of Green Gable...and I love my new chi :)

My big surprise was my watch. I had told him I wanted one, but he picked it out and actually ordered it online because he thought I would like it better than the ones in stores. I love it!

Then we went to church for a candlelight Christmas service. Clay was very excited about going to church; he has never gone to church on Christmas. 

We came home and started cooking our first turkey. It was quite an experience getting the bird ready to go in the oven :)

Our first Christmas dinner turned out great! Maybe next year we can invite people over :)

After dinner we watched It's a Wonderful Life and ate pumpkin pie. 

It has been a wonderful Christmas!

Girl's Road Trip!!!

I realized that I have not written anything on here all month, so I decided that I better put something on here before tomorrow :) 

Labor Day weekend, Carolyn, Janelle, and I went on a road trip to Chicago, for Heather's wedding. It was quick and tiring, but it was well worth it! I loved Chicago and I loved being able to see Heather get married!

We got up very early Saturday morning and drove up to Illinois. We were able to see Heather that night at the rehearsal dinner. It was so nice of her parents to invite us!

Sunday morning we went into the city. Carolyn had booked a boat tour for us, and we had beautiful weather for it.

It was 90 minutes, and traveled on the river and out onto Lake Michigan.

A tour guide gave the history of all the buildings along the way...like Trump Tower.

It was a great way to see a lot of the city in a short amount of time!

We ate lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. It was delicious!

That night was the wedding. Heather was beautiful bride!

One of my favorite parts of the ceremony was when they were trying to fit all of the sand into the container :)

We had a great time at the reception!

I am very glad that we were able to see Heather become Mrs. John Economos! What a cute couple :)

Monday morning we had a long drive home...past the windmills in Indiana (Carolyn loved the windmills)...

...through the rain and the gorge...and we finally made it home!

A Week in the Sun!

Vacations are such a wonderful break from reality! Clay and I spent the last week in St. Pete Beach, Florida, and had a great time. The weather was sunny, the water was clear, and we didn't have to keep to a schedule :)

We drove to Florida from North Carolina. It was a long trip, but we left early and got there around 3 in the afternoon. We went to the beach as soon as we got there!

The weather was beautiful! We had a few spurts of rain but it never lasted for very long.

We, of course, ate seafood while we were there. And we had ice cream every night :)

One night, we went it to Tampa...just to look around the city and go to the River Walk. It was beautiful walking by the water!

Clay wrestled an alligator while we were there!

One day we drove to Fort De Soto. It was only about 15 minutes away from where we were staying. It has a large fishing pier, so Clay fished while I sat on the beach.  

 

 

We went to Busch Gardens. I had never been to one, and it was a lot of fun. It's an amusement park and zoo in one! It was nice to be able to ride a roller coaster and then look at the animals. I'm getting old...I need a break in between rides :)

We went into St. Petersburg one afternoon to The Pier.

We walked around The Pier and downtown St. Petersburg. The waterfront is beautiful!

The last night we finally saw the sunset over the ocean.

It was gorgeous!

We had a great vacation, but it was still nice to be able to come home. Nothing quite beats your own shower and bed :)

A Blessed Life

It seems like life goes by so fast! I can't believe it's already August. In November, Clay and and I will be married for 2 years!

Sometimes it amazes me how much we've been through in that short amount of time. Clay was laid off, both of our cars had to be replaced, and several other smaller circumstances. And God saw us through it all! Clay took the opportunity to go back to school and work on his MBA. We were able to buy two cars with cash and pay off student loans. It's really amazing when you start to think about it :)

That brings me to the last couple weeks. Clay had been applying for jobs and internships while still attending school. He was tired of being at home :) On his birthday, he got a call to come back for a second interview. He went in the next day and came home with a job!

He started work this past week and has enjoyed it. I won't lie....it's been a bit of an adjustment for me. I'm used to him being at home when I'm not working. I was off Monday and Wednesday, and had the house to myself. I was able to get a lot of things done (I'll write more about that later), but I did miss him.

Now we get to go on vacation tomorrow. I am very excited! We will be able to relax and spend some time together before our schedules get really crazy! (We both start school the next week.)

I thank God that he has taken care of us through the small and big situations that have come our way. I know that He will continue to lead us. It may not always be easy, but His way is best :)

A Shutter and a Shelf - Part 2

I have finally finished my second project!!!

In June, I bought a shutter and a shelf when I went to yard sales with my sister-in-law. Tammy helped me get started on both of them while I was up in Pennsylvania, but then I was on my own...that's probably why it took me so long :)

I found this shelf for $2.

I didn't like the heart on it, so Tammy helped me remove it.

Then we had to add a piece of wood in order to brace it.

I sanded it...which seemed to take forever!

Then I painted the shelf white. I used a white paint that Clay already had (I forgot to take a picture while I was actually doing it).

I was going to distress it, but Clay really liked it just painted. I may still do it one day when he's not around :)

For the bar, I decided not to paint it. I sanded it down....

 ....and stained it with Rustoleum stain in sunbleached.

I chose this stain color because I am planning on hanging it in the kitchen where we also hung the brick mold. The brick mold is weathered and I thought this would match.

I think it turned out well. It's not a perfect match but they compliment each other.

Here is the finished product!

Now I just need to find some things to put on it :)

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