Christmas: The Sequel

We are one week away from our second Christmas together as a married couple!

As we reach this crazy milestone, I've become more intensely aware of the fact that we are halfway, halfway, through our time in Virginia.
I...I really...I have such mixed feelings. I now truly understand the confusion between belonging to two countries at once (because yes, I consider the east coast to be a different country to the west).

On December 12th, Dusty finished his last final of the semester and we were finally able to go out and spend some time together!
This was a doozy of a finals season. We realized it may be wiser to work a little extra during the semester to avoid two full weeks of all-nighters!
On top of having no sleep, we are in a serious weight-loss competition with Dusty's brother and sister-in-law...it has been neck-in-neck, so dieting + no sleep + stress + law studies = PSYCHOTIC BREAK.
Needless to say, we needed some serious R&R after it was all said and done!

So that Wednesday night, we headed to Isabella's for a you-deserve-bread-and-cheese-and-cream-and-yummy-fats celebration dinner.

We were STUFFED. Mostly because we had been starving for two weeks straight.
Oh and Dusty has a beard now. Courtesy of finals.

On one of the previous nights, we had stolen some time together to decorate the tree in between his study times.
I had put it up a few days before, but didn't want to hang the ornaments alone. It's a big deal to me, which is probably just because of how much my dad has always loved ornaments! Us kids always had our certain ones that we would hang every year.

This year, we had a handful of brand new ornaments from our travels!

We spread out our treasures,

Put on a Christmas episode of Friends, made some hot apple cider, and got to decorating!

Last year was our very first Christmas together. We decorated our little apartment, made some fun little traditions, and even had our own mock Christmas morning to exchange gifts to each other.
In light of being halfway through law school, I have found myself reminiscing on where we were last year around this time, compared to now.

2011

2012

2011

2012

I'd say we got a little carried away with our decorations this year!

2011
Hanging our first ornament!

2012

Last year, we designated the Saturday before we left for Arizona to be our time together, our own "Christmas morning".
It was so fun!

After we made a mess of things and opened all the presents, we had a brilliant idea to have breakfast in our pajamas.
Since we didn't want to make breakfast, we headed to IHOP, pajama-clad and smiling!

This year, we kept the magic alive. But a lot has changed around the apartment!
We even had a "Christmas Eve", where we each got to open one gift.

Christmas Morning came along:

After we opened our presents, I decided to give Dusty an anniversary gift early.

I got him a vintage Guess Who game!
Not wanting to try and figure out a way to pack it and give it to him in Arizona on our actual anniversary, I gave it to him on our "Christmas morning".

Guess Who is one of the silliest and best parts of our dating relationship. For some reason, it was our favorite game to play together. And Dusty always won. 
I know it's hard to believe, but one time, we opened up the game, picked our cards, and he guessed who I had on the first try. He just yelled out a name and it was right.
Trust me. I was there.
In any case, they don't make the 1987 version anymore, so I found it used on Ebay. Now we have our very own! And we may have started a new Christmas morning Guess Who tournament tradition.
Which led to us being famished, and ready for pajama IHOP :)

We leave for Arizona in THREE days. It seems unreal that time has gone by so quickly, and that so much has changed since we first moved here.
We have invested in incredible friendships, creating lifelong relationships and fun memories. We've made our awkward apartment into a comfortable home, that's completely weird and quirky and totally us...we've grown in our relationship, loving and supporting each other in the most difficult of times. And we've gotten fat from food and happiness and silliness (thus enters the weight-loss competition).
But overall, it has been a wonderful year and a half. We are so excited to go celebrate the holidays with our families, and offer up cheers to a brand new year.
Unless the world ends on Friday.
But we'll play it by ear.

Oh yeah, and this is our apartment right now.

That's what happens when Dusty isn't in school anymore.

I don't think I've EVER been as Christmas-spirit-filled as I am this year.


In love,
Cait

Fall Treats: Caramel-Filled Apple Cider Cookies

Holy mamajama, I have found a taste of heaven.

If you love Fall, caramel, heaven, apples, sugar, meltiness, apple cider, crisp leaves, cold weather, and a hot cup of tea, this recipe is for you. 

Last night, the law wives had a cookie swap!
Our friend Stephanie hosted the event in her home, and we were all instructed to bring 5 dozen cookies of our favorite homemade cookie recipe.
I wanted to try something new and tasty, and I somehow stumbled upon this beauty on Scrambled Henfruit's blog. (I think I serendipitously met with it on Pinterest, via God's divine design.)

Caramel-Filled Apple Cider Cookies

If you love your family, or even if you just love yourself, make these cookies immediately.

They are so easy and delicious. Also? They MUST be eaten hot so you have a direct order to eat them right out of the oven.

Ingredients:
1 cup softened butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 box (7.4 oz) Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink Mix
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 bag of Kraft Caramels (14 oz)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.
3. Cream together the butter, sugar, salt and all 10 packets of cider mix, until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix well.
5. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture until just combined.
6. Refrigerate for about an hour (optional: but it makes it a lot easier to work with!)
7. Scoop out cookie dough (about a Tablespoon's worth) and flatten slightly into the palm of your hand, then press a caramel into the center and seal the dough completely around it.
8. Place onto the parchment-covered cookie sheets 2 inches apart.
9. Bake 12-14 minutes until very lightly browned. DON'T over-bake!
10. Once done, slide the parchment straight onto the counter and let cool. When they're beginning to firm but  are still slightly warm, carefully twist them off of the parchment and finish cooling them upside down.

I would alter step number 10, and edit it to "when they're beginning to firm but are still slightly warm, stuff them into your mouth."


This batch will make about 4 dozen, so you'll definitely have leftovers, unless you're really quick at eating a ridiculous amount of cookies, or you're having a party of people greedily waiting around the oven to eat them while they're still warm.

Once the cookies have cooled, the caramel will firm up again. So it's best to either microwave them, or (like the fabulous blogger from Scrambled Henfruit suggested) set them atop a steaming cup of tea until the steam begins to melt the caramel in a haze of poetic deliciousness.

I took them to the law wives cookie swap yesterday, and I won Tastiest Cookie!!

Can you believe it?? Out of ALL SIX people, I actually won.

Stephanie's home is absolutely wonderful. She has flawless taste. One of my favorite parts is this corner in her kitchen!

They made this little extra bar from scratch, and it now is the perfect place for a serving station.

I also love her anthro-chic shelf above it!

She had homemade whipped cream for our hot chocolate, and let's just say, we were all on a sugar high.

She even made goodie bags of fresh pomegranate chocolate bark.
Best hostess award.

 And I am now much happier at work.

 What a great night!

I hope you all try the Apple Cider Cookies -- and if you do, let me know how addicted you are!

In love,
Cait