Bake-A-Thon

Well... I guess making mashed potatoes doesn't really qualify as "baking," but I thought it was noteworthy that Dave and I made them together.

We decided it would be a new and good addition to Christmas dinner this year. And they turned out so delicious!...even though I don't have a photo of the finished product.

The girls spent a TON of time in the kitchen baking all sorts of goodies.


These are the jelly rolls that are made every year. We didn't give them enough time to rise, though, and they all split :(. I tried my own version this year by making a cream cheese and apricot one. Yummy!

...and more cookies. These were a lot of work, but they're so worth it.

Houston's

I'm pretty sure that my favorite restaurant is Houston's. They don't have any locations in Tennessee, so it's a real treat whenever we get to go. Dave took me out to lunch here as part of my Christmas present.

I love the atmosphere... nice, but not too stuffy.

I could probably eat buckets of these french fries.. and then I'd get really sick. So, basically it's good that they don't serve them in buckets.

Aren't we cute?

Condo Reno

When Dave and I lived in Phoenix, we decided to buy a condo to live in. We lived there for a year, and we loved our little place so much that we decided to rent it out when we moved away to Nashville. We're about to get some new renters (hopefully soon :), so we decided to replace the tired old carpet with some brand new wood laminate floor (with the help of our dear friend Michael).

We ripped up the old nasty carpet and the carpet pad underneath.

Then we pried up all the wood strips around the perimeter (that had carpet tacks in them).

We went to Costco and bought 56 boxes of laminate flooring, and 6 installation kits.

I was so proud of myself for laying some of the floor. I look funny because I had to put a little pressure down by connecting end so that it wouldn't bend upward when I pounded the other end.

Here's the living room before...

And here it is in progress... but you can see how GREAT it's looking!

Dave also replaced both bathroom faucets. Here's the old one. If you click on the photo, you can see how yucky and corroded it is.

And here's the new fixture.

We had to take a break for a few days, but we should be getting back to work on Monday!

Kellner Christmas

Since we're spending Christmas (the traditionally celebrated date of the 25th) with Dave's family this year, we decided to have Kellner Christmas a few weeks early. I forget why my dad and sister are pointing at the tree, but they look like they're having fun.

My mom bought 2 battery-powered disc-shooting guns which provided much entertainment... especially for the men-folk.

The foam discs ended up ALL over the house.

Mom made an AMAZING roast (I forgot to take a photo) that took an hour longer in the oven than the butcher said it would (boo butcher). Meanwhile, Mom asked Dad to peel the potatoes and put them in boiling water to cook (to be used for mashed potatoes). Dad, never making mashed potatoes before, did not cube the potatoes, but put them whole into the water. Good thing Mom noticed, or else we would've waited a LONG time for our beloved side dish (or main course according to my sister).

A highlight of the evening was when Dave and Dad modeled some sleeping masks, and Dad couldn't get his to fit right. Meanwhile Dave had his on and didn't know why everyone else was laughing. I wish I could explain it better, but it was quite humorous.

Dave and I are high-fiving with our little starbucks gift-card holders... What a merry Kellner Christmas :)

More from the North

I really wanted to post this stuff sooner, but blogger was being difficult. Anyway, our next day in Eureka was quite lovely. We took a stroll downtown, and I brought my camera along.


We stopped at this coffeeshop...

And played spades for awhile (girls lost.. unfortunately)

We saw this really cool mural.

Then we drove by the famous mansion in Eureka. It's pretty and big... and pretty big.

Dinner

Here are the promised photos of our authentic Armenian meal:
Michael was barbecuing the marinated chicken and beef outside, while Shakeh was sauteing some dried bar-bar berries (kinda like cranberries) with some sugar.
She added some saffron to water, put it in the microwave, and let it steep for a little while. Then they strained out the saffron, and added the yellow water to a portion of the rice.


This was the finished product, and it was so delicious!

Eureka

Dave and I have spent the past few days in Eureka, California (which is so northern, that it's almost Oregon) with our old friends Mike and Shakeh. Yesterday we went golfing...
Then we went for a hike...

Which made us hungry for lunch (I had some of the best clam chowder EVER in a sourdough bread bowl) which we ate here...

After lunch we went to the beach...

And Dave taught Mike how to fly a stunt kite.

Mike and Shakeh made us a really great dinner too... I'll post some photos later :)

Soft Trees

I've been seeing Soft Trees on a lot of the blogs that I look at, and I think they're so cute! So, I decided to make some of my own. Here's the first attempt using white and tan cotton:

Second attempt using green felt:

I decided to change the shape a little bit, and I feel like I finally got the hang of it for attempt 3, 4 and 5 (also green felt):

Cute little trees.

I guess one is not enough...

I've REALLY been enjoying sewing recently, and consequently when we travel I go through withdrawals. So... for Christmas this year I went in with my parents to buy a sewing machine to keep at their house. And, yes, I'm already using it... even though it's definitely NOT Christmas yet. But you see, we're leaving their house on the 18th, so I must take advantage of my time now :).

The Glamorous Glamorous

Tonight we played a concert in Clovis California (which was really fun by the way), and they put us up in a hotel. We found these goodies (and much more) in our room awaiting our arrival! They looked too beautiful to eat...

Well, ALMOST too beautiful..

This one was seriously the ultimate Hoho.

Oh the glamorous life of a rock star :).

My Little Protege

Some friends of mine just sent me this impossibly cute video of their sweet daughter singing some of my new songs... you might recognize classics such as "Fly Away," and "Small."