Christmas decorating

Conrad, hanging lights at my parents' house.

Jasper, my family's dog, pouncing and searching for lizards to play with.

How to Remodel Wood Furniture

Last week, my brother had the week off from school, so he took the train from LA to San Diego and spent the week with us, and we all drove up together the day before Thanksgiving. While he was here, he helped me with a pretty big project. Remember how I had something planned for the hutch? I finally revamped it, and I love the way it turned out.

Before

After

Here's how I did it:

Materials Needed - electric sander, sandpaper, whitewash, paintbrushes.

Almost all of the work was in the sanding. Even with the electric sander, it took at least 3 hours. Plus, it was pretty loud. Luckily, we were doing it on a day the gardeners were there, so they drowned out our noise.

 

Once it's sanded completely, dust it off well, and paint, stain, or whitewash it. I went with whitewash, because I really am having an obsession with distressed whites.

It was extremely easy. I stuck my poor little brother with most of the sanding, and then I helped paint. Painting a large piece of furniture is easy and fast, because once you've finished with the first layer, you can almost immediately start again in the spot you started.

It's a fairly fast project, and as long as you have the electric sander, not too laborious.



 

Tryptophan: 1; Tess: 0

I'm in a calorie coma. Like, so bad that I fell asleep and missed all of my [non-immediate] family as they left. We had all the goodies. Turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce, biscuits, and a few others. Pie, of course. Pumpkin, cherry, and pecan.

There are a few things I've learned about Thanksgiving since becoming a [sort of] grown up:
1. Dark meat is better. It's more fatty, which means its moister and better tasting. White meat, no matter how you cook the turkey, is dry and bland.
2. Cranberry sauce goes with everything. Glob it on.
3. Having a hodge-podge of guests is fun. Better, even. Invite people who might not have family to be with. Invite that crazy lady from your ward. Invite your obscurest family. The regular crew is always good, but it is what it is: regular. Some new faces and stories will make even the smallest party more lively. Plus, they'll be really thankful for the invite.
4. Bigger plates.
5. Tryptophan in large doses makes you tired. But you'd have to eat a whole turkey to get the proper amount. What really makes you tired is the intake of thousands of calories. Your body is working to digest. There's actually more tryptophan in a chicken breast than in the typical amount of turkey on my plate.

Yesterday I made Oreo truffles which turned out great. They were a huge hit. Then this morning I made the Crispy and Thin Potato Bake, which also got eaten really fast. Personally, I thought it was bland. Maybe if I ever make it again, I'd make it more au Gratin style, with a creamy cheese sauce. Everything's better with a creamy cheese sauce.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Here's a little something to make you feel better about how much you ate.

Headstart on Christmas

Conrad and I were going to get each other the same gift this year. He caught me in the act of making it, so the surprise was ruined, but at least now I can share it without worrying about him seeing.

We've been married almost 3 years, and still don't have a wedding album. We never got our pictures printed! So I had the pictures printed, put them in an album, and have officially begun my Christmas shopping. It was really wonderful to go through all the pictures and remember how happy I am that that day happened.

Anyway, when we first got married, we only posted reception photos and photos of the wedding party - all taken at my parent's house. We never posted the pictures from the temple, probably because they were all on an unmarked disc that went from box to box during 5 moves.

Here are some of those pictures.

 The Wilkinson grrrls.

 Conrad giving my Nana some sugar.

 Nana was a little emotional. This is her and my dad.

 My mom and Conrad's mom.

 My brother Ryan and me.

 My brother Lane and me.

 The Wilkinson kids.

All the things

1. School started. I'm taking this semi-joke of a class that is mandatory before I can begin taking my real classes. So there's that. I've been keeping up. I've also registered for next semester. I'm finishing my degree online, so I'm a little worried about how responsible I'll be.
2. I've been working hard on my new business! I went office-shopping this week, and found a facility I really like. Now all I need to do is get a business license, a fictitious name license, do tons of marketing and professionalizing, take gorjuss head shots for my website, flood my schedule with more tutoring clients, and I'll be good. Except I won't have time to blink.
3. The kids I tutor are great. Such a fulfilling way to make money.
4. I've been making a good effort to make healthy meals at home, but that means I run out of food. Why can't my fridge and pantry restock themselves?
5. Conrad and I have done some fun stuff together: Led Zeppelin 2 concert at the Belly Up in Solana Beach (which was a riot), eating out at yummy places (hey, I can't cook every night), and being besties.
6. Planning lessons for Young Women. The lesson material is easy. What gets me every single Saturday night is making treats. I never think about it in advance, which leaves me making something really fast like rice krispy treats with some cereal other than rice krispies because I forgot to go grocery shopping.
7. I bought a bunch of books on amazon, and have no time to read them.
8. I'm determined to exercise more, but I don't really like to work out with people seeing me. So I've chosen a buddy (who I've permitted to see me work out, obviously), and early in the morning before work, we're going to work out at the high school track. No one will be there. It will be cold and awful and great.
9. I'm getting irrationally excited for Christmas. I can't wait to decorate my house. I've even make lists of presents for Conrad, certain siblings and siblings-in-law, and of course, myself.
10. Ninners is well. He makes noises and scurries around and lets me pet him aggressively. But man, does his cage get dirty fast. He's a little poop pellet machine.

Life is good. I love being busy.

Thanksgiving Breakfast

Everyone knows about Thanksgiving Dinner, but what about the neglected morning meal? We'll be at my parents' house this year, and I thought it'd be fun to make breakfast for my family. Here's a few menu ideas.

Creme Brulee French Toast with berries

Potato Ideas: Thin and Crispy bake

And potato rosemary au gratin

Perhaps a frangipane tart

Spanish Hot Chocolate

Monte Cristo Sandwiches (Ham, turkey, and cheese between 2 slices of french toast with jam and powdered sugar)

And for snacking throughout the day: Rustic owl cookies

Oreo Truffles

Car Kit

I just put together a car kit, which is something that should have been done a long time ago, but I just got around to.
Here's what's in it:

• Box with a lid
• Cash - $20 or as much as you think might be appropriate 
• Hand sanitizer
• Notepad, pens, pencils
• Book or magazines
• Jumper cables
• Feminine products
• Change of clothes (shorts, t-shirt, socks is fine)
• Plastic grocery bags
• Blanket or towels
• Basic first aid kit
• Toilet paper
• Sewing kit
• Ibuprofin
• Wet wipes
• Flashlight and batteries or crank flashlight
• Snacks (trail mix, granola)
• Bottled water

Everything you need is easy to attain, and all relatively cheap. I think the most expensive thing was the jumper cables, which were under $40. All of these things are really handy to have.
When we got to the airport after our trip, we got to our car, and a light had been left on, so the battery died. We couldn't start our car, and it was 11:00 at night. If we had the car kit, we would have been able to start our car with the help of someone else. Instead, we had to wait 20 minutes for a guy to come up to the 7th level of the parking structure and jump start our car for us. 
Moral: be prepared.

Trip to the South

The grossest picture of me. Ever. I had to share. 

River Street in Savannah.

 Farmer's Market in Burlington, NC. Bought pumpkins.

The Malibu - the car we rented

 Conrad and his cousin standing in the Atlantic ocean

This trip was so fun! We loved seeing our friends, the Wessmans and the Kirkhams. I love traveling with my husband.