Until now, the hallway in our apartment contained one large very empty wall. I decided to tap into as much creativity as I could muster and make something with which to decorate that hallway. I am always frustrated with how expensive wall art is at stores, because I always think to myself, "You could make that yourself for so much cheaper..."
Christmas this past year was a little different for Nathan and I. It is the first Christmas we spent in Philadelphia and without our families. We were so blessed to have Nathan's family visit for Thanksgiving, which was really exciting. It was a great comfort to show them our apartment and home, and the city in which we live. We went to see an Amish village and the National Christmas Center, both of which were tons of fun.
Christmas was a little more difficult. It was tough to be so far away from home and our families in MN. We worked a lot (gotta love the retail schedule) and didn't have a whole lot of energy or money to plan anything extravagant. We didn't do Christmas presents, except for one very small (almost accidental) gift that we each got for each other. :) 
P.S. By far, my new favorite Christmas cookie recipe is Peppermint Snowballs. 
Nathan and I had a couple from church over for dinner one night, and I was so excited to make this Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake. It pretty much took all day to make, but it turned out great. Each layer is made one at a time, chilled, and set, before you chill the whole cake hours before serving. But it was worth it. It's really rich, but very light at the same time, and each layer has its own flavor and texture. I will definitely be making it again, maybe for Christmas.....I will have to add it to the list of about 50 desserts that are on the "possible Christmas dessert" list. :)
I have been knitting and crocheting since I was a little girl when my Grandma B taught me how. I have so many memories of her lessons and the different things I would come up with to try to make. When I was 12 it was headbands and belts that were the "cool" things I made, even though most of them looked awful. :) Now it is scarves, mittens, and sweaters in my file of patterns. A few weeks ago, I saw some scarves come in with a clothing order at the Christian bookstore where I work. My adrenaline level 
must have shot through the roof with how excited I was when I attempted to convince the manager of the store that I could knit a scarf just as beautiful (and for much less money) as the scarves that were ordered. I was absolutely thrilled when he encouraged me to bring my scarves in to be sold at the store. So, for the last few weeks, I have been knitting non-stop, trying to make scarves and mittens in time for the cool weather fast approaching.
to come up with a recipe to make two different kinds at the same time. So, as bold as it might sound, I wrote my own cheesecake recipe. I looked at a ton of recipes in my cookbooks and online and came up with a base that would work for both the oreo and white chocolate raspberry recipes and baked them in my muffin pans. I just needed to divide the cheesecake in half towards the end and add a couple of individual ingredients. I was really careful while baking them, and I discovered something that 
surprised me. Even though they were pretty much the same recipe (except for a couple of things), the oreo cheesecakes baked slightly quicker than the white chocolate raspberry. Go figure.....They were all delicious, but because they were so different, I decided they shouldn't be baked together. So, instead of one recipe, I have two now, and I kind of wrote them both myself, I guess...... :) Next time, I'll know what to do differently.
