Tim and I are very careful with our money and rarely go on "dates" outside the home. When you're trying to save money, your dates become sitting on the couch watching all the seasons of Dr. Who, Sherlock, and Luther while eating leftovers OR when we have a chance to go grocery shopping together (doesn't happen anymore unless we go on the weekends as Tim's work/school schedule is so crazy), we'll get Jimmy John's and eat in the car…best date ever haha!

Yes, we are super classy :)

This past month we went to a local restaurant called Ricos to celebrate Tim's raise at work :) We decided to be risk-ay and get food with jalapeños in it :) Now, obviously we've both had them before, but Tim's only eaten them raw…and obviously hated it haha! We decided he needed to try them again :)

This is a heart attack waiting to happen! We went for fries covered in chili and fried jalapeños for an appetizer (the fries were excellent as were the jalapeños…the chili wasn't awesome).

Doesn't he look like a blogger??? :) Tim decided on a burrito; although, they were out of rice due to a recall? So, no rice on his burrito. He didn't really care for it.

I got this nasty lookin' thing haha! It had jalapeño peppers, pepper jack cheese…etc., on it, so you'd think it'd be spicy right? Wrong :( I was a bit disappointed. Overall, the food wasn't awesome, but the company was good :)

I guess our lesson learned is that cheaper, more delicious (and healthier!) leftovers or food eaten in the car is the best way to go :)

I've been meaning to post this for a few months and am just now getting around to it :) My friend Heather got me this pair of earrings for my birthday:

They came in the cutest little box, I almost didn't even want to open it :) I'm so glad I did though because I LOVE THEM! She got them from an etsy shop called LamFaTiTa. Let me tell you, this shop is awesome. Not only is the jewelry absolutely BEAUTIFUL, it's affordable :) I favorite lots of things on etsy, and I have boards on pinterest of things I love….my friend Heather and my sister know me well, because those are normally the first places they look if they want to buy me something. I've been lucky enough to receive a few items that I've either "loved" on etsy or pinned on pinterest :) Do yourself a favor, check her shop out and buy something cute for yourself! Then go on pinterest and end up doing nothing else for the rest of your day! You're welcome.

Paesano's Pizza

Tim and I always try to go to new restaurants whenever we can. We would seriously travel to a different state to eat food if we hear it's that good. Paesano's Pizza is only in Traverse City, about an hour away from where we live, but we had read some reviews that it is a good place to try out.

This is definitely an Italian restaurant haha! What I love about it though is that it really feels like a hometown place. All those pictures on the walls are of people that have eaten there.

Normally when we try a new pizza place, we go for just a pepperoni pizza to see how good they really are. I mean, if their pepperoni pizza is good, then everything else will be. Well holy moly. This pizza was amazing. Super light and fluffy dough, and the breadsticks are the same. Super buttery and yummy. And that marinara, oh yum. It's definitely homemade, the perfect amount of tomatoey, oregano, garlic..etc., flavors. So good.

One thing I would have changed about this restaurant was the lighting. They had this sign right above where people eat that was red, making EVERYTHING red. Not the best lighting for anyone, and it makes for slightly horrible pictures haha.

If that's all that needs to be changed though, then that's fine with me! We'll definitely be back here as the pizza was great. Tim even said while it doesn't beat Big Al's, it's close. And he's never said that.

Snow Day!

 This past weekend I had planned on detoxing….but, of course, I waited too long to make my juice in the morning and started craving carbs. Muffins. Chocolate chip muffins. Blueberry muffins. And cranberry with orange zest muffins. So I made them.

 And fully enjoyed them. Probably about 8 of them...

 …while watching Dr. Who. We are finally finished with the spectacular episodes of David Tennant and Catherine Tate. I may or may not have a shed a few tears.

I just LOVE after Christmas sales, especially 70% off! Our home will be fully decorated in garland next year :) The garland is currently on our dining room floor because Tim was too lazy to take it upstairs…and the cat has been loving it.

 Pretty much all of Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin's schools were closed today. Tim and I went to leave separately for work this morning, and my wipers stopped working. So I got in the car with Tim so we could drive together, and we got stuck in the driveway. Tim finally shoveled the driveway (while the kitty watched), but long story short, our bosses ended up giving us both a snow day :) We immediately decided to go out in the awful weather (because we're NOT idiots…)and drive to Dunhams to look for some winter boots because mine suck, and gloves and a scarf for Tim. We may have seen an accident almost happen right in front of us.

 This is the dumbest picture of me in my boots since it makes me look like I'm only 4 feet tall, but I was SUPER excited to show them to you! They are made for -25 degree weather! And they have cute little white snowflakes on them :) When we walked outside, I could immediately tell the difference! Unlike before in my UGGs, my feet are now prepared for winter hiking :)

 Our next stop was to the Outpost, where I bought this super cute hat, and Tim bought his super manly scarf :)

We also went to Kmart where I found the above wintry sweater in the men's section :) I absolutely LOVE it! It's super soft and warm and made of wool.

After we got home, I made up some pancakes and sausage with homemade syrup that I cooked for too long so it was practically like taffy. Super great. I'm now finishing up the last three movies in the Harry Potter series, and Tim just fixed my wipers:) 

What an AWESOME day off! They're calling for bad weather tomorrow too…maybe I'll have a four day weekend? :)

Christmas Day

I always start out each day around Christmas turning on our Christmas lights. There's just something so peaceful about Christmas lights. I wish I could keep them up year round.  I've also started my own Christmas tradition where I start Christmas morning out by watching "The Nativity". Best way to start out the day of when we celebrate Jesus' birth with a movie that portrays it so well.

 We planned on having Tim's sister and her two kids with us around Christmas, so I made sugar cookies with different colors of frosting for the kids to frost…they never showed up, so we have an abundance of cookies that we can't. stop. eating.

The first time I read the Hunger Games, I borrowed it from the library. Tim knew how much I liked the first book, so him being sweet, he bought me the second and third books :) Now a year later, he bought me the first one haha

 Tim and I decided a few years ago to keep our Christmas budgets to $50. We add to our Amazon/Etsy wish lists throughout the year so we know exactly what to get each other. It's nice having an idea of what you're getting, but I do miss the surprise presents too; although, I get a lot of those throughout the year :)

 I bought Tim three different comic books, one even signed by the author :) They're much more expensive than what he got me, so that's why he only got three gifts this year :)

More leftover cookies...

 These marshmallows are HEAVEN! They have just the right amount of cinnamon. You can buy them here

 Tim and I have a Christmas tradition of having a Harry Potter marathon :) And we can't forget the winter oreos! This year was special because we had Butterbeer! My friend Heather and I found it at the wand shop in Salem, and I saved it until today :) Not super awesome haha-it's butterscotch cream soda, so I'm sure you can imagine what it tastes like (super sweet).

Christmas overall was wonderful, and so were the eight days I had off :) I wish I could say I got a lot done, but all I really did was lay around. And it was awesome :)

Christmas with the family

Our entire family gets together 2-4 times a year even though the furthest family member lives only 1 1/2 hours away. Isn't that sad? We always have such a good time together too! This year, we started our family Christmas at 10am at my sister's home, and everyone brought something for breakfast. I hope we make that a tradition :)

Sam is such a great brother-in-law. He helped make/heat up a lot of the food :)

Rebecca's delicious french toast bake :)

I haven't had someone play with my hair in who knows how long! It felt SO good.

Apparently Micah loved the kangaroo I got for him haha! Rebecca said he's even fallen asleep with it a few times :)

John's going to be quite the artist when he's older (he already is!). He gets so excited if he gets tape, paper, a stapler…etc., for presents :)

My mom loves making cookies in a jar and giving them as gifts, and this year she gave me snicker doodles! I love them :)

Anna loves dancing :)

John was my first nephew, and I think he and I have a special bond. I hope we always have it even though he's getting older.

And here's my other favorite nephew, Micah :). I'm excited he only lives (literally) three minutes away-I can't wait to be able to watch him grow up :)