In case you thought we forgot about you, we didn’t! I just didn’t get around to doing a Christmas letter this year. The holidays came and went so fast! Once on break, I ran around finishing my Christmas shopping. I also got to have lunch with my cousin Brandon. He ended up being able to come home from the army for Christmas so it was nice seeing his face around here again. Brad’s grandpa has been battling Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease for a few years and got to spend Christmas with Jesus this year. He passed away on the 29th and we jumped on a plane early Christmas morning to be there with his mom and grandma. We spent a week in Texas for the memorial service and to help get some things done around the house for Memaw. And now back to work we go! We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a year full of blessings in 2010!

Finally cooler temps have reached Arizona! There is a special place in my heart for rainy days and when there’s a little breeze to blow the cool air through the windows it’s icing on the cake! Perfect for baking today. Although I haven’t gotten my decorations out I do plan to get them out later tonight or tomorrow. A month of Christmas decorations is simply not enough for me! So as I write this little post I am listening to Christmas music at www.pandora.com. (Side note- if you haven’t check it out you should, I love it!) While Elf was playing in the background I took advantage of this nice weather and turned my oven on. In my quest for better health I changed my mom’s bran muffin recipe a little. I was a little nervous to make any changes since they’re so good! My mom’s been making them since I can remember and I have always loved them. Although they’re already pretty healthy, I’m trying to stay away from white flour and sugar as much as possible. Being healthy is just so hard sometimes. I’ve read several books so I feel like I know what to eat and what not to but it’s so hard to stick to for any length of time. Anyway, I thought I’d share the recipe on here since I love people sharing their recipe’s with me. Enjoy!

Bran Muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups shredded whole bran cereal (Kellogg’s All -Bran)
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup grape seed oil
2 eggs
1 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup raw honey
2 1/2 cups 100% whole wheat stone ground flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Soak bran cereal in buttermilk for 5 minutes. Then add oil, eggs, nectar, and honey.

Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl, then mix into batter.

Scoop into muffin cups until about 3/4 full.

Bake for 16 minutes and allow to cool in muffin stone (or tin) for 5 minutes before removing.

*I use a muffin baking stone instead of muffin tin.

I made these this afternoon and Brad thought they were pretty tasty! I love baking when it finally falls back into the double digits, but want to keep it healthy. With just the two of us any sweet treats will be gone in a few days, lol! Here is the recipe if you want to try them yourself.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (softened)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup raw organic sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups stone ground whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 3/4 cups rolled oats

1/4 cup ground flax seed

1 handful chopped walnuts

1 cup dark chocolate chips

*You can add any other nuts or dried fruits if you want.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugars. Then add eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda, and salt.

Combine the two mixtures.

Mix in the oats and extras (one ingredient at a time).

Drop by spoonful onto baking stone or greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.

Let cool 5 minutes before removing from baking stone.

Enjoy!

So every few months I think I should really post something on here once a week. Then I think about our day to day lives and wonder if it’s really interesting enough to write about, lol. It takes an amount of creativity to make the little things intersting for others. The silly things we laugh about may hold no humor for you, especially considering I am with 7 and 8 year olds all day. My humor is a little skewed, lol! If and when I devote a post to such a thing- sorry! Anyway, although I don’t have much time I thought I’d post a few updates. Here they are:

Brad just got back from 4 days in Chicago at a printing trade show.

Nala and I survived without him, but did miss him a lot!

Nala has allergies. We’re thinking to grass. So for now she’s getting a bath twice a week and Benadryl stuffed in cheese. Hopefully the allergies will go away when the grass dies in the winter. If not, this could get expensive.

My cousin Brandon is home from the army. Before he goes he’s coming by my school for my students from last year to meet him. We wrote letters to him from time to time and in their eyes he is our little hometown hero. We’re all so proud of you Bear!

Some co-workers and I started a bunko group. I am hosting this Thursday. Should be lots of fun!!!

I am trying to get more connected at church so I am doing a women’s bible study by Beth Moore. I love the study and Beth Moore, however, getting connecting and meeting new people takes effort. I just wish I was “connected” already. That’s another blog for another day though.

This week I bought my ticket to go to North Dakota for a week over my October break. I am so excited! I haven’t been back forever and am hoping the weather will be chilly, but not freezing. I am excited to see all the family I haven’t seen for a while. However, I know it will be sad visiting Grandma Judy and Papa Rogers graves. Sometimes I still forget she’s gone. I’ll go to call her to see if she wants anything from Starbucks or if I can bring dinner by. I get out my phone and then realize she’s not home, it’s not even her house anymore. Grandma I know you’re finally healed, but it doesn’t make me miss you less.

I will try to be a better blogger but for now I am off for a walk in this lovely weather with my Aunt Tobey.

Have a blessed week,

Nicole

Going into my 5th year of teaching, I am feeling quite a bit less stressed than I have in previous years. Usually I am worring about getting butcher paper up, pencil boxes filled, and names written across name tags. However, thanks to my sister helping me at the end of last year and a little bit last week I am more prepared than ever. And it feels great! Without a masters program on my plate, I am excited to just focus on my class this year. I have a hard time focusing on too many things at one time. I like all my eggs in one basket or as close to that as possible anyway. The only thing I am a little nervous about this year are my students. Last year I had the sweetest group of kids in the whole school. Okay, I may be partial but honestly they were WONDERFUL! The best part was I didn’t have that group of students who ruin things for everyone. There’s usually at least one or two in each class that somehow turn a great activity into trouble. It was nice and even the kids noticed we didn’t have any bullies in our class. They were just a great group of kids and I’m not naive enough to think I will get a group like that again this year. However, change is good and I am excited for our new 2nd grade team! All in all I am excited for this school year and thankful to have all my eggs back in one basket! Here’s to the 2009-2010 school year!

After seeing the longest movie ever, (Transformers) we spent the rest of the day over at Brad’s parent’s house. It’s become a tradition for Laura, Jorge, Noah, and Mia to come out from California to spend a few days in this Arizona heat for the 4th. So we hung out in the pool, John BBQed for dinner, and then we had our own private fireworks show by Laura and the kids. Below are a few pictures. Laura said I couldn’t post the ones of her in a see through swimsuit so I had to take those out- sorry to disappoint!

I started painting the downstairs bathroom maybe a year ago, one of the many things left untended in my life for the past year but that’s a whole different blog! Anyway, it has remained half painted and undecorated for that long. I knew I needed to do it but was burnt out on painting. Can you blame me after all I’ve painted in the last year or so?!  So yesterday I finally got motivated enough to get it done. I have not been real motivated lately. I want to finish decorating the house but that requires $$$ that I shouldn’t be spending right now. So I decided to do what I could and finish the bathroom. I had already started painting the green which I really liked. Then my Aunt Tobey picked out the shower curtain when we were at Target the other day. Upon digging in my decoration closet I found the print that’s hanging on the wall. Which was totally perfect since it has little leaves painted on it just like the ones in the shower curtain. So all I really had to buy was a frame which was 50% off at Hobby Lobby! God you are good! I now like our downstairs bathroom and am debating using the green somewhere else in the house. Anyway, hope you like it.

As most of you know, I am not typically an organized person. However, taking masters classes and working this past year have brought it out in me. Out of my need to be more efficient with my time, I now also feel the need to be more organized- EVERYWHERE. It started in my classroom. I started cleaning out files and putting them into binders so it’s easier to find what I want. I even brought all my files home over the summer so it will be done by the time school starts again. I haven’t started yet though, ha! Next I moved to our pantry which was in desperate need of some cleaning and organizing. Soon after I attacked our closet and the word attacked is completely appropriate here. It was a MESS! By the time I was done my car was full of clothes and shoes to be donated. Then last night I cleaned the office up and organized the closet in that room too. I wish I had taken a before and after shot. I have no idea how so many boxes fit in that closet, but they’re all out int he hallway now (next project). Now Brad just had to finish putting our computers back together and I can vaccum and finish cleaning. Woo hoo! I also have a big basket of papers to shred. Shredding is the reason I hate checking the mail. 8 out of the 10 things you get in the mail end up in the shredder and the odds are the other two go in the recycle. Nothing all that exciting seems to come in the mail anymore, just bills and credit card applications- no thanks! So slowly but surely I am getting our house more organized.I just feel so much calmer when things are neat, clean, and organized. Too bad I’m not one of those naturally organized people!