Fondue For You

I bought a fondue set years and years ago during college.. but have never used it. I needed denatured alcohol for the little burner and I never really knew or cared where to get one. (hah) But finally, I decided I wanted to use it. So, I bought everything I needed and set it all up. I wanted to make a special dinner for Tim tonight.. something fun and different - and fondue sounds fun right? =) He was a great host during Thanksgiving break... and a wonderful helper for everything and anything. I couldn't have asked for a better hubby. =) (Puke if you must, I know it's cheesy) =) Oh well. hehe

So, fondue it is.

Tim was pretty surprised when he saw the setup for dinner.. =)

Forget using the picks! I can use my hands!! haha

Thanksgiving Vacation: Success! =)

Thanksgiving has come and gone! Most of my family left this morning. The only one left at our apartment is my brother Herman right now. It was so much fun having my family around this week. We loved seeing the little kids play together (that was so insanely cute!). We enjoyed each others' company and ate a lot. That's always a great combination right? =)

This was mine and Tim's first Thanksgiving and we really wanted it to be memorable for my family. I made a number for things for the meal with help from my hubby. =) For starters, Tim made his special Caesar Salad. That was really delicious. For appetizers/sides, I made a caprese salad, roasted asparagus, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and fruits with fruit dip made of homemade whipped cream and strawberry yogurt. I was pretty excited to make things for the first time like mashed potatoes and the gravy! They all turned out pretty yummy =) I was really happy that they turned out nicely =)

And of course, the turkey... I was very excited to make the turkey. I've never really been a fan of turkey and my family too, are not big fans. So... making a turkey that would be enjoyed by everyone was my challenge =) hehe I was very very happy to see and taste the turkey! It turned out really good and my family loved it. It was really nice to see everyone get more of everything and then to see barely anything left of the turkey!! =) It was awesome to have no leftovers!! I think everyone really liked everything - which definitely gave me a great feeling. I really loved this Thanksgiving.

For dessert, I made a pumpkin pie and marshmallows... both I've never made before. And both turned out pretty yummy. =) hehe Tim made some Arabic tea after dinner, which was a perfect way to end the evening. It was so fun to see everyone, especially the kids enjoy the desserts. One of my nieces has many food allergies and I made the marshmallows especially for her to enjoy. It was cute to hear her say "yummy!" after tasting it. hehe I love my nieces and nephew. They are too cute for words! I really loved this Thanksgiving and I'm so thankful my family visited and spent it with me and Tim.

Throughout the week, Tim and I cooked a lot of food for everyone. I think my family was pretty surprised that I could cook for them. Heheh That was a cute reaction to see. =) All in all, this was such a refreshing vacation with my family. It was so nice to have them see our apartment for the first time and to be able to relax and enjoy themselves here in Illinois.

Here are my cute nieces and nephew. I loved loved loved being able to play with them this week. I miss them all already! The apartment is so quiet now! hehe
Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving:

Inay (my mom) and her boys

The Whole Group!

Waiting around for dinner while Tim and I finish getting things set up

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Our First Thanksgiving Meal!

The appetizers/sides

Can we eat yet??My brother-in-law took some awesome photos =) *yay!*

My special homemade marshmallows!

We are both so grateful to the Lord for all of the blessings in our lives.

Our First Christmas Tree!

Tim and I decorated our tree tonight =) (right before visitors arrive! haha) We did some last minute cleaning and then had some fun decorating. Throughout the months that Tim and I have been married, I realized something about us... we are both very picky and detailed oriented about everything (from cleaning to tree picking to decorating, etc etc and everything else!). But we love it and we love the end results, so we're happy =)

My family from California are coming into town tonight and we're very excited - we're just waiting for them to arrive. We're both pretty excited to see my niece and nephew. It's been awhile since Tim has seen them (it was at the wedding!). And I guess, Lily is very excited to make purple cupcakes with me. I told her months ago that we would make them and she hasn't forgotten! Smart girls I have for nieces!! =)

I went grocery shopping today for the week. Crazy stuff. The cart was so heavy! =P haha I went to Walmart yesterday and it was pretty crazy. People everywhere.. so I thought today would be pretty bad, but I went prepared and on a mission. hah I was out of there in the time I told myself I would. Wish me luck on making this week's Thanksgiving meal. =) hehehe

Here's our finished Christmas tree!

We Have Our Tree!

Thanksgiving is this week already?? =) Yuppp... and my family from California are flying in tomorrow night. I went to Michigan for work this past weekend and after the long drive back - Tim and I wanted to get our Christmas tree last night. We invited my brother, sister in law, and niece to help us =) Samara was so cute at the tree place. She lovvvess Christmas trees and lights. She was so adorable when she was walking around in her sing song way. Too cute. I'm gonna miss her a ton when they leave for the Philippines!

Tim and I got the perfect tree. We're pretty excited about our first tree =) We set it up and put the lights on it once we got it in our place. We're gonna finish decorating it tonight before everyone arrives.=) This is my first time having a real tree. Looks lovely. =)Our Tree!

Daisy's Birthday Weekend

I consider myself a blessed person - I have a great hubby, family, and friends. I really think I have a great life with wonderful people in in that I'm very grateful for. One of those special people is my friend Daisy. My friends (and their significant others) celebrated her birthday this past weekend in Chicago. My girlfriends and I have been celebrating each girl's birthday for 3 years now.. each one special in their own way. Sometimes some can't make it, which is understandable - but we all know that we try hard to attend. This time, we all made it for her birthday (and we haven't all been together since mine & Tim's wedding) .. so this was a great celebration. We were all pretty excited about it many weeks before the actual weekend =) I love how when we get together - somehow there really is magic. And I don't mean to be cheesy, I really don't, but there is that aura that surrounds everyone that just makes things fit. It's a great feeling. And we have a ton of fun together. We laugh almost 98% of the time we're together, and really, if you haven't hung out with all of us before, you would laugh too. It's just a great time for everyone.

This birthday celebration actually included some of the girls' significant others (which meant more taxi cabs! heh) This was different because most of the times it would just be us girls or us girls and Michael. This was great. It was a lot of fun to have everyone together. Over the years that we have been doing this - it's always nice to see that everyone is changing and growing up - but it's always comforting that we can all still laugh and have a great time together no matter what.

I made a 3 layer red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting for Daisy and it turned out to be a big hit. Most of it was eaten on Friday night, and it was definitely devoured on Sunday morning. Made me happy =) I love that my friends eat! Makes for good times! =)

Minnesota!

Tim and I flew out to Minnesota last Wednesday to visit his brother Jalal and sister in law, Mary. We flew out of Ohare to Minneapolis to a small airbort in Hibbing then finally to a smaller airport in Thief River. It was my first time riding a propeller plane (I'm not even sure what the right term is for them).. but anyway.. they are loud.

Our trip was fun. We hung out with some of their friends a couple of times.. a nice dinner... a nice campfire.. good times. We also helped worked on their house too. They're making a sidewalk to their house and on the side.. so we helped dig, etc etc. I'm not sure if I was that helpful/useful... hahaha

We celebrated Mary's birthday on Saturday. Her sister surprised her and drove up to Thief River - so we all hung out that night for dinner and a movie at home. Mary's reaction to seeing her sister at Macy's was pretty funny. It was a really nice trip. I can't wait to see them again. =)

November already!! This month is packed on mine and Tim's agenda.. but we're enjoying it =)

Here are some more photos from the trip:

House Guests =)

I'm pretty sure October isn't supposed to go by this fast!? Heh But yeah, this month has gone by so quickly - mine and Tim's travel plans definitely made October fly by. This past week, we had my sister-in-law and niece over at the apartment. My brother was out of town for work and Tim was actually out of town for work too for a certain point. It was nice to have company during the week, especially a very cute two-year old! =) When Tim came back, he got to hang out with Mara for a bit at home. I'm pretty sure he loved it.

Also, I carved my first pumpkin this week too. I attempted years ago but never really carved it 'cause I thought I'd cut my fingers off. Hah This time, we had better tools. My brother's friend brought over some pumpkins to carve for Mara... and my sister-in-law and I carved one of them too. It was pretty fun. I think I'll try it out next year, we'll keep our pumpkins "uncarved" this year. =)

Tim and I had a great time this weekend. It was nice to just relax here together.. especially since we've been gone for weeks at a time. It was nice to relax, clean up the apartment, and do errands together. =) We bought a dining set today, that was actually really exciting =)

Here's Mara & Tim.. watching the Michigan game. =) Cute stuff!

In & Out and the Pumpkin Patch

I went to Texas last week for work, it was a really good training - learned a lot. I got back to Chicago on Friday night and I got to hang out with my friends for the night. That was a lot of fun. On Saturday morning, I took the Amtrak back home. I didn't really find out it was Sweetest Day on Saturday until I got in to Chicago on Friday... oops. Whatever. =)

Once I got home, I took an instant nap. I was just so tired from everything! One thing, I love love love our bed... and being away from it for a week, made it that much better! Tim took me to a pumpkin patch after our nap. It was very cute. It was my first time going to a pumpkin patch =) We had a lot of fun just hanging out on Saturday. We bought a bunch of small pumpkins and medium size ones to put by our door. Our place is getting more and more put together and it's festive too. =) heh It turned out to be a very sweet Sweetest Day for us. We also just went shopping for random stuff.. went to a Halloween costume store for a little bit. Didn't buy anything. We're not even sure what we're doing for Halloween. No biggie.

And today.. Tim left for a business trip. He'll be gone til Wednesday. We're both just in and out lately. =P It'll be nice when we head out to Minnesota soon =)

Our first Autumn as a married couple, =)

Me with our bigger pumpkins.
(We weren't in the mood to get gigantic ones)
We got 5 other smaller pumpkins too.

Hmm.. not sure if Tim really needs to buy this....hehehe

Mena's 1st Bday & Texas

This week went by really quickly. Friday night, Tim and I headed to his brother Joseph's place. We got to hang out and play with his kids. Soo cute=) I got to be Gabriel's bedtime story reader for a night. Cute kids are my weakness, seriously. =)

The next day was the 1st birthday party for Mena, another one of Tim's nephews. It was a really nice party... lots of good Arabic food. I was very excited to eat =) My plate was definitely full and I got more. Oy! =) Oh well, it was so good. I ate so much this weekend - ridiculous. Saturday morning, Katie (Tim's sister in law) made some scones and french toast for breakfast. I love love scones. It's one of my favorite pastries. Soooo much good fooood. Tim and I had a great time with everyone. It's been awhile since we have all been together. Too bad Tim's other brother and his dad couldn't make it to the party.

The birthday boy and his cake (or what's left of it!)

This morning.. I flew out to Dallas. Dallas Fort Worth Airport is so ridiculously huge. Anyway, I guess they got a bunch of new tollways here. And I decided to not purchase this pass thing at the rental car company. Bad idea. To even get out of the airport, you pass a toll! (Which I think is crazy) And you can't pay with coins. It automatically puts a hit on your license plate. Soo.. without a pass from the rental car company - each hit would cost me LOTS of money. Anyway, after hanging out at my hotel, I decided to get the stupid pass (which also costs me $8.95/day!). I had to drive back to the airport 'cause I couldn't just get it done over the phone (erRr) and then I waited forrevvverrr at the airport line (biggggggerrr ErrRrRr). Needless to say, I was very hungry and tired by this point.

Before leaving the hotel, I decided to use Yelp.com to find a restaurant. I usually use that site for any new city I'm in .. to see what people like around that area. I found a pizza restaurant called Cavalli Pizza. What popped out at me was this is a pizza place that is certified to make Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN).. which is considered the perfect pizza in Italy. Anyway, my favorite pizza place of all time is in Salt Lake and that was another one of those handful of restaurants in the US to be VPN certified. So, I definitely wanted to try Cavalli. It was really good! I tried their Diavola pizza. I had to pick out the tremendous amount of jalapenos on it though, I'm not really the biggest fan of those. But other than that, it definitely has that great fresh flavor that is pretty different from your Pizza Hut or Domino's. I still love Settebello's pizza more but this is still a great place for pizza. I was pretty excited about finding it... it made my annoyance to the Texas tollways fizzle.

Hanging out with a 2 year old

One of the perks of moving to Illinois after getting married... other than being married to Timmy, of course =), is that I get to hang out more with family. My brothers, sister in law, and niece are close by now. I have cousins in Michigan which is just a long drive away. It's really nice. Being out in Utah... it was a bit harder to see anyone at any given moment.

I love hanging out with my niece Samara. She's 2 and just full of energy and truly cracks me up. She's such a smarty and talks a lot. So entertaining and so cute. That's what's cool about 2 and 3 year old kids. They're always full of surprises. My family from California will be visiting during Thanksgiving. I can't wait to see my nieces and nephew play together. They really make me laugh. It's fun to hang out with them.

Samara =) One of the toughest and cutest 2 year olds I have ever met.