Hot-lanta.

After getting off the ground in Phoenix about 30 minutes late, we landed in Atlanta praying for a miracle that we would make our connection. Our hopes we momentarily dashed when we walked out of the gate and inhaled a ton of smoke. I begged the ticketing agent to call the gate to hold our plane (you have not because you ask not) and walked away feeling somewhat defeated at the wall of smoke and the gentleman from the fire department informed us they weren't going to let us go through. When the smoke cleared we made a made dash for the train to take us to terminal C and made a mad dash up the escalators to catch our plane. We happily arrived at the gate with a plane sitting there waiting for us. Thank you Lord.

And now, I am going to pass out from exhaustion after traveling for 12 hours straight door to door, hopefully that will help me overcome the jet lag.

Merry Christmas

With love from, 

The Remsnyders

Spinach Dipped

Tis the season for holiday parties and holiday food. I made this spinach dip recipe for two parties and it was a huge hit (meaning I didn't go home with any leftover). After receiving many requests for the recipe, I am posting, courtesy of Alton Brown at the Food Network.

• 1 cup thawed, chopped frozen spinach
• 11/2 cups thawed, chopped frozen artichoke hearts
• 6 ounces cream cheese
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Boil spinach and artichokes in 1 cup of water until tender and drain. Discard liquid. Heat cream cheese in microwave for 1 minute or until hot and soft. Stir in rest of ingredients, bake at 350 for 30-45minutes until heated throughout.

*As a note, I doubled the recipe, to feed a crowd.

And because I can, I love to give thanks for my dear man who has made this holiday season so special. Being on a much smaller budget this year, he has blessed me in sweet and unexpected ways and just being able to spend time with him is a gift in and of itself. He is one of my greatest delights. Aside from celebrating the birth of our Savior, Seth, your love is the most precious thing to me this Christmas season. Your joy and enthusiasm for life is contagious and I can't imagine life without you by my side.

What?!?

Today I put the socks and shoes away and broke out the Rainbows for one last wear of the year (at least until we go to AZ for Christmas).

It is December 10th and yes, it is 66 degrees in Maryland.

5.5.5

My sister, Caitlin tagged me...

One of our very first pictures of a semi furnished new house. When I look at this picture now I realized how far we have come and how it really does take time to really get settled. Here we are almost 9 months later and I still haven't finished painting the upstairs hall (to my shame, the blue tape is still up). 

So here goes, 

5th folder

5th picture

I tag Tess, Alycia, Emily, Jess Marc, and Hannah. 

And that is how it's done. 

Oh What Fun it is to Ride...

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays, hands down. Being married and having a house of our own has made it even more fun and memorable. This year we started a new tradition of cutting down our Christmas tree with the Garfield's. After several trips in and out of the house, two trips to the Home Depot (the boys had to each buy their own saws), and one trip to Starbucks we were on our way. Thanks to a good tip from a friend, we found the farm out in Mt. Airy and set out to find the perfect tree. 

Every couple needs their picture in front of their tree of choice. Don't mock us, until you do it.

Mel made the tree cutting look easy as they settled on their tree before we could decide on ours. 
I wasn't really prepared for our mammoth beast of a tree when Seth had finally finished cutting it down. 

Victory!

If only tying the trees to the top of the Jeep were so easy as finding the tree itself. 

Stop. We weren't more than two turns away from the place until all of a sudden our tree decided it was time to fall off the roof on the side of Rt. 27 with cars flying by at 50mph. Mel and I laughed as the boys hiked up on the hood of the car to fix the problem. What tree cutting experience would be fun without the tree falling off the roof at least once?

And what tree cutting experience would be fun without an underestimation of their size. Behold, our tree. (They really do look smaller on the field of a farm.)

The good news is, we chopped a foot off the top and rearranged the whole living room to make it work. 

Finally home. It really doesn't look so mammoth with the lights and ornaments on.

Our new tradition was a success, with the addition of several games of Rummikub for me and Mel, chili and nachos for dinner, and movies and popcorn curled up on the couch with the husbands. 

The End.