#27 Read the Sookie Stackhouse Series

I actually "finished" this series a couple weeks ago but I've been a major slacker when it comes to updating this blog. I'm so glad to be done with it, at least until the next book comes out. Honestly I really enjoyed it at first, but it really is a long series in the sense that there are sooo many books. Yes, they are all short, quick reads. But I honestly found myself getting bored with them after a while. They all follow the exact same pattern and after a while I started to feel more like I was reading them to be able to finish them, then reading them and really enjoying them.

So yes, they were decent and I will probably read the next book in the series...but they are definitely not the type of book that I'd recommend to a friend and say that she just HAS to read them. I'm glad that I'm at least to a point now where I have to wait to read any future books in the series. Maybe these books are best when spaced out over a longer period of time???

#26 Beat my NBC challenge score

In the summer of 2009 I participated in an online seasonal reading challenge. Basically there are a variety of categories all broken up into different point values (5, 10, 15, and 25) with a possible total of like 400 something points (I don't remember the exact number). The whole point being to expand your to be read list and to maybe try reading some books outside of your normal reading genera and possibly discovering new books/authors you love. The SuBC was my first ever challenge and I managed a grand total of 235points over a 3 month period.

I'd been itching to do another challenge, but it just never seemed to work out time wise for me. However with me no longer working I've found that I definitely have a bit more time on my hands to read (even with the addition of pregnancy related reading being included in the mix). I figured now was the perfect time to participate because life is about to get a whole lot more hectic for me in just a few short months.

I didn't "win" the challenge (the first 5 finishers get to pick the 25pts tasks for the next challenge). However I did manage to beat my previous score and finished in 10th place with a grand total of 255 pts--and I managed to meet my goal of reading 50 books (52 to be exact!) books in 2010!

December's Us Photo

Taken on my 27th birthday at lunch with our family. It was so nice having Rick's parents in town to spend the weekend with us :)

November's Us Photo

Us taking a little break from our black Friday shopping extravaganza. Poor Rick, he'd been up since midnight when I dropped him off at Target to wait in line (he really wanted a new tv and we knew he'd have to get there early to snag it).

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

I've heard such great things about the pioneer woman's recipes, especially her cinnamon rolls, so I thought I'd give it a try. I've been craving them for a while and just haven't made my way to cinnabon yet. I was really hoping that these would do the trick and I'm happy to report that they did. I know it seems like an awful lot of steps and a lot of work just to make these...and yes, I was pretty exhausted by the time I was done but I think that has more to do with my big ol' baby bump and not so much the recipe (honestly it doesn't take much to make me tired these days). If you've never made cinnamon rolls from scratch before I'd highly recommend this recipe. It was my first time too and I was totally pleased with the final product. It made a ton and although I couldn't justify eating more than one (since I saw the amount of sugar and butter that go into these things) it was great to send Rick off to work with the rest-- they were a hit!

Velvety Pumpkin Soup with blue cheese and bacon

It's finally starting to feel like fall in San Diego, and I couldn't be happier as it only encourages my slight obsession with all things pumpkin (especially pumpkin spice lattes, yum!). I found this recipe online and was a little unsure. I've never had a pumpkin soup before but after reading the reviews I thought "why not?!". I followed the recipe almost exactly, except I subbed green onions for shallots and I used brown sugar instead of molasses. Overall we enjoyed the soup very much. I will say it was a little different at first and it took me a couple of spoonfuls before deciding just how much I liked it. We ate it with flaky pillsbury layers biscuits which I'd say is a must! Soo tasty and we ate it again the next night for dinner as well which I'd say makes it safe to say it was good :)

Ingredients

• 2 (15 ounce) cans pumpkin
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 6 slices bacon
• 1 cup crumbled blue cheese

Directions

1. Stir together the pumpkin, chicken stock, half-and-half, shallot, molasses, butter, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and cayenne pepper in a large stockpot over low heat; simmer 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, place bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and cook until crispy; remove to paper towels to drain, then cool and crumble.
3. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with bacon and blue cheese.

Amount Per Serving Calories: 420 | Total Fat: 31.9g | Cholesterol: 61mg

49. Bake cookies for dh to take to work 3x

I love baking. There is just something about being in the kitchen that I find so relaxing. And honestly nothing means more to me than making something with love and having people enjoy it and say how yummy it is. I took advantage of Halloween and used it as an excuse to get in the kitchen and make all sorts of yummy treats for my hubby to take to work to share with his co-workers. I admit I cheated a little bit by using two packages of Pillsbury holiday cookies, but the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and candy corn bark I made myself completely from scratch. It was a fun, yet exhausting time in the kitchen as I baked for about 4.5 hours. Not an easy task when you barely have the energy for two hour outings :)