This week..

-- ended with a trip to Grand Island for an early Thanksgiving celebration with T's family! The above photo pretty much sums up all of our infatuation with Elle (I promise she was having more fun than it appears in this quick candid!) 6-months is such a fun age! Elle is getting up on to her knees and rocking back and forth like she is ready to crawl! She also finds joy in so many small things (trying new foods! standing up with assistance! smiles from dad!) Besides fawning over Elle, we watched the Husker game, ate a traditional Thanksgiving lunch at half-time, and then returned to watch the Huskers win. T made both pumpkin bars and pumpkin pies when he was home this week which were both delicious! We are so excited for this holiday season!

-- we unfortunately had to scramble for childcare! It sure made it sting that we do not live in the same city as our families! Our nanny needed surgery, and Elle is considered "heavy-lifting", so she is unable to care for her for a while. Thankfully, we found (what looks to be) a fabulous in-home daycare where our good friends' daughter also attends. Elle will have her first day on Monday. We're in a little bit of a tough spot - T used a lot of his PTO to be home with Elle, so, if she gets an ear-infection or other illness from being around the older kids at daycare, we are very limited on time to be home with her. However, if we switch back to our nanny full-time once she recovers, we are still nearly out of PTO if she needs any further days off. Life is definitely different with a baby!

xo,

Krista

HO3-- WEEK 21

This week..

-- we celebrated Thanksgiving with our families! (My family's holiday is the only one pictured because my mom is so great at documenting everything!) We spent Thursday in Omaha where T started the day with a Turkey Bowl with some friends from high school. We came home to no power! Thankfully, it only lasted a couple hours and then we were back to meal prep! We had a smaller crowd as none of my siblings were able to travel. But, after the meal and the annual Wind Symphony Holiday Concert at the Holland, we ended the day with the highlight - video chatting each of my siblings! Friday we were back to Grand Island as I was on-call. Of course it was a night when I was needed at the hospital from 2-7am. But we still made our plans to be on the road to Lincoln Saturday morning. We had another feast in Lincoln with T's family (prime rib! green bean casserole! cornbread dressing! cranberry salad! and our contribution - my family's pumpkin pie!). We couldn't have asked for a better weekend with our families! Now, time to get in the Christmas Spirit!

xo,

Krista

HO2-- WEEK 26

This week..
-- we enjoyed two Thanksgiving celebrations! We spent Thursday in Omaha with my family and Saturday with T's (love it when the two celebrations don't conflict!). We definitely at our fair share of turkey + gravy + mashed potatoes + sweet potatoes + dressing + green beans + cranberry sauce + frog-eye salad + rolls + pumpkin pie & apple pie. T was excited that the Cowboys won & my parents were excited about the Steelers. The 50+ degree weather was also welcomed - especially at T's Thanksgiving with younger kids. But the best part? Spending time with family! I think it made all of us excited for Christmas when even more of us will be together. We feel so fortunate!
-- we found a spot for our Christmas tree in our new home! We love our tree, unfortunately it is too large for this space too. With a little creative fluffing/smushing we're able to pull it snug against a wall and make it work. #worthit

xo,
Krista

HOI-- WEEK 26

Thanksgiving 2015               

This week we..

-- had a fabulous time celebrating with our families Thanksgiving - twice! 

-- started Thursday with a very cold, windy, and rainy Turkey Bowl football game. I delivered a baby earlier in the week so I swing over to the hospital to visit mom & baby and then caught the last hour of the game. Those boys will play at any temperature!

-- ended Thursday at my parent's house enjoying a fantastic, traditional Thanksgiving meal. We brought a wild rice pilaf and cranberry sauce. I'll post both recipes next week so I know where to find them in case I need them next year..

-- weren't able to watch the Husker game together because T had to work. But, we did spend the evening playing games with my family (Heads Up, Ubongo, dice, & Shanghi Rummy). Dad is determined to catch up to all of us at Ubongo...

-- had a fabulous second Thanksgiving with T's family on Saturday. We had a laid-back morning of cooking while I tried to beat his family at Upwords until T could join us after work. We love spending time with our families! We are so lucky!

-- put up the Christmas tree & lights in the windows (it's out best solution to by having an outlet out front!). It's bittersweet to think this will be the last time we decorate the tree in this house. It's been a good 4+ years!

xo,

Krista

SI-- WEEK TWENTY TWO

And the holidays begin! T and I packed in the fun this past week! Well.. this week started with an all-day board examination.. that was less than awesome. I really wasn't feeling it - so I just plowed through the 8 hour test and only stopped for a total of 13 minutes (in which I used the bathroom then ate a Jimmy John's sandwich and peanut M&Ms). 8 hours of complete focus is a long time. Plus you have to deal with all the testing center antics. You may not know, but when you take a test at these testing centers they are ridiculously serious about test security. I mean, I get it. I'd be upset if people were cheating on these exams. But you have to bring with a magic piece of paper with your testing reservation on it, a government-issued photo ID, take a picture at the testing center, leave a fingerprint, sign into the official book, flip out all pockets in your pants, flash your ankles, and be wanded head to toe (I assume it's a metal detector..?). You have to go through that whole routine any time you take a break during the test. I decided I'd rather be home earlier than take a break - hopefully my brain didn't go to mush from lack of breakage! I'll find out my score in a month or so..

But on to more exciting things! Thanksgiving Day begins every year with a (frigid!) game of football. This year was thankfully not terribly windy, but the windchill was about 10-20F for the 2 hours of playing time. T loves the Turkey Bowl -- and I love watching him play! He typically rushes on defense and often play quarterback or running back on offense. He rarely plays in the secondary (where he played in college!). This year was fancy with hot chocolate and doughnuts after the game.

We spent Thursday with my family. My parents cooked the majority of the meal but we all brought a little somethin'. There was a minor oven-smoking incident due to some rogue turkey broth that I'm sure my mom won't forget for a while.. but otherwise the day was great! I love that my mom *asks* everyone to go around the table and share their happy/sad. The only time we skip the happy/sad routine is when we are celebrating someone - and then we each share a memory of that person instead. My mom actually got us twice by having us all share again while we were eating dessert what we look forward to during the Christmas season. We always end the night at the Nebraska wind Symphony Christmas Concert at the Holland.

Friday, we were back at my parent's house to help hang the outside Christmas decorations and enjoy leftovers & raspberry pastries while we watched the Husker game:

After the game, we capitalized on the 50F weather and shot some trap over the river:

Saturday, we headed to Lincoln to celebrate with T's family! T supervised as they fried the turkey and Grams helped T learn how to carve it. Since the weather was 70F, we gladly volunteered to help hang the Christmas lights after dinner:

Finally, we ended the weekend by decorating our own place! 

December is our "basic science" month. I'll be spending the majority of my time in lectures reviewing important things like reading EKGs. I'll still have my own clinic, too, but just 1 afternoon per week. Should be a good month! Love you all!

xo,

Krista

M3-- WEEK TWENTY TWO

... HOW WE THANKSGIVING ...

TURKEY BOWL

(One of T's touchdown runs)

T snuck in a flag football game before we hit the road for Thanksgiving # 1. Don't let the bright picture fool you.. although the sun was out Thursday morning, the wind was ice (a constant 10-15mph) and the temperature was in the mid-20s. Thankfully I grabbed a blanket on the way out the door so I could sit on the sidelines to watch and not have to watch from the car :)

THANKSGIVING # 1

My pictures turned out horrible this year.. but we had our traditional Thanksgiving with T's family in Grand Island. Grams prepares the meal.. we study the Black Friday ads.. make our Christmas Lists.. watch the Cowboys.. and play with the kiddos. Then we hurried back to Omaha because T worked Friday.

THANKSGIVING # 2

We had a second Thanksgiving Saturday with my family. I requested a day in the kitchen.. and my wish came true! Dad was on turkey + gravy + potato + green beans duty. I spent most of my time making desserts, but also cranberry sauce and cornbread dressing (all new recipes!). We made a mid-afternoon run to Great Harvest Bread Company for some cinnamon chip bread and once again, R and I decorated the outside of the house. We spend about 60% of the time jacking around and 40% working.. it's a good balance :) 

THIS YEAR'S MENU:

+ Smoked turkey

+ Dad's gravy

+ Green bean almondine

+ Mashed potatoes

+ Cornbread dressing

+ Cranberry sauce

+ Cinnamon chip bread

+ Pecan pie

+ Chocolate layer pie

(Every year Mom and I scrounge to remember what we made the year before.. so this time I'm writing it down!)

Now, T and I are going to get a helping of left-over desserts, play some Christmas music, and put up our tree! Are your Christmas decorations up yet? Have a great week!

xo,

Krista

M2- WEEK FOURTEEN

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend. T worked both Wednesday and Friday, so we had to keep the festivities short & sweet.

First thing Thursday morning, T played in the Turkey Bowl with friends from church (a yearly tradition). He says it was by far the best weather he has ever played in. (T left the game after over an hour so we could get on the road to Grand Island- other years the game ends early because people can't handle the cold/snow any longer.)

After stopping at the gas station for a cream soda, we made the drive to celebrate with T's family in Grand Island. We were totally spoiled as Grams made all the food. Besides feasting, we watched a lot of football, glanced through Black Friday ads, and my favorite- looked at old pictures starting with T's Grandparent's wedding photos. T's cousins made it to town an hour or so before we left- so we squeezed in some fun and baby holding :)

The rest of this weekend we spent between our home and my parent's. Half of the pictures on my iPhone are of my brother doing random things and the other half are from the Husker game, playing cards, and decorating my parent's house:

Finally, the highlight of my Thanksgiving weekend is always putting up my tree.  T & I play Christmas music on Pandora (She & Him Station this year) and T is the one to put the angel on the tree. Like last year, we are keeping it simple with white lights and all gold ornaments.

22 November 2012

Happy Thanksgiving. 

M2- WEEK ELEVEN

Fall is here! We are:
+ wearing slippers on our wood floors
+ baking with squash (the recipe is scheduled to post Wednesday)

+ scraping frost off our windshields in the morning
+ giggling a lot
+ watching deer and turkeys graze in our backyard regularly
+ busy with school
+ now debating whether an elliptical would be better for us than a treadmill
+ watching lots of football
+ making sweets (well, T is making sweets. I shouldn't take any credit..)

+ eating scrumptious treats that are circulating around the neighborhood
+ excited to exercise our right to vote
+ incredibly thankful that we have a home that is dry, undamaged, and with power (prayers to the east coast!)
+ thankful that we both were blessed with amazing families that constantly teach us how to love, work hard, and be better versions of ourselves. 
+ thankful that we work and go to school with incredible people that are now incredible friends.
+ thankful that we have an awesome church community that supports and uplifts one another. 
+ thankful that we have cars (with heat!) that, although not glamourous, are reliable. 
+ thankful that we have Thanksgiving coming up to help us slow down and realize our many blessings. 

Thanksgiving week!

This week started like any normal week: class, studying, visiting my preceptor, etc. Tuesday night we had a fondue party with some of my friends from medical school and their fiances. There were three couples and we each brought a course. T and I brought the cheese :) I'll have to share the recipe my friend Dana used for the broth to cook the meat, it was delicious!

Sarah and Mike have a fancy fountain!

Then, Wednesday after class the week became even more awesome. We drove to Grand Island to spend Thanksgiving day with T's grandparents and Mom. We had all the traditional fixins: turkey, potatoes, giblet gravy, dressing, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, "green" salad,  rolls, and multiple pies.

Friday, Travis was back to work, and I headed to my parent's house to help decorate the outside of the house for Christmas and hang with Grandma Eberhardt:

Hanging over-sized ornaments on the trees

Grandma was there for moral support :)

Isn't she pretty!

 After my parent's house, I headed home so T & I could decorate our house for our first married Christmas!

Saturday, my family came over to our house for dinner and to celebrate Christmas early with Grandma Eberhardt. The menu consisted of pomegranate & apple salad, burgers on the grill, baked potato wedges, and chocolate souffle for dessert. I'll post the recipes separately sometime later this week.

My family is the best! They even help clean up afterwards!

Some of my favorite people ever!

We laughed a lot too 

After dinner, we played LCR until we were ready for dessert. Our poor neighbors! This picture is deceiving  because we are actually quite rambunctious and competitive!

Now its back to the real world for three more weeks.. then its Christmas break baby!! I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving! Travis and I have our last Thanksgiving activity tonight when I get back from choir-- reading what we were thankful for this year! Each night we each wrote down one thing on a slip of paper.. I am excited to see what we wrote!

Last November Post of 2011

Thanks Mom for the flowers!

I feel completely overwhelmed as I sit to write this post. Its the last one in November, and I know I have not even begun to scratch the surface on things I am thankful for. I've also listed such random things... not necessarily the things that I am most thankful for. But... I am going to get over it and write another (disorganized, but genuine) post.

Tonight, I am thankful for a husband who is simple to please. Want to know what food he craves? Sandwiches. He told me today he would be the happiest man in the world if I worked at Subway and brought him a sandwich each night for dinner. Simple, huh? He is so fantastic. I know we are only approaching six months, but he takes such good care of me! Even silly things, like cleaning the house. I am sure that I would survive if our place was cluttered and dusty, but he knows that a messy house adds to my stress, so he helps keep it nice. 

Though the cleaning is much appreciated, the most fabulous thing about Travis is his kind heart. I asked him what I should write about this week on the blog. Well, more specifically, I asked what I should profess to be thankful for. His answer? That all of our needs are met right now... and I couldn't agree with him more. It is so easy to focus on wants. I am sure we could all create gigantic lists of things that would nice/convenient/fun to enjoy. But we both agree, we are completely physically/spiritually/emotionally cared for. Could we ask for anything more this holiday season? Its fantastic! 

The leftover salad- YUM

So this wouldn't be the Stoecker Family Blog without mention of food, and we had some fabulous new recipes this week! But I am not going to share them.. yet.. because I plan to serve the same recipes to many of you all this holiday season! Saturday we had dinner at a friend's and we brought a pomegranate+apple+walnut salad and garlic+oregano+parsley rolls. They were both so delicious! So delicious, that we even ate the leftover-from-last-night-drenched-in-dressing-almost-too-soggy salad today for lunch. It was even better the second day. Our friends also introduced us to a hilarious comedian, Brian Regan. Check him out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiUsfEkVRDY 

The last thing I want to record, is some year-specific information so we can reread this 20-40 years and laugh.  This November, I am especially thankful for the following musical artists: Jon Schmidt, Ingrid Michaelson, Eric Hutchinson, and Michael Buble. They are my go-to artists on Pandora when I am not studying. And for fashion trends, I like: round scarves, tall boots over skinny jeans, and crackle topcoat nail polish. We have been watching the Twilight Movies (Travis is just learning about Team Edward vs Team Jacob), Burn Notice, Covert Affairs, Big Bang Theory, and The Sing Off. Oh, and I can't get enough teal and grey in my life.