Photos of Christmas Past

After reading Andy's post and looking at her "ancient" pictures of Christmas past I just had to pull out a few of my own!

Age 3

I don't remember this picture being taken but I want to say I was in Kindergarten?

This was taken in 1st grade. My sister was in preschool...I love her little dimple!

Fast forward about 30 years and I am preparing for today's festivities. My whole family will be here for Christmas Eve dinner. The day will be filled with cooking and baking as well as helping other volunteers in my town distribute and light 1,500 luminaries in our Historic District (in which we live). It should be beautiful and I am so excited my family will be here to see it!

Merry Christmas!!

Photo Reveal

So yesterday I went and renewed my driver's license. After all of my prepping the end result turned out fine. Not great but it could have been a lot worse....
...I always end up squinting my eyes when the camera flashes even though I continually tell myself not to. I think it's because I'm nervous and can't relax. And I would have been a little bit happier if my neck didn't look as thick and large as a quarterback's! I didn't realize my license has a 6 year life span. I thought it was 4....good thing I didn't know about the additional 2 years until after the fact...I would have been stressing that much more!!

In other news, today is my birthday (hence the driver's license renewal drama)....and I can tell it's going to be a good one! I can hear Hubby vacuuming away as I type. Gotta love that! The kids have a half day and then everyone is on vacation until the New Year. There are no huge plans for today. Maybe dinner out. Maybe a little shopping. Maybe a Christmas movie. But no matter what it will be a perfect day because I will be surrounded by my favorite people.

Spicing it Up

In honor of Cinco de Mayo we are spicing up dinner tonight and topping it all off with mock margaritas!! Arriba, arriba!!!!

Touchdown Taco Dip

1 can (16 oz.) refried beans

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 cup sour cream

2 Tbsps. taco seasoning mix

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 cup pitted ripe olives, sliced

1 medium tomato, seeded and diced

1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions with tops

2 Tbsps. fresh cilantro or parsley

Baked Tostitos

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread refried beans over bottom of round baking pan.

Combine cream cheese, sour cream, garlic and taco seasoning. Mix well. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over beans.

Sprinkle cheddar cheese over cream cheese mixture.

Bake 15-18 minutes or until hot. Remove from oven. Sprinkle olives, tomato, onions and cilantro over dip. Serve warm with Baked Tostitos.

Black Bean Salad

2 cans black beans

1 can corn

1 1/2 cups diced celery

1 1/2 cups red onion

1 red pepper

16 oz. jar of salsa

Lime juice

Rinse and drain beans. Add drained corn and mix together.

Add remaining vegetables and a splash of lime juice. Mix.

Toss with salsa. Chill before serving.