Tis the Season

There is so much going on right now, which is precisely why I haven't written about any of it! Aside from the regular holiday fun of decorating, baking, shopping, wrapping, outings, and sewing (I've desperately been trying to get Eve's stocking done this year)...we are also trying to sell our house!

Here's a picture of Grace in front of our Christmas tree that we just got on Friday (by the way, she picks out her own outfits...pink, purple, and orange? Too cute.) We had so much fun picking the tree out. The Christmas tree lot we went to even had a snow machine, so we had fun dancing around in the falling snow!

Today is a special day...Aaron and I have been married exactly seven years! It has been wonderful, and I really couldn't ask for a better man.

I found an easy and adorable fudge recipe that I love (it's from Family Fun Magazine.) It makes a great gift, because it's quick, pretty, and very yummy! Here's the recipe:

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
3 cups semisweet- or milk-chocolate chips
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Assorted sprinkles, sugars, and candy decorations

1. Place the chocolate chips in a 2-quart bowl and microwave for 1 minute, then stir them with a wooden spoon. If the chips are not completely melted, microwave them again for 30 seconds, then stir until they're smooth.

2. Stir in the condensed milk, salt, and vanilla extract.

3. Line a 9-inch square pan with aluminum foil, extending it about 2 inches beyond each side. (This makes it easy to remove the fudge later.) Lightly spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

4. Spread the mixture evenly in the pan.

5. Chill the candy until firm, about 30 minutes in the freezer or 1 hour in the refrigerator.

6. Lift the foil from the pan and place it on a flat work area. Use 1-inch cookie cutters to cut out the fudge, then lightly press decorations onto each piece. Makes about 50 pieces.

We're moving

Yes, we have been extremely busy the past couple of weeks getting our house ready to sell...and no, we were not planning on moving! It all kind of happened so fast. Probably about three weeks ago, Aaron called me from work to tell me about a house that I absolutely "had to see." He's done this before, being a Realtor he is constantly exposed to the great home deals in our area, but this time he sounded serious.

So, I humored him. I went to see the home...and it was everything we have always wanted! It's about the same size as what we have now, but it's all on one story and uses it's space much better. We really like the floor plan, but best of all (and the only thing that would make it worth moving for) is the huge backyard. Big yards are hard to come by here, builders keep making lots smaller and smaller. Our current yard is very small...and the new one is about four times the size of it.

The real reason I was willing to even consider the hassle of a move was the amazing deal that we will be getting. Because of the way the housing market has been around here lately, housing prices have dropped greatly. And eventhough we won't be able to sell our current house for as much as we could have a few months ago, the builder of our new home has dropped the price so drastically (for one thing that higher price range has taken a bigger hit and they are anxious to get rid of it) that it won't cost much more than what we will probably be able to sell our current home for. So eventually when the housing market turns around, the new house will increase in value a lot more than our current home. For this reason and the fact that we love the new house and see no reason to ever have to move again we feel it's the right 'move' for us.

We're very excited, but also very stressed. It's not going to be easy to sell our current home with the hundreds of other houses for sale in town, so we've been working hard to really make our house stand out. We've been painting, planting, and improving our decor to appeal to buyers...all stuff that is making me wish we did it earlier so we could have enjoyed it more! It has also been tricky to keep the house clean and perfect with two little ones whose jobs are to make messes.

The new house is only a couple of miles from where we live now, but it's a different ward and school district, so there will be some adjusting. In the meantime, we're focusing on selling our current house, which might take a few months. We'll let you know how it goes!