Goodbye 2010.

Another new year is coming. Are you ready?

We intend to give a proper good-bye to 2010 this evening, a nap may have to be squeezed in at some point today in order to make it to midnight.


In the Morris household, we are beginning some new traditions that will hopefully continue longer than this year. :) Last year, we were soaking up the sunny rays in Miami, literally. It was December, and we were sun-bathing with the other thousands on the beaches, you can't really beat that.

See there we are, sunny skies!

New Years Eve 2010 was spent looking at fireworks from the balcony, toasting with champagne, and indulging in a very very tasty Lasagna. So this year, although we cannot recreate the 85 degree weather, we can recreate the incredibly delicious lasagna. You can say we are trading in the black-eyed peas for some cheese and pasta!

Yummmmmmmmmm

As well, we intend to sit down tomorrow and write out at least 3 things we individually want to accomplish in the New Year. Now these are not resolutions, there will be no "I will eat less chocolate starting Jan. 1" or things like that but more along the lines of "I will actually learn Portuguese". Will see what we come up with.

Feliz Ano Novo!!

363 Days in Counting.

We have successfully stuffed our bellies all weekend along, opened countless presents until next year (Thank you family, you spoil us.), heard enough Christmas music to nauseate our ears, and most importantly celebrated and reflected on the birth of our Savior so many years ago. Yet now, the fridge is full of leftovers, presents have been all put away, the Christmas tunes have been turned off, sadly, one more week of Christmas decorations, and they will have to come down, and we had to say good-bye to Mr. Grizzles.

Our merry and bright weekend, started with a gorgeous sunny day of 70 degrees, clear skies and NO rain or wind!! We had B's office Christmas party to attend as well as the Christmas Eve candlelight service at our church. A full day of "Merry Christmases" just to gear us up for the next day. We couldn't go to bed without taking a sneak-peak into Santa's presents and watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the original). Santa came all the way to the Azores to give us this... Thank you!!!!!

                                        

Christmas morning and a slew of presents later it was time for the Christmas festivities to begin. B and hosted a Christmas brunch for a handful of our friends. Tasty food, delightful conversation, and a full house makes you forget you are 3000 miles away from "home".

The rest of the day we skyped with our families, made Christmas dinner and you cannot have Christmas without an Elf viewing.

The 26th came upon us, and Christmas was still going. :) We heard our last Christmas sermon at church and then some friends invited us over for one more Christmas meal and celebration! 

Now, it's Monday *sigh*. We go back on vacation in a mere 11 days, so there is really no room to complain.

We hope you all had a wonderfully blessed Merry Christmas with friends and family. 

Pure Entertainment.

There never seems to be a dull moment here (unless you count the hours we spent working on a puzzle yesterday evening), there is always something of intrigue. Last weekend, we were privileged enough to see a several thousand pound sperm whale made of pure chocolate at the First International Festival of Chocolate in the Azores. This was made complete with multiple spotlights, as well, as whale noises in the background. It was as if we were in the ocean.

This weekend, on our routine morning route to the Organic Market, our five minute drive turned into almost twenty when we got stuck behind a herd of cows moving pastures. Now I do not have any pictures to document this event, so you will have to use your very best imagination skills. Imagine, a countless amount of cows moving at less than 1mph, stopping to smell each and every grass blade. In the midst of this, cars are coming every which way at you, neglecting all traffic signs, laws and direction, and you cannot forget our precious son we have in our backseat terrified of the large black and white images passing him. So as we continue on our merry way along a very slanted hill, which has more blindspots in it then you can count, we finally see the open road. 

The fun was not yet over for the day! :) That rare windless evening, we decided to walk the streets of Angra, and enjoy the music and Christmas lights on display. 

Well the music only lasted about the first 10 minutes we were there, but soon came sirens blaring. The normal in these parts, is seeing ambulances or police cars with sirens going, but no noise, and no one bothers to move out of there way. Very bizzare. So hearing these noises got us curious, and to our delight it was Santa!! His first appearance for us here on the island. We felt almost as if we were back in the United States. Our reality soon came back, when we saw a "real" Christmas tree.

It really was him, even though we didn't get a shot of his face.

Can you see the comparison?

What we've been up to.

•  Last week was a whirlwind of things going on. There were 3 Christmas parties, 2 white elephants, 1 holiday fellowship, a cookie exchange, and a Tea Party to be planned and decorated for. That is just the half of it, I won't bore you with the mundane details of such things as work and school. We have one more cookie exchange, and white elephant this weekend and a secret santa game we are the midst of right now. 

• This week we I have crashed and just waiting for the glorious week to come of no alarm clocks, no schedules, no cookies to be made. B has the whole week off of work next week, which he is counting down hours to get to. As well, his school sessions end this week. He did very well in both his classes!! I think we have forgotten what it is like to get to spend time with each other during the actual week.

• CDCs are in. Well sorta. (To refresh those few memories of what those are, I talk about them here.) The authorities above have now decided the new ones will not be coming in soon enough, so B will be completely the old version. Now wait, you may say, haven't you been there a year already and haven't the old versions been available this whole time and oh wait wasn't he not allowed to take classes the first months we were here because he was waiting for the new ones? Oh yes, tis all true. So now, B will have to devote his time solely to those now for the next 4 months, meaning school is put on hold. 

• Our plane tickets are booked. Lord willing, we will be arriving in Texas on Jan. 16th in the late evening and staying through the 28th. Everyone go ahead and pull out your calenders now and mark that down on your schedule. There are 2 weeks to see the Morrises, so plan accordingly. :)

• Mas is doing good, he is excited about Christmas! Looking just as cute and cuddly as before.

This post has literally taken over half the day of coming back to the computer to finish writing, but there you have it. :)

Oops.

We received this email yesterday.

"All,

Please see attached photos about Beira Mar parking lots, where as result of
faded parking spots lettering and lines, some unidentified individuals have
sprayed the pavement to either highlight the letter that used to be there or
just choose another spot in accordance with their convenience. This is
considered Graffiti and they can be charged with vandalizing government
property. 

Electrical underground  renovation has just wrapped up so there is no more
need for ditches digging around Beira Mar (to include parking areas) and
since housing renovation part 2 is on hold, sometime soon might  be
recommended to start repainting parking areas at least close to buildings
where renovation already happened (T-1500, T-1501, T-1503, T-1505, T-1506,
T-1507, T-1508, T-1509, T-1510, T-1561, T-1562, T-1563, T-1564, T-1565,
T-1566, T-1567, T-1568, T-1569 and T-1572).

If you have any questions please call Miguel Maduro at 535-6825 or Mr.
Patrick Henson at 535-3727.

v/r
Housing Management"

Our car is famous! Who would do such a thing?? :)

Hello Dec. 1.

The Christmas season is upon us! It is now deemed correct to decorate ones tree, drink hot chocolate wine and cookies every night and receive Christmas cards. Oh wait, y'all received those weeks ago... hmmm.. at least we waited till after Thanksgiving to set up our tree. It took everything in me to withhold from setting it up early.

We wanted to share our Christmas spirit with y'all, so here you go...

We are in the land of "the ugliest tree-toppers for sale ever", therefore we might be protesting without one this season.

You put us to shame Hillary & Matt. :)

Its the best we could come up with when you have no trees to work, concrete walls and winds that just might knock everything over. Happy Hump Day!

A Time to Give Thanks.

Thanksgiving was a success. As much as I stressed over there not being enough food, I feel people left without eating anything (of course they really did). There were so many leftovers! Brandon and I are still working our way through them. His office is getting a plate full of pie today! Hope they came to work hungry.

The big successes of the evening:

• Everyone seemed to love my friends cranberry sauce she brought over.
• My green bean casserole
• & I really enjoyed the pumpkin pie 

My turkey man.

Turkey #1

Turkey #2

Look at all the food!!

So family (who we missed dearly) book your plane tickets now, so you don't miss any of the food or excitement for next year. :)

Gobble. Gobble.

Whew! Just finished a 10k this morning. My first one ever. One of the squadrons put together a "Turkey Trot" for this morning to put everyone in the turkey spirit. We had the choice to run a 5k (3.1 miles) or a 10k (6.2 miles). There are rarely opportunities here to run "marathons/races" so I choose the 10k to prove to myself I could do it, and I did, in 49 minutes and 10 seconds. That is a long time to be running, my body kind of aches right now. B is on call this week so he couldn't run with me, he had to be in to work very early today.

Now on to start the cooking after work today!! Wondering what is on our Thanksgiving menu?

for appetizers...

spinach dip

meatballs

my little vegetable turkey

the main course...

2 turkeys

mashed potatoes

green bean casserole (with no cream of whatever being used!)

broccoli slaw

waldorf salad

creamed corn

mac n' cheese

carrot rice

sweet potato

stuffing

cranberry sauce

buttered rolls & Portuguese bread

for dessert...

homemade pumpkin pie

homemade chocolate pecan pie

my fabulous chocolate peanut butter cookies

If anything turns out super duper, out of this world delicious, I will be sure to share the recipe!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Arts and Crafts.

I have been dying for a fall wreath. Being that there aren't as many accessible resources here, I told myself it just wasn't going to happen for us this year. :)

However, since we are hosting Thanksgiving at our house I was determined to give the house a little fall inspiration. So with the few materials I was able to find, and dedicating about one hour of time (when I was at work) I came up with this.

Well, actually I did not, this lady did but I think I produced a pretty good replica. So, I have my wreath! That gets to hang for a week and a half until it is replaced with Christmas decorations, but for next year we will be prepared.

Thank you Veterans.

A big thank you to all the past and present military members who have served and fought to protect our country. Thank you for your time, strength, sacrifices and dedication from you and your families.

Especially to my Airmen whom I love. Thank you for being brave and stepping up to the commitment to protect our nation.

We Have Heard...

That Starbucks holiday red drinks are OUT!

Now we said our farewell to Starbucks long ago. We no longer have the "hook-up" there so the $4.00 lattes are not as enticing as they once were. However, to swap out a gingerbread latte w/ whip and nutmeg! for my cinnamon-apple tea I am sadly drinking right now, would be delightful! Oh, and to have just a taste of the salted-caramel signature hot chocolate. YUM-YUM! Think of us next time you are sipping your delectable hot beverage!

If you are so inclined, feel free to send us some gingerbread love over this way to help stuff our stockings. :)

Weekend Highlights.

• Brandon had a day off on Friday!! Woo-hoo! He finished another 6 credits of school work, so there was reason to relax and celebrate. We commenced celebratory events Thursday night with wine! and a delicious dinner of paprika chicken, caesar salad, and broccoli slaw. Along with an unhealthy amount of television watching. (Something very rare for us.)

• On Friday, we soaked in the time together with running along the ocean, play-date at the park for the doggies, some grocery shopping, Christmas shopping in Angra (=unsuccessful), some delicious homemade bbq pizza, and finished the day off with some bowling with our church.

• Saturday was my Saturday to go to "work". Boo.. not too bad, it was just for 4 hours. Continuing in our antisocial theme of the weekend (another rarity), we stayed home and cooked fajitas, no margaritas. We said goodbye to Mason's girlfriend. :( Till they meet again outside.

• Sunday was nothing out of the ordinary, church and Mason walking.

B has started a new chaotic schedule this week. Work along with a Monday -Thursday stats class from 5:00p-6:30p and a Tues, Thurs class from 6:30p-9:30p. Whew, tired just thinking about it. For me, a little of this and a little of that, a little of being here and a little of being there. Although, I am sure the majority thinks a military wife with no job, no kids and no school must just sit around all day twiddling her thumbs. Oh if you only knew. We need "A Day in the Life..." camera crew on this island. :)

Midweek Puppy Cuteness.

Only 4 more days with our little friend. I just might steal her. Mason has been having so much fun! Thankfully, she only lives a couple houses down.

From Halloween to Christmas.

Christmas Cards are out! I dropped them at the post office yesterday, so everyone should be getting them anytime between today and February. However, normally letters take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to reach there destination. Spread the word, so that way if they actually do reach the states before Thanksgiving, they know that was not my intentions and that I am not some crazed-Christmas person. :)

Let us know when you receive them!!

Sidenote: We bought our Christmas tree last weekend too. :) The adjustment of island life.

Happy Halloween.

a day late....

from the Jetsons!

Halloween Rats.

This weekend I wen to a Halloween party on Friday night. We were supposed to bring a spooky dish. After scouring google for a bit, I found this. I decided to share in case anyone else was needed to make a Halloween treat.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1 (1.25 ounce) packet meatloaf seasoning mix
• 1 cup cubed Cheddar cheese
• 3 (10 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 ounce uncooked spaghetti, broken into fourths
• 1/2 carrot, cut into 1/8-inch thick slices
• 1 tablespoon frozen green peas

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, onion, egg, bread crumbs, and meatloaf seasoning. Use your hands to mix until well blended. Measure out 1/3 cupfuls of the meat mixture and mold around a cube of cheese like a meatball. Shape into a point at one end and lengthen the body a bit by rolling between your hands. Place your ''rat'' into a shallow baking dish, and continue with the remaining meat. Insert pieces of uncooked spaghetti into the rounded end of the rats to make tails.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together the tomato sauce, sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the rats in the dish and cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil.
4. Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Uncover the dish and continue to bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, basting occasionally with the sauce to glaze the rats.
5. While the rats finish baking, heat the peas and carrots in a small bowl in the microwave for about 15 seconds.
6. Carefully transfer the rats to a serving platter so that their delicate tails don't fall off. Press peas into the pointy end to make eyes, and insert carrot slices to make ears. Spoon some of the tomato sauce around them and serve.

It smelled great! I did only half the recipe. I actually didn't try it so I can't comment on how it tasted.

We are all ready for the weekend. Here, many people just set up tables and chairs outside so the kids don't have to come to the door. However, with our mere 10 bags of candy, we will maybe be outside for 20 minutes. No joke.

Babysitting Fun.

Nothing New.

I wish I had more to tell y'all about, but there hasn't been anything spectacular write-worthy material going on, along with a lack of time. So here are some bullet points of things going on...

• Brandon has only two more weeks of school for this session. He has yet another research paper due in a couple of weeks that will preoccupy most his time outside of work. He is headed towards an A in his computer programming class.
• We are taking care of our neighbors Basset Hound!!! Her family will be off-island for the next 3 weeks and we I was more than excited to babysit. Stay tuned for cute puppy pics. :)
• After being away for 2 weeks, last week was hard to get back into the swing of things which really means my list of things to do has been piling and I still have not managed to cross things off it.
• This past weekend was full of fun events: Bunco on Friday, Housewarming party on Saturday, and Date Night on Sunday.
• Brandon used his free day off yesterday for his birthday. We actually started Christmas shopping, can you believe it!! We are not close to done, but we want to be sure it gets to everyone on time.
• Speaking of, I have ordered our Christmas cards. I am determined to get them to y'all before actual Christmas!

And that about does it, maybe I will think of something interesting to write about my tomorrow.

Tropical Storm Otto.

You wouldn't believe the weather here. On my trip back to Texas, I kept updated with the weather going on in the Azores and prayed the worst would be gone by the time I got back. No such luck. The cold, the sideways rain, the strong winds have continued for a good week and a half now. The once Hurricane Otto which digressed into a tropical storm I believe has died out. However, it sure did blow out are summer, literally. You can read about it here... the Azores was in the news. :)

I keep trying to mentally prepare myself for winter and it is not working. The past two days, I have spent a significant amount of time googling Northface jackets and Ugg boots. The ocean is mad, the waves have been huge. Its a beautiful sight to see, but I will take my sunny skies and calm seas any day.

Back from Texas.

I am back! I had a wonderful time in the states. Thanks to those who came to say hi! I definitely got my fill of shopping, hot weather and Mexican food. I am set for the rest of the year, well sorta. I do have to say I am thankful for all the money we are able to save due to the fact that Targets are not around. I believe I went to Target at least 10 times in 2 weeks. I miss my family back at home already, but was so happy to get back to my husband and son. I think Brandon and Mason were on each others last nerve. :) I intended to take pictures so I could show everyone on the blog, but of course that didn't happen.

Until January Texas...

Recap of the Weekend. Part 2.

Sunday was my darlings birthday! Had to put my thinking cap on to think of something fun and creative to do. He didn't want to have people over, no horseback riding, no sun to go to the beach, so we decided to make our very own sushi!!!

We had a full day before the sushi, filled with skyping with family, church and a meeting. All in all he said he had a fabulous day!! There was even birthday cake even though it was just the two of us.

The sushi came out very scrumptious, and turned out to not be a too difficult process. Now that we are pros we will tackle it again someday. He gives his thanks for all the birthday wishes.