{Bunting & Bergers}

Finally the Ravens made it back to the super bowl; and where do we LIVE??? CALIFORNIA! After living in Maryland our entire lives the Ravens make it, and we are living in the rival state! That did not stop us from having a purple party, peppered with a few Niners fans. I just have to tell you this,  I took a ton of awesome pictures of our Ravens Party on my new camera, and my SD card decided to stop working :-(. I would have liked to through my new camera at a wall I was so mad. So here are the pictures from my phone, wish I had more.

I took some old burlap and made a banner, I used my rotary cutter to cut triangles and made some stenciled letters from computer paper. I used a hole punch to thread ribbion through the flags, and that was all!

Here it is hanging up!

I had to add some purple and gold bow's to spice things up.

I wanted to bring baltimore to california, so I attempted to make 'Burger Cookies'

The recipe was actually pretty easy, just a lot of steps.(I found the recipe here) Berger cookies are a cake cookie topped with fudge! They were a hit at the party.

Here is the Baltimore themed dessert table! Sorry, I haven’t posted picture of the new house, I’m trying to get it semi-decorated first!

Here are some pictures I have recovered from my Camera.

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Walk the Walk

It has become a tradition to go on a hike on Christmas Day with our family. Here are some pictures from Christmas 2012. We had a lot to celebrate this year; new baby, health, everyone being together, awesome weather, and a new camera of course!

{Not the Average Bay}

We have been to San Francisco a few times now, but during this visit we finally took some time to see the famous Golden Gate Bridge. It was a particularly nice day and we took some really great pictures. The reason for the visit to the Bay Area was to see my Dad. He was in the city for a few days on a business trip. After all those years of wishing he didn’t have to travel so much for work, I can finally appreciate his busy schedule! We had a blast, we were able to spend some quality time talking and walking around the city we shared a few really great meals and of course some awesome California wine! (SORRY MOM!).   

When we got to the bridge it was super crowded on the right side. So instead of fighting all of the tourist, we pulled around to the left side. It was way less crowded and we had some room to do some exploring.

The building below with the green doors was built into the side of the hill we are standing on in the picture above.

We had to go over the bridge to get home.

 Once on the other side we were able to get a really great view of Alcatraz !

Here is the city from across the bay!

The west coast 'bay area' is pretty, but I think I will always prefer the Chesapeake.

Goodbye Sweet Roadhouse

I’m not really sure if anyone is following this journey of mine, but if you are, you know the condition roadhouse was in when we moved in. It truly was a humbling experience for me. Since this season of our lives has come to a close I am going to put myself out. I think now that I am through the thickness of that season and have come to the point of reflection I can really see what has changed in my heart. Moving into that house was hard, like really messy ugly hard.  There was a part of my heart that had not yet been broken for Jesus, he knew what He was doing by using an ugly old broken down house to make this heart of mine healed.

Those dark parts of my heart were weighed down heavy with Materialism. The ‘Perfect Picture’, new husband, adorably start up home, and cute wife with an awesome wardrobe; things that have been engrained in my brain since I was a little girl. We arrived in California from our honey moon and walked into Road House and reality hit, and it hard. My dream was never coming true, we would be living in a house that was not even fit for a mountain get away, my standard were high. Over the next couple weeks I cried, I pouted, and I complained. I mostly complained to my new husband, who I was already putting way too much pressure on to provide for these unrealistic dreams of mine. After I realized crying, pouting, and complaining was only making matters worse I did what I should have been doing all along. I gave all my ugly feelings to the Lord. I prayed through all of my feelings, and the answers I got were profound.

‘It doesn’t matter what other people think, it doesn’t matter where you are, it doesn’t matter how much money you have, or how nice or how big your house is,  I SEE YOU, MY LOVE is sufficient, and I WILL PROVIDE  for all of your needs’. In order for this lesson to be learned I had to be stripped of everything that was normal and comfortable. I would have never chosen to learn this lesson but now I am not sure I can live without it. In living a dependent life, HIS provision is easily seen.

{Hogs in a Comforter- Pretzel Dogs}

As most of you know this a staple food in the Kane Household. It's a super simple recipe, I like to think it's better for you then an over processed hot dog bun, probably not true; but I'll just let my self think that :-). I always buy all beef, Nathan brand hot dogs.

So here it is!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups hot water (115 degrees)

1 pkg yeast

1 tbs sugar

2 tsp salt

3-4 cups flour

1/2 stick melted butter

1 egg yolk (to brown the bun)

2 tbs water

kosher salt

Directions:

Dissolve sugar and yeast in water. Let it sit until it gets foamy, this will help you know that the yeast is alive and kicking. Add salt and butter (make sure the butter is not too hot because it could kill the yeast). Add the flour one cup at a time, mixing well as you add. The dough has enough flour when it is know longer sticky. Knead the down, and then place it in a greased bowl to rise for 1 hour.

Roll dough into a large rectangle and slice into 2'' wide strips. Wrap each hot dog with dough. Mix egg yolk with 2 tbs water. With a basting brush, brush egg yolk mixture on top of each wrapped hotdog (this will brown the dough as it cooks). Last step is to sprinkle kosher salt as desired.

Cook at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until brown.

My favorite gift..

This trip to Maryland was our shortest trip yet. We were gone a total of 8 days, including 2 full travel days.  Trying to pack seeing all of our family and friends into 6 short days is nearly impossible! I think, and hope our next trip ‘home’ will be longer!

As for Christmas, I think I can speak for both Mikie and I when I say we are blessed with an awesome family, who celebrates and welcomes us ever time we go back to Maryland. I know they long for us to be with them daily and it’s always a hard goodbye when we leave to get back on that airplane for that long flight across the country. That goodbye, that flight, I don’t like it either, but I do believe living so far away makes the time we get to spend with our family so much sweeter.

I think the greatest gift for this holiday season was a healthy family! Especially, my favorite little guy, we don’t take Josh’s health for granted it seems like he is sick more than he is healthy. This Christmas I am thankful for good health, it’s a blessing denied to many! Here are a few pictures of my favorite guy being his sweet self…

"Beach Baby, Beach Baby"

I am going to be an AUNT! When we were home for Christmas my sister announced that she is pregnant (due this summer)!

It makes me wonder where time has gone, and how have we grown up so fast! It seems like yesterday we were fighting over the front seat, sharing a bedroom, and moving eachother into college. Inspite of time flying, way too fast,  I'm so excited for this new chapter of our lives.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the baby reveal; in defense to everyone, these pictures were taken very early in the morning.(sorry mom)! The first day we were back in Maryland we all woke up early to have a big breakfast together. Andrew wore a t-shirt with a picture of their sonogram on it to breakfast.

I happened to have my camera nearby because I was showing my parents my new Christmas present! After an awkward few minutes that felt like hours, they noticed! As you can see they were shocked and surprised. It was a sweet moment to be a part of.

Love this picture! This was a few seconds after my Dad found out that he was going to be a Grandfather. So excited for baby Beach!