#GramFam2015

Wow - it's hard to believe that time off work, school and the holidays are over. Between Christmas and New Year I had two full weeks off and I'm not going to lie, it was a struggle setting that alarm clock Sunday night after not having to for two weeks. I will say this, the time went by so fast, but it was so much fun spending that one on one time with my girl while Tarl went to work. He wasn't near as lucky as me with time off. He only got a few days for Christmas and one day for New Years so Cadence and I did a lot of baking, crafts and snuggling watching our favorite show, Chopped. 

(I love that my 6 year old watches Chopped on Food Network and loves it!)

My parents are retired so when I have time off work I spend it with Cadence but a lot of the days we'll walk to my parents house and we'll all sit outside around a fire. That's when this happened. A girl, her dog, a wheelbarrow and her Grandaddy pushing her around. Priceless memories.

We baked a lot of goodies over the break. Our two favorites are meringues and what we call "mexican chips" which is basically a tortilla cut up into triangles, spread with a little butter and fry in some hot oil. It only takes them about 10 seconds to get golden brown. Take them out the oil and as soon as they come out coat them with cinnamon sugar. It's quick and absolutely delicious. 

My meringues are amazing, if I do say so myself. They are also incredibly easy to make but they do take a while to bake. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. Using my Kitchenaid Stand Mixer with the whisk attachment, I whisk 3 egg whites along with 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar. When the mixture gets thick to the point of soft peaks, add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and mix until incorporated. With the mixer on slow slowly add 3/4 cup of granulated sugar. Once the sugar is incorporated turn the mixture on high until hard peaks are formed or the mixture is really thick. Usually about a minute or a minute and a half. Put in a pastry bag with a pretty tip and pipe onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. No need to spray the parchment paper as the meringues do not stick. 

Bake in the oven for two hours. They are light, fluffy and incredibly delicious!

I'm honestly not a "stickler" for New Year's resolutions but I have made a few this year. One being to post a daily picture on Instagram along with a lot of other bloggers and people in general. This one is probably my favorite I have posted thus far. This face of hers is a trip!

 You can keep up with our daily life by searching the hashtag #GramFam2015 

or looking me up on Instagram @BlueJeanMiranda

When Tarl and I became serious after moving in together we went to Church every Sunday. After we got married and became pregnant we became really slack about getting up early on Sundays to get ready for Church. Although we are raising Cadence in a Godly home with prayers, morals and teaching her about Jesus we don't go to Church like we should so another resolution of ours is to start going back to Church regularly and it was such a blessing going on Sunday. Seeing all of our Church members again and Cadence thoroughly enjoyed Children's Church, she even said the prayer at the end for all the kids - I was beyond proud when her teacher told me that! It's the same Church we got married in so it's always amazing to walk down the center of the Church to find a pew knowing that almost 7 years before I walked down that aisle to marry the love of my life, now here we are with so many blessings the Lord has given us.

My final resolution is to read the Bible. It was on my list last year and I didn't stick with it. I'll be honest the Bible is a hard book to get through because of the way they spoke back then and translated it in the Good Book. Especially through Genesis when they go through their lineage explaining whose who, who they married, how many kids and their names. I'm not ashamed to say it's hard for me to understand because it can be, but with 365 days in a year I feel I can take my time and truly comprehend the Lords message. However, if you know of a Bible that you thought was a little easier to get through please let me know. There is a Christian Book store in Savannah and we're going to go check it out this weekend. 

I don't want to say this is a resolution, but more of a goal for 2015 and then on towards the rest of our future, but making dinners each night and bringing my lunch into work with me as well as dinner table sitting instead of watching TV in the living room while we eat. We've done great with this so far and I sure hope we stick with it. I've also brought my lunch into work the past two days so I'm giving myself a little tap on the back. Don't get me wrong I still plan to splurge every now and then but eating out each day (even eating cheap) adds up quick.

I have started decorating our house for Valentine's Day and I'm loving it. Pinks and reds and hearts are adorning our entry table and dining table and as soon as I have all of the decor up I'll be sure and share some pictures with you all. I'm hitting up Dollar Tree today for some cheap decor. Can't beat the price, let's be honest!

Let's talk about New York for a minute. I still cannot believe that I'm going! It truly was unreal to me until I put up my "thankful chalkboard" that I got for Christmas (pics to come) and used that as a countdown to NYC. As of today we are only 79 days away. I know it seems like a lot, but really it isn't. Between work, weekends, TBall coming up, school and functions I know the time will pass and March 26th will be here before I know it. Tarl booked us in Times Square and splurged to get us a city view room. We also have made dinner reservations at Carmines and STK. Our third dinner is still up in the air so suggestions are much appreciated! We're definitely going to do lunch one day at Lombardi's to try their famous pizza as well as Serendipity 3 and the famous Shake Shack to grab one of their burgers. I have my list of places that I 'must see' and I can't wait to see them in person. 

Well I'm off to work...I hope each of you had a blessed and Happy New Year!

xo