Today I am thankful for so many things that I can’t count. To name only a few, I am thankful for family near and far that love me so much, for my friends who always get me into crazy endeavors  and we always have so much fun, for my adorable puppy who makes me smile when I am down, for mine and Jack’s careers that keeps challenging us and helped us pay off our debt, for the beautiful home that Jack maintains for us, for all of the people that keep me grounded and lets me know it’s going to be okay, and lastly Jack, for he has to deal with so much more than anyone else! He wipes away my tears when I am sad or frustrated, he makes me laugh so hard that I can’t breathe, and he holds me so tight when I am scared. If I got to choose anyone in this world to walk next to, it would be him. I know I am truly blessed and I hope everyone feels as blessed as I do.
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I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with family and friends and lots of laughs, Happy Thanksgiving. 

It’s the week of Thanksgiving and it’s time pull out those favorite recipes. Last year I made Yam Soufflé, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin roll recipe, but this year instead of the roll I decided to make my first pumpkin pie. This is a super easy and tasty recipe and goes perfect with my homemade whipped cream!

Ingredients:
1 Pre-made Graham Cracker Crust
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
½ cup dark brown sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
¼ tsp all spice
¼ tsp cloves
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 cup canned pumpkin
½ cup evaporated milk
 
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl whip egg whites until frothy. 

Although I am guilty of using store bought whipped cream in my peanut butter pie and ice cream recipes, I never use it on holidays. I quickly whip up my own and it is the perfect topping to my pumpkin pie! Once you try it you won’t want to go back to store bought again!!

Ingredients:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp. powder sugar
 
Directions:
Mix the heavy whipping cream in a large bowl and right before peaks form beat in the vanilla and the sugar until peaks form.
*Over beating can cause the cream to separate and become lumpy. 

Well I was right! We totally looked great in our costumes!! Amber and Aaron’s make up really completed their costumes. Jack and I got off the easiest, he didn’t wear any make up and I only wore a darker version of what I normally wear. Amber and Aaron’s were a little more than that!

To create the Two-Face make, I first used a small lipstick brush (clean) and brushed a line down Aaron’s face. I then used a round sponge and using a bright pink brush I covered one half of Aaron’s face. 

I added a little blush and she did heavy black eyeliner. I used white, silver, and black eyeshadow to create the black circles around her eyes. 

I used a red lip liner to create the Joker smile and went over it with the red from her costume make up kit she bought using a q-tip. At this point it was getting harder for her to do her make up because she kept making this creepy look freaking me totally out.

I couldn’t me more excited to be home and working on Comic Con costumes! Tomorrow is our local comic con and as the nerds that we are we are dressing up! Amber and I decided since last year we were Batman and Robin that this year we were going to be the villains and we were getting Aaron and Jack to join in!

​Since I was going as the Penguin my costume was the easiest; all I needed was a tuxedo jacket and a top hat. The jacket I found on eBay and the mini top hat at the Halloween store; I already had the grey skirt, white gloves, and white collared top and bought the black pin striped vest at a thrift store. 

​Aaron’s was the second easiest, he was going as Two-Faced. We bought a white suit on eBay and I cut in right down the middle and colored half of it with black fabric dye. I knew that since the fabric was polyester that it wasn’t going to come out black, but as long as it took any color we would be okay. However, I wasn’t expecting it to be so purple; thankfully next to a black polo he had and the grey tie he borrowed from Jack it didn’t look as purple. After the dyed half was washed and dried, I sewed the two pieces back together.

Jack’s costume was the Riddler and for his we also found a white suit on eBay and dyed it green. This time though his was green and we used three boxes of Kelly green dye and it still came out much lighter than hoped for.  I used the same method as I did making my Sally costume to make the question marks on the jacket; I squeezed black fabric paint in a paper bowl and used a paint brush. I used the squeeze bottle to add a few smaller questions marks before setting to the side to dry. Jack already had a black collared shirt and purple tie the mask I also bought at the Halloween store. ​

The last costume was Amber’s; she was going at the Joker and wanted it to be crazy. We found the purple blazer on eBay and bought matching fabric at the craft store. I added the lime green trim along the panel, sleeves and bottom of the blazer. ​

Today I was able to do something that made my heart burst with emotions. I was sad, happy, inspired, and humbled all at once. Today I put a lock with Serenity’s name on the Ponte Des Arts in Paris. Serenity’s dream was to go to Paris and today I hope I was able to give her at least a little of that dream. I cried as my cold hands trembled trying to lock the lock in place. By the time I threw the key into the Seine, I lost it and Jack had to hold me until I calmed down. It was a really rough week and I felt like it finally came to a head. So I stood there in Jack’s arms sobbing in the middle of Paris. 

I made a necklace out of the that I didn't throw into the river, for Serenity's mother and my good friend. I added charms that made me think of her including the infinity symbol that matches both of their tattoos. This was a small gesture I could do for a grieving friend and I hope that I brought at least a little peace for both of them. Rest In Peace Serenity.

Nothing is scary getting a text from someone back home asking if you are okay. When I first read the text I wasn’t sure what they were referring to until they sent me a screenshot of a news bulletin reading 27 people killed in Paris shooting. I quickly turned on our hotel TV and watched the number of the dead increase. Thankfully at the time we were safe in London and about to call it a night. I let everyone know we were safe and tried to sleep; when we woke the death toll was up to 120. Jack and I just looked at each other and asked what had happened. As we packed to head on the train to our Paris connection to his parents, we watched television and were sadden to learn that it was another planned terrorist attack.

​My heart weeps for Paris and I pray we have safe travels throughout France. 

Happy Veteran’s Day! I am very proud of being an American and I know that is only possible because of all of the amazing men and women who fought for this country. This is a World Ward One memorial not too far from where my in-laws live where the American forces would enter into France. After the German’s destroyed it in the second war it was rebuilt and now includes WWII.

​God Bless all of the men and women who has, who is, or who will serve this country. 

Time for more costumes! Last year I went to the Danny Elfman Tim Burton Movie concert and dressed up like Jack Skellington buy wearing a striped dress and jacket. This year’s concert is only going to be Nightmare Before Christmas, my all-time favorite Tim Burton/Danny Elfman movie and Amber is coming with me! She wanted to be Jack, so I will be dressing up like Sally. I’ve made a Sally costume before so I wanted to try do something some different.

​I bought these two dresses on clearance at Walmart and only wore the burgundy one once so I thought they would be a perfect start for our costumes. I needed to be easy and fast because I only had two nights to work on them.  I started with the Jack costume since it was going to be the easiest, or so I thought. I bought white fabric paint in a squeezable bottle and started painting on stripes. I did a little of each stripe at a time and I didn’t want them to be a perfect straight line. By the time I reached the bottom of the dress my hand was hurting from squeezing the bottle and the dress form wasn’t there causing the line to fade as it got lower. Several hours or a few Halloween movies later it was complete and set aside to dry. 

Now time to work on the Sally costume; this was a little more difficult because I wanted to create the patch look of her dress using scraps of fabric. I started with the largest piece on the top and used quilt binding spray to tack it on, then sewed it in place. I repeated the process until all of the dress was patched together. 

After all of the sewing on the Sally dress was completed I washed and dried to remove the quilt binding spray before I started recreating the patterns using black fabric paint in a squeezable bottle. For the bigger patterns, like the stripes and circles, I squeezed some of the fabric paint in a bowl and using a paint brush created the patterns. Once complete I set aside to drive overnight. Something to note before I began using the fabric paints I covered my dress from with a trash bag to prevent it any damage. ​