ten days until Christmas

i have slacked majorly on my blogging lately. lots of remodeling, baking, and shopping have consumed my life. however, i am excited to say, after over two months of our kitchen floor being torn up and the house being covered in dust and grit we now have gorgeous new hardwood floors throughout our main floor! the best part was when marc walked from the bedroom to the kitchen and he came back all smiles saying how nice it was not to have to wear shoes into the kitchen anymore! we've had fun using our new shark steam mop too - got an awesome black friday deal on this for only fifty bucks! so far we love it and i'd highly recommend it to anyone - WAY easier than moping!

i saw a picture today reminding me that we only have ten more days until Christmas. this year i have been in such a festive holiday mood. i am sure the fact that i get to spend a WHOLE WEEK with my sister - have not seen her in over a year and a half - helps that mood! i enjoyed shopping for all of the little ones in mine and marc's families this year! we went from having two nieces and nephews to five and a sixth on the way! and the fact that december is the six month countdown to our big day gets me even more excited!

we had a fun holiday theme/tacky sweater party this weekend at our friend's home. it was great seeing the looks everyone put together for it. needless to say we had cindy lou who, uncle eddie(s), frosty, the leg lamp from a christmas story, and many awesome tacky christmas sweaters! the lovely hosts, brit and jp, put together a great time for the second year now. a few snaps from the night...

  

to end an eventful weekend we decided to make this yummy taco salad

 

 taco salad

1 head of lettuce
1 bag of frozen steam corn
1 can of black beans (drain)
jar/fresh jalapenos (as many as you'd like - optional)
1 pack of cherry tomatoes (halved or quartered)
1 lb grilled/baked chicken (we used Perdue frozen grilled chicken strips)
ranch dressing
barbeque sauce

cook chicken and corn. mix chicken with a little barbeque and ranch - set aside. chop the lettuce and layer the bottom of the dish, add some barbeque and ranch, then half of your tomatoes, a little more of both sauces (you will add some after each layer). add some black beans, sauces, corn, sauces, and jalapenos. put all of your chicken in. then, layer everything one more time in the same order - adding sauce after each layer. on top, crunch up regular tortilla chips and cover with mexican cheese. this is best once it sits in the fridge for a while - make it the morning of or even the night before for best results.

this recipe makes a full trifle dish, we did it in a large bowl and medium bowl - didn't have anything big enough :/
enjoy!