Out of This World Sugar Cookies

I'm going to share this FABULOUS sugar cookie recipe with you. I've already made it twice in the past week and it's simply the best. It's so easy and quick - you will love it. I got it courtesy of my mom, so you can thank her when you become addicted to these little treats!

Makes about 2 dozen

1 cup sugar, divided

1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine or butter

1 egg

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make cookies: Cream 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup margarine together. Beat egg, 1/4 tsp vanilla and margarine mixture together. Combine flour, baking soda and salt thoroughly and add to margarine mixture. Form round balls using about 1 Tablespoon dough. Roll in remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Press with glass dipped in sugar. Bake 7 to 9 minutes, until light brown at the edges. Cool on wire rack.

Happy Baking!

Super-Happy-Holiday-Fun-Day!

Yesterday was our second annual super-happy-holiday-fun-day! We spent the day doing all things holiday and were definitely wiped out by the end of the day. Here are some pictures from our adventures!

We commenced the day with cookie baking. Well, let's be honest- I commenced the day with cookie baking and Luke unwrapped the Hershey kisses :)

We went downtown for a little Christmas shopping and had lunch at Macy's Walnut Room next to the GIGANTIC tree.

Then we made it to the Millennium Park skating rink. It was raining a bit, but we endured and enjoyed some time on the ice.

And then we delivered more cookies to Luke's friends at work. Here are a couple pictures of our walk downtown on the State Street bridge. Gotta love those city lights!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Even though we are only going to be in Chicago for a couple more weeks, we didn't want to skimp on the holiday decorating. So, we dug out our mini "boot" tree and stockings, and Luke hung lights around the apartment. It's quite cozy and festive now! Here's a little Christmas joy from our family to yours. Merry Christmas!!

Unlike most people's trees, ours resides on the desk.

Stockings! I can hardly believe this is our FOURTH Christmas being married. The ornament hanging on the right is from our first Christmas together.

Almost done!

So, my grad school experience is nearing an end. It's sad and exciting all at the same time. I have spent the last 10 weeks working as the editor-in-chief of the Medill Magazine Innovation Project. We created a brand new tablet magazine and it was crazy. We had a big presentation yesterday and you can watch it online if you're really that interested :) Just click the link below to find out everything you wanted to know about the world of tablet magazine innovation.

HINGE Magazine presentation

We've Got News...

After a little over a year in Chicago, Luke and I have decided to say goodbye to the Windy City and embrace the Pacific Northwestern-ness in us once again. And that means we are moving back to Seattle! We are sad to leave the deep dish pizza and midwest city lights, but we are really excited to get back to those mountains! We are excited for our new adventure and what this new chapter of life will bring.

We are planning to move in early January. Luke will continue to work for Nordstrom and finish up his criminal justice classes at a school out there. And I'm on the job hunt, hoping to find some super fantastic pro-journalist job of my dreams :)

We are so thankful for all the love and support of our family and friends as we continue to move across the country and back. We love you all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope you all had a fantastic turkey day this year! We are so thankful -- God has blessed us with so much this year! Luke's parents were able to come and spend the holiday with us. We kicked off the holiday season with the tree lighting ceremony in downtown Chicago and spent most of the holiday break eating leftovers, leftovers, and more leftovers. It's been a great time of relaxation and rest for my last two weeks of graduate school! Here are some photos from this weekend...

Mr. Luke. He is very excited.

We even ran into Mayor Emanuel, and got to shake his hand!

Waiting for the festivities to begin...

Steve & Lisa at the tree lighting ceremony

The lights are on! Merry Christmas!

Cooking Thanksgiving dinner in our itsy bitsy kitchen. Luke was in charge of the mashed potatoes... and I was in charge of everything else.

Thanksgiving dinner, coffee table style. We have a pretty tiny apartment, so we had to do some rearranging for dinner. We put the Thanksgiving spread out on the coffee table to dish up and moved the dining room table to the middle of the room so we could all fit around it. It was delicious and I couldn't have done it without my mother-in-law, Lisa. Thanks so much!! I now have TWO Thanksgiving meals under my belt.

Door County (again!)

At breakfast last Saturday, Luke proposed the idea of a spontaneous trip to Door County, Wisconsin. He had both Saturday and Sunday off (which I don't think has ever happened without planning throughout the last three years), so we knew we needed to take advantage of it. So, we packed the Jeep up and headed north for two nights!

We brought our bikes and spent most of Sunday riding on the country roads between the small towns while enjoying the (coolish!) fall weather. We had a great time and it was a much needed break from school and work. We didn't take a lot of photos, but here are some!

Luke using his new birthday thermos for the first time.

It kept the coffee hot for 24 hours--seriously!

Enjoying some warm coffee on the pier in Egg Harbor.

Egg Harbor pier: We watched some giant salmon swimming around in the water.

This is what most of our bike ride looked like. And yes, that is me in the corner, walking my bike up that giant hill. But I promise, that was the only hill I had to walk!