Thank goodness for Thanksgiving!

Hands down my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. Something about overeating, over drinking, oversleeping and over shopping always makes me so very happy! This year we hosted my entire family (the first time we have all been together for a holiday in 3 or 4 years) and our good family friends, Jane and Chuck.

John and I kicked off the holiday week with our first "bake-off". Winner takes the glory and the loser cleans up. John started off strong with his famous peanut butter kiss cookies and I pulled out a few stops with my first ever pumpkin pie and sweet potato balls - both Paula Dean recipes. After a ferice rock-paper-scissor competition to determine who gets to use the new mixer first, John took the lead and never looked back. He won the bake-off and I was left with the clean up. I think it was because he never let my glass of wine get empty. Sneaky!

Thanksgiving morning we participated in an annual Stephenson tradition, The Turkey Trot. A nice 5 mile race around the UT campus with 14,000 of our closest friends. Since I am still not cleared for running this year because of my foot, I walked the route with John and Stella. She was quite the hit among the race goers. One set of girls even said that she will be a "model" one day. Ummm...really? Not sure where that came from. Anywho, my previous race times have ranged in the 8.5 minute mile arena, this year, however we pulled off 19 minute miles. Stella has a lot to build on for next year!



Dinner preparations began quickly thereafter because we took for-ev-er to complete the race. My brothers, Nathan and Ciaran chipped in and we were all set for a 4PM feast. The turkey was like "butta" - absolutely the best I have ever had - good job John! All of the sides and fixin's went well and before we knew it it was time for the Texas vs. Texas A&M football game - i.e. we all moved upstairs to the man cave.



On Friday, John and I decorated our home for the Christmas season. Since this is our first Christmas in our new home we spent almost 8 hours getting everything out and set-up. Pictures are forthcoming as I still have a few small touches to add. We wrapped the trees outside with Christmas lights, put up our tree (which is John's parents first tree from almost 35 years ago!) and hung our stockings.

On Saturday we headed to Houston to meet up with John's college teammate, Ryan and his wife Julie who were in town to play the Houston Texans (professional American football team). We had dinner at a fantastic place - BackStreet Cafe - and walked around the galleria area for a bit before Ryan had to head back for his team's pre-game meeting.



We attended the game on Sunday where the Colts came out with a win. A quick chat after the game with Ryan some of the players and we headed back to Austin - a very long drive with all of the traffic. We ended our fantastic holiday week like any other Sunday night - John and Stella asleep on the couch with Sunday football on and me making my weekly to-do list. It was perfect!

Texas vs. Texas A&M

Each Thanksgiving weekend our local university (Texas) plays their biggest rivalry (Texas A&M). It is quite fun getting into the spirit of the long standing tradition. Around town you can seem many instances of what local business' support which university. My favorite is always the local nursery - Pots & Plants.

Famous for their 100 or so pink flamingo's on their front lawn, they painted half burnt orange (the color for Texas) and half maroon (the color of Texas A&M). In the center of the two sides was a penguin complete with a referee jersey.



By the way, Texas won, so the next day all of the maroon flamingos were laying flat on their backs. Hook 'em!

Seriously?

My father is infamous for his running attire. His standards include the short shorts (yes, you know the ones), a tucked in shirt, big earphones and tall gray socks. The first 3 I will never win on changing, but the socks, those have become my mission. His first round of excuses were that it was easier for him to identify his socks over my brothers if they were significantly different. Very true, but my brothers haven't lived at home in several years now and I am not sure why this is still the issue. He showed up to run the Turkey Trot this year wearing these bad boys:

Seriously!? I am glad I was on the injured list this year!

Chil-ax-ing!

After our walk with Stella this morning, I turn the corner to find Stella in her bed on her back! Do most dogs lay like this?

Sunday Project

Since we are hosting Thanksgiving this year, our butts have been kicked into gear to cross off a couple of "to-do's" on our on-going list. Our dining room has these 3 arches that I have no idea what to do with. The call for some sort of trio of art, but I haven't seen anything yet that is just the right fit.
After pursuing the model homes with my mom, we noticed that all of these "nooks" or "cut-out's" are painted a deep, rich color. So we have given that a whirl.



I am pretty happy with the way it all turned out. Onward with the hunt for the right artwork!

PS- the $2 edger-thingy at the check out at Lowe's actually works. It was a HUGE time saver and really made touch-ups super easier. Who would have thought!?

Hook 'em!

John, myself and my oldest friend in Texas, Peter, went to the last home UT football game this past weekend. One of John's customers was not able to attend, so we were able to make use of his tickets. Great seats! 11 rows up from the end zone. Since we know we are going to the national championships (oh yes, yes we are!)this was especially nice to be able to see this team in real time action. Here are a few pics.

Latest Pics of Stella

Stella is becoming more and more cute as she is developing her personality more each day. She is an early riser - yay for John, no yay for me as now I am totally out numbered for sleeping in on the weekends -, she has learned to get on the couch in "stealth" mode so I don't catch her, she is learning to go to the back door when she needs to go out - although not totally fowl proof yet -, she loves to chase the falling leaves - yes, it has finally dropped below 80 here-, and she is chewing everything she can get her hands on. We start puppy classes next month, but we are working on her learning her name and sitting on command. Like I said, we are going to puppy classes next month!

Ped's to the Pedersen Pad

Bob, Carolyn and Michelle came to Austin for a quick weekend visit a couple of weeks ago (wow - time is flying!)and we had a great time. The weather was perfect for cruising around Austin. We went to Wimberly, San Marcos, took Stella for walks (err ... Michelle and I slept through those - oops!) and tried a few new places in Austin - Max's Wine Dive (their motto is fried chicken and champagne: why the hell not! love that!) and Taverna.

While at Taverna for dinner on Friday, I had quite the embarrassing moment that I will be sure to not live down. Before we were seated for dinner, I excused myself to the ladies room. I saw the sign and headed in although surprised that there was 1. no line and 2. nobody applying make-up in the mirror. As I found my way to the stall, I hear a male come into the bathroom. I peak through the gap in the door and see Bob. "Uh, Bob, I think you are in the wrong restroom?," I said. "Ummm...not I am not, there is a urinal in here," he replied. "OMG!" I responded. I opened the door, dying of embarrassment, with my hand on the side of my face as I couldn't even look at him as I exited. Everyone at the table agreed that there was no way I should have missed the sign to the women's bathroom. Mortified.

On Saturday, John and I hosted our first "fancy" dinner on Saturday with the help of my mom and Michelle. Since we are hosting Thanksgiving this year, we thought it would be a good test run. We pulled out the fancy china and crystal and had a nice long meal with great conversation.

Stella was treated with a cupcake party by Carolyn and received her first winter jacket - which is adorable. The weekend went by too fast - we didn't even make it upstairs!

Stella's First "Yappy Hour"

Leave it up to us Pedersen's to find a "socialization" hour for the dogs that included a glass of wine for the owners! Our favorite local dog "boutique" hosts a "yappy hour" for dogs and their owns once a month. They bring in a guest speaker, have a nice spread of food and wine and even give away some pretty good treats for the dogs. I thought this could be a great way to meet some new people and have a casual drink, but Stella had a different idea.

Stella was certainly the "bell" of the ball, as she was the only puppy present. I thought she might be a bit timid since she has been scared of all our neighborhood dogs on our walks, but this night was not the case. Girlfriend was all over the place! She was pulling me around the store, bobbing and weaving in-between dogs and their owners. It was certainly awkward meeting peoples legs before their face!

Here are some pics of how she did.




This is our own "yappy" hour - Stella's all around!

Stella Weigh's In!

Stella weighed in this morning at 11 pounds which is up from her initial 8.5 pounds two weeks ago. Our vet believes she will be up to 30 pounds by the end of December which could seriously effect our travel plans for the holidays. Please don't tell me we will be making the 14 hour drive up to Kentucky because Southwest Airlines won't take her!? Visions of crossword puzzles, horrible gas station bathrooms and books on CD's cross my mind. Let's face it, I don't even drive to Houston!

Anyway, enjoy a few cute new pics of the ever-growing Stella!