Christmas decor circa 2012.

2 days ago, i had asked the husband to take out our christmas storage box from the garage so that i can evaluate if i needed to buy wrapping paper and gift tags with the intention of wrapping all my gifts that day.  being a good husband that he is, he gladly obliged and then off to work he went.   i started to rummage threw my old christmas decorations and ornaments of the past with no intention of actually decorating our house.  but as i sorted threw things, i had a sudden urge to whip them out and display a few christmas-y items around our abode.  no, we did not get a tree.  but i do have a humungo wreath on my stairs that can be 1/4 lit up!  does that count?

i used to hang this wreath on the outside of our previous house.
since we don't have an outside banister, i hung it inside.
it's several years old, hence only 1/4 of the lights work.
i think i'll be retiring this one after this year.

i also decided to use my old outdoor lights and wrap them around my stairs.

please don't mind my treadmill at the bottom
left hand corner.

next up, we have our stockings.  it just wouldn't be right without stockings hung on our fireplace.  to think, at this time, next year, our 2 stockings, will grow into 3 =)

here we have my 3 little angels that i bought on clearance post holiday season from pier 1 imports a long time ago.

and here is a photo, to keep things "real" of my christmas mess that i have accumulated which consists of boxes, gifts, wrapping paper, etc.  this is on my to-do list.

after all that decorating, hitting the gym, and running errands, i had the energy to whip up dinner!  i wanted something easy so i initially settled with chicken afritada made in my crock pot.  recipe adapted from here.  but, by the time i got home it was too late to wait 4 hours to finish cooking dinner.  so i just threw everything in my big, black pot and cooked it for 1 hour.

i added salt, more soy sauce, and some sugar to taste.  and since i love carrots because it adds sweetness to any dish, i dumped the whole trader joe's baby carrots bag into the pot.  husband loved it, brother loved it, and so did i.  i ate mine with quinoa since i'm trying to stay away from rice.  here is my plate:

 husband's contribution to our dinner, was a fresh strawberry and orange drink via our vitamix!  it was so yummy and refreshing!!

it does feel good to make a home cooked meal for my loved ones.  i'm trying to be more consistent and better at it.  once gabriella makes her grand entrance into this world and starts eating solids, cooking   nutritious meals for my family will be one of my top priorities.  what are your top go-to meals?