I have a very exciting announcement to FINALLY make. After a lot of thought, prayer and consideration we decided to move to Nebraska. Joel accepted a position at a sports software company in Lincoln, Nebraska (where we both graduated from college). We are so unbelievably excited to be moving so close to our families.

We will be 1 hour from my parents and brother (vs. 6 hours) and 3 hours from Joel’s parents (vs. 9 hours). We were incredibly lucky to sell our house in about 3 weeks and we found a new house in Lincoln.

Although we are ecstatic about moving, we are really going to miss this place that has become our home. We have made some amazing friends and found a great church family that we are going to be so sad to leave.

This is where we started our married lives and it’s the only place we have called home together…it’s the only home Noah has ever known.

It really hasn’t hit me yet. We have started packing things here and there, set up mail forwarding and gotten moving estimates but it still doesn’t seem real. It’s less than a month away! I think the week before is when it will finally set in and when I close that door for the last time. Eeee, when I think of it that way then it gets emotional.

So, I’m sorry if this little piece of the internet that I rule has been lacking. I wrote a bunch of posts and set them to autopost so that you wouldn’t feel abandoned but it still feels lacking to me somewhat.

I haven’t been cooking and experimenting as much; I’ve been trying to use up all the crap in my pantry and freezer that we don’t want to move. What that really means is that our meals have been easy and weird and boring and totally not blog-worthy.

And I’ve been using a lot of shortcut and store-bought ingredients so that I don’t go and re-stock the pantry by accident. It’s been really hard and I’m really looking forward to getting settled into our new home so I can get back to my cooking routine.

Plus my new kitchen is way better, yay! Well, except for the appliances and builders grade cabinets and ugly 90s light fixture. But that is all going to be fixed with stainless steel appliances (I just squealed a little, I’m so excited), painting of the cabinets (thanks mom in advance *wink wink*) and recessed lighting.

The month of December is going to be totally crazy for us, so you might not see as much of me. But please don’t worry, things will be back to normal very soon. I promise!

Now onto the recipe. I’ve had my eye on this recipe for awhile now and knew it would be perfect to try for Christmas this year. I have really been trying to provide a variety of Christmas treats this year so that you all have great options and aren’t bombarded with cookies (not that there is anything wrong with lots of cookies…they are our favorite around here).

These peanut clusters couldn’t have been easier. Noah dumped all the ingredients into the crock pot and turned it on. So, if a two year old can do it so can you! The only problem with the recipe was the waiting. Once he had dumped, he was ready for candy and didn’t understand why he couldn’t have candy NOW. Oh, the joys of toddlers! 

I finished them up while he napped so they could harden and would be ready when he woke up. What’s better than a little bit of chocolate after waking up? For him, nothing.

While it was great and classic with the peanuts, I personally prefer almonds with chocolate so next time I may do half peanuts, half almonds to mix it up. It would be great with some cashews or pecans thrown in there too.