dancing queen

I spent the afternoon helping my baby sister get ready for her winter formal.


She looked so cute! (I am well aware I look frumpy, ok.)



Of course, there were some crisis moments.
Hair not perfect (side note - my sister has amazing hair. It always looks super cute. When I was in high school I had 2 styles, down and straight or in a ponytail. Who am I kidding, thats all I do now too. Anyway, she is super creative with her hair)
Dress issues (mom fixed that)
Running late (umm...no surprise here)

But it all came together in the end. And I must say, she was beautiful. I loved her glamorous look!

It is fun to watch my sister experience her senior year. But when I saw the order form for her cap and gown, I couldn't help but feel a little sad. Way. too. fast.

sundays

Rainy Sundays...


Require freshly baked cookies



Its simply a must.

saturdays

Are my favorite. I love nothing more than to spend my Saturdays at home. In fact, except for the monthly date night or occasional night out with my girlfriends, I consider it poor planning on my part if I have to venture into the "big city" on Saturdays. I try to run all my errands and grocery shopping during the week, so I can be home on the weekends. I have come to terms with the fact that I am a home body. And I am 100% ok with that.

I especially loved today. It was cold and foggy outside and I spent my afternoon holed up with my husband and my dog. Lounging. Clean house. Fresh laundry smell. Baked bread. Made soup. Yummy candles. Cuddle. Watch movie.

amish oat bread. pg 108 shafter mb cookbook. or here.
/>


chicken tortilla soup



scully girl


And we may or may not have spent too much time watching Lockup.
Which may or may not be one of the best shows on tv.

christmas vacation

Though not as long as I would like, we did enjoy a short vacation after Christmas. Thankfully, my job gives me a paid week off of work and Peter was able to ask for a few days off. We spent most of the time in San Diego with the Frantz family.

First night - dinner at Sammy's Pizza


Here is Sammy, at his pizza place


Sea World

When we arrived at Sea World, the power was out in the entire park. Which basically meant we walked around for about 45 minutes asking every employee we saw if the power was still out. Its like, if you ask as many employees as possible, it will be fixed faster. You all know what I am talking about. We all do it.
Anyway, a fun highlight of the day was stumbling upon the flamingos as they were being walked to their pond.



Here are some more fun animals...





And this?

Well this was just wrong. And annoying. And slightly disturbing.
If you cant tell, this is Tin Man's backside. This man apparently either won him or paid an exorbitant amount for this stuffed figurine. He was obviously very proud of it, as he proceeded to wear it on his shoulders all over the park. This picture was snapped at the 4D show. We also saw the Tin Man bobbing his way over to Shamu. And thus, blocking someones view at the Shamu show. And since when did Tin Man have such a defined butt? Gross.


Coronado
Tuesday was sunny and warm, so we rode the ferry over to Coronado Island and rented cruiser bikes. I would highly recommend this to anyone visiting San Diego. I had been to the island before, but it was fun to see it on bikes. You can rent bikes at the ferry landing and the trail takes you all around the island. My favorite part was riding through the residential streets and looking at all the adorable houses.
Sadly, I dont have many pictures, as my new camera had a sad meeting with the sidewalk. Thankfully, Amazon is sending us a new one!




We also had a yummy dinner in Old Town, complete with LaBamba playing mariachi bands.

Thanks Sam and Sue for the fun getaway!

christmas

Here are some images from our Christmas this year. We spent most of our time with family, and were once again reminded how blessed we are to live so close to our loved ones.










\

joy to the world

The Lord has come!



Merry Christmas from us to you.

birds of death

These are the birds that live on my street. The are turkey vultures. Allow me to give you a close-up....

that wingspan!


those talons!

That face! Disgusting, right?

I am convinced these birds are here to hurt me. Maybe even peck me to death and then bring all their friends to pick my body. They are vultures after all.

My hate-hate relationship with these nasty creature started many years ago. You see, I grew up on this street I now live on. These birds have been haunting me for years. One time when I was in jr high, there was a big group of them just standing on the street in front of my house. Staring at me as I walked outside.

My Dad liked to watch Alfred Hitchcock movies. I had already seen Birds. You can imagine the nightmare this event this created.

From that point on, I tried to avoid the birds as much as possible.



Well, I am once again a resident of Pine Street and it appears the birds are back in full force. Everyday I walk the dog or jog down the street with my eyes up. Always prepared for a full blown attack. I know I could go down a different street, but I will not be ruled by fear. Yes, the thought that they want to eat me and have my dog as dessert crosses my mind, but this is MY street.



But seriously though, I can feel their eyes following me.