January 13th, 2012 — Christmas, Family
where jason’s family near des moines lives is about a four hour roadtrip, mostly straight down i-35. we got on the road in the early afternoon last friday, stopped for an unhealthy, fast dinner, and were hanging out with the family by 7:30. i decided to start re-knitting the ravelclaw scarf that i ripped apart last year, so i worked on that most of the evening while jason was busy catching up on video games and remote controlled cars and trains. it was a leisurely, quiet night, which was nice.
the next morning is when the christmas fun began. the boys were pretty excited for their gifts, so after lunch they got to work on sorting out all of the gifts from under the tree.
where’s my harry potter lego game?! (oh, right, it’s waiting for me to load it into my wii at home… i am not so good at finishing video games.)
of course, that’s not really a ps3.
it’s just a bunch of air pockets… and brown sugar…
and a few gift cards, too.
it looks pretty…
but it’s just toilet paper. (this family has a lot of fun messing with each other.)
jason is goofy and cute.
nicholas was so excited about his new mario kart jammmies, that he ran off and put them on right away. (you’ll notice them in photos to come.)
alex got a kindle, which involved a drive into town to find a wi-fi hotspot (dairy queen) to get set up.
i wrapped missy’s gift with a lot of tinsel and tissue paper. a lot.
renee found some neat earrings for me — made from the glass of a wine bottle!
nikki has been studying acupuncture lately, to accompany her mad chiropractic skillz. (she fixed me a bit before we left for home the next day.)
already putting the toilet paper gift to good use!
i think i meant to be taking a photo of renee, but this capture is pretty hilarious. i was giggling as i sorted through these photos.
i thought the bow fell off of my head right away, actually.
jason and i got logan a beer-making kit. logan loved it, but it made missy cry.
jaxon has a tinsel butt.
wine charms made from scrabble tiles — enough to spell out “laughter” (which would be an excellent play).
i wrapped nikki’s gift with a simple paper bag. which she was afraid to open.
but the inside was full of chocolate and minnesota wine.
this is a photo of jason and me opening a gift together.
yarn! hand-spun and hand-dyed, renee found it from a local business in des moines.
nicholas loves being in front of the camera.
and, of course, this was the first christmas without uncle fred. renee had some of his clothing sewn to make clothing for “papa” bears, which each of the boys received. (jaxon was not into having a photo taken, unfortunately.)
i think that’s a pretty sweet idea.
after opening all of our gifts and cleaning up, we celebrated jaxon’s second birthday. that kids sure likes applause!
and his laughter was infectious. 
but then it was time to try the cake!
the detail of this capture is awesome. (photo credit goes to jason.)
yes, it was a very good birthday cake.
after jaxon opened his gifts, we had some fun with balloons and static.
some of us unwillingly (at first).
we rounded out the night with a game of apples to apples. always fun!
the next morning we took it pretty easy. renee always arranges a yankee christmas gift game, and i went home with a tray to make a wine cork trivet. some of us (me) were still in our jammies, though, so the camera didn’t make it out for that fun.
then it was back home to minneapolis, and now? christmas is really over. 
January 13th, 2012 — Christmas, Family
it’s not quite over yet, because i haven’t posted my millions of photos here.
(this is chocolate-covered bacon, courtesy of aunt kim.)
during the actual christmas weekend, jason and i went to south dakota to celebrate with my family. we hung out with a bunch of my hometown friends on friday night (and mostly had the karaoke stage to ourselves), celebrated with my mom’s family on saturday (christmas eve), and celebrated with my dad’s family on sunday (christmas day).
other long-overdue posts on the way: the monday after christmas was for celebrating bertine and zach’s wedding. last weekend, we drove down to des moines to celebrate christmas (and nephew jaxon’s second birthday) with jason’s family.
that’s a lot of celebrating!
this is the face that hannie makes when she is excited but shy. she’s a pretty adorable kid!
have i mentioned the four shih tzus that accompany my mom’s side of the family?
we have been doing a white elephant-style gift exchange for quite a few years now. the premise is that you roll the dice and if you get a pair (or two pair), you can pick a gift (or two gifts) from either the pile in the middle or you can steal from someone who has two or more gifts. this year, dad tried to steal a gift from hannie and you know what she did?
she cried. of course. don’t steal gifts from the baby of the family!
jeremy got a jar of preserved lemons. what would you do with that?
pretty much all of jason’s gifts were for me (zebra-print snuggie, bubble bath, fondue set for two — i suppose maybe i’ll share that one with him).
i like this sequence of photos. dog in box — kid petting dog in box — kid in box.
these desserts may look the same but one was pistachio and the other was chocolate. i tried both, both were awesome.
later on christmas eve, after returning to my parents’ house, we had our own little christmas. hannie is very good at opening presents!
i gave bryan coffee and sausage for christmas. he claimed it was exactly what he wanted.
dad got a giant box of chocolate and a donut maker.
jason got a domo calendar and many home depot gift cards (and we got a joint home depot gift card) — time to get crackin’ on those home projects!
this face is for ryan, the sender of the “unicorn meat” for bryan.
actual bits of “meat” inside! too funny.
a couple of my christmas gifts. (have i mentioned i’m in love with my iphone? last night it kept me up 30 minutes after i meant to go to bed — this happens too often now.)
hannie would later tell me not to mess up her piggies.
can you guess what this gift from pop-pop is?
hannie’s first fishing pole! we all had to make sure she didn’t swing it into our heads for the rest of the night. and the next morning.
(playing with the bokeh kit, which has all kinds of fun shapes.)
i wish i looked less tired in this photo, but as joyful and exciting as it had been, it had also been a long christmas eve day.
bryan and jason helped mom frost christmas cookies before we all wound down and went to bed. (visions of sugar-plums dancing in our heads…)
we went to grandma d’s house for christmas day. bryan and dad made homemade ice cream, yum!
three kinds of soup for lunch: zuppe toscana, chili, and chicken noodle.
homemade vanilla ice cream and jason’s egg nog cookies for dessert. yum x 2!
we all watched with excitement as hannie opened her gifts from “owl grandma.”
this is the view from grandma’s house, so we also watched the sheep graze all day.
hannie and i played with my iphone. she wanted me to try on aunt deb’s glasses, too.
jason and i drove home to minneapolis from grandma d’s house. on the way, i introduced him to the jolly green giant in blue earth, minnesota.
and when we got home, the kitties got to enjoy their christmas gift from hannie:
i’m finding that my iphone isn’t quick enough to properly capture playful cats!
December 27th, 2011 — Family, Nature, Random Fun
iPhone for Christmas? I wanna see how the WordPress app performs… Between the regular camera app, Hipstamatic, and the Vintage Camera app, I already have 150 photos to share. (Yikes!)
Hannie tried on Pop-pop’s glasses.
Then Hannie and I took a photo together (while I tried on Aunt Debbie’s glasses). SMILE!!
Jason and I stopped in Blue Earth, Minnesota, to meet the Jolly Green Giant.
LOL, egg nog.
This afternoon I had a few dozen Thrushes (I think) hanging around outside my office window. Kinda creepy.
So many more photos to share! Why do I take so many?
In theory, having a WordPress app will help me to update more often but I think I’d rather have my photos linked from Flickr instead of uploaded to my blog’s media center. I’m torn. Any iPhone bloggers out there with helpful tips?
December 26th, 2011 — Yours Truly
- What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?
I got to see a little bit of California’s wine country! So lovely, I want to go back.
- Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don’t usually make real resolutions, but in 2012 I’m going to continue improving my domestic diva-ness: canning my own food and sewing my own quilt.
- Did anyone close to you give birth?
My friend, Erin, had her daughter, Lillian, last New Year’s Eve.
- Did anyone close to you die?
Jason’s uncle (aka Dad #2), Fred, passed away in August. My mom’s uncle, Roger, passed away in September.
- What countries did you visit?
I decided to stay in the US this year… (I should use my passport more.)
- What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
Paint on the walls in my home, a comfortable crafting room (“lady town”), and my dream bathroom. We have a lot of housework to do in 2012! (And thanks to my generous siblings, we have a very good head-start with our home improvement funds.)
- What date(s) from 2011 will remain etched your memory, and why?
Over the 4th of July weekend I photographed a very lovely half-Indian, half-Scottish wedding. August 21st was the day Uncle Fred lost his battle with cancer. July 29th was the day Jason closed on the house. (There were a lot of good days mixed in with bad days this year.)
- What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Advancing my career as a web chick (aka web developer)!
- What was your biggest failure?
Not paying off more debt.
- Did you suffer illness or injury?
Excellent timing: I was diagnosed with an ear infection about two days prior to my insurance ending with my previous employer — and I would’ve had to wait another month for my insurance with my new employer to kick in!
- What was the best thing you bought?
Movers really helped me out mid-August (as did my fantastic brother-in-law).
- Where did most of your money go?
I’m honestly not sure — a lot of little things really add up, I guess.
- What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Moving into the house with the man I love! Also, becoming more of a domestic diva: cooking for Thanksgiving dinner with friends, canning, gardening (next year), knitting, and sewing.
- What song(s) will always remind you of 2011?
Cloud Cult’s “Running with the Wolves.”
- Compared to this time last year, are you:
- happier or sadder? Happier!
- thinner or fatter? About the same, though my new employer feeds me a lot and I haven’t been walking or standing as much.
- richer or poorer? A little bit richer, but still working on paying off that pile of debt!
- What do you wish you’d done more of?
Crafting, reading, hanging out with friends.
- What do you wish you’d done less of?
Wallowing in depression about money.
- How will you be spending/did you spend Christmas?
Over the last couple days, Jason and I were in South Dakota with my family. This afternoon we’re celebrating Bertine & Zach’s wedding. In another two weekends, we’ll be celebrating with Jason’s family in Iowa.
- Did you fall in love in 2011?
I fell more in love, if that’s even possible.
- How many one-night stands?
I try to stand at least once every night.
- What was your favorite TV program?
The Walking Dead. It makes me nervous and I can’t watch it without Jason being around, but it’s so well written and acted!
- Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I try not to use this word/feel this emotion.
- What was the best book you read?
The only book I read this year was The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, but I did very much enjoy it.
- What was/were your greatest musical discoveries?
Florence + The Machine is probably my favorite from this year.
- What did you want and get?
For the last five months or so, I’ve been dying to trade in my Android for an iPhone, but it was never financially feasible. I was going to wait until next month to take the plunge, but my sweetie did some sneaking around and got me an iPhone for Christmas! I may or may not have cried (just a little bit). (Excitement, you know?) (Who am I kidding? I cry at everything.)
- What was your favorite film of this year?
Harry Potter!
- What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 30 this past November. I had a couple friends visiting, Bridget and Lindy. We went to brunch at Fat Nat’s Eggs, visited the Museum of Russian Art and IKEA, then for dinner (with Jason and Kristi joining) we made Tater Tot Hot Dish and watched both of the final Harry Potter movies back-to-back. It was a great day!
- What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
If our girl kitties would just (at least) tolerate each other.
- How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
Too poor to shop for clothing, make do with what I have.
- What kept you sane?
Jason.
- Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I very much enjoyed watching Will & Kate’s Royal Wedding (and seeing what she wore and her jewelry and etc. etc. etc.)
- What political issue stirred you the most?
I don’t know, I’m not really very political (out loud, I guess).
- Who did you miss?
Friends from South Dakota (I didn’t make it home enough this year).
- Who was the best new person you met?
I met a lot of new people this year — my new team at work, friends’ friends, or people just passing through my life’s adventures.
- Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011:
Just breathe. Everything will work out.
- Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
Then lights they fill the air, or were they always there?
I finally see it. I finally see it.
And I heard the captain say, I heard the captain say,
“You’re always close to it, so very close to it.”
There’s so much energy in us.
December 21st, 2011 — Christmas, Friends, Random Fun
last friday, jason hosted a get-together with friends for christmas celebrations and rock band (of course).
he made egg nog cookies. they are magical things.
egg nog (with optional rum) was served in very fancy glasses. we have a lot of fancy glassware, by the way. many options.
the host always spends time in the fridge. (right?)
after dan arrived (in his very festive vest), jason kicked off the christmas celebration with a “yankee” gift exchange.
everyone brought a gift that cost $1 or less.
during round one, after everyone had drawn a number, each player picked a gift from the pile — no unwrapping yet! player #2 could either keep their gift from the center or trade with a previous player (#1, in this case), and so on. i like this round because it is fun to create speculation about what a gift might be!
i actually think it’s fun to do this mystery-gift-trading round once or twice more, but jason decided to skip right to round two.
to kick off round two, player #1 unwraps his or her gift. then player #2 unwraps his or her gift, and can either keep it or force player #1 to exchange. player #3 can keep, or trade with one of the previous players. and this continues through all of the players…
but, in the end, player #1 get final choice! he or she can claim whichever gift, of all of the gifts, that he or she desires.
during our exchange, melissa was player #1. she picked a kazoo out of the gifts and at the very end of the game — she wanted that kazoo back!
i actually traded a yoda-shaped usb flash drive for this giraffe bust. i want the whole collection of miniature busts!
after this, some friends stayed to enjoy santa’s slay with us, then we played rock band until about 2 a.m. — another fun evening!
i’m wishing a very happy holiday season for you and your friends, too.
