Christmas 2010

Bobby and I opted to stay in Colorado for Christmas. We would have been stretched (and stressed) going back to Texas between at least 4 different get togethers in 4 different cities as far as 6 hours apart. Plus we would have had to be there from December 17th to at least December 26th bouncing from city to city in a rental car trying to fit everything in. Since we spent Thanksgiving with my family in Salt Lake, and since I was able to see my mom, Granny, and Great Granny back in August, Bobby flew down for his family reunion style Christmas event late on the 17th, and was back home early on the 19th. He had to work the 20th and the 21st, and then his company shut down for the holidays (he had two full weeks off, and is still on vacation as I type this- he deserved it and I'm glad he got it!) Our friends invited us to their house for dinner, so Bobby and I slept in and had Christmas morning together.

We started off with eggnog and the leftover pumpkin cake with pecan streusel for breakfast. Not exactly the breakfast of champions, but I think that's precisely what made it the perfect Christmas meal.

In Bobby's words "we should use our actual socks for stockings, like they did in the 1890's".

Bobby with his snowboard sock stocking- he's so proud.

Digging out lots of goodies from Santa

One of said goodies :)

Me with my argyle stocking.

One advantage of actual stockings instead of argyle socks- I have to admit they're a *bit* easier to stuff things in, and get things out.

I was so excited to get this ice scraper! I had to use a rolled up canvas grocery tote to plow snow off my windows during the last snow storm. I think this is a better tool by far.

My toe socks hipster-'stache- I wonder if I'll ever get tired of mocking the ironic hipster mustache?

We had some brown packing paper from the box Bobby's nephews' gifts were shipped in, so we re-purposed it. Bobby was much more creative than I was. Exhibit A...

aand B. This makes me smile every time I see it.

Also a re-used bag and tissue paper- we kept it pretty informal as you can tell.

Bobby *loves* toe socks. I never owned a pair until I met him. (I'm wearing my Christmas pair right now- which is a good thing, since it's negative 8 degrees outside tonight.)

We love to camp, and I got Bobby these and a few other camping accessories. He immediately opened them, ran one under water,and lit it.

Yoga prop- a support block. He was *very* happy for this one!

I was nerdily excited over this gift- DNA mapping from the company 23 and Me. You spit in a tube, mail it off, and in 2-4 weeks they send you information on all the most fundamental bits and pieces of your body and genetic makeup. Information on ancestry, genetic markers for diseases, and other random interesting things are included in the work-up. Bobby had it done a few years back and when he told me about it the awestruck kid in me that continues to be amazed by science came out. I haven't sent it off yet but I hope to do so in time to get it back before we leave for Egypt.

After the gift exchanging we lounged about in pajamas a bit longer while we called our families and wished them Merry Christmas. I had a nice long talk with my Great Granny that made my day. Once all the Christmas calls were made we headed over to our friends' house for dinner and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening with them. It was really nice to have such great friends here in Colorado to share the holiday with.

Holiday Dinner

Our Christmas Eve was pretty low key. I wanted to make a big traditional dinner, so I spent the afternoon at the grocery store and then spent the evening cooking. We invited our friend Jenny over but I try not to scare people away with my shutterbug leanings so the camera was not invited to dinner. Even the pictures of the food are snaps of leftovers :) Bobby and I made a pumpkin spice cake with pecan streusel first, and then I spent the next two or three hours in the kitchen. It was well worth the effort though and we all had a great evening. It might be a little late for such a suggestion, but making a Pandora station based around the music of "The Nutcracker" yielded the best holiday music to cook to and have playing in the background. So, file that away for next year. And now for some pictures...

Bobby played around with his fish eye lens while I cooked dinner.

It's like magic to me that it captures this much.

The main event- clockwise from top: squash and zucchini sauteed in garlic with black pepper and fresh sage; Celebration Roast seared in homemade balsamic dressing and topped with baby bellas sauteed in the same dressing; mashed red skinned potatoes with dill topped with homemade tarragon, marjoram, thyme, and sage gravy; "real" stuffing (the first time I went all out with celery/onions/fresh sage & parsley/veggie stock and baked it all instead of just using Stove top from a box); cranberry sauce; rosemary and olive oil ciabatta roll; carrots glazed in brown sugar.

We ate leftovers for three meals...

and I could have eaten them for even more than that.

Christmas Parties

We had Christmas parties two nights in a row on December 11th and 12th thanks to the two places I intern with. It was so nice to have holiday parties to go to, they always get me in a festive spirit.

The party on Saturday night was held at the director's home. It was a potluck, and Bobby made our signature pumpkin chocolate chip vegan cookies- our friends call them "pillow cookies". We usually make them together but this time it was all Bobby.

Yet here I am, kind of implying that I deserve some credit. It's the proud way in which I'm displaying them. I should be ashamed.

On our way out the door. We had a great time meeting new people and catching up with some people we already knew through the organization.

The next night, Sunday, we headed to the party hosted by the other organization I intern with. They held it in their teahouse, which benefits their schools in Cambodia. They were serving mar-TEA-nis and lots of really good appetizers from the Chinese bistro downtown.

I really love the teahouse! It's such a calm and cozy atmosphere. It's been open for a little over a year and I'm excited to see what the future holds for them.

I'm kindly bringing Bobby a beer. I'm a teetotaler, so that drink in my hand is an innocuous mix of sprite and peach nectar.

It was also one of the co-directors birthdays, plus he and his wife (the other co-director) were celebrating 16 years of marriage. Lots of good things to celebrate that night :)

We ended it with mochi green tea ice cream, and then headed home. It was nice to spend leisure time with all the great people I get to work with. I'm excited for the next year of being a part of these awesome organizations.

Christmas Tree 2010

Last Sunday Bobby and I got a tree. Neither of us had any kind of Christmas decorations when we moved up to Colorado, so the idea of having to get everything down to the ornament hooks almost dissuaded us. In the end though, we decided it would be nice to have a tree, since it would be our only holiday decoration. We started the day off by having a late breakfast downtown at Snooze, a place we usually ditch once we hear the waiting time. This day we were in luck- only 15 minutes.

Bobby, hitting Snooze.

Me, dreaming about pancakes.

This place was awesome. Well worth the wait. And maybe next time we'll wait longer now that we know how good it is.... maybe.

Bobby, looking shifty, drinking his whiskey cider at 11:30 a.m. I found this particularly hilarious because Bobby rarely drinks at all, so it was even more absurd that he chose to have a breakfast cocktail. But it was hot, so that makes it a breakfast drink, right?

At first, we tried to go all eco-friendly thrift store chic with our tree trimmings- but then when we realized the thrift stores (we checked 3) were selling craptastic dinged up ornaments for 3 times what Target sold them for, our frugality won out. We picked up the tree and base at Loew's, and then went across the parking lot to Target and got a box of 50 ornaments, multi-colored lights, and a star for under $30. I love buying second hand for lots of reasons but when it's MORE expensive for LESS quality, well, I'm not going to cling to principles blindly.

While Bobby built the base I queued up a She-Ra and He-Man holiday special. Thanks Hulu!

The tree, in its new home. The rest of the pictures speak for themselves- let the trimming begin!

Well, wait, maybe this needs explanation- I'm not giving the tree a haircut, I'm cutting the baling... ok, back to pictures!










I love how our tree turned out. It smells great, looks beautiful, and it makes me grateful for sunsets at 4:30. More time to enjoy the Christmas lights.