Day 203: NYE

My New Year's Eve party.  We had a blast!  Happy New Year!

Day 202: BWW with Susan

My friend, Susan from the Netherlands, was in town for Christmas, so we had dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings.

Day 201: Pecan-Parmesan Fish Fillets

I found this recipe and it seemed simple enough, so I thought I'd try it.  I used spinach instead of broccoli because I couldn't find any in the freezer.  Also, I only used the lemon juice that gets mixed with the pecan/cheese mixture (I didn't sprinkle the lemon juice on top) and it was a bit much for me.  If I make this in the future, I'll probably just not use the lemon juice at all.  Regardless, I found it to be quite tasty and super easy to make.

Day 200: Decorating

Day 199: Texas Ornament

A Christmas present from Raven arrived in the mail today: a Texas ornament.

Day 198: Tuckered Out

Day 197: Family Christmas

Ed, Ashley, Rodney, Carrie, Mom, Dad, Toby, Lan El, Jen, and Gram.

Day 196: Christmas Eve

Day 195: Poinsettia

One of my coworkers gave me a poinsettia for Christmas.  I hope I don't accidentally kill it.  [My track record with plants isn't very good.]

Day 194: A Friend from Arizona

Aricka was in from Arizona, so Sarah and I hung out with her at Frick's and heard all about her crazy train adventure to Michigan.

Day 193: Pat & Jerry's

I left my camera at home, so I had to use my phone.  We had dinner at Pat & Jerry's restaurant.  The food wasn't very good, but the company was great.

Day 192: Presents

Presents are all wrapped and under the tree.

Day 191: Wine & Games

Today was Kayla and Josh's Christmas program at church.  After the service, we went back to Colleen's to have a game day.  We played Triominoes (dominoes but with three sides) and drank wine.  It was fantastic.

Day 190: Chocolates

Started making chocolates today.  I got the ones for tomorrow and Tuesday done.  Still have more to do.

Day 189: Potage Parmentier

After reading Julie and Julia, I really wanted to make Potage Parmentier which, according to both Julie and Julia, is simplicity itself.  I made it today for Mom and I for lunch.  And it's hard to describe.  It's amazing how so few ingredients (potatoes, leeks, parsley, and butter) can taste so interesting.

Day 188: Snowflake Ornaments

Last year I started a tradition, making Song Bird Christmas ornaments for each of my Godchildren.  This year, I decided to do snowflakes.  These are a few I made today.  I'll make more tomorrow.  Here are the final selections: 2010 Godchildren Christmas ornaments.

Day 187: More Ornaments

I was super sick today and after getting home from school, I briefly studied for my exam on Thursday and then went to bed.  Before I went to bed, I knew I need a picture of the day, so here's another ornament photo.  I promise there will be something more interesting tomorrow.

Day 186: Glittering Star

I went to work, came home, finished my paper, and studied for an exam... so not a lot to take a picture of.  So, I decided to get a snapshot of one of my ornaments on the tree.  It has no special significance or anything, I just like that it sparkles.  [I'd say at least half the ornaments on my tree have glitter on them.]

Day 185: Wrapping Gifts

I took a vacation day and worked on my final paper for my history class.  I also wrapped my gifts for Texas, so that they could be mailed with the ones Mom and Dad were sending.  I haven't wrapped anything else yet...

Day 184: Let it Snow

Day 183: Skype

Skype is so awesome.  Tonight, I got to talk to Raven and Willow via Skype.  Willow played peek-a-boo and Raven showed me almost every ornament on their Christmas tree... individually.  ":)  When we had computer issues and the call was dropped, Willow demanded to know "where is Jen!?"  What a great homework break.

[Last night, Ash, Dennis, Marc, and I played euchre via Skype.  How cool is that?]

Day 182: Angel

This is the angel ornament I made for Granny.  It didn't turn out as cool as I had hoped, but it's still kinda cool.  I had a way cooler design, but discovered that bending wire into angels is way harder than I had suspected.

Day 181: Not Much

We did a whole lot of nothing.

Day 180: Glitter!

I love glitter.  It's so sparkly and wonderful.  It makes (almost) everything pretty.  Every Christmas, I see these glitter covered fake plants at craft stores and I always want to get them.  This year, I decided to finally get a couple.  And I grabbed an extra that I'm going to attempt to fashion into some sort of hair accessory for New Year's Eve.

Day 179: Chicken Noodle er... Soup?

Why is it that my chicken noodle soup never stays soup?

Day 178: Homework Distractions

I was trying to do the assigned reading for my class tomorrow, but someone kept distracting me. 

Day 177: Christmas Program

This was the Christmas program at Gage's church.  It was chaos as you can see by the picture.  It sure was entertaining though.

Day 176: Lounging Lily

I went to lunch with Sarah, Gage, and Lily.  After, we walked over to Good Will to look around.  Lily found a good spot to relax and read a book.

Day 175: Christmas Tree

I put up the Christmas tree tonight, listening to my favorite Christmas hymns: O Holy Night, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen-We Three Kings medley, and Do You Hear What I Hear.

Day 174: Carnations

Bought some flowers at the grocery store.

Day 173: Snow!

Since we didn't get our first big snow until December 1, I'm okay with it.  But, the snow had better be gone by February 1.

Day 172: Venus Fly Trap

This past fall, Ash and I bought this Venus Fly Trap at Kroger.  It was a total impulse buy, but it's pretty cool.  I was going to take a picture of it back then, but forgot.  Since I didn't have anything interesting to take a picture of today, I decided to do the fly trap.

Day 171: The Boys

Day 170: Term Papers

This is where I spent most of the day... working on an eight-page paper and a five-page paper.

Day 169: Phase 10

It was easier to teach Dan to play Phase 10 than it was for me to try to teach him Skip-Bo, so that's what we played.  ":)  Generally, Phase 10 is not my favorite game to play, but after a beer or two, it's pretty fun.

Day 168: Snow

The first real snow, although not sure how "real" it is, since it didn't last long.  So, I guess it's the first photographed snow of the season.  Today was nasty cold and super windy.

Day 167: Thanksgiving

I am thankful for my friends and my family, my Godbabies and my pets. I am thankful that I have a car to drive and a roof over my head. I am thankful that I can afford to go to school and that I have a job that allows me to do so. I am thankful for my happiness and my health. Happy Thanksgiving!

Day 166: Ed's Birthday

We [Mom, Dad, Ed, and I] went to China Palace for Ed's birthday.

Day 165: Zippy

I didn't know what I was going to take a picture of and then I looked over at Zippy and he looked like he was showing off, so I took his picture.  This photo (aside from being cropped) is not touched up in anyway.  He's just naturally that bright and pretty.

Day 164: Term Papers

Using Ashley's desk to work on homework.  (My desk is covered with stuff.)

Day 163: Lily's Birthday Party

I made this tutu for Lily's second birthday.  She loved it.  Of course, I couldn't wrap it, so I just carried it into the house.  I handed her the tiara (which says "Happy Birthday" on it) and Sarah put it on her.  Then she just stared at the tutu in my hand.  When I asked her if she wanted to wear it, she immediately said yes.

Day 162: Lily's Dress

I went shopping for birthday presents for Lily.  I wanted to get her dress up clothes, but the dress up clothes at both Meijer and Target were cheaply made and ridiculous expensive.  So, I decided to make her something.  I was up until 2:00 in the morning making this and a tutu.

Day 161: Gallery Art

The Court Street Gallery is displaying art by Delta College students, and Dennis has two photography pieces on display (and for sale).  His are the two bottom photos.

Day 160: First Night

Me and the boys hanging out on our first night alone.

Day 159: Last Night

Zippy Morocco and Rodney getting to know each other, while Rodney makes himself comfy on Ashley's shoulders.

Day 158: Zippy Morocco

My new pet: Zippy Morocco.  He was a little pissed at me when I removed him from the little cup he came in, but I'm sure he'll get used to his new home in no time.

Day 157: Christmas Eve Pillowcase

When we were growing up, Ashley and I shared a bedroom (until I was in high school) and Ed had his own room.  However, we had a tradition that on Christmas Eve we would all sleep in the same room and talk and giggle and act like children (even when we were no longer children).  When Ashley moved to Texas, we could no longer do that.  So, she made each of us a pillowcase so that even though we weren't sleeping in the same room, we some sort of connection.  Ed and I thought it was so cool that we insisted she had to make new ones every year.  And so (this is like year 6 or 8 or something) she has made us new Christmas pillow cases every year.  She gave them to us early this year since she will be in Texas for Christmas Eve.

Day 156: Going Away Party

We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for a mini-going away party for Ashley since she is leaving this week for a travel assignment.  The night turned out great, though it had a rough start for me.  First, they didn't have Blue Moon beer—I ALWAYS have Blue Moon with wings.  So, then I picked Budweiser Golden Wheat.  Yeah, they didn't have that either.  So, I settled for Bud Light to go with my wings and coleslaw.  Except they were out of coleslaw too.  Still it was a good time.  I totally kicked butt on the trivia game.  [Click on the photo to make it larger.]

Day 155: Family Dinner

Day 154: Logans

Went to Logan's for dinner with Fred, Amy, and Marc.  The rolls were fabulous as always.  [This pic was taken with my new Camaro phone.]