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.