I'm not working again til next year!!

And I'm rounding out my 2012 work year in my brand new work shoes that Mom got me for Christmas!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

SNOW!

We actually got some real, honest to goodness, legitimate SNOW here! It's a Christmas miracle!!

Brrrrr!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

There's SNOW here! And yes, of course some schools are closed after this massive snow storm :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.... Christmas decorations!!

Fiber optic Christmas tree - from Grandma & Grandpa Ponstingle's house to ours :) I've had this tree in my college dorm rooms, sorority house, numerous apartments, and now our lovely home!

Pretend you have a real Christmas tree with Scentsicles - pine scented sticks!! They work!

Our new ornaments we brought back from Europe!!

Our fabulous green and silver tiny tree - from Grandma Grigger's house to ours :)

Our nativity! It's the best part of our Christmas decor! From Mom & Dad's house to ours :)

Our singing monks! We LOVE these delicate wooden decorations - from Grandpa Niemira's house to ours :)

Santa! From my in-laws to our house!

Our tree!

Our mantel! One of my favorite things to decorate.

More mantel.

A warm, Christmasy glow!

If there's one thing I love, it's Christmas decorations! They are so fun to put up (but not so fun to take down). I love putting up the decorations and reminiscing about each decoration and ornament and where it came from. Thanks to our families for filling our home with lovely memories and awesome Christmas decor!

Egg Nog Jog!

Today was a monumental day - it was the Egg Nog Jog in Cincinnati! Steve and I ran this hilly 5k in the gorgeous, scenic Mt. Adams area:

 Mt. Adams is so cool - it's up on a mountain and overlooks the whole downtown area:

 Gorgeous morning for a run! Guess what happened during this gorgeous morning?

 I placed SECOND in my age group!! AND I got a medal! Seriously! I've never won anything athletic in my life- EVER! Like never, ever! We were enjoying some nog in the bar after the race when they started announcing the winners in each category.

 Of course many, many other people did better than I, but I was floored when they called my name for second place female, ages 25-29! I was really trying to beat my 5k time from earlier this year, when I ran a PR at the Shamrock Shuffle, but I was so doubtful when we signed up for these hills on this course. Luckily Steve ran the race with me and kept me moving! He's a great coach! I was only 9 seconds slower than my PR - so close! That's ok, I'm so happy with how it went on those hills! Victory!!

Here we are celebrating with our friend Vicki. Victory never tasted so good!!

Here's my medal! I'm so excited I'm never taking it off!

Place	O'All		Age			Start	Time	Pace

2

101

29

10:04:07

24:52

8:00

SANTA!

We hung out with a celebrity last night - SANTA!

FYI

Two big FYIs to remember:
1. Don't start a lengthy craft project on the kitchen table. You have nowhere to eat as crafts take over!
2. When they say HOT glue gun, they're not kidding. It is HOT!

Inflatables = bad idea

The house across the street has a giant inflatable Homer Simpson in their front yard. OUCH... Here's me trying to be sneaky and take a picture without them seeing me!

Good Morning!

Good Morning from London Seattle Cincinnati!

Broken Dreams

Today is a sad day. I broke my absolute FAVORITE bowl today. Here are the sad remnants below... I sort of tripped on my way to the sink this morning and hit the bowl on the edge of the sink. It shattered immediately! This was my favorite bowl because I made it! I made it in ceramics in college and it was my best one - perfectly light, nicely shaped, and really cool glazing. I teared up when it broke :( SAD!!!

Blueberry delight!

I've made these Blueberry Crumble Bars about a million times and they are AWESOME! Check out the recipe here: http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/03/blueberry-oat-crumble-bars/

Only 7 more minutes til they come out of the oven!