25 Moments in 2010

I love reading those long Christmas letters that detail a year's worth of fabulous events, carefully editing out the grungier moments. The other day, over lunch, two of my friends from college and I were commenting on how funny it would be if those letters included some of the hilariously random events that life throws out, as well as the positive. Mali, one of the most honest people I know, went so far as to claim that once she has kids she plans on writing a "keep it real" summary letter, with positive events (Family beach trip! Johnny made honor roll!) as well as the hilariously awful (Our dog took a dump in my husband's loafers!)

I love blogging because it unintentionally captures a full picture of life: the good, the bad, the ugly, and the wonderful. Looking back on my entries, here is a sampling of 25 moments in 2010:

January

* Welcomed in 2010
* Dealt with "the smell"
* Sweated buckets trying Bikram yoga

February

* Basked in our five day snow vacation
* Sipped wine at a tasting party

March

* Ran a 10K (and limped for days afterward)
* Turned 29
* Saw a "Broadway" musical

April

* Traveled to Italy!!!
* Wrote about hilarious pitfalls of Italy trip

May

* Gave a house tour (and shortly after that, took our house off the market...)
* Learned we had bats in our attic!

June

* Celebrated our four year anniversary

July

* No "to do's" for 72 hours (the best fourth of July ever!)
August

* Hunted for treasure
* Biked 8 mile night time ride

September

* Sat on a jury for a murder trial
* Went to the E.R. for most embarrassing injury ever

October

* Wrote seven posts in seven days... sort of* Decorated for Halloween
* Reminisced about my favorite month

November

* Said goodbye... and thanks

December

* Told about our traditions* Surprise Christmas

Over all...

2010 was a very good year! :)

On my next post, I'm going to tell you about my resolution for the new year (Dan came up with a great one!) and NYE.

Happy New Year!

Notes of thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow, it feels like a while since I've had a chance to hop on my blog! Truth be told, it's been a long month with school being non-stop busy and losing my wonderful Aunt Monica so suddenly. (She hadn't told the family that she had ovarian cancer, and suddenly we received the phone call that she was gone.) The funeral was beautiful, though, and every single member of my exended family showed up to say goodbye. The over-whelming response from family for our grieving cousins was beautiful to see. Dan and I kept remarking that we were thankful to be part of the family.

In the same vein of "giving thanks", I thought I would share own grateful project we've been adding to since the first week in November. I shamelessly copied YHL's idea for a "thankful jar, although mine was much less fancy since it didn't include any DIY apothecary jar. Instead, I simply cleared out the hurricane vase, cut yellow card stock into squares, and then Dan and I wrote down things we were thankful for each day.

My hubby actually got into the idea too, which was unbelievably sweet of him seeing that cheesy little projects like this aren't usually his thing.

The rule was that neither of us was allowed to look at the cards until the night before Thanksgiving.

Confession: I peaked a few times. :)

(I'm really bad about waiting for surprises and have on more than one occasion become pissed at myself for peaking at the ending of a book. Yes, I can be one of those people.)
Anyway, Dan and I just finished unloading the jar and reading aloud our notes. What did we write? Read on!

We had some weird things, like:

Dan being thankful for "the bassett hound driving commercial":

Seen this ad? It's a recent Tommy Hilfiger campaign where beautiful people have an upscale tailgating party. They are all dressed in preppy-with-an-edge (think "Royal Tenebaums") style fall clothes. At the end of the commercial, the models chase after a vintage truck that is being driven away by their cheeky bassett hound. Dan is obsessed with those droopy dogs since his childhood pet was a bassett hound, so he LOVES this commercial. LOVES it, people.
It's freakin' adorable.

AND

One of mine: "seeing the albino squirrel on our walk today":

Dan and I love taking walks around the fancy nearby neighborhoods, and for some reason, we always see an albino squirrel. He's become kind of an inside joke, and there has been much debate over whether his hueless fur makes him a freak among normal squirrels... or their king.

AND

Me being thankful for Dan "listening to me read scary entries on pregnancy blogs."
No, I am not pregnant, however Dan and I are starting to talk about a family. How do I prepare for such a big decision? I gather info. And make Dan listen to every bit of it and calm me down when I start freaking out over some of the symptoms. I mean, I knew about weight gain and stretch marks, but I was not prepared stories of marriages crumbling that first year, skin tags, episiotomies, hair loss after baby, and marathon labor sessions. As I read the gory details, poor Dan was there to grimace miserably... and turn off the computer monitor.

Weird notes of gratitude, huh?

We also wrote some normal ones!

Here are a sampling of Dan's:

pumpkin ice cream

good health

my wife's laugh

the Beatles on iTunes

your excitement over Harry Potter

long fall walks with my girl

our Italy trip

you showing interest in my new golf swing

the idea of the thankful jar

And here were a few of mine:

pumpkin pie ice cream from Coldstone's

the tulips you gave me last week

all 14 of my cousins traveling to say goodbye to Aunt Monica

having healthy parents

your cackle

our home

time to blog and run and bake during the upcoming long weekend

the "faux" Thanksgiving we had with friends last week!
(I'm a sucker for a theme dinner party...)

You calling this morning just to say "I love you"


I'm planning to make some kind of a "thankful" book with these notes that we can maybe add to each year. I'll post what I come up with soon!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving tomorrow!
Pictures from here, here, and here.

The pumpkin recipe list

I am a freak for all desserts with pumpkin flavor! Need a pumpkin fix? Read on!

Pumpkin pie dip
Very easy and cheap to make, addictive, seasonal, yummy treat!

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese- softened as much as possible

2 cups powdered sugar

1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin pie filling

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

garnishes- cinnamon sticks

Beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed with electric mixer until smooth. NOTE: This may take a while. Add pie filling, 1 t. cinnamon and ginger, beating well for as long as necessary. Cover and chill 8 hours. Serve with gingersnap cookies, apples, and pear slices. Prep- 5 min. Chill 8 hours.

****
Pumpkin Pie Bars

Cold and delicious! The tray will be empty by the end of the night. By the way, I know there are quite a few ingredients, but this is so simple to make!

2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup apple juice
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
2 eggs
Frosting- cream cheese frosting

Heat oven to 350. Grease 15 x 10 x 1 inch pan. Beat bar ingredients at low speed. Spread batter in pan. Bake 20 to 30 minutes. Cool completely (1 hour).

Frost- refrigerate until set- about 30 minutes. Store in the refrigerator.

Cut into 8 rows by 6 rows. 110 calories. 45 fat.

******

Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cookies
I haven't made these cookies myself yet, but a colleague swears by this recipe!

* 2 1/2 cups flour
* 1 tsp. salt
* 1 tsp. baking soda
* 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
* 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
* 1/2 tsp. ground clove
* 1 pinch of ground ginger
* 1 stick butter, room temperature
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 egg, room temperature (??- this one was weird to me... why leave the egg out so long?)
* 15 oz. can of pure pumpkin
* 1 tsp. vanilla
* 1 1/2 cup of milk chocolate chips (or chunks from a candy bar, or butterscotch chips, or white chocolate chips)

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 375
2. Sift together in a small bowl: flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and ginger
3. In a large mixer bowl, beat together butter, brown sugar, and regular sugar
4. Add pumpkin and vanilla and mix until incorporated
5. Add egg
6. Beat in flour mixture gradually
7. Stir in chocolate chips/ chunks
8. Drop rounded spoonfuls onto baking sheet that has been greased and floured
9. Back for 13-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 2-5 minutes. Then, move cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Photos courtesy of here, here, here, and here.

*****

Lastly, if you aren't into baking, but you're still craving pumpkin flavor, I have two more options for you:

Pumpkin Sammies: Buy Ben & Jerry's pumpkin cheesecake ice cream (seasonal, of course) and a bag of large, soft, ginger cookies. Put a small scoop of ice cream on cookie and make sandwich by putting another on top. Freeze until firm, and then indulge. This could not be easier, unless you decide to just go for:

Coldstone's Pumpkin Pie in the Sky ice cream: Go to Coldstone's, order this, insert spoon, swoon! I like this lazy-ass pumpkin fix. :)