The Day After

Christmas is over. Our days of sleeping in on Christmas morning are quickly coming to an end. So we took advantage this year. We rolled out of bed at 8:30am, had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, got showered and dressed, opened presents, went to see Marley & Me, drove to Dave's sister's house, enjoyed a house full of family for a big feast (might I add delicious too), and headed home, took down all Christmas decorations, hauled the tree outside, got ready for bed and read my book until midnight because it is SO good! (I'm reading The Sound of Rain by Anita Stansfield.) All in all, it was a great Christmas.

I hope you all had a great Christmas too!

Jeanne Needs

I found this neat idea on Lene's blog. All you do is google your name with needs at the end and list the first 10 results.

1. Jeanne needs life in Cleaveland. -- I don't think I do.

2. Jeanne needs help. -- I do need a LOT of help! I'll take it from wherever (mostly) I can get it from.

3. Jeanne needs a job NOW! -- I only need a job if it pays double what I make now.

4. Jeanne needs A Shooter Live lyrics. -- Don't even know what that is.

5. Jeanne needs more cash. -- I couldn't agree more!

6-10. Jeanne needs A Shooter lyrics by Bruce Springsteen. -- Once again..never heard of it, maybe I should look it up.

(I decided to keep going since it was 10 pages of Jeanne needs A Shooter lyrics. How boring!)

7. Jeanne needs a ride from sf to bioneers solstice afterparty Sunday. --Sure, but first I need a ride to sf.

8. Jeanne needs to go! -- I'm always up for a roadtrip. Anyone headed to Idaho?

9. Jeanne needs a hug. -- Hugs always make me feel better.

10. Did I mention Jeanne really needs A Shooter lyrics?? -- Like, REALLY badly! Can somebody please help?

Holiday Baking

My good friend and I spent a whole day together shopping, baking, and choosing fabric to recover my chairs. It was so fun to spend a day away from Christian and get some holiday baking accomplished. (THANKS Dave!)

We went to the Outlet Mall in Castle Rock and got great deals at the Carter's outlet. I love a good 70% off sale. I think I might go back. I got 4 pairs of pants and a shirt for Christian for $30. Then we spent our life savings on groceries. And to the kitchen we went.

A sugar cookie with Andes mints inside and green frosting and an Andes mint on top. (seriously, that is all it is---super easy!!)

Butterscotch Cake Cookies with Browned Butter Frosting

Graham Cracker Cookies (the squares on top)

and Molasses Cookies (the rounds on bottom)

We had a great time talking and laughing and baking. And thanks to my friend's awesome kitchen with 2 ovens we were able to finish almost all that we set out to do. It would have taken me a week to accomplish all that baking by myself, with one oven and a toddler at my feet. We ended up with about 20 dozen cookies. Tonight I am going to make chocolate covered pretzel rods sprinkled with red and green sugar. I love to bake! I need to do it more than once a year.

SPT-Joy

I find joy in having our first Christmas tree as a family.

Unfortunately, there are no ornaments on the bottom half of the tree because Christian pulls them all off. But at least we have a tree! That's more than we can say for last year.

Christmas Party

Dave and I went to my work Christmas party last night and saw "A Christmas Carol" at the Denver Center for Performing Arts. Surprisingly I really enjoyed it. They did a fabulous job and Tiny Tim was SO cute. The actor that played Scrooge was excellent. I was entertained the whole night and thanks to our friend, Lindsey, we were able to have a night away from Christian.

After the play we decided to take a few pictures of the area and ourselves. It was so nice I didn't even need my coat. Can you believe it? A December night in Denver and all I needed was a sweater.

I can't wait for Christmas when we get our new camera and can take decent photos again. Sorry about the red eyes.

It's been a long time since I have been to Downtown Denver. The Parade of Lights was last night as well, so a few of the streets were closed and traffic was aweful! But it was manageable. This picture was taken at 10m after all the traffic was gone. The drive home was a breeze!

Dave was trying SO hard to take a good picture, but he forgot to smile with all that concentrating. I think he's the most handsome husband (even when he is so serious).

SPT-Love

Do I need to say any more? I work within walking distance of Sonic and it's a BAD thing. I purposely schedule my lunch at 2pm so I can go to Happy Hour for 1/2 price drinks. I know...it's a problem and I should seek help.

I figured you already knew I loved my family so why not share my love of Sonic?

Does anyone else have a Sonic problem?

Is there a Sonic Anonymous?

A Little Note: Okay...so I might have exaggerated a little bit. I LOVE Sonic with every fiber in my being, but I don't go everyday. In fact it's only about once or twice a week if that. But it seems that these past few weeks I'm getting out of control. I'm drinking less water and more soda. I never used to drink soda very much. I think the stress of the Holidays brings it out in me (keep in mind I'm a bank teller). And after all it's less than $1 per drink.