A Review of 2009

I chose one photo from each month to chronicle this past year.

January

Fred striking a cute pose.

February

Emily and I at Carolyn's baby shower.

March

Obviously not my most flattering look, but this is from my PA bridal shower and my awesome KitchenAid mixer that has definitely been put to use!

April

My aunts hosted a bridal shower in MI. It was so great to see everyone!

May

By far, my favorite photo from our wedding. Of course, many, many more photos could have been picked for this month!

June

Mr. and Mrs. Hawk attending a friend's wedding.

July

Yeah, I enjoy my food. Especially when it's the delicious clambake Zach's grandparents put on.

August

A photo on the Susquehanna River.

September

Marking the completion of a portion of my quilt. Still many months (years?) to go on it.

October

A happy couple!

November

Zach using his photography skills (?) while Mom and I work on our Thanksgiving day project.

December

I had to cheat because I now have two wonderful families that I can share the holidays with!

Have a wonderful NEW YEAR!

Merry Christmas

Our holiday was filled with...

Anticipation

Family

Love & Laughter

Presents

Appreciation

Beauty

Delicious food...

and desserts!

Oh, and don't forget the crafts :)

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

And the Baking Begins

I hadn't felt truly in the mood for Christmas baking until yesterday and today's weather is just the perfect motivation to really get going! Still more to make this evening and tomorrow!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Twenty-Nine

Monday, Dec. 14th, was my birthday and in our family, your birthday is usually celebrated over a couple days, depending on what day of the week the birthday actually falls on.

Sunday was the day I celebrated my birthday with the family. It began with a bit of anxiety due to slick weather conditions as Zach and I and my mother met at church to perform in the Christmas Cantate. It went very well, with the ensemble playing, choir singing and my mom and I ringing handbells. Unfortunately, the Hawks and my dad couldn't make it in due to the weather.

Afterward, we went over to my parents' house for dinner, cake and presents. Zach's parents also came over to share in the celebration. It felt very Christmas-y with the tree up and house decorated so beautifully. Dinner was my choice ( same as last year) - lasagna, bread, broccoli, and salad. Dessert was the same as every birthday - Betty Crocker's white cake with seven minute frosting and mint chocolate chip ice cream! :)

We then got to the gift unwrapping - the best part of all! It's so fun to quickly unwrap each gift (unlike others who take their grand old time!). I got a new cookbook, framed pictures of my cat, Dumpling, a sweater and jewelry.

For the remainder of the evening, we enjoyed a warm fire in the living room and played some games! Of course, it was the choice of the birthday girl, so no one could really complain, but I think we all had a good time.

On Monday, Zach and I slept in and then Zach made me pancakes in bed. Wow! That was a treat. He left for work and I slowly got myself up and ready for a later shift at work. That evening, Zach came home with flowers. That was really special!

On Thursday, Zach revealed his birthday gift for me. It was a Wii! I was so excited (and admittedly, so was Zach). We set it up and played some sports before heading to bed. It couldn't have come at a more perfect time, since we're spending all day today playing during the snowstorm!

Thanks again to everyone for making the day(s) so special!

Christmas Tree Choppin'

Today I convinced Zach to go with me to the Christmas tree farm to get our tree. This isn't the most anticipated event for him given our past history with trees...(rewind to 2007 when our tree gave both of us severe cases of poison ivy!) But, I love the idea and couldn't imagine not cutting our own tree. So, with snow in the forecast (picture perfect weather!), we headed to Pine Haven Tree Farm and on the way, stopped at my parents' house to pick up decorations.

Once we took the tractor to the section of Douglas Firs, we found our tree in less than five minutes. Now, my memories of cutting down trees with my family consist of long walks through the Christmas tree forest looking for the perfect tree, then waiting for Dad to cut it down, and finally dragging it the whole way back to the car. It was an event. Somehow, it just seems to go rather quickly for Zach and I and we both made the comment that we can't cut the first tree we find (though it looked pretty darn good). We honestly didn't do much searching at all - I was getting cold and Zach wanted to watch football!

Getting it up into the apartment was fairly uneventful, but putting the darn lights on turned out to be quite a project. The tree is probably our largest yet and I had a strand on non-functioning light bulbs, so I went to our local hardware store which is practically next door and picked up a strand. I got it on and plugged it in only to find out only half of the lights lit up. So, I returned it only to find the second purchase had the same defect! I returned for the third time and they were out of that particular length of lights, but I ultimately returned with two functioning smaller strands that finished off the tree. PHHEW!

In the end, the tree is all decorated and it looks and smells gorgeous. It's also quite large! (I always go for bigger while Zach attempts to reign me in.) Let the Christmas season begin!

Bah Humbug!

This is it!

Ok, let's kill this thing.

Good job, Honey!

It made it the whole way home without flying off the roof!

Fred enjoying the decoration boxes.

I hate pictures of decorated trees - it just doesn't compare to the real thing!

Post-Thanksgiving Gathering

On the Saturday following Thanksgiving, Zach and I spent an evening at my parents' house to celebrate the holiday with them. Melisa was also in town with her puppies. We enjoyed a delicious meal of turkey, potatoes, mushrooms, stuffing, applesauce, and bread. Dessert consisted of a second Scandinavian Berry Pie and a yummy chocolate cake.

We set up tables in the living room to enjoy the warmth of the fire!!

Apparently, it set the mood and put this puppy to sleep!

Thanksgiving

Zach and I enjoyed Thanksgiving with his family this year. In preparation, I began working on two pies the night before by measuring and prepping all the ingredients. Of course, holidays make me feel like a kid and I woke myself up well before the alarm clock went off (which was set for 6:45).

First up was the Pumpkin Pie. Everything came together quickly since all I had to do was dump the premeasured ingredients together. The crust rolled out so perfectly I was beaming. (The secret to making a good pie crust? Tender Loving Care.) After that was put into the oven to bake, I started working on Pie #2 - Scandinavian Berry Pie from Moosewood's cookbook. I knew this would be a winner with a sour cream crust. Again, everything came together quickly and the only struggle was working to get the lattice crust to form an edge. Unfortunately the cooked filling was melting the butter of the crust faster than I could put it together. It turned out fine, just not quite as perfectly as I would have liked.

After the pies were finished, I picked Zach up and we made our way to the in-laws' house in Sinking Spring. There we were met with a most delightful smell of turkey and fixings cooking in the kitchen. Loved it! His mother, sister and I enjoyed making pomanders that evening as our "special activity."

The dinner consisted of turkey, mushroom stuffing, potatoes, ratatouille, cranberry relish, corn pudding, and rolls. It all tasted even better than it smelled. Dessert was a hit - both pies turned out great!

It was a fabulous day spent with family - lots of laughter, smiles, and togetherness. I am so thankful for Zach's family and the way they have welcomed me so warmly into their hearts! What a blessing.

Dinner and TSO

Two weekends ago, we hosted Zach's family at our house for a belated birthday celebration for my mother-in-law. As usual, Zach cooked and I baked. The menu consisted of salmon, Potatoes Au Gratin, asparagus and French bread. Everything was delicious, especially the potato dish. For dessert, we had Lemon Anise Biscotti and a Chocolate Pinwheel Cake. The cake had some issues with it, but apparently none that detracted it from the taste. Yeah!

The following day, we met up with Zach's family (again!) and my parents to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at Hershey's Giant Center. Wow! What an event that was! The music was great (a little loud), and the lighting and special effects were amazing. I've never seen anything quite like it. The concert included both a Christmas story and new music from their most recent album, Night Castle. If I had a preference, I'd say the second half which included their new music was my favorite part. Here are some pictures from the show.