January 20th, 2009 - Inauguration Day

I am proud to be an American despite our troubles. I am proud of how far our country has come since its inception. I am proud that I was able to witness history in today's inauguration of President Obama. Yet I am mindful of the struggles ahead and the journey that is still to come. God Bless America.

Extended Christmas Break

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

It's coming to a close...Christmas break that is and I'm actually thrilled to have something to do besides watch tv, eat yummy treats, lounge around in my pjs all day, and just veg out. Am I nuts or what? However, we did have a wonderful Christmas break this year and it was a bit longer than normal as my school corporation had three snow/ice days prior to the official start of break. While that means horrible things for scheduling and ending the term, it also means I had a much needed rest and an opportunity to get ready for the festivities marathon. And a marathon it was!

We started out with James' family Christmas on the first weekend of break and finally finished that up on Christmas evening (sort of). We were able to spend time with his grandparents from SD and his younger brothers. We even got to ride in the not so eco-friendly truck that his brother purchased recently and see the new exercise facilities that will be opening in the area. After that it was a quick trip home, and then right back for my family's Christmas celebration. This year I was able to contribute something to family dinner (I guess you have t be a married person to do so...) and I brought a homemade wassail. It was extremely easy to make and tasted rather good after some slight adjustments to the recipe.

During this jaunt, we started out with the traditional Christmas Eve celebration at my grandparent's house (my dad's parents), then opening gifts on Christmas morning with my family, and to finish out the day Christmas lunch at my grandma's house (my mom's mom) and finally the quick stop at James' parents for stockings! It was quite the mid-break sprint but we even found time to goof around with family and participate in a very lively/animated Christmas exchange. I certainly wish I had video of Tyler trying out his new walking workout contraption. I think I could have submitted it to America's Funniest Home Videos or some other show and would have had a shot at winning.

After the Christmases were over (except for one more this evening), I had time to visit with my high school girlfriends at a post-Christmas brunch and to see a couple of extremely cute new additions to our group. I'm getting to the point that I'm starting to feel old as the majority of my friends are married and the conversations we had focused on babies, husbands, and jobs (and not in that wishful-someday manner either). I distinctly remember hearing my mom talk about these topics with her friends when I was younger and thinking "How boring!" Either way, it was great to catch up and catch my breath before the next adventure: our one year anniversary!

Towards the end of break we were able to get away from Indiana for a bit to head north to Boyne, MI to a little ski vacation to celebrate one year. I was really looking forward to this trip since we hadn't taken a vacation for a while and I hadn't skied in about ten years. Let's just say I was a bit rusty and am now extremely sore. However, it was worth it...even almost killing myself on a black diamond run known as "idiot's delight." Despite the bruises, we're considering turning this trip into a yearly tradition for our anniversary.

To finish out our vacation we spent time at my cousin Candice's house on New Year's Eve with Tyler and Lyndsi. While we didn't know a lot of the guests we had a great time and felt we rang the new year in right.

So while I'm hoping I'll have time to catch my breath this weekend, I'm not counting on it. However, on the drive home on New Year's Day, I did capture the following image. Seeing the first sunrise of the new year made me pause and wonder about all the new possibilities the year will bring.

I'm hoping it brings you and yours many wonderful blessings.

Attention Nation!

One of the things I love about my relationship with James is that we have very similar tastes when it comes to comedy (though we disagree on the cinematic importance of Dumb&Dumber). One of the shows we enjoy watching together is the Colbert Report and thus we were thrilled to find the new Ben&Jerry's flavor, Stephen Colbert's AmeriCone Dream, in our local grocery. It's an amazing concoction of chocolate chunks, caramel, and waffle cone...a true feat of American ingenuity. I couldn't decide if I was more thrilled with the flavor or the description on the carton which described the treat as "Sweeter than the Bill of Rights, colder than Valley Forge, and with twice as much caramel as the Louisiana Purchase. " Either way, it was just the thing I needed after a long day of grading papers this past weekend.

Three weeks left

Ok, so I've decided that it may not be the most professional thing to do...but I've officially started a mental count down of how many more times I have to teach this current group of students until I get rid of them at the end of the term. I'm planning to celebrate with a dance of some sort. So I'm trying to decide: 1) moonwalk, 2) disco fever, 3) Elaine's move (Seinfield), or 4) the Chicken Dance (an "oldie but a goodie")?

While this semester haven't been the greatest, recently its been a little better at school. Well, as "better" as I can expect for this group as they still fail to turn in their work, take notes, listen, and participate, but at least I haven't had to write students up for disruptions this week. Yay for small victories! I'd like to think its because we're talking about the 1920s-1930s economy and the changing of the "guard" (i.e. president) and how it parallels well with our current age. Or perhaps not; if that were the case they'd be a considerably more decent group to teach on a regular basis.

Thus I'm leaning towards disco fever...

It's my birthday...I can cry if I want to

So I have received some of the most amazing birthday gifts this year for my "House of Representatives"/score + 5/quarter of a century birthday and I thought I would share them with you: Well wishes from many (Thank you/danke!), the flowers (pictured above) from James, four pounds of Yummy Earth candy (...that's right folks, I did say four pounds!), Rustler's Rhapsody, a new president that I am very excited about (Ok, so this is not really a birthday present, but I'm counting it as one...), and WWI propaganda posters (Thanks Mom and Dad). While it was a rather eclectic assortment, all were wonderful and really made my day. Some even made me cry...but in a good way which I truly needed the last couple of days. So again, many thanks!

Election Day!

So I must say that I am extremely excited about this year's election. I've held off blogging about it, but I figure the last 24 hours is fair game. James and I have certainly had some interesting conversations during the last 20+ months, we've enjoyed the debates, interviews, and yes...SNL sketches. It was interesting to find out that we have similar views on politics, since we never really discussed the topic while dating through all eight Bush years. Though we agree on many issues this election, I certainly think I'm a bit more rational in my arguments either for or against a candidate, but don't we all? We've also learned a couple of lessons this political season. For instance, we've found that politics is not such a great conversation starter with family and friends as our views do not necessarily coincide with theirs (for shame!), politics do not make for great "pillow talk," and watching debates together may not be the best strategy as at least one of us tends to act like my father during sporting events. (While every rational person knows that sports teams can't hear you through the TV, I'm convinced candidates can).

If you're waiting for an official endorsement of one candidate over the other you won't find one here. I'll be practicing my progressive era election reform of the secret ballot. However, I certainly hope that you've made up your minds and have done your civic duty and right of voting (either absentee or in person tomorrow!). I'm certainly looking forward to tomorrow and sitting back to enjoy the coverage tomorrow evening. Enjoy the last 24 hours!

Happy Halloween!

October has been an extremely busy month, but one that was well worth the effort to keep up with the fast pace. Here's the highlight reel. First of all, grades for the first cycle of school were due. And no, my students did not suddenly wake up from their apathetic comas the last couple of weeks to pass in large numbers as I had hoped. We also had a blessed fall break, which was just what I needed. James and I spent some of it lounging around, attending doctors' appointments, watching a couple of recorded SNLs that we had missed, visiting with family, and attending a good friend's bachelorette party (sans James of course!). Later in the month, we spent some time making sourdough bread that is never tangy enough, freezing pomegranate seeds, and carving our pumpkin. Hopefully you all had a wonderful October and were able to sit back and enjoy the highlights as well!