Welcome Twenty-Ten! We've been expecting you.

The Victory Bar
The Birthday Boy

A satiated R&R

The "dudes" - acting very silly

Adam & Michelle - a very cute couple!

Christmas morning - mom accidentally sent us two of the same stocking stuffer...

...and I received a Snuggie.

Some snowman action after the snow storm

Me after being stuck in the snow storm for a very long time

Our blue moon

2010. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it (say it "twenty-ten")? Happy New Year!

This place has been curiously quiet the last month, and there's a simple reason for that. My computer died. Long story short, it up & got a nasty, crippling virus. It is sitting inactive beside me now (as I type on Ryan's computer) waiting for its hard drive to be wiped. It's getting a fresh start like the rest of us.

Upon a bit of reflection, it's a good thing my computer decided to quit on me in December, possibly the busiest and merriest time of year. It's Ryan's birthday month, you know. We had our second annual beer tasting in early December to get the celebratory ball rolling. Then we had his actual birthday, which was spent at a fabulous new-to-us British pub: Victory Bar. Soon after that we found ourselves facing one of our biggest fears together: going caroling (practically door-to-door) with a cheerful group, singing classic holiday songs to anyone who would listen. And you know what? It was fun and people loved us (we were a big hit, OK? BIG.)! Christmas Eve was spent with the Harvey's. They are a fun bunch. And Christmas. Oh, Christmas. We were at home this year, just us two. More on that later. Well, then after Christmas one day we got a "surprise" snow storm (how can we get hit with a boatload of snow in this day and age when no one, not even the keenest meteorologist, sees it coming!?!). I was in a suburb when the snow really started accumulating, and it took me 5.5 hours to drive the 18 miles home. Epic journey that was. Yesterday we partly rung in the New Year by watching the 3-D version of AVATAR - a movie I did not want to see but am so glad I did. It's on my "favorites" list now. It was sort of like Dances with Wolves, but with a more uplifting ending. I love uplifting endings.

But the main tidbit that has been occupying all my extra attention this month is my quest for establishing our own unique, meaningful holiday traditions. Since it was just the two of us this time (for the first time, I might add) we took it as an opportunity to launch our own favorite customs in hopes that we'll return to them year after year. That's a lot of pressure, you know, gathering up favorite recipes and stories you hear from others to weave into your own celebrations. But let me tell you, I asked any and everyone who would listen what their favorite Christmas and New Years traditions are and LOVED what folks shared, absorbing every morsel as if their tales would be my only sustenance for the month. And boy-howdy, it was delicious stuff. I think I'll share my holiday tradition findings, along with the savory bits we settled on for our own tradition-launching merry making, in another post. This one's becoming unruly.

So you see? It's been busy around here. And though I've missed checking in every day to my favorite blogs and posting updates on our where-abouts here, not having my own computer to work from has been a nice reprieve. It's given me a chance to focus solely on the good stuff, the stuff this season is made of.