Thanksgiving leftovers

We had this wonderful Thanksgiving meal in Chicago with my parents over the weekend. We drove home and about an hour outside of Chicago realized we forgot our leftovers. I am very very sad. No turkey, no mashed potatoes with gravy. I was hoping for turkey sandwiches for lunch this week. Turkey soup perhaps? Nope. Nada. Nothing.

Ya know those questions things you hate to fill out...

I received this from a friend of mine the other day. I thought these questions were pretty fun being the holidays and all. It is one of those where you see the answers from your friend, delete their answers, put in your own, and send it off to a million people in your address book who probably aren't interested. Well, I thought I would include my answers just for the fun of it and to say I actually blogged again.

1. Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your family and friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy this entire email and paste into a new e-mail that you can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to
you......Tis the Season to be NICE

2. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Gift bags because I lack the knack for nice wrapping. My corners never look right and the paper always gets bunched. My gifts generally look as though they were wrapped by a 6 year old.

2. Real tree or Artificial? I always said real but I'm getting cheaper in my old age and realize the sense of purchasing just one tree and sticking with it. However I do love the smell of a real tree.

3. When do you put up the tree? This is assuming we put up a tree at all. Every other year we are in Chicago and this year we are in Ohio. It kind of kills the desire to put up a tree when you aren't there. Plus we will be in Chicago three weekends out of the next four which is also cause for not getting a tree.

4. When do you take the tree down? When it dies.

5. Do you like eggnog? I love it but realize how bad it is for me so I avoid it.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? If I can't think of one, does that mean I received too many gifts as a kid?

7. Hardest person to buy for? It used to my by brother in law until it worked out that I don't have to buy for him. Now it is my dad. How many years in a row can he ask for socks, undershirts, an umbrella, a belt, a tie, and dress shirts. BORING!!!

8. Easiest person to buy for? My mom. She loves everything and appreciates whatever we give her...even if she has to fake it on occasion.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? No because we haven't gotten that far in buying Christmas decorations. My parents have one and my mom insists putting baby Jesus in Mary's awkwardly outstretched arms because she is convinced Mary wouldn't leave her newborn sitting in hay. (Not a bad point if you ask me.)

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I send a Christmas letter but it is getting expensive and sometimes the creative juices aren't always flowing.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I'm not very good at "favorite" questions.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually after Christmas unless I'm inspired beforehand and find something that is just perfect.

14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Too many things to name. Let's leave it at I love to eat anything.

15. Lights on the tree? I grew up with multicolored lights on the tree. I prefer white lights when decorating the outside of the house.

16. Favorite Christmas song? Here we go again with the "favorite" questions.

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Always travel but never on Christmas day. I like to arrive a day or two early and leave a day or two after. It's all about the relaxation.

18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Not a chance. Is there a Dopey?

19. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star or bow.

20. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Always Christmas Day although the Elves arrive Christmas Eve with new jammies for everyone.

21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The traffic, the crowds, and the need to give too much when so many others have too little.

22.Favorite Ornament theme or color? Favorite, favorite, favorite, blah, blah, blah...

23. Favorite for Christmas dinner? My mom's buttery turkey, buttery mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, cinnamon rolls, pumpkin pie.

24. What do you want for Christmas this year? Chris keeps asking me this same question and I don't have an answer for him either.

25. Who is most likely to respond to this? My mom.

26. Who is least likely to respond to this? Christopher. He will read it, laugh, and delete it.

It's been a while...

It dawned on me yesterday that I haven't blogged in forever. It is directly related to being on facebook which is an addiction that has captured my husband but which is slowly fading for me...most likely the reason why I'm now blogging again.

A decent amount has happened since I last wrote. First, Chris and I both passed our boards and are officially licensed clinical social workers. For social workers, this is as good as it gets. Most people receive a pay raise with this achievement but for us, we get to keep our jobs which, in a sense, is a pay raise. We took the test October 20th and I think we are just beginning to feel as though we have our lives back after spending so much time with our nose in the books. For fun, we spent one study day at Oliver Winery in Bloomington, IN and yes, we actually studied. At the end of our study session we goofed around in their garden a little.



Chris took me to a Chicago Bear's game as my 30th birthday present and the weather couldn't have been better.


Then right before Halloween, we went to a pumpkin patch and went apple picking with a friend of ours.























Last weekend we went to Gatlinburg, TN for a mini vacation with some friends of ours. We rented a fabulous cabin with three other couples. This is a picture Chris took from the inside of our cabin looking out onto the back deck.

Each couple had their own bedroom and walk in shower. There were flat screen tvs in every room, a hot tub, a huge kitchen, a pool table, etc... We hiked, zorbed (more on that later), ate, and most importantly, relaxed. It was just what we needed and felt like a bit of a reward for our hard work. One hike we did required scaling up some rocks to get to the very top. We got about half way when I chickened out and decided that going further without being roped in wasn't worth the risk. These is a picture of Chris going up and another of me at the furthest point we were willing to go.


There were some beautiful places along the hike. This was one of them, albeit with Chris and I a bit washed out from the flash.

Another little reward for passing the exam was the purchase of a new counter top for our kitchen. We have never liked what we have and have always wanted a seamless kitchen sink that is attached from under the counter. We picked one out and it is going to be installed in a few weeks. Our winter projects are to paint the cabinets, attach hardware, and depending on how our yellow walls look, possibly paint the kitchen. Of course none of this will start until the new year since we are going to be out of town almost every weekend starting with Thanksgiving.

Now, back to zorbing. Our friend did take video of us doing this but we haven't received it yet. I'm sure it won't look much different so check out this from youtube. It is the same company...the only place to zorb in the United States.

There is water in the inside ball we are in which prevents us from going upside down. We get wet but I don't know when I have laughed as hard as when Chris and I did this together.

Needless to say that Chris and I are still enjoying life together and the blessings we have been given. Stay tuned and hopefully it won't take two months for me to blog again.