2015 Blog in Review

Happy New Years Eve!!  Here is our annual recap of the year, according to the blog:

January

2014 started with the first signs of a brutal winter ahead.  We bid farewell to the Curtis Family and braced ourselves for an interim period waiting for God to provide a new lead pastor for Crossroads.  And I began participating in my first blog link-up with Andrea's Show and Tell Tuesdays.

February

We went ice skating and Dan's cousins Kaleigh and Kourtney came to stay with us to begin their professional careers in NYC.  I joined Astleigh and Rachel for their Every Girl link-up series.  Dan and I took a local mini retreat and saw the circus.

March 

In March we shared our embarrassing moments, went to see the Rockette's Spring Spectacular show, and I went to Boston for a conference.

April

Dan shared more about our church and I shared about my love of hedgehogs.  I wrote an Ode to 2C and we spruced-up our spare bedroom with wild decor.

May

We took a mini trip to Philadelphia, I talked about meal planning, and I returned to Colorado for a twin study.

June

Summer finally arrived and we visited the Bronx Zoo.  Dan went to Kansas for a week and we welcomed our new lead pastor and his family at church.

July

Dan turned 30!!  We visited Mandy in Chicago and I shared about my hatred for fall.

August

We shared more about our ministry life, I turned 29, and we loved those Wildwoods days to celebrate one year of marriage!

September

We said goodbye to summer and made a fall bucket list starting with apple picking.

October

In October we saw the King and I and Dan's parents came for a visit.  Then my parents visited a couple weeks later.  I also took a trip to Connecticut to visit a good friend and experience roller derby for the first time.  

November

We had a day-venture in the city and for Thanksgiving we traveled to Kansas to spend time with Dan's family

December

Oh December, you always sneak up on us and breeze-by quickly.  We saw the Christmas lights, I made my hedgehog nativity set, and we celebrated with Christmas in Chicago with my family.

And now it's nearly 2016!  With hope for a bright and happy new year I wanted to say a thank you to every person stopping-by this blog.  We are grateful for your company and send our love and hugs to you on this New Years Eve. 

We have BIG plans for 2016 so get ready!

2014 Blog in Review

somehow, without even trying, we ended up with one good selfie from each month

Holiday Haul and Vacation Favorites

First, a few things to note: I found $4 in my skirt pocket this morning which thrilled me beyond belief.  Also, I napped for the entire duration of my morning subway commute.   Like, a legit 40 minute nap at 8:15 in the morning.  The sun will not be out today and only about 1/3 of the office staff is here.   Today feels like a twilight zone.

Now, back to business.

I wonder what Christmas will be like when there are actually little kids on my side of the family? Since we have no cousins on my mom's side of the family it has always been just me and my sisters.  Now that we are adults but there are still no actual kids we still rake in the presents like we are five years old.

Dan and I arrived in Chicago with three carry-on size bags completely empty and when we returned all three of those bags were jam packed with presents (or things we bought).  Gifts from my parents, gifts from my sisters, gifts from my Uncle Greg.  We made out like bandits.  Not to mention the gifts we got from Dan's family!  This is why we didn't really get gifts for each other this year. 

Dan hauled in four new games and a puzzle.  We also got coloring books.  Both the games and coloring will make for many happy and entertaining Unplug nights in the new year.  I got the Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime and Express Lane Cooking plus a new saute pan!  We got things that we really needed like new toothbrush heads and air filters for our fan.  We got a couples devotional and 5 Love Languages.  Dan got a big fat biography on Bonhoeffer and I got a book about how to be a better wife.  I got a new backpack and Dan got a machine to make your bike stationary.  So many new things to play with!!!  This should keep us occupied during the long winter months ahead.

Thank you family for your love and generosity!!

Now, vacation favorites.  As a reminder, in my family whenever we end a trip or we are saying goodbye to people visiting on a trip we do "favorites."  Everyone shares:

1) Favorite thing they ate
2) Favorite thing they did
3) Favorite thing they got

Dan
- Ate: turkey dinner on Christmas eve
- Did: putting together the puzzle
- Got: Exploding Kittens card game from Jessy

Steph
- Ate: Mom's lasagna on Christmas day
- Did: putting together the puzzle
- Got: Pioneer Woman cookbook from Uncle Greg

And with that, Christmas 2015 is a wrap.

A Chicago Christmas

Well we are back home and back to routine and trying to squeeze just a little more of that holiday feeling into every day life.  Luckily, the week after Christmas is always super slow and I keep all our Christmas decorations up until New Years. Also, it feels like winter in NYC today.  The cold is a reminder that although the holiday vibe is ending we still have a solid three months of winter ahead.  Oh joy.

This year we spent Christmas with my family in Chicago.  Although my "home" is in Colorado, my family has done Christmas in Chicago for several years.  My Grandma lives in Chicago and so does Mandy so there are places to stay and people to see.  This is the second time Dan and I have come for Christmas together, the first time was just after our engagement and just after we started blogging. See that here.

Dan and I arrived last Monday night and my sissies, Jessy and Mandy, picked us up.  We all stayed together in Mandy's little apartment.  Dan and I shared the couch-bed and Jessy got Mandy's trundle bed.  It was smashed together siblings sleepover and it was fun!

On Tuesday Mandy, Jessy, Dan, me, and my Dad all met-up for breakfast with the family that Mandy nannies for.  After breakfast, Dan and me spent the rest of the day with Mandy and her boys.  We took them to Navy Pier for the Winter Wonderland they had set-up.

We rode the train, looked at the Christmas trees, admired some of the other rides (they were too little for most of the attractions) and then stood in line for a whopping 10 minutes to meet Santa.  Mandy wasn't sure if they would be scared of the old man but they did great!

We had "Donald's" for lunch (aka McDonalds) and then accompanied Mandy and the boys on their usual Tuesday appointments.  We had a great time with Mandy and the boys.  They LOVE Dan (as most kids do) and they liked the special attention he gave them.  They couldn't care less about me but that's typical.

Wednesday we woke up and decorated Mandy's delicious Christmas cookies while listening to Christmas tunes.  Ya know Mandy is a Pastry Chef right?  Well, she is and makes the best baked goods on the planet earth.  Also, she has piping skillz.  Jessy did a smashing job decorating as well.  Dan and me, well, we tried our best.

We finished some Christmas shopping at Target and loaded-up on craft supplies at Michael's that afternoon before visiting my Grandma at the rehabilitation hospital (she broke her hip in October).  One of the nurses there thought Dan was Mandy and my triplet!  Ha!  That night my mom, dad, uncle Greg, sisters, Dan, and me all went out to dinner at a fancy Mexican restaurant.  It was super yum and I'm sad I didn't get a picture of everyone.

We all fell asleep watching A Muppet's Christmas Carol that night.  It's tradition.

On Christmas Eve we brought my Grandma back to the condo for a few hours so she could open her presents and visit.

We also had a Thanksgiving-style dinner with all the fixings and started a puzzle. 

That night Mandy escorted Jessy, Dan, and me around the village to view Christmas lights.

We all fell asleep watching The Grinch, another tradition.

On Christmas morning we headed to the condo where we enjoyed Mandy's scones while opening presents

We finished the puzzle and enjoyed all the presents for the rest of the day.

For dinner was my Mom's homemade lasagna and it was SO good.  I need to get the recipe and share it sometime.

Later that night my Mom and I went over to the rehab hospital so my Grandma could enjoy some of the lasagna too. Back at the condo, we watched Inside Out which I love.  Such a creative movie.

Jessy, my parents, and Uncle Greg all left early the next morning but Dan and me didn't have a flight out until late afternoon so we got some solo time with Mandy.  She drove us around shopping and we had her fave Burger Boss for lunch before heading to the airport.

We arrived back home in Brooklyn by 9:00 pm with enough time to unpack and get ready for church the next day.  We had a really nice trip with happy memories, hard moments, and a little bit of sister drama on the side but it's my family and I love them and they are all pretty taken with Dan, he's a perfect charmer.

I'll share about our Christmas gift haul and vacation favorites tomorrow!  Merry post-Christmas Monday. 

Merry Christmas

Love and hugs for a happy holiday.

Weekending it

In a couple of hours we will be at the airport ready to head to Chicago.  Woot!  This weekend was a nice jump into vacation.

On Friday night I was supposed to go to my all-staff holiday party but no one from my department was going and I am awful at mingling and socializing and blah.  So Dan said he would take me out for our own company dinner.  We went to an old-school Italian place in downtown Brooklyn.  There were so many large groups there, clearly at their company holiday dinners.  So we sat at the bar and enjoyed fresh ravioli and lasagna.  We hit-up Trader Joe's for party food and then started watching the new documentary series on Netflix called Making of a Murderer when we got home. Umm, so good.  It's like Dateline on steroids.

On Saturday we slept-in late and eventually made our way to a surprise birthday party for a friend.  He is a huge Batman fan so it had a cute theme.

Saturday night we went to a fancy adult dinner party at my friend's new apartment in a schmoozy neighborhood.  It was a class above our standing, but we pretended.  When we got home we opened our presents from each other and Terri Mom and Allen Dad.

Dan got a model car to build and I got a new cute outfit for Mandy.  We got portable cell phone chargers and sleek new suitcases.  Dan and I got each other Kindle Fires (black friday sale for $35 woohoo) and Dan got me that awesome emoji pillow.  He knows me so well. 

Dan preached on Sunday and I got to be in service to hear it!  Such a good preacher-man.

And we hosted the youth group Christmas Party at our apartment after church.  It was wild, and messy, and loud, and drama-filled (as most youth events go) but overall fun.  The white elephant exchange is always a hit...well, to those who understand the concept.

Sunday evening Dan and I watched more of Making of a Murderer and tidied the apartment before leaving.

We got to sleep in again this morning and then finish the documentary series.  Watch it!  Do it!  Dan got the laundry done this morning and we packed for the trip.  And now we are off to the airport.  Merry Christmas!!