Year In Review

Well, as I start typing this there is one hour and 15 minutes left in 2011!  I really wanted to share some of the highlights from my past year, so where we go!

January

While at Passion I got to help Will pull off his surprise proposal to Jessica!

You can watch the YouTube video here!

I started this blog!

I got to be a part of Jonathan's proposal to my sister, Amanda!

You can read about it here, and check out their engagement photos here.

February

nothing really happened in February :(

March

I went to New York City with The Well for our Spring Break Mission Trip.

 

From New York I flew back to Lynchburg to be in the wedding of one of my best friends, Ashley!

You can check out their wedding pictures here.

April

I got caught in a tornado!  You can read about it here.

May

I traveled to China with The Well for two and a half weeks for a missions trip!

June

Moved and got settled into my new apartment!

This is what it looked like this summer, it's changed some since then but I don't have new pictures.

 July

Was Maid of Honor in Amanda and Jonathan's wedding!!! Check out their beautiful wedding and reception pictures!

August

Got to be a part of Will and Jessica's wedding!

 

We had a great beginning to the new school year at The Well!

September & October

nothing outstanding really happened

November

I turned 25, and had a surprise party!

I ran the Turkey Trot again on Thanksgiving; I didn't do so well, but I did it!

December

Went to New York City right after Christmas for a belated birthday gift from my parents!

C is for Christmas

I have done lots of Christmas things today that start with C, here are a few...

Drank Christmas blend coffee from Starbucks.

Made Garlic Chicken Puffs.  This isn't really a Christmas thing, but I did it today regardless.

Added gifts under the Christmas tree!

This is my cat, Chex, and anytime I can include a picture of her, I will.

Made Chex Mix to munch on for the rest of the weekend.

 And this morning we made reindeer pancakes.  This doesn't have anything to do with C, so I put it at the end of the post.

Reunited and It Feels So Good!

I did something today that I haven't done in over a month - drove my car!  I drove Mom's back to Johnson City after Thanksgiving while mine stayed in Lynchburg to get fixed.  So, when I got in it today I squealed a little with happiness.  Not that my car is anything to squeal about  She's not really.  The other three cars that I drove this past month are nicer than mine; but mine is mine.  I like familiarity, and it was good to be back behind the wheel of my lil' black Geo.

Unique Gift Tags

I love wrapping Christmas presents!  I think I should get a part-time job at the North Pole.  I've had my wrapping paper and ribbon for quite some time now, and I was thinking yesterday about what I wanted to use for tags.  Last year I used a stamp, but it didn't work that well so I needed something different.  All of a sudden a brilliant idea hit me - pictures!  I love pictures because they bring back memories and stories, and who doesn't love that?!?!  So I stalked my family members on facebook and printed off a bunch of pictures of them, doing memorable things or making funny faces.

 I punched a hole in the corner, pushed a piece of ribbon through, knotted it, and taped it in the center of the gift.  Then I pulled the big tied ribbon down over the tape to cover it up ( I had already tied the big ribbon around the gift).

Viola, fun and obvious gift tags!  Here we have Jonathan really excited about getting coffee, Amanda after graduating from VT, and Dad after he ate a sour pickle.  I love them!

New Old Treasures

I've been doing some cleaning and organizing recently, and I came across something I bought a year or so ago.  It's just an old clipboard that I bought at an estate sales place in Lynchburg.  I never did anything with it, and it's been in a box under my bed since I moved in May.  I decided I was finally going to put it somewhere and started looking around at my empty wall space, which didn't really take long since my apartment is rather small.  I found the perfect little spot in my kitchen, by the Pepsi and Coke trays hanging on the wall, and I knew exactly what I wanted to put on the clipboard: a page a tore out of one of my Real Simple magazines months ago.  It's a black and white picture of two old ladies laughing and the quote underneath it says "Gastronomical perfection can be reached in these combinations: one person dining alone, usually upon a couch or a hill side; two people, of no matter what sex or age, dining in a good restaurant; six people, of no matter what sex or age, dining in a good home. - M.F.K Fisher "

That's an old Coca Cola tray as my spice rack!

Tim vs. Tom

I was reading this afternoon, which is always a wonderful thing to do on a Sunday afternoon, when I started getting texts, one right after the other, from my parents.  It took me a few moments to realize that Mom must have been upstairs at home and Dad downstairs, but once I did it was humorous to think they were texting me similar things at the same time... 

Dad: Pats on here

me to Dad: what channel?

Dad: Cbs 

Mom: Its time for tim and tom or brady and tebow. amazing to think tebow is only a year younger than you.  

Dad: Den7 ne0

Mom: Your dad is downstairs clapping for the patriots

Dad: Ne7 Den6

me to Mom: Yea, he's texting me scores

Mom: funny

me to Mom: yes, you guys are

Mom: at least we aren't arguing

me to Mom: true

Mom: :) 

Dad: Ne7 Den13

me to Dad: Yea, i'm watching it now

Dad: ok

And I'm reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  It's about a girl growing up in Brooklyn in the early 1900's.  I read it middle or high school, and really enjoyed it.  And since I always try to read a few books over Christmas break, and I'm going to New York City in 8 days (!!!!!!!!) I figured it would be a good one to re-read!  Are you reading anything over the holidays?

Comencement

One of the joys of my job is getting to share in the successes and milestones in the lives of the students we work with.  Like this morning when I went to the fall graduation at ETSU.  I knew several of today's graduates and it was fun to look for them as they walked in, and yell and clap for them as they walked across the stage.  Congrats ETSU Class of 2011!

Rainy Day Soup

It has been raining all day today.  It's the type of day where you just want to curl up under a blanket and watch movies all day.  And I could have done just that, but I decided to be responsible and productive.  I went to the bank and the post office.  And, on a side note, whenever I run errands like that I always think "When did I become a grown up?"  I also made two more stops to do some Christmas shopping.  But in the middle of all that driving around, looking for a parking spot, and waiting in line, I had lunch with Jillian at Panera.  While we were ordering at the counter I looked down and saw a poor gingerbread man with only one eye, and then he had a crooked smile that made him look pitiful.  so of course I took a picture of him. 

 But if you do have to be out and about on a rainy day, and you do get to meet someone for lunch, then you should go somewhere where you can get a big, steamy bowl of soup.

Parnera's Sonoma Chicken Stew with Dry Jack Cheese Biscuits, very good!