Countdown to 2014

I owe you all a Christmas recap. I'm sure I'll get around to that once I catch my breath...maybe Wednesday. Right now i have more pressing thoughts and not a lot of time to reflect on December. Is it really almost January? How did that happen? I'm currently at the gym, blogging on my phone, and in a few hours I'll be leaving for a few days in the mountains of Va reuniting with college friends (as is traditions every New Years Eve). You may remember (if you know the story) that Mike and I met December 30, 2011 while I was on one of the annual reunion trips in DC. Last year was his first official year coming on the annual trip and the time turned into an unofficial anniversary celebration of sorts. It hard not to reminisce about our story because it is a great one and involved a lot of wingmanning. (I shared the story with Mike's mom and sister this weekend and I'm glad they think it is as hilarious as I do.)

This year Mike cannot make it. He will fill you all in on his blog whenever he gets a chance which may take a while. Basically, more roadblocks were hit in the medical clearance process with Jag and  as sort of a last option, he is getting surgery on his ear on Dec. 31st. He was very fortunate his doctor (and very experienced  surgeon) ended up having an opening. The next available date was late January and these things are very time-sensitive given that he will have to wait a pre-determined amount of time post-surgery before reconsideration and the likelihood of other job offers arising during that time. It was a very very complicated an difficult decision to continue to pursue something that has been such a trying process for us both, but especially him. Anyway, he has a friend to drive him back from surgery and I will return on the 1st.

This brings me to a list of things I am looking forward to in 2014:

• Healthy ossicles! (the small misplaced bones in Mike's ear that will be fixed through his surgery)
• Starting a new job! (Oh, right, I haven't had time to mention anywhere that I am starting a new position with an organization whose mission I'm passionate about and I believe the work will be fulfilling as well as help support me in my professional goals. I start on January 13th. It's so difficult to process right now in the midst of traveling 24/7, but hope to have another post on that soon. But, I'm incredibly excited!)
• Disney! (Seeing Frozen in theaters got me even more excited to take this trip with Mike, Absi, Zan, Brian, and Kay; and I got the trip cleared with my new job!)
• Seeing Book of Mormon in February with Mike and his mom! (I've been playing the soundtrack on repeat already.)
• I'm turning 27 on January 4th!
• Mike's done with law school! (And takes the bar and hopefully becomes a legit lawyer!)
• 10-mile race!
• Reading tons of books that I've bought recently:)
• Allie (the kitten) hopefully growing out of her kitten phase where she eats everything (including toilet paper.)
• Seeing Ashton turn 1!

There's so much to look forward to and I'm so excited for 2014 to get here. I have a feeling it's going to be a great year.

Quote of the Day

“I naively believe that self-love is 80 percent of the solution, that it helps beyond words to take yourself through the day as you would with your most beloved mental-patient relative, with great humor and lots of small treats.”

― Anne Lamott

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/577984-i-naively-believe-that-self-love-is-80-percent-of-the

Hope you find a way to fit some humor, treats, and self-love into this week!

Loving Lately

• Coconut Oil
• Mike makes fun of all of the uses I find for coconut oil and the fact that I bought some in an almost-gallon-sized tub for costco, but I just ran out of eye makeup remover and started using coconut oil (because Pinterest says it can do that too) and it works just as well! I also stirfry veggies in coconut oil with parmesan cheese and pepper to give them a sweeter flavor and it's really good to use instead of non-stick spray for pancakes!
• Molasses
• Another thing Mike makes fun of me for. I like to mix some molasses in with my conditioner because it makes my hair super soft. And I also love it in baking! I once sent Mike to a store to pick up some molasses for me and he was trying to explain what it was to the attendant helping him. He said "it can be used as a conditioner for your hair..." and so was sent to the shampoo aisle haha.
• Cinnamon
• I put it in coffee, on oatmeal, in hot chocolate, and in my tea. I can't get enough of it this time of year.
• Scandal
• I'd heard a good amount about this show from coworkers and in blogs and have been meaning to give it a try ever since it appeared on Netflix. Mike and I started it this past weekend and are already 6 shows away from being done with Season 2! SO addictive! I (obviously) am obsessed with Olivia Pope's (Kerry Washington) wardrobe, the DC setting, and the blend of emotional vulnerability and terrifying strength that Kerry Washington is able to portray in her character. The women in this show are really good! The male characters have a lot of flaws, but you still like them. A lot of complicated, addictive characters.
• Google Maps for iPhone
• I feel like every other day I learn something incredible that I can do with technology that makes my life so much easier. I've recently learned how to get my Google Maps GPS on my iphone to talk to me and also to choose the easiest route for me to get somewhere. This seems simple, but up until recently, my iMaps software was the default on my iPhone. After Google Maps saved us hours of sitting on 66 on the way home for Thanksgiving, I've been using it ever since and I'm never going back!
• Wunderlist
• After Teuxdeux (my old to-do list app) tried to start charging me for services because my 'free trial' was over, I switched to Wunderlist. I like it so much more! I can't function without my lists, but this helps me to keep things organized, at least a little.
• WalMart
• There is a lot of controversy in the city over DC's two new WalMarts, specifically concerning minimum wage for its workers. One is a few blocks from Mike's law school and I didn't know what a WalMart would be like in the city (how it would function with traffic, etc.) so I decided to go exploring one day when I needed to buy a few items quickly. When I went, it was the first day of their Grand Opening and everyone was super nice. I almost could not actually believe the prices I was seeing. (They are comparable to my WalMart at home and that is the cheapest place to buy things at home.) I felt the sudden urge to buy everything, but then felt silly. I know there is a lot of debate about the store and whether it is in the best interest of the city and people who work there, but in a city where it's so expensive to live, it was nice to see affordable prices on food, clothes, etc.

Wal-Mart

You can kind of see the sign here. It looks so odd on a city block.

• Kittens
• "Alley" is Sara and Jeff's cat and a new addition to the house. I had forgotten how high maintenance kittens are, but she is delightful and keeps you on your toes. Today, she found a stash of toilet paper in the closet. When I found her, there were only shreds of paper left as evidence. That paper roll never stood a chance.

Alley and Mike bonding.

• Snow!
• Today was my first official snow day! I got to stay home from work, clean, bake, and catch up on some emails. (Recipe for insanely good cookies I baked are below.)

DC's first snow!

• Baking (where I act out my obsession with molasses and cinnamon)
• I haven't actually eaten these cookies yet because they are for our office potluck tomorrow, but I had some of the batter and I did consider keeping them for a second and telling people at work something had gone horribly wrong. But these cookies are actually so terribly right: http://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/2013/10/brown-butter-chewy-ginger-oatmeal-cookies/
• This cake is another staple for me during the holidays. I brought it home for Thanksgiving this year: http://ohsheglows.com/2010/10/02/pumpkin-gingerbread-with-spiced-buttercream/
• And this is what I ate for breakfast this morning: http://nakedveglunch.blogspot.com/2012/10/holy-pie-pumpkin-pie-oatmeal.html

Mike and I get to go to our second Shakespeare Theatre Company show tomorrow night. Then it's Williamsburg this weekend, seeing my family once more the following weekend, and then down to North Carolina for Christmas with Mike's family! So excited!

25 Days of Advent

I came across this blog post on Raptitude and really loved it. In many ways, it's a critique on traditional gift-giving, but I also see it as a challenge to give meaningful gifts. I never want to receive a gift that I won't use and I never want to give a gift that won't be used. Sometimes that's inevitable. But sustainable gift-giving is nice to think about and an ideal to aspire to.

http://www.raptitude.com/2013/12/what-to-get-everyone-for-christmas/

Thinking about gift-giving, I've really had it on my heart to do try to give back to my community this season. I don't go to church regularly (still searching for a congregation 'home' that I would feel comfortable in), but I still want to be intentional about using this season to reflect on how incredibly blessed I am and how, out of this blessing, I can give back to others.

I decided that I would try to do one thing a day that was reaching out to other people or giving back to the community. (I also asked Mike to participate with me so that we could try to remind each other to be mindful during the month.) I'm not going to share all that I've done so far because a lot of it is personal (reaching out to friends or family members who I haven't talked to in a while), but I will try to share the things that are community-based. 

Here are some things I want to do:

Donating food: My gym is doing a food drive so I'm going to get together some canned goods for that.
Donating clothing: ?
Donating books: ?
Donating coats: This weekend a cub scout group is doing an outerwear drive near Eastern Market so I'm going to take some clothes to that.
Donating time: Trying to fit some volunteer shifts for various organizations in my schedule.
Sponsor a child or family's Christmas gifts or Christmas dinner.

Here are some more general ideas for random acts of kindness:

• Give someone a nice compliment they wouldn’t normally expect.
• Buy lunch/coffee for someone.
• Go out of your way to “help” someone in need.
• Clean a mess that you didn’t make.
• Write a thank you note to someone who has helped you recently.
• Spend technology-free time with someone.
• Apologize to someone.
• Volunteer at an animal shelter or donate to an animal shelter.
• Do a chore around the house that no one has asked you to do, but that needs to be done!
• Call one of your grandparents on the phone.
• Tell someone you love one reason why you love them.
• Research a charity you can either donate money to or support through a future event (like a “fun run” or soup kitchen). Put it on the calendar and commit to it.
• Reach out to someone you haven't talked to in a while.

I like the C.S. Lewis quote below about giving. It reminds me that, even with all of the overwhelming Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing messages that tell us to BUYBUYBUY, giving and sharing are so much more fulfilling.

“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc, is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them.”

― C.S. Lewis

Celebrate and Grow

This Thanksgiving was Mike's first holiday with my family in Virginia. Kim could not be there as she was visiting her boyfriend's family in Tennessee, but hopefully we will reconnect with her sometime before Christmas. My stepdad's daughter and her husband were visiting from Arizona with their two young daughters (they have one more kid on the way) and my mom's sister and her daughter came to visit too. My grandmother was there and my step-great-grandfather, Marvin, even stopped by on Thanksgiving Day with his daughter. Between all of us, we had ages 3 weeks to 92 present (kinda like "The Christmas Song" lyrics) and Marvin said a wonderful prayer of thanks before we ate. 

Mike and I managed to get a cold run in Thanskgiving morning before things got too crazy, but the rest of the day was spent lazing about socializing, watching football, and playing games. At some point, I may have insisted on a photoshoot. (Although, it was likely my mom or Courtney as they are even more fond of photoshoots than I am.)

My Mom & I

Mike & I

My cousin Kristin, Courtney, & I

I like how the blue light from the TV makes this pic look artsy. Courtney, Najeem, and Baby Ashton.

So thankful for this guy.

One of our most time-honored Thanksgiving traditions: Courtney cutting the cranberry sauce.  

Mike trying to convince my my stepdad's granddaughter that his games are fun.

Bonding over portable electronic devices.

Pepe: my favorite.

There is a story behind this picture that I will let Mike tell on his blog.

Mike and Baby Ashton.

 On the day after Thanksgiving, we were so fortunate to be able to meet up with Mike's mom and sister in town at a local restaurant for lunch. Mike and I will be headed down to North Carolina for Christmas, but it was nice to be able to see some of both of our families for the Thanksgiving holiday. Hopefully his sister Rachel will be able to make a trip up to DC before then too!

Good looks run in the family.

I am back in DC now resting from the holiday (sometimes that's necessary) and getting ready for a month full of traveling. Today, Mike and I helped Josh move to another apartment in the city and it was really kind of fun. You know you have great friends when moving is anything but a miserable experience.

I'm excited for all of the traveling and get togethers we have coming up (Williamsburg, Virginia again, North Carolina, DC, Southwestern Virginia), but am also (as I'm always concerned with this time of year) trying to find time to meditate on the reason for this season of celebration and giving. I'm trying to remember that the holidays are a hard time of the year for many many people. They still are for me sometimes, but I know there is so much I have that others do not. 

Advent starts tomorrow and it is always one of my favorite 'seasons' of the year because it tends to be the one where I am in the most spiritually reflective mood. The holidays, the end of the year coming up, my birthday in January...things begin to feel cold and dead outside and sometimes I have to really give myself a pep talk before walking out the door in the morning. But I'm grateful for this time. I'm glad to have this opportunity to reflect even when I don't know exactly what I'm yearning to reflect on. Yearning. Frustration. Impatience. Exhaustion. These feelings don't necessarily jive with the Christmas-obsessed person I become every December, but they are an undercurrent to the carols, the culture of consumption, the parties, the glitter, the candy, the sometimes saccharine sweetness of the season. That's why Christmas is sometimes bittersweet and I hope to appreciate both aspects of the season in the way Shauna Niequist puts it:

"When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. When life is bitter, say thank you and grow."

Bahston

This past weekend, Mike and I flew to Boston to meet up with Emily Goo and a group of people from DC. The purpose of the weekend was primarily to see Catching Fire in costume with Goo and to see her mom in The Mikado, but it also ended up being a celebration of Jeff's birthday, a celebration of Sara and Jeff's anniversary, a reunion with more friends of Mike's that I had never met before (of the Tragedy! variety), an opportunity to meet Mike's aunt and uncle near Kendall Square, and forcing Goo to introduce us to her childhood stomping grounds.

Things I learned over the course of not-even-48-hours in Boston:

• I actually don't like flying, but we flew back from Boston in only an hour so I want to go back and visit everyone!
• Wigs are pretty uncomfortable especially if you've never worn one before.
• I'm probably buying Catching Fire on DVD to watch again and again.
• I actually like real cannoli, but only the real kind with a soft pastry and plenty of ricotta-y filling. 
• Eggnog still tastes just as delicious before Thanksgiving.
• Being able to be weird for your friends for an entire weekend is such a gift.
• Ben is really good at photobombing.
• I don't know how to work really fancy dinners. (I have this intense urge to pretend I'm a food blogger and take pictures of everything because the dishes are so pretty, but apparently phones are not for fancy dinners...says Mike.)
• The cold wind of Boston is not a viable choice for air-drying your hair after a shower. Pack a blow-dryer.
• I love the Boston accent! I'm also pretty sure something like 50% of Bostonian males are named Mike.
• Concord is incredibly cute and is pronounced 'conquered' and not 'con-chord' says Emily Goo.
• I still ramble too much when meeting new people. Sorry Uncle Bob and Auntie Deb!:)

Now onto the pictures:

Effie Trinket and Caesar Flickerman. We were short on time and could not go full out because of the fancy dinner beforehand, but I'm so glad I captures a picture of us like this. It cracks me up.

Peeta, Jennifer Lawrence, and Katniss.

Sara was 'Johanna' and I love that color of wig on her! Nice photobomb, Ben.

Haymitch Abernathy. No one does 'drunk role' better than Josh.

I love their faces when I forced them to take a picture for me at the fancy restaurant:) L to R: Mike is pouting, Josh is smirking, Ben is like 'really?', Goo loves it, Jeff is pleased with his ostrich, Sara is judging me.

First trip on the "T" with our Charlie cards. 

Effie selfie. I want my flower headband to be seen!

What's planned for this weekend? Mike and I are headed to VA to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family and then helping a friend move on Saturday. Hopefully lots of rest somewhere in there. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

S'mores & Ashton

Last weekend, there was a reunion of sorts with the cabaret people. Still coming off our show high, we got together for a low-key evening of spiked cider and hot chocolate, Muppet Christmas Carol, s'mores, and sweets. Ben helped me get things together because Mike had to work late and Jeff and Sara were at a show that evening. We had a blast even if there were WAY too many people to sit comfortable and watch a movie together. We still made due:) Although, I wish we didn't have so many leftover marshmallows!

Charlie Brown Christmas tree that Mike ordered for me!

First tastings of the hot chocolate.

Daniel trying to eat a s'more without making a huge mess (impossible) and Xander looking on in horror.

The next day after I got done with Saturday office hours, Mike and I journeyed home to finally meet Baby Ashton. I know it may SEEM that I'd met him already with all of the pics of him I've been instagramming, but those were all stolen. By the way, the pic don't even do him justice. He is so cute! I wish you could see how strong he is when he wriggles and hear him sigh. He's really good at sighing. And super strong! And he looks kinda big and muscular, but he's small and oh so light. He definitely weighs less than Rupert does (how's that for a cat lady comparison?). Can we talk about what a miracle birth is? And breastfeeding? Okay, maybe let's not talk about it, but my mind is still blown when I think that my sister carried him for 9 months.

Baby Ashton sleeping.

First Redskins game.

Auntie and baby.

My mom crocheted both of us this William and Mary blanket. Mike has grown attached to it.

My mom crocheted Mike and me a blanket (it's William and Mary colors) and I wanted you guys to see it, but this is the only picture I have of it (sorry, Mike). Mike has been hogging it, so I might need to put in a request for my own:)

Sorry this post is mostly pictures, but it's probably a good change of pace from my normal blog posts:) In less than 15 minutes, I'm driving to the airport to go to Boston for the weekend with Josh, Emily Goo, Ben, Jeff, Sara, and Mike. We're going to see Catching Fire and Goo's mom in The Mikado and I can't wait to tell all of the inevitable stories I'll have when I get back to DC.

Have a safe and fun weekend!