Happyyyyyyyyy New Year, Bubblelanders! A couple days in! A merry Christmas and a big ball-o-cheer were had by me & mines. And I hope yous and yours.
Quick holiday recap...
Christmas Eve & Day were spent at my parents' house in C-Town. There I ate a muffaletta made by my mama and realized what true happiness can be. Later that evening, I was excited and proud to be at my Dad's last service at the church he's ministered for almost 20 years. It being Christmas Eve just made it better.
It's a sorta weird - or should I say different? - upbringing being a PK in a not-big-town. My dad married us in that church and seeing his last day "on the job" was a sorta mixed bag of brain goo. I tried not to over-think though. I instead tried to sing louder than my mom on the Christmas hymns. Mission somewhat successful. Husband somewhat deaf.
No time for emotions though. Time for presents!
My family does Christmas Eve present opening. We Christmas Eve'rs are few and far between. Sometimes we run into judgements and discrimination. But at the end of the day, we hold our heads high because we know everyone's really just jealous.
We had a great visit chocked full of fun. We even crammed in some Christmas Night bowling at Galaxy Lanes! Where they played a surprising amount of the rap music... Seemed odd for some reason. I seemed to remember more Zeppelin. Anyhoo, then we were back to Memphis for Christmas Part Deux with The Husband's fam. Definitely higher energy than my family. We're a pretty small group and we like to doze on the floor when we eat too much. But there's no sleeping at The Johnsons! All the siblings were in town and we had a wonderful time with all the kiddies. Monday, everyone went to Grizzlies game and it was a blast as well. I'm often grateful that I have such lovely in-laws! (Said genuinely. I don't think any of them ever even visit Bubbleland.)
We were hardly done playing with our new toys and then we were off to Colorado for New Year's Eve with our friends, the Rochells & the Kostakisss! The Rochells were kind enough to invite us and we had a great time. (Thanks, Rochells!) The lodge was incredibly nice and the snow incredibly beautiful. (Yes, indeedy, both things do merit a double use of "incredibly".) It was The Husband's and my first time skiing and we were both great at it.
Kidding! I was discouragingly, snot-facedly awful. But The Hubs really did rock it out.
This is probably the only time I could be caught on skis and standing at the same time
New Year's Eve, we made a fabulous dinner.
Yes, kids. Board games are the cooooolest. Teach you to use cool words like "caustic".
Then before we knew it, we were back in Memphis after a fabulous 5 days in the Great White... Colorado. I am soooo glad I got to take a couple days off to get in the swing of things. (Don't be j.) I was able to unpack, do some laundry, grocery shopping, etc. before having to head back to work. Oh, and I also took down the Christmas decorations. We were almost "those people". Now we're just those people with the nekkid tree in our living room.
I like it. I think we should leave it up as conversation piece.
I picked up Sugarbear from the doggie lodge. (We fancy cuz we ALL went to lodges. Well, except the cat. But she probably enjoyed just having the house to herself. She's like that. And I didn't find any poop in a shoe so she couldn't have been too sad. She's not what you might call "subtle" with her emotions.) At the lodge, we put Sugarbear into doggie daycare (yeah, I know) and she had the best time! She jumped right in with the other dogs and I don't know if she even cared when I showed up to take her home.
She did seem happy to see the floor though
You know who DID miss me? Claudette! She's usually not a lap kitty
And there we are! And by "quick holiday recap", apparently I mean long and wordy. It was a great time and no visible scarring! Well, none to the naked eye...
On to present day. Well, sorta. Yesterday, being the last free day before re-entering the real world, I wanted to make something new for dinner. I decided to try out one of my Christmas presents. My mama got me Dutch Oven for Christmas!
Heh, I know
I made:
Halfway point on the ribs... Added the veggies at an hour and a half into cooking
If you're interested... http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/mixed_green_salad_with_pecans_goat_cheese_and_honey_mustard_vinaigrette/
The final plating
It was very tasty. And pretty. And I was sorta proud of myself for cooking something a little schmancy and out of the usual.
On to the usual New Year's topic: Resolutions! Do you make them? I don't because, for me personally, I find them to be a tad on the useless side. Buuuut the new year is always a good time to look over the last and make some changes. Going forward in 2011...
Quick holiday recap...
Christmas Eve & Day were spent at my parents' house in C-Town. There I ate a muffaletta made by my mama and realized what true happiness can be. Later that evening, I was excited and proud to be at my Dad's last service at the church he's ministered for almost 20 years. It being Christmas Eve just made it better.
It's a sorta weird - or should I say different? - upbringing being a PK in a not-big-town. My dad married us in that church and seeing his last day "on the job" was a sorta mixed bag of brain goo. I tried not to over-think though. I instead tried to sing louder than my mom on the Christmas hymns. Mission somewhat successful. Husband somewhat deaf.
No time for emotions though. Time for presents!
My family does Christmas Eve present opening. We Christmas Eve'rs are few and far between. Sometimes we run into judgements and discrimination. But at the end of the day, we hold our heads high because we know everyone's really just jealous.
We had a great visit chocked full of fun. We even crammed in some Christmas Night bowling at Galaxy Lanes! Where they played a surprising amount of the rap music... Seemed odd for some reason. I seemed to remember more Zeppelin. Anyhoo, then we were back to Memphis for Christmas Part Deux with The Husband's fam. Definitely higher energy than my family. We're a pretty small group and we like to doze on the floor when we eat too much. But there's no sleeping at The Johnsons! All the siblings were in town and we had a wonderful time with all the kiddies. Monday, everyone went to Grizzlies game and it was a blast as well. I'm often grateful that I have such lovely in-laws! (Said genuinely. I don't think any of them ever even visit Bubbleland.)
We were hardly done playing with our new toys and then we were off to Colorado for New Year's Eve with our friends, the Rochells & the Kostakisss! The Rochells were kind enough to invite us and we had a great time. (Thanks, Rochells!) The lodge was incredibly nice and the snow incredibly beautiful. (Yes, indeedy, both things do merit a double use of "incredibly".) It was The Husband's and my first time skiing and we were both great at it.
Kidding! I was discouragingly, snot-facedly awful. But The Hubs really did rock it out.
This is probably the only time I could be caught on skis and standing at the same timeNew Year's Eve, we made a fabulous dinner.
- Chicken stuffed with bacon and caramelized onions
- Steamed asparagus
- Broccoli with red pepper
- Italian red potatoes
Yes, kids. Board games are the cooooolest. Teach you to use cool words like "caustic".
Then before we knew it, we were back in Memphis after a fabulous 5 days in the Great White... Colorado. I am soooo glad I got to take a couple days off to get in the swing of things. (Don't be j.) I was able to unpack, do some laundry, grocery shopping, etc. before having to head back to work. Oh, and I also took down the Christmas decorations. We were almost "those people". Now we're just those people with the nekkid tree in our living room.
I like it. I think we should leave it up as conversation piece.
I picked up Sugarbear from the doggie lodge. (We fancy cuz we ALL went to lodges. Well, except the cat. But she probably enjoyed just having the house to herself. She's like that. And I didn't find any poop in a shoe so she couldn't have been too sad. She's not what you might call "subtle" with her emotions.) At the lodge, we put Sugarbear into doggie daycare (yeah, I know) and she had the best time! She jumped right in with the other dogs and I don't know if she even cared when I showed up to take her home.
She did seem happy to see the floor though
You know who DID miss me? Claudette! She's usually not a lap kittyAnd there we are! And by "quick holiday recap", apparently I mean long and wordy. It was a great time and no visible scarring! Well, none to the naked eye...
On to present day. Well, sorta. Yesterday, being the last free day before re-entering the real world, I wanted to make something new for dinner. I decided to try out one of my Christmas presents. My mama got me Dutch Oven for Christmas!
Heh, I know
I made:
- Salad with roasted pecans, goat cheese, and a honey mustard vinaigrette
- Roasted cauliflower
- Braised short ribs in a red wine/beef stock with carrots, celery, and onion. Served over rice.
Halfway point on the ribs... Added the veggies at an hour and a half into cooking
If you're interested... http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/mixed_green_salad_with_pecans_goat_cheese_and_honey_mustard_vinaigrette/
The final plating It was very tasty. And pretty. And I was sorta proud of myself for cooking something a little schmancy and out of the usual.
On to the usual New Year's topic: Resolutions! Do you make them? I don't because, for me personally, I find them to be a tad on the useless side. Buuuut the new year is always a good time to look over the last and make some changes. Going forward in 2011...
- I would like to do better with the eatin'. I read In the Defense of Food by Michael Polland. (Which you may have heard me mention here.) Very eye-opening. And I've been trying to eat cleaner... But it's hard. And The Husband likes his Velveeta Shells & Cheese food-like products.
- I would like to be more consistent with the exercise. I go on and off being routine. I'd like the yo-yo exercising to stop and a better exercise life to begin! (Speaking of cheese...) But seriously, we have a treadmill and there's no excuse for an entire we to go by without touching it. I think it would make me do better with the next thing too...
- Finally, I would like to be more positive. I get irritated at work. I get irritated with traffic. I get irritated with reruns of Glee. I get irritated with people that don't hold the elevator. I get irritated because you basically aren't me. And being around some people that spew nothing but all things negative, I want to make sure I don't become a big-ole-bag-of-suck.
So I'll be working on all that! Hopefully, it goes better than my vow to paint more or sit in silent contemplation. That just doesn't seem to be happening... Maybe I should just aim to do those things once a quarter? Anyhoo, on to what I'm thankful for having in 2010! –
- My family, friends, and health
- Sweet moves for girls' dance nights in the living room
- Reba McEntire still making music
- The Husband being tall and can reach things up high
- The Husband being not so tall that we look like Shaq and his new girlfriend
- The Husband in general
- Mexican food
- Books
- My book club
- Loaning my mom books from book club
- Breakfast food
- Nicki, Onika, and Roman Zolanski
- The backyard
- Growing tomatoes
- Asking my dad for tips about growing tomatoes
- The TV in the kitchen
- Hot wings from Outback
- And you Bubbleland. Awwwww! I'm not the best blogger. I'm not the most important blogger. And I'm obviously not the most consistent blogger. But this past year, you've given me a place to put all the pictures of food that I take. An author of a book I mentioned actually contacted me. And I've been able to share my life and experience others – through my blog and theirs – more than I could have imagined. Isn't the information superhighway magical!?!
Alrighty-o, Bubbleland! It was a great 2010 and I hope for a great 2011! Just to give you a little tease, I decided to read the entire Harry Potter series and just finished Book #2. Much discussion to come. Also, I'll be using my new cast iron skillet. Ooooooo, excitement!
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