2011 Recap

Well, here we are again...kicking off another new year and looking back on the one just past.

2011 was great and a very special and memorable year. Lots of change for sure! Last night as we were ringing in the new year, Jason looked over and said, "Do you remember what I said last New Year's Eve?" I responded, "Yeah, you said 2011 was going to be a great year." We then looked at each other and said, "It sure was."

Some 2011 highlights include:

January

Must have been wedding planning all month...

February

My bridal shower

Turned 27

March

My bachelorette party -wine tasting in Napa

April

Our April 2nd wedding...definitely the highlight of the year

Followed by our honeymoon to Maui

May

Finally able to relax and settle into our first place together

June

Celebrated my friend Kirsten's engagement in Tahoe

July

Our niece Adalynn April was born

Jason turned the big 3-0

August

Annual family trip to Tahoe

Started my 5th year of teaching

We switched churches and got plugged into a small group with other young married couples

September

My friend Kristina's bachelorette party to Santa Barbara

Jason's cousin's wedding
October

Our friends Matt and Mary then got married

Grammy turned 100

Took my first cooking class

November

Kristina's wedding

Started leading the young adults group at our church

December

Our first Christmas together as Mr. and Mrs.

2011 also threw us some tough curve balls. The first was when Jason's mentor (him and his wife also did our pre-marital counseling) was diagnosed with brain cancer in May. Then, the next month, Jason's mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Both came out of nowhere, but we have seen God's hand of grace covering both of these situations.

With the new year also comes by blog-o-versary. Which means it's time to check in with my 30 before 30. Well, this year was a mini-fail with the 30 before 30. It's funny because I came up with this idea when I was single and had recently ended a relationship. I didn't want to get caught up into thinking I needed to get married, buy a house, and have 2 kids before I was thirty. There are so many other great things to focus on. Hence, I started brainstorming things I wanted to do before 30 (besides those indicated above).

Funny because by the time I finished writing my list of 30 things, I had already met Jason, and we had been dating for a month or so when I started this blog. I was still all about my 30 things, though. That first year I checked nine things off my list!

Well, then this year came, and I got married. And...I only checked three things off my list (and I had intentionally not put 'get married' on the 30 before 30). Mini-fail because I'm now 'behind' (in the sense that I should have half my items done since I'm at the half-way point to 30...welcome to my math teacher brain). But, not a huge fail because I did have one major (and great) event in getting married and then learning how to live life with someone else. Plus, a lot of the items on my list cost $, which was lacking after paying for half our wedding ourselves and then setting up our place.

So, I guess my plan is kinda backfiring on me. But, I'm still moving on with my list.

Here is the updated list with what I accomplished this year and my changed items from the previous year. I definitely have a few more things I want to change, but I haven't finalized those quite yet.

Travel

1. Austin (completed June 4-6, 2010)

2. Boston
3. Thanksgiving in New York

4. Greece

5. Canada

6. Cruise (completed January 2010)

California Tourism

7. Alcatraz

8. Wine tasting in Wine Country (completed January 9, 2010)

9. Monterey Bay Aquarium (completed April 7, 2010)

10. Hearst Castle (completed August 8, 2010)
11. Lighthouses of California (from San Francisco to Santa Barbara)

Adventure

12. Skydive

13. Hike Half Dome (completed June 17, 2010)

14. Run a half marathon (completed October 3, 2010)

15. Triathlon

16. White Water Raft

17. Hot Air Balloon
18. Ski in another state

Intellectual/Spiritual

19. Read The Chronicles of Narnia ('Attempted' Summer 2011)

20. Memorize a chapter of the Bible
21. Take a Bible class
*Deleted Read 5 Classics*

Entertainment

22. Sharks Game (completed November 20, 2010)

23. NBA Basketball Game (completed December 31, 2011)
24. Live orchestra/symphony
25. Circus
26. Eat 30 ethnic cuisines that I have never had before (Added 9 new countries in 2011)

Personal Development

27. Cooking/Baking Class (completed October 2011)

28. Learn to sew

29. Start a blog (completed January 1, 2010)

30. *Learn Photography* (new)

I am looking forward to 2012, which I'm sure will be full of unknowns, uncertainties, and surprises, but rich with our God's love and mercy.

Jason on Ice

* I have been given permission by Jason to write this post. Permission was necessary based on the content of this post, as it could be considered blackmail.*

Our church small group decided to go ice skating (dressed in our finest tacky Christmas sweaters) as part of our Christmas party.

Jason told me that he was a horrible ice skater, and when I thought about that, I was sure it was true. There is just something about his size that doesn't lend to graceful on ice skates.

Well, when he made his debut, he did not disappoint. It was more than I imagined. Check him out.

Jason on Ice

While this was the best video I captured, it wasn't his best act...but I'm sure he's glad that this was all I captured.

We didn't last long out there, but we sure had some great laughs (and bruises) along the way!

The Christmas Stash - 2011 Edition

Well, it is day 1 of 18 of winter break! So looking forward to the extra long break they are giving us this year. I must say that I really have nothing planned for my days off. I do plan on watching many Christmas movies since Christmas is a week away and I am yet to watch ONE Christmas movie. Christmas fail on my part. I haven't even busted out my iPod to listen to my favorite Christmas songs but have rather reverted to the 24 hrs of Christmas music that they play on 96.5 KQUIT, which just isn't the same (because it's not as good as my personal selection).

It's sad, but I feel like I just haven't had the time to get in the Christmas spirit this year. Jason and I have been so busy during this window between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Jason just finished his second term of grad school, which was a crazy class on political economy and required tons of reading and many papers. (We are both very glad that class is over as of last night). This class also just happened to coincide with his busiest time at work, so he spent many evenings and weekends trying to juggle work, grad school, and all the other activities that go on with life. We started leading a college group at our church, which has been so great, but is another night out during the week. We also chose the *best* time of year to try and buy a house, so we've been squeezing the house hunt in as well! All really great stuff, though.

To go along with last year's post, I thought I would give you a preview of my 2011 student stash (gifts from my students). Jason definitely looks forward to this more than I do. When he called me after school yesterday, the first thing he said was, "What did you get?" I think he is beginning to question how good of a teacher I am though because the stash this year was much lighter than in previous years. But it is always so thoughtful of students to hook their teachers up during the holidays. So, here is what I came home with.

The theme of this year was probably home baked goods and scarves. Lots of treats that my students (or their parents) made. I also got three scarves, which is pretty fun.

I did get some chocolate, but not the 6 pounds worth that I came home with last year, which is probably a good thing.

A handful of coffee gift cards, which came at the perfect time, as I only have a few dollars left on my last card from the end of last school year.
There is always a selection of bath gels and picture frames, too. I love the little hiker ornament that has 'Mrs. Baker' written on it. It's hanging on the Christmas tree! No jewelry this year, though. Or taj mahal replicas.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Fall into Christmas

Well, it is officially post-Thanksgiving, which means...it is now the Christmas season.

The day after Thanksgiving is the first day I allow myself to do anything Christmas related (besides celebrate Jesus, of course). So, the fall decorations went away and the Christmas ones came out! Here is a preview of my Fall to Christmas decor...

Since this is the first year I actually I had my 'own' place to decorate, I was quite exited about it. I did have to go out and buy a few more decorations - thank you Target, Ross, and Marshalls :)

Jason and I went to cut down buy our Christmas tree at Home Depot the Saturday after Christmas. This was the first time I had picked out a tree at Home Depot...or anywhere besides the mountains where we cut it down, so it was very anti-climatic for me. (More later on my family tradition of cutting down our Christmas tree).
We went with the first tree the guy un-tied for us. It looked okay, and we figured it would look better once the branches fell and we had decorated it. Well, not so much. Next time we probably won't go with the first tree we see...unless we actually really like it. Home Depot fail.

Jason decided to carry our tree home since we live half a mile from Home Depot. We should have just put the tree on top of our car, as it ended up being heavier than he thought. Again, we
probably won't do that again. Home Depot fail.
Here is our tree all decorated. I'm calling it our bush because I am used to growing up with 13-15 foot Christmas trees. Home Depot fail.

I must say that a bonus of going to Home Depot is that the experience is very fast...and cheap. The whole process took us about 30 minutes and cost us $30. But, I love the experience of cutting down the Christmas tree, so I'm hoping we make that happen next Christmas season!

Operation Christmas Child

Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child is a great opportunity to give a box full of gifts to a child in another country who normally would not receive a gift on Christmas. Samaritan's Purse has been doing this for about twenty years, and this was my second year participating in the project.

The idea is so simple: pack a shoe box full of gifts (from hygiene products to clothing to toys), indicate the appropriate gender and age for the gift, and drop off the gift. Samaritan's Purse then sends the gift to a developing country to bless a child during the Christmas season with a box full of gifts along with a message of the Good News!
Jason and I had so much fun shopping together for our shoe box gifts. I bought for a girl between the ages of 5-9. I packed my box with a toothbrush/toothpaste, hair clips, lip glosses, stickers, crayons, a harmonica, watch, princess purse, jelly belly's, socks, and a shirt.
Jason shopped for a boy between 10-14. He bought a toothbrush/toothpaste, harmonica, jelly bellys, shirt, hat, and (his pride and joy) a glow in the dark neon football!
I'm pretty sure all the boxes have been collected for this year, but if you're looking to give back next Christmas season, this is a great opportunity.

Cooking Class Completed!

Well, it's been a light year when it comes to checking items off my 30 before 30, but I completed my second item of this year...I took a cooking class!

My friend's mom was hosting a beginning cooking class through the Livermore Rec Center. That sounded like a fit for me. Plus, it was pretty inexpensive compared to other cooking classes I had researched. She sent out an email about the class in August, and I totally forgot about it until a few days before when she sent out another email asking if I was still interested.

So, I jumped on board! The cooking classes were held each Thursday during the month of October for 2.5 hours each.

Here is a brief summary of each class:

In the first class we made puffed pastries. I couldn't believe how easy they were to make. We sampled one filled with cream cheese and salsa that can be served as an appetizer, and then we made dessert puffed pastries filled with a vanilla pudding and topped with chocolate. Delicious! I will definitely be making these in the future. We also made a crook pot pulled pork that was marinated in beer. We roasted garlic and carmalized onions and added those to our sandwiches. So flavorful! We also learned how to cut up a chicken. I've decided to continue to go with the pre-cut chicken...

Class two was on focused on fish and biscotti. We made a chocolate almond biscotti, which is great for the holidays. We also made two different fish recipes.

The third class was pie class! We each made a pie from scratch. This was my first time making a pie, so I was very excited! Some made apple pie, others pumpkin. I went with apple because neither Jason or I like pumpkin much...and apple is Jason's very favorite. My sister's have both made apple pie for Jason...but as his wife, I had failed to do so. Until a few weeks ago! Apple pie is actually quite easy to make. The hardest part is the crust, which I might cheat on in the future and go with the pre-made :) Part of the reason why the pie was so easy was because our teacher had a food processor that slices the apples up in seconds. Might need to invest in one of those - we used it all the time in our class. Here is my first pie:
Our last class was a mixture of a bunch of things. We made sushi, baked brussel sprouts (definitely were covered in olive oil, butter, and seasoning), more fish, and practiced with pie crust again (focused on doing a lattice top, which is how I made my pie). We took home our pie crusts so that we could make another pie...which is easy once the crust is done.

It was a great class, filled with yummy food, and lots of cooking/baking tips along the way. Glad to check another item off my list!

100 Years in the Making

This past weekend we celebrated my grandma's (Grammy) 100th Birthday! Yes, she is an official centurion. Grammy is the first person I've known to make it to 100! So proud to have her as my grandmother.
Grammy was born on October 27, 1911. It is amazing to think about how much of our nation's history she has lived through and remembers first hand. She has definitely been through a lot in her own life, and like most, didn't think she would live to see 100. Grammy loves her family more than anyone I know and takes such pride in her two daughters, six grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren (with the 8th due in May). She attributes being surrounded by her loving family as one of the ways she made it to 100. She also gives credit to drinking coffee, staying away from doctors, and having a daily happy hour (vodka cranberry is Grammy's drink of choice).

Grammy's four grand-daughters toasting Grammy with a vodka cranberry!

Grammy is truly one of the strongest women I have met. At age 100, she still lives by herself in the home she had built when she was 80 years old! Maybe she did know she had many years ahead of her! I have many memories in this house of hers...

Grammy spends her days watching sports on her 60'' flat screen. We always come visit her for her birthday in October, and it never fails that she has one of the college games on when we walk through the door. She still follows sports to this day.

About ten years ago when Grammy hit 90 and was still going strong, we began to talk about her making it to 100. As each birthday after that came and went, we encouraged her all the more to keep going strong. And she kept going and hit triple digits. On her birthday, she received a letter from the president, a letter from Willard Scott of the Today Show, and was featured in her local newspaper.
We had so much fun honoring Grammy and celebrating her life this weekend!

Happy 100th, Grammy! We love you!