a fresh start

I feel like I'm going through a sort of nesting in preparation for the new quarter. I forget that when you're taking 10-week classes, you're always required to do a bunch of prep work before class even begins. So this weekend, I'll be reading 8 articles, four chapters, and writing an introductory bio which I will no doubt have to share with all of class on Monday night. But I'm also doing crazy cleaning. I think it's partly a last-minute panic as I realize I won't have as much free time in the near future, and partly because it's the new year- good for fresh starts.

This morning I've gone through about 4 months of backlogged paperwork which has grown into a monstrous 1-foot tall pile in our mail bin. I discovered an overdue dental bill, and lots of messages from old credit cards informing us that the government is telling them they can no longer be a-holes to customers.

While I'm on a roll, I will likely try to tackle the Christmas decorations. Putting them up was so exciting this year, and I'm really a little sad to think of all the colorful, shiny, and sparkly decorations going into hiding for another year.

Wishing you all a merry 2010! I'm excited about what this year has in store. I think it's going to be a good one.

i love sugar

The elves have been visiting all week. So exciting! Santa's elves have been a missing piece of my life for at least the last 17 years. I really missed them. Today, I got a funny t-shirt. The elves really know my style. I love it.

With spending Christmas in Colorado this year, it was important to me to decorate and bake and put up stockings- all those things that make Christmas fun. This year, I made sugar cookies using the world's greatest sugar cookie and frosting recipes. Seriously. These cookies are so good that my body has insisted on having at least one for breakfast each morning over the last 3 days. Brandon brought a tray to work, and they were gone by 10:05 a.m. I also made peanut butter balls, which are like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, but more unhealthy and slightly more delicious. Finally, I made chocolate covered pretzels drizzled with white chocolate.

It's been snowing all day, and the big, fluffy snowflakes are making a pretty blanket of white on the ground.

My Christmas wish is to receive an obnoxious Christmas sweater that I can not only wear to ugly sweater parties, but that I can wear every Christmas Eve because it makes me feel extra festive. I get you, holiday sweater owners- I get you.

home sweet home

Although we LOVE living downtown, Brandon and I have been thinking lately about buying a house. It is much easier thinking about desired neighborhoods when you're in a smaller city, like Sioux Falls or Fort Collins, and a little overwhelming in a place the size of Denver. I was browsing some real estate sites today, and can't believe that I don't have a better sense of the type of place I'd like to call home. I'm 33! Shouldn't this be a no-brainer at this point in my life?

Part of me would love to live a little way up into the mountains. I'd love to have a home with an inspiring view, a place where our dogs could roam off-leash. However, even living downtown, I sometimes resent the fact that the nearest Hobby Lobby is 15 miles away. We have to drive quite a distance to find big box stores. I like to support small, locally-owned businesses whenever possible, but sometimes SuperTarget just fulfills certain needs. There's also appeal in buying a newer house in a newly-developed suburb, where you likely don't have a lot of fixer-upper type projects on the horizon, and you have ready access to conveniently-located stores and restaurants nearby. I also like the idea of living in a charming old home with lots of character in an up-and-coming neighborhood where we could walk to the nearby main street full of quaint shops and non-chain restaurants.

I guess part of what makes life worth living is the excitement of not knowing where we'll eventually end up.

oh, christmas tree

It's been a busy week for me, so going to Michael's and shopping for Christmas decorations after work tonight was wonderfully therapeutic! Nearly all the Christmas stuff is 50% off- even better than shopping for Christmas decorations for me is finding a deal.

I have very few Christmas decorations, in part because I've always traveled home to South Dakota for the holidays. So I'm kind of starting from scratch this year. Brandon and I bought our first real tree this year. Going to pick out our tree was so much fun, and brought back lots of memories of doing this with my family as a kid.

listen closely

Today's message to me, from the Universe:

You don't get to choose how you're going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you're going to live. Now.
- Joan Baez