Places I Spent the Night 2009

I posted a real post a few hours ago, but I thought I would throw this one on here real quick too!

Places I Slept in 2009

Amsterdam, NE (1 of 6 posts)
Paris, FR (1 of 6 posts)
Lake Bueno Vista, FL (1 of 5 posts)
Des Moines, IA
Kansas City, MO
Bloomington, MN (5 times)
Peoria, IL
Cincinnati, OH
Dublin, OH
Boston, MA (1 of 4 posts)
Sherman Oaks, CA
Chicago, IL(full report not posted yet)

Captive of the Couch

I'm so glad I get to see these girls more than once a year, I adore them! (This will make more sense later in the post....)

Today I lay here on the couch, rendered completely immovable by excruciating back pain. And I know I'm not over the line in saying that, because it took many tears, lots of Tim help, and at least 15 minutes to get me from bed to couch this morning. And its not even 30 feet away. I luckily got into the chiropractor before the holiday break, and even he thought I was totally jacked up. Crazily jacked up.
So, now I am cracked, still in pain, and icing it like crazy, because I absolutely refuse to not go out tonight. Its New Years Eve and these are my first actual plans. Last year was Amsterdam, but Im not counting that. Tim has to work til 5, so I at least hadn't planned on going to IC with the girls to see killer Scottish music, but there's family hors deurvs to be had, and later on, the big plans. Black and White Ball at Bourre. I searched high and low for a dress, found one, and now I HAVE TO WEAR IT. I refuse to be crippled. Even if I stand at the table for an hour and then have to leave. Its better than nothing.
Plus, its with people that we haven't really gone out with before. Some old faces, yes. But also a lot of new ones from the rec center who originated the Black and White Ball plan. It seems like these are the days of good friends, and I hope these people are at least the start of some of that. Like this past weekend for example, a friend of ours from high school basically invited everyone he still remotely knew to a local bar, and the amount of people that showed up, the day after Christmas, was insane. I saw people that I saw every day for years, that I havent seen in more than half a decade. It was really interesting. In a good way mostly, some of the people could have stayed in their caves though ;) Here's a few captures:
Jack thinks he's hilarious. I live in fear.

We packed the bar. PACKED it. And I knew at least one person at all but two tables. That's sayin something!

DPP 24: Awaiting Feline Santa....

Olivia anxiously awaits Santa...she asked for Myla to move far far away and for a 120 pack of triple ply Charmin.....
Stockings at Grandma's. Just wanted to prove that we survived the "ice storm" more Christmas Eve pictures to come.....

DPP 23: Ooping Sugarplums.

I had to work the last UNI Men's game of 2009 tonight, but afterwards was the real fun! Ok, not really, but it was at least more entertaining than the basketball game.

I decided I was going to try something new for Christmas, I was going to make Sugar Plums! Just like the poem, only these sugar plums were certainly not dancing. They were sticky and oopy and goopy. I didnt even really know what was in them til I found the recipe. Lots of chopped dried fruits, nuts, coconut, and a bit of orange juice! I did the chopping and the ooping and the gooping, and then apparently you just roll into balls and let sit? Only, mine were quite goopy and would have never hardened. Ever. So I lined a pie tin with coconut flakes, dumped the whole mixture in, and put it in the oven for awhile, and then the freezer. Voila! Delicious and solid! Yummy.

DPP 22: Special K, Special YAY!

My weakness is cereal. I'll admit it. I will eat it anytime, anywhere. I love it. ESPECIALLY granola. But granola, while healthy, is chock full of calories. And yes, I know you are just supposed to eat less, but like I said, weakness.

And then, glory of all glories, I see this today. And while not as healthy as a bowl of Special K strawberry (yum, although blueberry is a bit more amazing) it is still less calories than any other granola on the market.

YUMMY! I already cracked it open, and I see many a box in my future :)

DPP 21: Toilet Paper Turmoil

Ever since we got Olivia, this has been happening more and more recently...as has the tearing apart of water bottle boxes as we witnessed here

DPP 20: Wrong State/Sampler's Heaven

Again, a late night, back from Chicago. More tomorrow I swear. Including how we came back to a nine pack of toilet paper having been shredded by the feline children...but here was a bit of today:

Um, do Chicago-ians not know that Grant Wood is from Iowa....and not Chicago? Either way, the farmer and his wife are larger than life!
We stopped in Galena on the way home...and found a sampler's heaven. The Galena Cannery had probably over 50 samples. This was one of the smaller setups. I can't wait for my fig preserves in my stocking!

DPP #19: Classy Chocoholic/Chicago Cirque

More on this Chicago weekend to come....but heres a glimpse so far.....

The worst Cirque show ever....no really, it shouldn't even be called a Cirque show. A.W.F.U.L.
Sometimes, especially when the chocolate is as big as, and in the shape of a brick....you just have to go for it!

DPP18: Deck the Bars with Bottles of Glory!

The Blue Room. aka the diviest of all dive bars in Iowa. And that is sayin something!
Its 1am and we are rising early tomorrow, so this shall be brief. Alas, today was the ALPHA Reunion, I did not go, I felt like death, not even death warmed over. But I was convinced to go to the after party at OP. I only was there for a teensy bit, but Tim was there full force and got some cute pictures of people we love dearly.
Like Steve. Master of all things ALPHA. Also Master of most of our HighSchool lives.
And Tim with Ozzie. I adore this picture and cannot wait til August to see her in lovely San Francisco.

Ok. Dead. Chicago tomorrow. Bannana Schpeel!

DPP 17: Creative Coloring Chaos

I had way too much fun coloring my hair tonight. 50+ pictures fun. Its a little darker than what I wanted, but thats what you get when they discontinue your color and four years later you are still looking for a good replacement....stupid discontinuation. Malaysian Cherry did me so well....

DPP 16: Mom's Morning Mug.

Getting ready for the day. And trust me, with kids like us, she definately needs her morning coffee to prepare....and I don't even live there anymore!
How she survived us so far, I will never know. Oh wait, I do. She turned into just as much of a fruit loop as the rest of us!

DPP 15: Three for Free!

It's that point in the month. The holiday buzz has worn us out. Even the ones that haven't really had anything extra to do besides eat holiday bread and chase holiday toy mice.....

But it's so cute and cozy looking.....

I interrupted Nessa's bath. She was less than pleased.

DPP 14: Santa's Crazy Eyeballs & Baking Aftermath.

Today was absolutely insane. I feel like I got half the stuff that I needed to get done in double the amount of time it should have taken. I woke up late, but still forced myself into half my morning run, went to work, did my noon abs class, ran some work errands (see post office story below), baked cookies with my mom, hit the gym, came home and baked for the past billion hours straight, finishing with packing up all the boxes getting sent out to the east coast tomorrow and doubling my to do list for tomorrow....including a trip to the vet with my mother and her beloved child, but that should be quite amusing...
The easiest thing I made all day. By far. But one of the most time consuming....kisses don't unwrap themselves!

This is only half the baking mess, the half that is at my kitchen and not my mother's. And there is only more to come....

Post Office Story: So maybe I am the only one who has never seen this occur, but I think it is the smartest thing on the planet. I went to the post office today with quite a bit of malice already in my heart just because I knew I would be in line FOREVER. But I walked in, and was greeted by a glorious table FULL of homemade goodies and piping hot coffee. There were at least 15 different desserts of cookies and cakes and bars and doughnuts and deliciousness. Clearly, they know that to have happy postal customers, feed them oatmeal fudge bars. It worked for me!

DPP 13: Workout Wonder

It might be official. I am addicted to working out. Withdrawls are evil, sweat is amazing.

DPP 12: Salsa Sky Sleepers.

Dad looks less than thrilled to have his picture taken with dolls, but we bribed him with chips and salsa....

Today consisted of the best Rudy's chicken taco I have had in a long time. And a bunch of other stuff, including Christmas shopping at Best Buy, eating too much chocolate, a ridiculous 3 pointer at the game, and rude staff at both Sam's and Jimmy Johns. But none of that matters now. Because my pillow is calling me.

DPP 11: Snowy Sidewalk Sale.

I've decided to sell snow. Cedar Falls has an abundance, and I think I might be able to make some money selling it to Miami or Nicaragua. I talked about it a few days ago, but we had 16 inches in one night, leading up to a snow day. I took this picture yesterday when I braved the roads for the first time. Needless to say, today people are back to driving 10-15mph over the speed limit. Iowans get over snow fast.

Sidenote: I got an early Christmas present tonight!! The other day I mentioned I wanted a fuzzy steering wheel cover to keep my hands warm. And in the conversation I mentioned that I was going to invent a cover with coils in it to heat it and keep it warm. Well, apparently they already make that, and Tim bought me one. Its glorious.

DPP #10: Gift from the Sun

Not much to say today.
Snow day today again.
At least I forced myself to work out?
And I saw David Boreanaz in his boxers.

DPP #9: Leap of Faith/Snow Daze

Last night, I was taking random angle shots of the house, and Nessa was stalking me and my camera as if she was the feline Paris Hilton. Apparently she decided to forgo all the beauty shots that we normally do, and went straight to action hero leaps from the top of her perch to the top of the kitchen cabinets. Its not the first time she's done it, she does it a lot actually, but that first time...I thought she was going to break her face. She better watch out though, those holiday pounds she's packing on, one of these days it's going to be a long way to the bottom.....
Local weatherman Schnacky made the announcement that by 6am this morning, we had 16 inches of that glorious white stuff. So at 7am, when Tim and I were both wide awake for the day, I knew that work was probably not going to happen. Dad called to say it took two hours to get out of their drive way and I was to stay home all day. And with a little delay, Tim also learned he was home for the day. Snow day! We did nothing. I worked on some Christmas cards, wrapped some gifts and Tim played some video games and watched tivo. Oh, I made pumpkin bread, laced with brown sugar...and then proceeded to eat half the loaf....literally. Every Wednesday should be a snow day!

DPP #8: Morning Blue Blizzard

I was up about 20 minutes before my alarm this morning, and I figured I could start my run early, OR I could gaze out the window and take my daily photo! Golly gee, I wonder which one I picked....

It's the beginnings of the blizzard that we are amidst right now, twelve hours later.....

DPP 7: Double Duty with the Blog Hop!

I am pulling double duty on this post. One picture for the blog hop, and one for my Daily December Photo Project. The first (above) is for the Photo Project, mainly because its a much better picture, a billion times more artsy, and I just like it. Our tree in the past few years has been donned with jewel toned decorations. Purples, blues, teals, magentas, you get the idea. But this year, I am going traditional! It involved buying all new ornaments, but with a trip to the General Store in MN, our tree was ready for trimming in all reds, greens, and golds. I have to say, I think it turned out quite nicely.

This one is for this week's Blog Hop. It asked about our favorite ornament, and while I guess technically a tree topper isn't considered an ornament, I am going to count it anyway! We've had it since we first got our tree, and frankly, I don't even remember what the kitty was originally clutching between its elasticed together paws, but now, every Christmas, this kitty cat is holding on for dear life on the top of our tree....and I love it.

Here's some other artsy fartsy pictures of our ornaments this year. I wish I could make a living out of photographing ornaments...any takers?

Turkey Day. Gobble Gobble!

I'm gonna take a quick break from December photo project and recap Thanksgiving.
Pretty typical Thanksgiving, Tim and I went over to the Grandparents early to help with the last minute dishes, Mom, Dad and Chris joined up. A delectable meal was had. I had tried a new recipe for cranberry sauce, from Williams and Sonoma. It tasted like Christmas smells, a little overbearing almost, but it did tone down as days passed with the leftovers. Yum.

I also tried my hand at a blueberry pie. None of this canned blueberry nonsense either, a FRESH blueberry pie. I kind of freehanded the inside, and while it got a tiny bit liquidy, it ended up being super tasty. Only a bit of the ooze made it to the outside of the crust.


But really, the best part is in the top picture. I spent over an hour the night before Thanksgiving, making every single family member an Indian head dress to be worn for our November Nordyke Family picture. And I am of the belief that it turned out quite well...if you ever need a laugh during the holidays, put your grandparents into culturally offensive head gear. It's fantastic.

DPP #5: Rosenau wins over TobyMac

I couldn't decide. I really couldn't. I took close to 200 pictures last night at the TobyMac show. With this new camera, complete with 20x zoom, I can take KILLER pictures. The stage wasn't exactly close, but you wouldn't ever know it by these pictures!

It wasn't just a Toby Mac concert either. I was obsessed with dcTalk growing up, so really that should be enough. But moreso was that the show was Rosenau's annual concert in Cedar Falls. The kid has found his calling. Watching him play on stage, he could never be happier. Awesome. I like when my friends from the past find their happy place! It was just Tim and I, Chris and Linnea though. Mom and Dad opted out. Something about his birthday or something....wimps. But we had good times without them!