Family Coming to Town

There hasn't really been much of interest going on over here lately.  This past week we had a couple of days of beautiful snow.  It snowed thick and fast enough to accumulate, but since the temperature was above freezing, as soon as it stopped snowing it all melted.  It was wonderful to watch though.

Next week we have some family coming to town!  It is going to be very fun and interesting.  My husband's mom, aunt, grandma, and 3 year old cousin are all coming.  I don't think I've ever had so many people stay in my home at once, and I've never really had to provide meals for so many people.  So, this will be a new and perhaps challenging experience, but definitely fun!

Where have I been??

I know it's been a while since I posted.  So... time to get back into the swing of things!  A couple of days after we got back from NM, we left again for the UAE and India!  It was an incredible and overwhelming experience.  My husband and I decided that the best way to describe the trip in one word is: WHOA!  So, that's it.  It would take far too many posts to describe all the things we saw, did, tasted, smelled, etc.  I will soon be putting together a dvd of photos and video from the trip.  I will try to upload what I can to youtube.  If it works out then I'll make another post with a link to the video(s).  Until then, here are a few of my favorite pictures.

At the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

At the Burj Khalifa

The Persian Gulf with the Burj Al Arab in the background.

Taj Mahal

Animals were abundant in India.

We have been home for about a month now.  The jet lag of a 13.5 hour time difference took me almost 2 weeks to get over.  So, like I said, we're getting back into the swing of things.

Christmas 2011

I was very pleased that my husband and I were able to make it down to our home state of New Mexico for the Christmas break.  My parents and sister picked us up at the airport, dressed to impress and complete with blinking lights.  They even made it on the local news with their garb.

We spent Christmas with them for a total of 3 nights in at my sister's place.  We then went to my mother-in-law's house for a night.  Then we took a 2 night trip up to Albuquerque to see more family, and then back to the southern part of the state for another 2 nights to see friends.  It was fun trying to fit in visits to so many people.  I'm pleased with all the people we got to see and look forward to seeing those who we didn't get to see next time.

Video footage of our trip can be seen here.

My 28th

Monday I turned 28!  :)  I celebrated with friends on Saturday by having a Holiday Dessert Birthday Party.  Most of the desserts weren't particularly holiday themed, but there were plenty of them, and they were delicious!

On my actual birthday I just took the time to do stuff that would make me happy.  Whatever I felt like doing, I did.  I slept super late (an extra 4 hours), went for my run, took a relaxing bath, rented a chick flick, and made one of my favorite meals for dinner (manicotti, garlic bread, and caesar salad).  It was a wonderful day!

Washington Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! My husband and I had our first Thanksgiving that wasn't with either of our families.  We had a few people over for Thanksgiving dinner! My husband and I made the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, cider, and some cookies.  We also, of course, had to introduce our friends to NM green chile!  I've had Thanksgiving at my home before, but this was actually my first time to make a turkey and stuffing.  Luckily, it turned out quite perfectly.  Our friends brought over a couple of more side dishes, some pie, and wine!

We had a really fun time talking, playing video games, board games, watching TV, listening to Carlos play guitar...  I definitely missed my family, but it was a wonderful day!  I have so much to be grateful for, and I definitely took the time to remember all that I have during this wonderful time of year.  :)

Above is a picture of our sage and garlic turkey!  The seasonings look kind of dark, but inside it was moist and delicious!  We cooked it in a bag, and my mom gave me some tips for the stuffing, which came out to be amazing! (And yes that is an aluminum pan... I have a roasting pan, but not one large enough for our turkey and we didn't want to splurge on another pan at the moment.  Made no difference in the deliciousness of the turkey though).

In the spirit of the holiday:  Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

It snowed! Or should I say iced?

It snowed last night!  Not for too long, just long enough for some a small amount of snow to accumulate, and then start to melt, and then freeze...  I still enjoyed it!  Here are some photos...

11/11/11

So last weekend we went down to Seattle for an 11/11/11 party.  The party in itself was not nearly as cool as we were expecting.  It was supposed to be New Years Eve style, with an 11 second countdown to 11:11 on 11/11/11.  The venue was not as supportive as they led the party throwers to believe.  However, we had a great time!

We started out at a friend's apartment (he lives in a really neat building in the hub bub of it all in downtown Seattle).  We met up with people there, had some snacks and drinks, and then headed to the party.  The party ended up such that it was just like going to a bar with a DJ, nothing special.  But it was fun to be out and about and having fun with people.  We left the club, got some food, then headed back to our friends apartment.  We played games, and hung out, and stayed the night there.  The next morning we headed down to Pike Place Market and enjoyed some crepes at a French place.

This is a picture of us playing Uno after the party.  Our friend just barely moved into his apartment, and didn't have any furniture yet.

Part of the view from our friend's apartment.

His apartment patio was on a courtyard surrounded by tall buildings.  From the hallway window you could see the Puget Sound.

This was at Pike Place.  There are these men who dress up in gold or silver, and then I think they pretend to be statues...

Next year, 12/12/12 will be a great one, especially since it will be my birthday.  :)