Goodbye Aughts!

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!

I got this idea to reminisce about the past 10 years from my cousin. How do you summarize 10 years? 3650 days? Plus a couple of days to account for leap years. I don't think it's possible in a short post, but I'll give it a go! Of course, there were lots and lots of challenges and losses that happened along the way, but I try to keep it positive here, so I might gloss over those, but they certainly won't take center stage.

(click on image to enlarge if you wanna read text)

2000
-1st year at the hideaway
-emotional trip to the Philippines after my mom died

2001
-celebrated our 10 year anniversary
-vacations to Kauai and Vancouver
-Jimmy went blonde for a few days, then purple
-1st nephew graduated high school, 4th nephew born, BFF Jeff got married, BFF Bowen Couple had their 1st baby - the 1st in our closest friends
-a heightened awareness of how important family and friends are after 9/11

2002
-fractured/cracked rib while snowboarding
-Jimmy did a motorcycle adventure in Baja, Mexico
-Jimmy = too many hand surgeries
-BFF Monica had baby, SIL Lauree got married in Catalina, 1st niece graduated high school

2003
-evicted from condo in Mountain View, moved to San Jose
-Jimmy = knee surgery
-Chancey couple had twins, BFF Danielle got married, 5th nephew born, Shy SIL got graduate degree

2004
-Yuen Wedding, Cousin wedding, 2nd niece and 2nd nephew graduated high school, Bowen baby 2 born
-vacation in New York & Boston, Alaska cruise




2005
-BFF Danielle's 1st baby born, 6th nephew born
-vacation in Seattle, Washington DC, Kauai
-Bye-bye Fangboy Kitty

2006
-Yuen's 1st baby, Cousin's 1st baby, Brewer's 1st baby, 1st niece graduated SDSU
-vacation in Dallas, Seattle, Kauai
-start of annual Camp Retzlaff @ hideaway
-walk/jog 1st 5k at Disneyland
-Cross country road trip w/ SIL Molly

2007
-1st nephew graduated UCSD, childhood BFF Bridget's wedding, BIL John's wedding in Alaska
-vacation in Alaska for wedding, Seattle x2

2008
-Yuen's twins born, Cousin's 2nd baby, Brewer's 2nd baby, BFF Danielle's 2nd baby, 2nd niece graduated Claremont College
-vacation in Chicago, NYC, Sedona
-Jimmy and I celebrated our 40th birthdays
-cabin chimney remodel
-fractured right foot

2009
-Bye-bye Billy Kitty
-vacation in Chicago, Seattle, Phoenix
-Rhino adventures
-wow, no births, weddings or graduations in 2009

Reminiscing like this is a good way to remember that it is a wonderful life. Ya take the bad with the good, but focus on the good and life will just go so much smoother.

Jimmy and I wish everyone a very happy and safe New Year's Eve!!
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Counting down the last few hours of 2009

I can't be absolutely certain, but I think this photo was taken during a New Years Eve party. I was 2 1/2 years old. No wonder I look so sleepy!
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Christmas Lights at the Hideaway

we're back in the bay area for a while. it'll actually be good to stay local for a couple of weeks hopefully.

I'm kinda at a loss on what to write today, but if I can write something for 2 more days, then I'll have blogged every single day this month. That will be my 1st time in the 4 1/2 years that I've been blogging. Wow, I can't believe I've been blogging that long already. Time flies.

Anyhoo...I thought I'd share some of the pics of our neighbors lights at the hideaway. Which one do you prefer?
the crisp, not blurry one?

or the blurry one?
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Christmas Dinner

It could have been assumed that our Christmas dinner would have been a prim and proper event. Now it was pretty darn serious when we first started chowing down, because we were all ready to scarf the delicious prime rib, scalloped potatoes, homemade bread, salad, asparagus and corn. But after that initial silence of all 16 of us enjoying those first few bites, our silly spirits came back.
Jimmy took all of these photos. He took this cool shot of the food, table, serving & drinking hands and so on. I love the perspective. But you can also spot middle nephew hiding behind his glass while jimmy took the photo.

That started the shenannigans.

They boys pretended that they didn't want to get their photo taken.
Big Brother R "hides" behind his soda bottle. Such a cute shot, yes?

Youngest D 'struggles' with his cousin so he couldn't get his photo taken. lol!!!

Then it was time to pump everyone up with more sugar!Yummy Christmas cookies...because we weren't already wired enough!

What did you and your family have for Christmas dinner?
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Christmas Smiles

It doesn't take a lot to be able to tell the difference between a posed smile vs. a sincere smile, but we were blessed with the most sincerely happy smiles on Christmas morning. Here are a handful of my favorites:


Some of the biggest smiles were from watching others opening presents.



You just can't beat the glimmer in a 4 year old boy's eyes who just got a box of Hot Wheels.
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Challenge Complete!

Well, I officially blogged every day from Dec. 1-25th so I'm off the hook on my commitment, but since I've gotten into the routine of posting every day, I might as well try to continue till the 31st.

Don't you think that December 26th is one of the slowest days in the whole year? After a whole month of rush rush rushing till the excitement of Christmas day, then suddenly blammo - nothing to do.

Anyhoo...we are back to the hideway tomorrow-Sunday. Construction finally started on the 2nd bathroom. Steve and Max slept in a room that was torn apart, but thankfully the contractor is a perfectionist and tidied everything up nicely.

I can't remember if I've already shared the floor plans of the construction.

I'm pretty open about my information, but it's kinda weird putting these floor plans on my blog for anyone to see. I was gonna put the whole house on here, but decided against it at the last minute. But I know a few friends and family members lurk here, and this visual will help them figure out the layout. The solid black walls will be new construction.

Here's a view looking into the back bedroom from the hallway. You can see the construction of the 2nd bathroom. When all is said and done, the doorway will be gone because a stairway will go up on the left to the 2nd floor just on the other side of it, creating a small hallway.

Here's another view of the bathroom. I'm standing where the stairs will be. The door you see on the right will be gone because that's where the small hallway will start.

A long view of the bathroom. We had to move the window over to put in that wall. The ceiling light will have to move over, too.

That wall with the window will be torn down. If you look through the window, you'll see a back room with a water heater in it. That's currently the mud room. The new bedroom will extend back to those other windows. The room will be long and skinny and probably quite a bit smaller than what it was, but we're willing to sacrifice that space for another bathroom.

It might seem odd to put a bathroom right next to the other one. We considered putting a bathroom upstairs, but aside from sleeping, no one ever stays up there. We considered making the bathroom private for the back bedroom. But when we have people over, sometimes there's quite a few of us, and having both bathrooms available to everyone without worrying about privacy seemed more ideal.

We'll also remodel the current bathroom. It's got pink linoleum-like wainscoting from the 60s. I've lived with that for 10 years and I'm so ready for it to be gone. But we'll finish the new bath before starting it so we'll always have one to use during construction.

It's good to see construction going again. Unfortunately we lost the whole summer. We're patient and know it will take a long time because or contractor works alone and is extremely precise, but seeing stuff happening certainly feels good.
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Christmas Day (Daily December 25}

I hope you had a lovely Christmas day. Ours started at 9:30ish - breakfast before opening presents. Of course the kids were anxious to start as soon as possible so when the last waffle was finished, we all gathered around the tree for the presentation of presents. heehee. No one was disappointed.

Then most of us went out to play with the popular Nerf guns.Oh boy. Don't mess with these 3!

But Uncle Jimmy was up for the challenge...

Till the boys 13 year old cousin came in attack and pummeled Uncle Jimmy with her automatic nerf rifle.

Jimmy was toast and ran a fast retreat!

I actually put the camera down for a little bit and even though it was futile, I tried to take on the nieces and nephews. But that middle nephew, he's no dummy. He had an automatic that held 20 nerf bullets. My nerf rifle only held 6, but i had already lost 1. He just stood there with a big dimpled grin and took all 5 of my bullets. Then came after me with his 20. I was toast, too. But a 20 clip gun takes longer to refill than a 6 clip, so I got back at him once till I had to put up the white flag and surrender.

We all worked up an appetite by the time dinner was ready.For just a moment, our group of 16 was quiet during the first few delicious bites.

I suspect everyone will sleep well tonight.

Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!
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Twas the night before Christmas {Daily December 24}

We're back in the Bay Area, home from a lovely Christmas Eve dinner at the parentals with 16. My favorite moment was sitting at the table after dinner watching the siblings talking and laughing and joking with their dad. Another favorite moment was watching the 5 cousins talking in the den. The youngest cousins were hanging on every word that the oldest cousin said. A good moment to be an observer. I love Christmas, and I love this family. I'm so happy to be a part of it.


We Wish You a Merry♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ Christmas♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪We Wish You a Merry ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Christmas ♥ ♥ ♥We Wish You A Merry ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Christmas ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪...And A Happy New Year!♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪...

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That good kind of fall on your face tired {Daily December 23}

Whenever Steve's family comes up to visit, we're guaranteed an active time. It's great, because we're pretty sedentary, but we love doing stuff and being w/ the fam. Today we went sledding at Pinecrest Lake. It's the same lake we go to with them in the summer when we're in the boat, but it gets drained in the winter.

The boat launch makes a great slope for sledding.Steve and Middle J take a ride down the hill.

And Max, their mom, sleds down with Big Brother R.

The first 1/2 hr, Youngest D at 4 years old wouldn't even consider going on a sled. But once he took his 1st ride with dad, you couldn't get him off the hill. He even went down the sled by himself several times. Unfortunately, my camera battery died. boo on me for not recharging my battery. I know better.

We were there 3 hours and on the 1/2 hr ride home, all 3 boys passed out in the car, exhausted by all the fun and activity. We couldn't believe it was only 3:30 when we had to wake them up when we got home. It felt like 7pm. But they were hungry and cold! So we had some snacks and hot chocolate, stoked the fire then ordered pizza for dinner.

Max and Steve have always been very generous with their cooking whenever they come up to visit. They do 99.9% of the cooking. So tonight, I wanted to share one of my recipes that my mom passed down to me, fried wontons. Would you believe that Big Brother R wanted to help make them? Freakin' awesome I tell ya!

A couple hours after dinner, I overheard R whispering into his dads ear, "What's for dessert?" So I asked him, "Do you like chocolate covered pretzels?" He smiled and answered "Yes!" So, you guessed it...we made my famous Pretzel Kisses and his 2 younger brothers were so excited to help, too! I can't tell you how much I love seeing the grins on those boys. And then to have them want to do stuff that I like doing? You know that heart of mine? It grew three sizes larger. Altho, I hope it wasn't 2 sizes too small to start with!
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Winter Blessings {Daily December 22}

I ended last nights post by hoping that the gentle snowfall would last throughtout the night. We woke up to 2" of fresh snow. I think the following photos will show whether or not the boys thought it was a winter wonderland or not.




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Home Full of Family {Daily December 21}

We're at the hideaway and Steve's family arrived just moments ago. Boys were sleepy from their 7 hour drive so are already on couches in the living room in dreamland. They have the toastiest room in the house, right next to the fireplace.
When we got here, it was raining. But now gentle snowflakes are falling from the sky. Hopefully it will continue through the night and the boys will wake up to a white winter wonderland.

photo from Thanksgiving of youngest nephews with their cousin, oldest nephew.
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Visions of Sugar Plums {Daily December 21}

I ventured out into the big bad world today and was surprised at how calm it was. I was doing a jig inside my head. Of course, I didn't go to the mall or Costco or Target, but I did go to 2 grocery stores, the post office, the car wash and a craft store.
We are headed to the hideaway in the morning. We're there till the morning of Christmas Eve, then back to the bay area in time to pick up oldest niece from the airport then head to the parentals for dinner. Then home for a not so long winters nap, back to the parentals in the morning. Children age 4, 6, 8, 12 and nearly 14 will be waiting anxiously to open presents.

I may not get the chance to update daily while we're at the hideaway. I hope to, but can't count on it. So for now I leave you with:
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"
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Silent Monks Sing Halleluia

My SIL sent this link to me last week but I didn't get a chance to look at it till tonight. It's funny! Check it out if you find a spare 3 minutes out of your busy day. At first you'll be like "whaat?" then it just gets funnier and funnier.

Merry Christmas!
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Calendar, check. Cards, check. {Daily December 19}

It's 11:45pm and I never even left the house today. Didn't even check the mail. I suppose I should and will as soon as I'm finished here. But I'm feeling much relief because all of the calendars are printed and bound and all my Christmas cards are signed, sealed and stamped, ready to be mailed on Monday, which hopefully means they'll get to their destinations by the 24th. I'm not sure I've ever mailed my cards this late. I still need to wrap presents, but I'm not even worried about those because i can always wrap them right before Santa comes down the chimney. Can you believe I went this whole holiday season without ever going to the mall? Yay me!
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I see the light {Daily December 18}

I think I finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. I finished the yearly family calendar at 5pm tonight. Now we just need to print and bind 13 copies before Sunday night. I wanted to get my Christmas cards in the mail today, but that didn't happen. I'm working on them now and watching Elf. Elf will bring me back in the Christmas spirit. I'm counting on it.

Maybe now I'll be able to sleep.
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Thank God for The Magic {Daily December 17}

I was having a rough day. I didn't get any sleep and woke up cranky as an alligator who just came back from the dentist. whaattttt? The day was productive, but the cloud persisted.

On my way out this evening, Jimmy pulled into the driveway just as I was pulling out. We rolled down our windows and chatted for a minute, each in our own car. He was spirited. I was grumpy. I told him "I'm having a bad day." I was struggling w/ keeping the meaning of Christmas in my heart.

But I was on my way to a Christmas dinner w/ my crafting friends. I knew I'd have a good time. I knew being with them would get me out of my funk. And it did! A great group of women I tell ya. Nothing like the power of friendship to help the holiday blues.

Then! I got another magical surprise!! My 3.5 year old nephew called me. I usually don't hear my phone ringing when I'm out, but I know there was a reason I heard it this time. That boy, lemme tell ya, he's so full of happiness and sunshine that even on the coldest, gloomiest, grayest day, he'll brighten it up.

Thank you friends and family for the Magic of Christmas.
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Why it's all worth it{Daily December 16}

I have 4 days to get everything done before we have to head up to the hideway for early Christmas with Steven's family. I'm getting a lot done, but I feel like I'm spinning my wheels but getting nowhere.

Then when I was out tonight, I saw a car tailgating another one in the slow lane and flashing its brights. Excuse me Mr. Speedy, but the slow car was in the slow lane. Going maybe 3-5 miles under the speed limit, but in the slow lane none the less. Dude, take a deep breath and just pass the person on the left.

I'll refrain from telling you about the grumbles and curses I heard at the post office. I admit I had to work very hard at not grumbling myself, but they actually had every window open and I'm sure they were doing their best to help everyone as quickly as possible.

Isn't it amazing that we all put so much pressure on ourselves to get so much done during the holidays? Yet in the end, the important stuff gets done, the stuff that didn't get done usually gets completely forgotten about, and come Christmas day when you're celebrating with your loved ones, every single thing you've done has been worth all the effort. Which is why we keep doing it over and over again. I'm trying to keep a grateful heart through the whole process and remember that love in the end is what its all about.
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Take a hike Scrooge {Daily December 15}

Was feeling a bit scroogy today, mostly because I'm not feeling 100%, but when I got home and found a little package from Ragged, my Christmas spirits were renewed!
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It's Got a Good Beat and You Can Dance To It {Daily December 14}

I realize I'm starting to repeat myself about my obsession with Glee and Line Dancing. But hopefully this'll be the last time (for this month at least) because tonight was my last night of class till January and the Glee season is over till March.

But tonight's class was extra fun and special because we did some of the dances to Christmas music. I missed last week, but Julie had mentioned to Mandy, the instructor, that I had posted a Christmas song that matched to the beat of the steps for the Cruisin' dance. So when Mandy played "Last Christmas" by the singers in Glee, I was...
wait for it...
gleeful!!

um, yes, i really am this dorky.
Oh. you already figured that one out, didn't you?
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2 parties {Daily December 13}

Today was one of those days when you come home feeling happy because you've been surrounded by great friends and family.
The Yuen's have hosted a yearly Christmas Cookie party for at least 4 or 5 years and we always look forward to it. It's a lot of fun getting together with them and enjoying the sugar rush. One of our friends brought a yummy coconut date ball that I can't stop thinking about. Maybe if I beg and plead, she'll bring a small batch to the cabin with her the next time they come up. hint hint! :)

Unfortunately, we had to leave early, so I didn't want to bother everyone in their conversations to get a group photo. Besides we're all getting together again in January and I'll be sure to take loads of photos then. But I did manage to get a couple of snapshots of Jimmy with the Chancey kids as we were walking out the door:

hilarious!

Thankfully, we arrived only 10 minutes late to the parentals to celebrate Christmas with the niece who is going to grad school up here. We all wanted to get together before she headed back to Southern California for her break. Love that girl so much, she's so awesome. But this part of the family is shy, so no photo ops here despite my nagging desire to snap lots and lots of photos. Don't they realize that I have a task at hand and I need photos of them to complete my Daily December book?? :P
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Tired {Daily December 12}

Since I woke up, I've been all things Christmas related. I'm nearly out of words, so I'll just let the pictures tell my story.

Worked on my cards.This pic is from last year. Wouldn't want to give too much of a preview of the cards this year. :-) I hope to get them in the mail by Friday.

Unwrapped a bunch of these.

Put them on pretzels like this. Then put them in the oven for 8 minutes at 200 degrees.

Poured out a bag full of these.

Smooshed 2 of them into the warm chocolate then cooled in the fridge.

Moved onto this:Melted white chocolate, toasted almonds, cranberries, rice crispies. I posted the recipe last year here.

It cooled in the fridge for 30 minutes, then I broke it. On purpose. I broke it a lot more, too. Tiny bite sized pieces.

Decided to make the same thing in chocolate. But topped with crushed candy canes. They're still in the fridge cooling.

Also burned a couple of mixed CD's for SIL and niece. We're getting together w/ them tomorrow nite for Christmas dinner w/ niece before she goes home for the holidays. But before that, we're going to friends for a cookie party. I'm taking liberties in the definition of cookie.
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The Spirit of Friends {Daily December 11}

Christmastime is a good time to make an extra effort to get together with your friends. It can be hard, especially with everything going on, especially when it's easy to say, "Let's catch up in January when things calm down", but making that extra effort certainly warms the heart when frustration levels are high. And that's what the spirit of Christmas is all about, right?
One of my crafting friends couldn't make it to our annual Holiday dinner on Monday. She left a comment on my facebook which prompted me to ask if she was available for lunch today. After lunch, I dropped in unannounced on another friend while she was at work. We hadn't seen each other in a year and a half and she only works 35 minutes away from me. We've been friends since the 3rd grade, and yea, we've gone down different roads, but we were best friends till we graduated from high school. On my way to see her, I told myself to remember to get a photo of the two of us together but once I saw her and we started chatting, I never thought about taking out the camera till I was on the road home. Maybe that'll give me a good reason to drop in on her before another year and a half passes.
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...Crafting all the way...oh what fun...{Daily December 10}

Aside from some frantic Christmas crafting and my weekly trip to Target, today was quiet. Not exactly stress free mind you, I'm feeling the pressure of the clock ticking, but I'm taking a break right now from internet shopping. BTW, if you have kids to buy for, have you checked out Land of Nod? I'm probably giving hints to a certain mother in the PNW who might be reading (you know who you are so keep a lookout for a package, heehee), but I'm a big fan of their store. They have the coolest catalog covers, too. The crafter in me tears each cover off and saves it. I've actually used a few in some projects so at least I can justify keeping them if I'm actually using them, right?

sidenote:I'm not trying to use the word actually more often than normal. I'm highlighting them because that's how I actually speak. rolling eyes at myself.

Photo of the parentals kitty from a couple of years ago. I'm just gonna write the above text in my {Daily December} journal.
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Remembering the Joy of the Holidays {Daily December 09}

I'm working on the annual family calendar, picking photos from the year to be included. I came across this one of Jimmy from last Christmas. Goofy as he always is and more loveable for it.

We're having a big Christmas this year. Usually our Thanksgivings are massive, but for a while now, Christmas has been a smaller group. Of course, we're talking Jimmy's family, so small is 9-11 people. And we're only adding 6 more people from last years total, but adding 6 will feel like quite a bit more. I can't wait, it will be awesome! Or should I say, Actually, it will be awesome! We're staying local for this holiday, everyone else is coming up Northern California.

Jimmy's brother, the one w/ the 3 boys who often come to the cabin during the summer, are coming up the Monday before and meeting us there for a day or two before we all come back to the Bay Area for the Christmas celebrations. They've never come in the winter. Winter activities are completely different from summer activities, but hopefully there will be plenty of snow to wear those boys out!

But that means that I have to have absolutely everything done by the 20th. And that is freaking me out a little. No, a lot. I've only purchased 1 gift out of...well...you've seen how big the family is. And some need to be mailed. Thank god for amazon.com i tell ya. And not just because I'm biased!
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Shopping {Daily December 08}

A good day despite getting less than 4 hours of sleep. But since I only had 4 hours of sleep, I was awake when Julie im'd me this morning. About an hour later, I was out the door and we were on our way to Daly City for some shopping. Christmas shopping? Well, sort of, in the sense that I needed some supplies to make more Christmas cards. But no one's names got crossed off of either of our lists today...it was more of a shopping for Christmas crafting goodness day.

Some of you may not believe that it actually got really cold here. It was in the 20's overnight and the high today in Daly City was 48. Snow fell on our mountains yesterday and it's still there today and probably not going anywhere tomorrow. The cold is coming from Canada so I can't even imagine what it's like in Washington, Idaho or Toronto. Last night, Jimmy talked to the neighbor at the hideaway, 16 inches of snow fell yesterday and it got down to 14 degrees overnight. Neighbor is happily testing out the snowplow on the Rhino and says it's a dream. Jimmy wants to go up and play, too. Sorry Jimmy, not this weekend, people to see, things to do, places to go!

sidenote: I wonder how many times the word "actually" would come up if I could do a word search of my entire blog. I wonder if "awesome" would be more?
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Merry {Daily December 07}

Tonight was my 1st holiday party of the season. In the month of December, instead of getting together to craft, we go out to dinner and exchange presents. It's a lot of fun, especially the white elephant style of gifting and stealing. I stole that handmade ornament along w/ the tools to make it. ;)

One of the cool things about the Daily December journal is that I made the layouts/pages ahead of time. On November 30th and the morning of Dec. 1st, I busily created 18 double-sided pages, so when the appropriate date came, I could just glue in a photo or write down my thoughts. And there's room to add pages or photos as needed. So at the end of a busy day, all I have to do is print photo and write just a little something. Like tonight. Super easy when you plan ahead. Which isn't something I typically do.
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It's beginning to look... {Daily December 06}

We live in the back unit of a duplex and our neighbors to the front put a Christmas tree in their front lawn. I smile whenever I see it. I love it so very much, certainly makes it feel a lot more spirited around here. My personal preference are colored lights to white lights but any kind really brings the kid out in me. I get a silly giddiness when I see Christmas lights.

I've mentioned before that in the part of San Jose that we live, it's traditional to put a single Christmas tree in your front lawn, with colored lights, topped with a single white one. The big old fashioned light bulbs are the best, but of course, the least efficient. I'm excited that our neighbors are participating in the tradition and we get to reap the rewards.

Couldn't resist taking a blurry bokeh photo. You may notice I changed my blog header last night, too. Mmmmmm...bokeh.

I'll print these photos and work them into my Daily December journal, but I wanted to post these pics first.

Do you have a nearby neighborhood that does the tricked out "Christmas Vacation" style lights?

side note: Turning Word Verification in comments back on again. Starting to get repeated blog spam. Boo.
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A Paper Crafters Christmas Poem {Daily December 05}

The days when I'm not doing much Christmas related stuff, I'm kind of at a loss on what to write in my daily December book. Thankfully, a paper crafting friend emailed a cute little poem that I was able to use. The poem is under the red scalloped circle. It reads:

Twas the night before Christmas, I’m glued to the tree.
I’m wondering what Santa brought just for me.
Could it be cardstock or ink pads or lace?
Or rubber stamps, I said, with a smile on my face.
And that’s when I heard him……
“Hi Santa, ” I said
He replied, “You know….good girls should be in their beds”.
“I know I should Santa,and now I’ve been caught.
But I was just so excited to see what you brought.”
“Well, let’s take a look in this room where you work".
He shook his head quickly, and left with a jerk.
I heard him exclaim as he put it in gear.
“You’ve got enough crap,
I’ll see you next year!”
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I heart photo cards {Daily December 04}

We received our first 2 photos cards in today's mail. Along with Christmas newsletters, they are one of my favorite things of the season.Today's {Daily December} is where I'll include all of the photo cards we receive. Good thing I used those extra large binding rings!
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Cranberry Christmas {Daily December 03}

Tonight I went to a Pampered Chef party and started my Christmas shopping. If your not familiar with Pampered Chef, a home demonstrator goes to the hostess' house and tells you all about her wonderful products. She makes a couple of delicious goodies to help sell the product. It's fun to go during the holidays because the recipes are always themed appropriately. This year, she made a Pumpkin Spice Trifle and a Festive Cranberry Punch. The Trifle was delicious, but I probably won't make it again, so I decided to just journal the punch recipe. Hopefully I remembered the recipe correctly, I went by memory and we all know my memory is the size of a pea.

Journaling reads:
Went to Kristina's with Julie for a fun Pampered Chef party. Started my Christmas shopping, found a couple of small stocking stuffers for ???. The demonstrator made a Pumpkin Spice Trifle and Festive Cranberry Cocktail.
(I made up these names. I donno why I called it cocktail. I realized when I was typing this blog post that it was a punch, but I already printed and glued the journaling down. Of course, you could add vodka and that would make it a cocktail.)

The recipe in case you can't read it from the photo:

Festive Cranberry Cocktail
- Juice of 3 limes
- Frozen cranberry concentrate, thawed
- 3 cups water (or per cranberry concentrate instructions)
- 1 - 2 liter bottle of ginger ale
- 1 pint raspberry sorbet (oops, just saw that I forgot to put that in the printed recipe)
- 1/4 cup sugar to rim glasses

Mix lime juice, cranberry concentrate, water, ginger ale and sorbet in pitcher.
Using a microplane grater, grate about 1-2 tablespoons lime rind. Mix with 1/4 cup sugar.
Serve in glasses rimmed with lime juice and lime sugar.
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GleefullyLine dancing obsessed

You may have clued in on one of my personality traits - that I can be a wee bit obsessive. If I find something I enjoy or like, I'll become so focused on it that it consumes my every waking moment.

My current obsession is line dancing. And the TV show Glee. And posting Youtube videos.

I found this song through various website jumping and realized I could dance the "Cruisin'" dance to it quite nicely.


And if you haven't seen Glee, here are a few other videos with some fun snippets.



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Holiday Memories {Daily December 02}

Since I didn't do anything in regards to Christmas today, I decided to journal about an old Christmas photo.

As I was finishing up this page, I realized that it's appropriate that I used that photo on the 2nd of Dec, because I'm 2 in that photo and the 2 for date seems to work as a 2fer.

Haven't put any Christmas decorations up yet. Have you?

Here's another video of a dance I learned in my line-dance class:
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Daily December

I have to admit that since I had been neglecting my blog for much of this year, I'm proud of myself for posting every day from Nov 11th till Thanksgiving so I'm gonna try another daily challenge from now till Christmas day.

I'm inspired by Ali Edwards, a well-known teacher in the paper arts industry. For the past 3 years, she's documented the 25 days leading up to Christmas in a homemade journal. This is what she did last year, and this is what she's doing this year.

The style of my album is different from hers, but each day I hope to document something relating to the spirit of Christmas, from shopping finds or nightmares, holiday crafting goodness, glad tidings, colorful decorations or even stressed-out, head-exploding, clock-ticking countdowns. I think it'll be a good way to document the season, which goes by way too fast and most of the details get forgotten.

I start my 1st day with this simple quote:
"I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."

-I used extra-large binding rings so I'll have room to add extra pages or photos as needed.
-There's a glare because I glued the quote onto a piece of acrylic that I cut in the same shape as the album cover.
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