What a wonderful Christmas Ross and I had in Mi. We loved our time spent with family and friends, although we both received a horrible cold (flu for Ross) as a welcome home present. Ross felt terrible from Dec. 24-26. Such a bummer.

I didn't take any pictures, of which I'm terribly disappointed in myself, but had just such a good time going for multiple runs and walks with my family, going to many many parties, and getting coffee with a few friends.

Now I'm really looking forward to New Years. I don't know why, but there is something so cleansing about this date for me. I love what it symbolizes, and I love the recommitment to working on myself. I also really love this new year's questionnaire and find myself filling it out year after year... onward 2011!

1. What did you do this year that you've never done before?

- Ran a marathon

- Took classes for fun (cake decorating)

- Been turned down for jobs. I'm thankful for this; it opened my eyes a little bit.

- Created a working budget and KEY - Following it

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I had to go into my journal to check what my actual resolutions were - a pretty good sign that I probably did not fulfill them.

- Stop exaggerating: I don't know if I even consciously worked on this one, but I know I did work on watching what I said. I remember writing this because I had a nasty habit of doing this, and it really is a type of lie even though it does make for a much better story.

- Stop being critical of others: I did work on this one! I found that the less critical I was of others, the more happier I was with myself. I read a fantastic book this fall called "The Happiness Project" (more about this later as I will be creating my own happiness project this year) that really emphasizes that one way of being okay with yourself was being okay with others. Helped a lot in this area for me.

- One date a week: Nope, but we need to reinstate this, because dates are fun.

- Find a hobby/organization for 1 night a week: While in Grand Rapids, we were volunteering at Guiding Light Missions 1 Wednesday a month. We loved serving dinner there. I would love to find something like that in Cincinnati; so yes, we sorta did that resolution.

- Follow the Sonoma Diet: This lasted maybe 2 days.

- Exercise most days, including stretching: Yes, especially with that marathon this fall.

I will of course be making some resolutions for this year, but haven't really thought about them yet, other than creating my own happiness project. That will probably be enough, as this project covers multiple resolutions each month of the year. This is a completely different blog post though.

3. Any new births this year?
Yes. Many friends and cousins had children this year. It's hard to remember everyone because there was seriously that many.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My grandma died in April, but this was such a blessing. She was suffering.

5. What countries did you visit this year?
None :(

6. What would you like to have in the next year that you lacked this year?
This year was really developmental; we learned a ton. I'm thankful for the challenges, but wouldn't mind some stability. On top of that, perhaps a house? A dog? A kid? Possibilities are endless in 2011.

7. What dates from this year will remain etched upon your memory - and why?
Gosh, I have a certain love affair with dates, so there are many:

March 11: Ross got a call with a job offer

March 17: Ross left me for 13 weeks

Oct. 17: Marathon
Nov. 1: Started my new job

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting recognized as an educator. I was 1/15 finalist for the Excellence in Teaching Award in the middle school category from our company (67 schools worth)

9. What was your biggest failure of the year?

Moving to a new city and not being as outgoing as I had envisioned myself.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No. So thankful.

11. What was the best thing you bought this year?
Our new car. I didn't realize how important it really was until I got a job in Toledo and needed serious transportation reliability.

12. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Even if I could pinpoint a specific person, this would not be the place to disclose this.

13. Where did most of your money go this year?
Ross's student loans.

14. What did you get really, really, really excited about this year?
Moving to Cincinnati!

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
- happier or sadder? Happier
- richer or poorer? Richer
- thinner or fatter? Probably thinner

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
This is an ongoing battle with myself, but not being afraid to do things, meet people, be uncomfortable.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Being afraid to do things, meet people, be uncomfortable

20. How did you spend the holidays?
In Grand Rapids, with our families

21. Did you fall in love this year?
I fall in love every year. I am a lucky woman.

22. How many one-night stands did you have this year?
15, er... I mean, none.

23. What was your favorite TV program for the year?
We had a brief love affair with "Curb your Enthusiasm", but my favorite was "The Tudors"

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Hate is a strong word; however, now that my circle of 'people I happen to know' has expanded, there are a select few I don't particularly care to spend time with.

25. What was the best book you read this year?
Best? I couldn't possibly choose, but here are my recommendations from 2010:

-A Walk in the Woods

-Help

-Breakfast at Tiffanys

-The Bonesetter's Daughter

-1,000 White Women

-The 13th Tale

-The Boleyn Inheritance

-The Constant Princess

-The Life of Pi

-The Happiness Project

-Born to Run

-A Reliable Wife

-The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

26. What was your favorite film of the year?
I'm not a huge "go to the movies" buff, but I suppose I dragged Ross out to see Eclipse

27. How would you describe your personal fashion concept this year?
Casual Office?

28. Whom did you miss this year?
I miss my parents every day, I miss a lot of my friends from Knapp, I miss Shelly, Kerin, my college girlfriends...

29. Who was the best new person you met this year?
I really love my small group at church - I get excited to see them on Sundays

30. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned for this year.
God does not work in our timetables, but he does work for our good. He is faithful even when we feel faithless.

Last Saturday, Ross and I discovered yet another hidden treasure of Cincinnati: Trader's World.

We started out the day by going to Cincinnati's Premium Outlet for some good Christmas deals... and it certainly didn't disappoint. We cashed in with some dress shirts for Ross for only 15 dollars each (and of course he is a weird size - too skinny for "Big and Tall" so this was a real treat to find shirts that fit him), and 3 pairs of 110 dollar dress shoes for a grand total of 60 dollars. A-mazing. We also scored for other people - but I'm certainly not going to divulge about those purchases here.

THEN - we serendipitously came across Trader's World. Okay, let me back up by saying that I've known about this place for awhile. It's hard not to; I drive I-75 every week and this eye sore is right off the highway, complete with fake palm trees and 15 foot giraffes. I never knew any details about it though because I honestly never thought we'd go, but... like I said, we stumbled upon it on our way home taking the back roads.

Okay, we thought, why not. It's snowing, we're bored, let's go. So indeed, this is what we did. The picture is an example of what Trader's World would look like from an aerial view... Basically you are looking at 14+ storehouses of.... stuff. So we rolled in, not quite sure what we were getting into, paid our 2 dollars and entered.

Within 3 minutes of walking through building 1, Ross commented that this was like an alternate universe. Within those short moments, we realized that we were in a huge, antique, junk, knock off, and some useful items garage sale where one was free to eat ice cream, drink beer, and barter with salespeople. Rules simply did not apply in Trader's World; it was awesome.

Another successful road trip with an outcome that can only be described as, my dad's dream Saturday afternoon. We missed out, Dad, next time... next time.

The Day My Family Came to Town...

So my family graciously came down to Cincinnati (which was really nice of them because I am SICK of traveling!) for Thanksgiving weekend. We had a great time; ate a lot for Thanksgiving dinner, played some good games and explored Cincinnati a little bit. On Black Friday (of which we did not participate) we decided to go to Eden Park.

We started at the conservatory (seriously one of my favorite places). It was pretty cold out, so this was appreciated.

Derek and I in the orchid room. By the way, Derek, I think you took my scarf home...

Dad was missing his greenhouse days. I

really think he should create something like this... you'd be good at it, Dad! Huizinga Floral recreated.

This is at the overlook. As you can see, it was a gorgeous day, but I had some under prepared people on my hand because everyone was complaining about how cold it was. After a brief walk, we wandered into the Art Museum(also at Eden Park) and spent some time looking at...well, art.

Ross was working this day, in case you wondered where he was in these photos... We picked him up at lunch time and had some happy hours deals at McCormicks.

After dinner, we went to the Tree Lighting Ceremony downtown. It was suppose to start at 7, so by 7:20, my again - under prepared family, was complaining of the cold, so we decided to leave. Wouldn't you know it? The tree was lite by 7:24 and fireworks right after. Bummer!

Saturday, we began the day by going for a Christmas Walk in Bellevue, KY. They had a really cute little shopping area and we just had fun scanning the shops. We even met Santa and Mrs. Claus, although they were less than enthusiastic to take their picture with us.

Afterwards, we picked up some lunch and headed to the zoo. I was really excited because I've been wanting to go for awhile now, but just never had a good reason to go. It was pretty neat, but a lot of exhibits were down, which was disappointing. I usually love going to the zoo when it's cold because the animals are much more active then (example - the tigers were hilarious; stalking every other and such) but apparently this means that Cincinnati Zoo closes some animal viewings. Oh well.

PNC was hosting a Festival of Lights there, so once it got dark, there was thousands of lights all over the zoo. It was really beautiful.

Ross tried to high five this gingerbread lady, and she missed, so insisted on getting a picture with Ross. Ross was concerned about her eagerness to be with him... He claims she is patting his rear here, but I don't believe him...

Overall, it was a really fun weekend and I'm thankful that they took the time off of work to come down and hang out with us. We really enjoyed having you, Mom, Dad, and Derek!

Thanksgiving

I cannot believe it's December 1 and it's snowing... I love the seasons, I'm just shocked at how quickly they change!

Ross and I really enjoyed having my family down to Cincinnati over the long weekend. We ate a lot and did a lot of activities that we wouldn't necessarily do (the tourist spots and whatnot). I have some pictures to share from that weekend, but not the time to do so, so here is just a shot of something I love: food!