Back on New Years Eve (you know, that time I didn't get pictures...) we had a little fondue party with our friends John, Anna, Tarl, and Joy. We don't do it enough but when we hang out we have a great time. We shoveled in snacks 70's style, the guys sat around the TV like 8-year-old boys playing the new Mario Brothers on the Wii, and the wives club (those of us that were here...missed you girls!) chatted and watched. It was good to catch up and we miss hanging out already. Anyway, to the pink part... John and Anna brought some very pretty flowers and they were starting to look a little weepy (but really they lasted very well). SO, I tossed out everything but the carnations and made two new arrangements.

It's my little glimpse at Spring during these frosty weeks.

I wanted to stop in and share a few un-edited point and shoot pictures I took at my office's Holiday Open House. We do this every year. We decorate our conference room up in a different theme (last year was County Christmas and this year was Winter Wonderland) and make lots and lots of goodies to share with the entire school district. We had ham, mini monte cristos, tortilla pinwheels, cheese balls and cheese ball truffles (all kinds of exciting flavors), bacon-wrapped smokies, meatballs, chicken wings, wontons, and all kinds of dips and desserts - just to name a few!!  I made the ginger bread bars you see at the bottom. =) We really go all out and make several new and interesting things as well. After days of cooking, baking, cleaning, dish-washing, standing, visiting, hosting, etc... I was EXHAUSTED. My feet were killing me and I slept real good. =) Everything was delicious though and it was nice to see people I don't get to see on a daily basis. I hope everyone who came enjoyed it. Here's some shots of just a few of the snacks and decorations.

So, here we are over a week later and I'm finally getting to my basically picture-less post about our Thanksgiving. Here's the quick rundown.

On Thanksgiving day we went to my grandma's house for one heck of a good meal with my extended family on my mom's side. Oh man. I got full. It was great! =) We had the usual Thanksgiving feast suspects (yum!) and had a nice time visiting.

Then, Saturday, Dac and I hosted our very first big family meal. We had been busting our hineys (along with our families) to get our dining room complete enough to have Thanksgiving. We had started painting it several weeks ago (without going in to the long story, it had to have 2 coats of primer and like 3 or 4 coats of paint (orange paint...Georgian Leather to be exact.) We also put wainscoting and chair rail up and there ware some electrical issues that needed fixed too. Oh, and we needed a table and chairs. =) Everything got done except we didn't find a new light for over the table or new wall sconces and we still need to get a rug and decorations. Anyway, it was touch and go there for a while but thanks to a LOT of help (thanks guys) we had most everything done and the dinner was on. We invited my parents and Dac's parents, brother, sister and Grandma Jo over for supper Saturday night. I decided I wanted it to "taste" like Thanksgiving but also be laid back and fun and not quite so traditional and formal.

Here's what was on the menu:

Pre-Meal Snackages:
Cranberry-BBQ Meatballs (thanks Terese)
Parmesan Cheesy Breadsticks (thanks Mom)
Veggie Tray (thanks Val)
Oh, and of course, our edible centerpieces:

Guys, I am just in the depths of despair. We had our very first Thanksgiving (at our house) and I didn't take one picture...NOT ONE!! We completely forgot to get the camera out. I guess we were just so busy hosting that it never crossed our minds until after the fact. For my next post, I'll at least tell you about it...there just won't be much in the way of pictures to go along with it.

You all may remember about a month ago, I spilled my guts and wrote this post right before we got our pictures taken by Josh McCullock. Well, we got the pictures back and I'm going to share a few of our favorites with you. Dac and I loved the chance to switch roles for a while and we were so happy to let Josh take the lead and do what he wanted. I think he got some great shots.



 For us, this was a break from work, and we treated it like a little date. We had a great time and couldn't be happier to have some photos to adorn our Web site and the walls of our new place. After the session, the three of us headed to Old Chicago to shoot the breeze and talk nerdy photo people shop. =) One word....awesome. Thanks again Josh!

So our friends Steve and Cori trusted me to babysit this ADORABLE little girl today. Can you believe it? You can just call me super nanny form here on out.  =)