2007 In Review

Year End Survey

What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before? Touched ground in a foreign land

Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't think I made any for 2007...I'm just working on things: swearing less, not crossing my legs, the whole Golden Rule thing, and rededicating myself to health and fitness.

What countries did you visit? France!!

What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007? A huge savings account.

What date(s) from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? March 23: D's Surprise 30th Birthday Party (and he was very, very surprised!), August 29: We found out Q tore her ACL, and today might be a memorable day as well...

What was your biggest achievement of the year? Starting a home improvement project and finishing it?? No, but I am proud of that. I think that D and I had a very difficult but overall good year. We certainly had our moments but came through them together and strengthened our relationship.

What was your biggest failure? Giving up on working out.

Did you suffer illness or injury? Luckily nothing major, but I pulled my tendons (again) in early September; bowling has not been as much fun this fall/winter because of it.

What was the best thing you bought? Plane tickets to Las Vegas over Thanksgiving for my dad's bowling tournament, again.

Where did most of your money go? Living expenses, mostly our house

What did you get really, really, really excited about? Probably a lot of things as they happened, I'm overly dramatic that way, but mostly my promotion in May and then end of my brother's relationship with a bad girlfriend.

What song(s) will always remind you of 2007? Crank That -- Soulja Boy, but mostly because of this video and More Than A Memory -- Garth Brooks (The return of Garth Brooks. Love.)

Compared to this time last year, are you: Happier or sadder? Happier. Thinner or fatter? Fatter Richer or poorer? richer

What do you wish you'd done more of? Working out, I got off to a really good start again, but I started to slack off in September.

What do you wish you'd done less of? Sitting on my ass in front of the TV

Did you fall in love in 2007? In May, but with D again. We're trying to make that a daily thing. It's getting easier again.

What was your favorite TV program? Tough decision, to name one I have to say The Biggest Loser. My favorite new program in Pushing Daisies.

What was the best book you read? Reading. I'm supposed to do that? I was an English major, I read All. The. Time. in college. Ugh. I did read this year, though not as much as I would have liked. Favorite: Technical Hitch by Jane Sigaloff

What did you want and get? Jewelry that D picked out himself for my Christmas gift.

What was your favorite film of this year? Ocean's Thirteen and The Bourne Ultimatum

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 28. I got a massage and went to a bowling banquet.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Going for the job I really wanted when it was open. I did get a promotion and I enjoy it for the most part, but I'm upset that I didn't put it all out there for the 'at this stage in my life' dream job.

What kept you sane? My co-worker who likes to walk over to Sbux as much as I do.

Who did you miss? BMW and Zimm--the ladies that are like sisters to me. I need to stay in touch with them as neither are just down the street. I know they are only a phone call away, but I'm not very good at that.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007: That the adage "Everything happens for a reason" is true. Some things just fell into place this year and I'm hoping that some of the difficult times and disappointing outcomes will bring about more positive changes in 2008.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

We call them weak

Who are unable to resist

The slightest chance love might exist

And for that forsake it all

Garth Brooks

Repost of "Good bye, 2006" from the Old Blog That We Don't Discuss

Year End Survey
A meme, of sorts, received through email:

What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before? Win an adult singles bowling tournament

Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't think I made any for 2006...I'm not sure if I'm going to make any for 2007, either.

What countries did you visit? I've never been out of the country. I'm hoping to remedy that in 2007.

What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006? A huge savings account.

What date(s) from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Jan 8: won local Queen's Qualifying, July 5: bought Lars, Oct 7: aunt remarried, Dec 10: won 2nd women's singles title.

What was your biggest achievement of the year? probably my winningest bowling year since going adult.

What was your biggest failure? being lazy at work and at home when things needed to get done.

Did you suffer illness or injury? I was very sick this year. I was out of work the first part of January and then on and off until June. After several doctor appts, they finally figured out why I kept getting sick; and although there is nothing that can 'cure' me, now that I am aware of it I can try to keep myself in good health. I also hurt my neck pretty severely on August 11 and spent a lot of time passed out from all of the pain meds.

What was the best thing you bought? Plane tickets to Las Vegas over Thanksgiving for my dad's bowling tournament.

Where did most of your money go? Living expenses

What did you get really, really, really excited about? Probably a lot of things as they happened, I'm overly dramatic that way, but I think most of my excitement was around bowling successes: Queens, MWST and my dad's big victory in Las Vegas.

What song(s) will always remind you of 2006? Honky Tonk Badonkadonk - Trace Adkins

Compared to this time last year, are you: happier or sadder? about the same, but I'll say happier. thinner or fatter? hmmm...thinner, but still working on it. richer or poorer? poorer; we bought Lars.

What do you wish you'd done more of? working out, I got off to a really good start, but everything came so easily that I thought I could slack off.

What do you wish you'd done less of? sitting on my ass in front of the TV

Did you fall in love in 2006? I fell in love in 1999. I try to fall in love every day with D, but some days are easier than others.

How many one-night stands? None

What was your favorite TV program? My favorite new show was Psych on USA.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? No

What was the best book you read? Emily Giffin's "Something Borrowed" and "Something Blue" I know, it's crap chick lit, but I enjoy it.

What did you want and get? A membership to LTF

What was your favorite film of this year? The Departed, I guess. We didn't see a lot of movies, but this one sticks out.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 27. I went to yoga and then worked out. We did a family dinner and movie a few nights before.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Having the job I have now--same title, but now I have better things to do. I wish it would have happened earlier in the year.

What kept you sane? My co-worker who likes to walk over to Sbux as much as I do.

Who did you miss? Uncle Bill

Who was the best new person you met? My new boss

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006: Things happen for a reason and it may not be the reason you thought it would be. You can try to plan your life, but ultimately, all you can do is roll with the punches.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: "But the good news is there's angels everywhere out on the street, holding out a hand to pull you back upon your feet" Rodney Atkins

Recipes of Christmas

KM's Christmas Baking

• Peppermint Bark (So easy. A great office treat.)
• Sugar Mint Cookies (I made this up last year because I made too much Peppermint Bark and left over sugar cookie ingredients. It's especially good for those that don't like chocolate but love mint.)
• Peppermint Patty Cookies (Credited to RA)
• Easy Turtle Candies (Credited to ex-Director who first brought them in to the office)
• Oatmeal Scotchies
• Baked French Toast
• Brown Sugar Bacon (The recipe request that inspired this post.)

Friends & Family Christmas Baking

• My aunt makes Swedish Toast every year along with Jifta (Great for the Scandahoovians!) She swears Swedish Toast is easier than biscotti, but I think it's just as time consuming to prep and bake. It's great for dunking, though!
• D's aunt long ago started bringing Tequilaberry's Salad to Christmas and Easter, now holiday meals just aren't the same without it.
• SIL made a pretty batch of Holiday Wreaths for others; I just asked for a huge blob of the stuff since these are some of my favorites and four wreaths just won't do.
• Another aunt of mine makes Russian Tea for all of the families each year. Although it's not really tea, it's a tasty hot drink. She would not give me her secret recipe, but said that the link is close.

KM's New Year's Baking

• Two years ago I started making homemade caramels to add to my goody baskets; this year however, the multiple snow storms and bad driving conditions did not allow me to buy the necessary ingredients. My dad made a little pouty face after opening the caramel-free tin so I promised to make them for NYE.
• Biscotti is the last on my list but the first in my heart, saving the best for last, if you will. My love of biscotti started at a young age when I would accompany my mom to the Grand Ave Dunn Bros as she held volunteer meetings and interviews. When I took my current job with the ever so convenient tunnel to Sbux, my love of biscotti hurt my checkbook. After learning to make Swedish Toast, I decided I could handle biscotti and set out to find my favorite twice baked cookie recipe. Along with a variation of Vanilla Almond Biscotti that lives only in my kitchen cupboard and not on my computer, this Vanilla Bean Biscotti is a treat that my mom and I both treasure. It is such a pity that D's family had never even heard of biscotti until I first made it, and even then did not delight in the crunchy, crumbly cookie that longed to be dipped and dunked in latte. Oh well, more for me.

Christmas Recap

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday spent with family--LOTS of family. And we're not done yet!

Here are just a few of the highlights:

• Biggest Ooh-aah gift: Pearl pendant necklace from D
• Goofiest moment: D and BIL telling stories from their childhood at MIL's family dinner--these stories are ridiculous and almost seem fictional, but everyone remembers them so unless it's a conspiracy I think they're true.
• Most wonderful/useful gift: Wrought iron bed from my parents--we are so excited for it to arrive!
• Yummiest food: Ham at D's aunt's on Christmas Day, wreath cookies by SIL and brown sugar bacon with my parents.
• Best gift given: iPod to my mom with pink ear buds

And yes, I did finish all of my holiday baking--well, the revised list of holiday baking after the snow storms prevented me from making it to the grocery story for more ingredients on Sunday night. What? I shouldn't procrastinate? Whatever. I made Oatmeal Scotchies, Peppermint Patty cookies, Sugar Mint cookies, baked French toast and baked brown sugar bacon. I plan to make vanilla bean biscotti and caramels for New Year's as those are mostly for my family anyway and we will likely spend the evening with them.

Only a Memory

Yesterday I posted about my success in limiting my caffeine and pop intake. Well, that worked for 3 days. I needed a diet cherry last night before bowling (not that it helped) and that 12 oz can sure did pack a punch--I was up until midnight!

Oh, and that skinny day? Yeah, that is so past tense as well. I devoured 1/2 a bag of homemade caramel puff corn while catching up on Pushing Daisies. (Um, where was PR last night?) We reasoned that if we consumed the entire bag in one sitting then we could go back to eating healthy without the temptation of caramel goodness calling us from the cupboard. Our logic is flawless, don't you think?

No Fun Latte

I love today. I've told you all before about my love of Wednesdays; so what makes this Wednesday stand out from the rest, you ask. For starters, I'm having the skinniest day I've had in months, I'll credit that to the sweat and tears I left on the elliptical last night and the lack of pop for several days. I'm also wearing a simple yet fantastic outfit, if I do say so myself: lovely ivory cashmere with just a bit of holiday bling and my favorite BCBG pumps (the ones you like Books). So basically, I feel like a million bucks and that's enough to make any one's day I'd wager. So the secret of today's marvelousness lies again in simplicity: I came in to work to find a Sbux gift card on my desk from a generous office Secret Santa. (We do not do Secret Santa in our office, but there are a few people that leave gifts around all the major holidays so I've narrowed it down to a few possibilities.)

Upon finding the gift card, I immediately planned out my day with a trip through the tunnels to the nearby Sbux. Not only are delicious goodies awaiting me at my destination, but just the break from the office is a treat in itself. As always, the barista was just the right amount of flirty and professional and prepared my Tall Decaf, Sugar Free Vanilla, Nonfat, No Foam Latte without mentioning that what I'm drinking is very far removed from actual coffee. Oh, I'm trying to give up caffeine by the way, or limit it at least. My favorite chai lattes are now going to be a rare treat.

On my way back to work with my No Fun Latte, I cherished the elevator ride up. The few moments of solitude--eyes closed, fingers laced around the cup, palms soaking in the heat--resting my body lightly on the hand rail were (and are always) completely rejuvenating. I might not have the caffeine buzz, but just the act of going to get coffee is sometimes all I need to feel relaxed and energized all at once.

Even though I love my 'coffee' drink, the Oracle does not agree. Behold the Oracle's wisdom:

Personality type: Freak
No person of sound mind would go to an EXPENSIVE COFFEE SHOP to get a drink WITHOUT CAFFEINE. Your hobbies include going to ski resorts in the summer and flushing $5 bills down the toilet. You are a menace to society.

Also drinks: Non-alcoholic beer

Can also be found at: Pools with no water

Not really accurate, but funny.

H-O-T

We went to the Timberwolves game on Friday night. Unfortunately, the Twolves are not that great and lost; but we enjoyed the game for the most part. The added bonus for me was that Wally Szczerbiak now plays for the SuperSonics and I was able to stare at him during our time at the Target Center. He is one hot man.
D thinks Wally is funny looking. He spent the night making fun of his ears.
We are definitely going to one more game this year, although it is not really to support the Timberwolves as much as it is to see KG and Ray Allen--D's favorite two players. Actually, it has nothing to do with the Timberwolves at all, except that they are nothing without KG.
This was a boring post, but it contained eye candy, so I don't feel too guilty.