Christmas in NM 2012

Christmas in New Mexico is something special.  The tradition of lighting faralitos (brown paper bags with sand and a candle lit, lining the streets) is just about my favorite thing in the world.  Going home to spend this time with loved ones is pretty great, too :-)

Mom's hand bell choir concert

Faralitos/luminarias (I know the difference, but people still can't seem to agree which one they are)

The traditions continues with dinner with the Pattons.  Each year we choose a country or a theme and make food from that culture.  This year was "Christmas in New England."  And, of course, the celebration would not be complete without Christmas Crackers.  This year Mom really went big and got ones with whistles; each person got a note and we attempted a caroling session... which, as you can imagine, was unsuccessful due to all the laughing.

The Annual Golden Peg Cribbage Tournament was on again, this time with new competition, team names, costumes, & personas.  Sean & Laura were DC Muggins, Tom & Page were Double-Double Trouble, Dan & I were Le Crib, Mom & George were the Bonito Bombers, and Rose & Dale the Moonshine Muggins.  Opening and Closing Ceremonies were conducted by Howard with more pomp than usual, and the winners were, once again, Howard and Mary, the King and Queen of Muggins.  Above you se the Golden Peg trophy next to Stinker the Skunk, who holds a list of skunked players in his paws.

Sledding with Dan's nephews

New Years with some fun-loving Venezuelans

Happy 2013!

 

Snowshoeing in the Valles Caldera

Love that NM sun!

Fire patterns on the trees

Festivus 1.0

For years we have been talking about having a Festivus party (If you don't know what this is, please watch Seinfeld episode "The Strike," classic for so many reasons) and this year we made it happen.  Festivus was Frank Costanza's answer to repudiate commercial holiday craziness and greed.  "It's a Festivus for the Rest of Us!"

Some background: 

Three years ago we joined a trivia league and immediately found we had a rival team, another group of fun-loving, smart 20-somethings looking for fun in Corvallis.  They introduced themselves to us by what we now affectionately refer to as the "throwing of the napkin," whereby one team bets they will beat the other team in the season's standing, a wager and inappropriate drawings are made, and the napkin is thrown at the other team.  A counter offer is then proffered (thrown back) and the deal is sealed.  Thus it began, the seasonal battle of Cheez Whizzez (us) versus Trivial Solution (them).  

Here is a photo of our prize the season (yes, the season *singular*) we beat Trivial Solution:

This past Fall 2012 season, one member of the Cheez Whizzez had what, at the time, seemed to be a brilliant idea: the losers must eat a whole jar of Cheez Whiz (ewe, gross).  Feeling sure that there was no way to lose this, the cocky Cheez Whizzez threw the napkin and the wager was made.  Not too many weeks later it became apparent that there was no way for CW to win the season, and they began to panic.  What they hoped was that Trivial Solution didn't realize that there were worse things than just plain old Cheez Whiz, there was both bacon-flavored and ranch-flavored Cheez Whiz.  What they didn't know was that this fear was small change compared to what they would have to face: a 12-oz jar was child's play.  

When all was said and done, the CW had lost pretty significantly to TS and it was time to make good on the bet.  We usually celebrate with a dinner party, lots of wine and whatever the "bet" was (an awkward dance, karaoke, etc.).  TS was to bring the Cheez Whiz to the party and CW were to consume it.  Never in our minds could we have imagined what showed up.  No, not the 12-oz jar of Cheez Whiz we were dreading, but this:

Yes, folks, 6.5 pounds of Cheez Whiz in a giant tin can.  This solid block of cheese-like plastic was so stuck to the bottom that we couldn't even get it out.  We had to stab holes in the bottom of the can to release it into the crock pot.  It took like an hour and a half to heat up.

Ryan, looking rightfully concerned

A proper Festivus celebration involves dinner and 3 things: an aluminum pole (instead of a Christmas Tree), the Airing of the Grievances (during which you tell all the people at dinner all the ways in which they've disappointed you throughout the year) and the Feats of Strength, which is essentially a wrestling match.  We took our own spin on these.

Feats of Strength: Twister!

A dance, post Airing of the Grievances

The Aluminum Pole

Perhaps you'll join us next year?!

The First Thanksgiving in Buffalo!

I finally made it out to Buffalo, NY to spend Thanksgiving with my grandparents there.  29 Thanksgivings have passed and I'd never spent my favorite holiday with these relatives, so it was about time that #30 made this possible.

Lunch with the Aunties (Gramma, Aunt Karen, Aunt Sandy, Aunt Cheryl) at the Roycroft, a lovely historic home in East Aurora

Canadian Butterfly Garden- beautiful and fascinating.  Here, above and below, are hundreds of chrysalises.  

The butterflies wouldn't leave Grampa alone!  They were climbing all over him!

Butterflies of all colors, shapes and sizes

I love the outside of this one's wings

Grampa, Gramma & Katie

My personal favorite, I love the green

Blurry but nice

G&G in the butterfly garden

Of course we had to run up to Niagra Falls for lunch.  I love this place, it never gets old for me.  The drive up is really pretty and relaxing.  If you didn't know the nearly glasslike river would turn into this formidable falls within a matter of miles you'd never guess it.  I'll be this came as quite a shock to early explorers.  Millions of gallons of water thundering over this cliff every second, the sheer force of nature is really impressive.  You can't go here and not get wet, so bring a poncho.  Above is the Canadian side of the Falls, Horseshoe Falls.

The American side of the Falls, American Falls.  Ha.

And, me. 

and me & Gramma

30th Birthday Weekends

My actual 30th Birthday day was perhaps the best birthday I've had.  Calls from family and friends, a fun day of celebrating (working out, field trip, 5-course dinner made by my best friends) and good food and company made me feel very special.

Normally my perfect Saturday consists of getting up and going to Yoga and Zumba.  It's a great workout combination and starts the weekend off right.  My normal routine continues with listening to NPR all afternoon, but I had other things to do today.  A group of friends decided to take me on a field trip to many places I'd never been in Corvallis.  We started off at Two Towns Ciderhouse just east of downtown on HWY 34, where we had cider sampling.  Hard cider is the way to go; why would anyone drink beer when you can drink cider?  From there we headed to Emmon's meat market where we saw all kinds of products I didn't know existed, had some more samples and confirmed that it's good to buy meat locally.  Next we went back into town to the local rock shop that must be a front for a drug dealer (I seriously don't know how they pay the rent otherwise) and learned that the Sunstone is the OR state gem.  We went on another couple adventures I won't describe here, but I will say it was a fun afternoon with friends that challenge me to push my limits.  

That night my great friends Ryan, Rachael, Dana, Kevin, Karrie and David prepared an amazing French-style 5-course meal for my birthday, complete with wine pairings for each course.  Kale chips and broccoli rabe crostini, butternut squash soup, tofu conchas, roasted duck with potatoes and greens, a salad and cheese course, molten chocolate lava cake with cinnamon... it was delicious, fun and the best way to celebrate 30.

The following weekend I was in for another treat... this time in New Mexico.  I was picked up at the Albuquerque airport by a handsome man in a black car, driven to northern NM for a weekend of hiking, cooking, gourmet eating and red wine drinking, and, of course, cribbage playing.  He even made me (yes, made from stratch!) croissants!

Dan's famous croissants

Hiking in Dixon

A surprise find along the trail

A sleepy Holden on the couch

Janna's Wedding

In August it was Janna's turn to tie the knot.  Lucky Spencer!  All the girls came (along with many other familiar Los Alamos faces) for the event in stunning Red Rocks, Colorado.  As I grew up in this area before moving to Los Alamos, it was fun to be back in a familiar place as an adult.  This post contains some of my favorite people on the planet, my girls.

Molly, Lindsey and Anna, pre-ceremony

The married couple

Beautiful natural landscape and fun parasols

One of my favorite photos of the girls, but missing Janna

A perfect summer's day

Me, against the adobe "photo shoot" wall

The classic "foot up" pose

If you've never been to Red Rocks, get in a car, hop on a plane, 

buy concert tickets and bring your friends.

Grand Junction & Glenwood Springs, CO

August 2012:

Grand Junction: Anne & Josh had moved to Grand Junction in June and I was anxious to see their new life.  I spent a couple of days with them in GJ, a town where the numbered street names indicate the distance from the Utah border.  27 1/4 Street, 27 1/2 Street, 27 Street, etc.  I've never seen that before! GJ has a cute downtown area with some nice restaurants and a cool vibe.  Josh was nice enough to take me up in his plane.

Me & Anne next to Josh's plane, pre-flight

I was, as you can imagine, very helpful

What's our vector, Victor?

View to the West from the plane

View to the East

Glenwood Springs:  GS is a town that I have been going to since I can remember.  My family has always had a special connection with this little place 2 hours west of Denver.  The drive though the canyon is lovely, passing a half a dozen ski resorts along the way, and whether you visit in summer or winter, it's really fun.  

The main hot springs in town consists of two large pools, one about twice the size of the other with a hydrotube at the end.  The hot pool is the smaller and is about 102 degres F; there are these bubble chairs that still take only quarters for 5 minutes of jets.  The larger "cool" pool is probably in the 80s and is a nice break from the heat.  Swimming laps there is strange... too warm to really swim in my opinion (I got a bit sick).  I remember being small and having my dad throw me up in the air and splash down in the pool... I loved that.  The best, I think, is when you go in the winter and it's so steamy you can hardly see the hand in front of your face. 

View of Glenwood Canyon...

...and the surrounding mountains

Iron Mountain

George, me and Mom in the caves

The caves were really fun!

Me & George on a hot day in Glenwood

Mom & me at the theme park on top of the mountain

I hadn't gone rafting in so long... I forgot how much I love this!