Holiday Wrap Up

So, I guess I missed posting about my big Amurcan Holiday Season this year.  Suffice it to say, we were very busy running around visiting family and ringing in Thanksgiving, Christmas AND New Year's all over the country!  A few highlights in photo form:

 

Spent Thanksgiving at the Correnti household, where Matt was immediately put to work hanging Christmas lights.  

 

Later, we went to Oregon to check up on Ruby's.  Matt felt the need to show off his skills, so we spent several hours hanging these Christmas lights, only to have none of them work because we got them from the thrift shop.  Imagine that.  

 

After that, we returned to Chicago and visited the German Christmas Market downtown. It was pretty authentic, as far as Christmas Markets go, except it was small and as you can see, there were about 10,000 too many people there.  

 

Then we decorated our apartment, for the first time since 2007!

 

For Christmas, we drove to Arkansas with a pit stop in Missouri to collect our gifts (lots of camo) and stir  up some excitement.  

 

Mason methodically tracked Santa's route with a map and an Iphone. 

 

These kids cleaned up! (As in, they got a lot of toys.  They didn't actually clean anything up.)

That's about it.  I don't actually have pictures to prove I rang in the New Year with the Correnti family, but I did.  It was similar to my 2011 New Year's Eve, filled with drinking and game-playing, only a lot more awesome.  

Now we're finally back home, and I'm ringing in this Friday the 13th stuck inside in the middle of a massive snow storm!  Okay, it was only 6 inches, and it actually snowed yesterday, not today, but still.  Six inches of snow and 20 degree weather deters me from venturing outside.

A word about the New Year:  Last year, I completed at least one of my resolutions for 2011 - I ran 10 kilometers continuously!  Actually, it was more like 12K because I was trying to run 11K to mark 11-11-11, but I got confused.  Still, I can check that one off the last.  I don't really know about the rest of my resolutions because they are a little harder to quantify... except that song from Stepbrothers.  I didn't learn that.  Oops.  This year, in the spirit of fulfilling a resolution (because it feels so damn good!) I resolve to run at least 10 miles continuously.  Also, I will find a job and decide what I want to be when I grow up (those are in no particular order).  Bring it on 2012.

As you may have guessed, I still have no job.  Surprised?  Me either.  Never fear, my diligent followers, for I am making the best of this dismal situation.  As I believe I've previously mentioned, I'm making lemonade out of the rotten, putrid, stinking lemons I've been given, and I'm taking this time off to try my hand at cooking and baking.  As a tribute to Rachael (who, along with 80% of the blogosphere, is always listing her cooking adventures... and who is a far more accomplished cook than I), I will now list a few of my greatest achievements:  fancy gumbo (only fancy because I had to stir the roux for 25 minutes continuously until it turned "the color of chocolate"), ravioli from scratch (Katie and I went on a friend date to a ravioli-making class, which was only slightly awkward, due to the fact that everyone else in class was on a romantic date), gooey raspberry granola bars (those didn't actually turn out, but they sound good), and (as of last night) my very own homemade granola with cranberries and sunflower seeds!  Also, I bought a muffin pan two or three months ago, and have yet to use it. Boom.  Chef.

2011

Huge news: Matt ran his very first 5k today!  And he did it in 29 minutes flat!  Good for you, buddy.  I'm so proud.  (He later said he would have done it a long time ago if he had known how much praise he would get.)

Anyway, a late Happy New Year to you all!  I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe New Year's Eve celebration!  I know I did.  Maybe a little less wonderful than safe (can't get into too much trouble playing games in the residence lounge), but all in all, not too bad.  We were all pretty psyched to go to Carrie's (the expat from America who had Thanksgiving with us) house for a REAL New Year's Eve party, but she came down with the stomach flu at the last minute and had to cancel.  Either that or she ate some not so fresh Indian food... the jury is still out on that one.  Anyway, we watched the fireworks and Bollywood dancing on TV in Mumbai at midnight, which was pretty fun.  I set my camera on auto and captured the quintessential  happy New Year shot:

 

That's Andrew on the left kissing his girlfriend via video Skype.  Is that not the cutest thing you've ever seen?  Matt and I kissed, and then Chris kissed Andrew's girlfriend's roommate over Skype because he felt left out.  

Of course the hotel had a "special buffet" again for New Year's Eve dinner, and would you believe I went two times with the turkey fat loaf?  That's just asking for trouble.  However, all the boys were getting Dominos pizza (or "pijja" as the hotel staff call it), and I just couldn't bring myself to have pijja for the second time that week.

 

Matt carving the bird.  One of the waiters at the hotel invited me to take this shot, and not one to disappoint, I did it just for him.  

So I know everyone is dying to know my New Year's resolution(s) for 2011, and though I would love to keep you in suspense, that just seems wrong.  After lots of careful consideration, I have resolved to be more open and accepting of different cultures (ahem, India).  In addition, I will try to recognize how good I have it, and be more thankful for all the wonderful things in my life (ahem, Matt, family, friends, free trip to India...).  Also, I resolve to run 10 kilometers continuously at least once this year.  Also, I would like to learn 

the words to this song:

 

While in my quest for new awareness and gratitude for good things in my life, I discovered (or rediscovered) that I love yoga.  I am taking a type called Iyengar yoga, where we use props such as ropes, belts and chairs to get into the correct positions.  My instructor, Smita, is kind of strict, but really amazing, and she has helped me do a lot of things I didn't know I could do.  Allow me to demonstrate:  

 

This is me doing a kick-up headstand.  It may not look all that difficult, but it is.  Also, I don't know of you can tell, but I'm not touching the wall at all.  Yeah, I'm that good.  

I don't have any other pictures of me doing cool stuff, but believe me, I do it.  I do it all, and I love it all.  It is an amazing workout, and I sweat a lot, and all the other ladies in class make fun of me.  It's their winter here, so they think it's cold.  They wear sweaters in class.  It's embarrassing, but what can I do?  I'm a sweater.  Also, my friend Dhwani gives me a ride home from yoga, and today we rode on her scooter!  It was awesome.  

Another thing I recently found out that I love is when I bring a teacup back from the breakfast buffet, housekeeping will clean it out for me and then return it.  I did this 11 times, and 11 times, without fail, they cleaned my cup and gave it back to me.  

 

I don't know if they think I'm planning a tea party in my room or what, but these cups were proliferating like nobody's business.  Sadly, last weekend they asked me if they could take them away, and I had to say yes.  I've already re-started my collection.  So far I have two.  

In other news, the Hogs lost to OSU today, and Matt and I had to watch the game with Andrew, a diehard OSU fan!  Bummer for us, but it was a decent game.  We've always got next year.  In the spirit of Razorback victories of yesteryear, here is a picture of Matt and me going to the Arkansas/Tennessee game in 2006.  

 

If you'll remember, ESPN's College Gameday came to Fayetteville for that game, and Matt and I (supposedly) appeared on TV.  Ahh, how happy we look!  So young and carefree!  

Lastly, because I want to start the new year off right with total and complete honesty, I would like to share this one minor detail so you all won't be shocked if it happens... There is a chance that after this unit starts up, Matt will have to stay and babysit it for two to six months.  It's a long story and I won't bore you with the details, but it might happen.  I kind of flipped when Matt told me, but he swears it is "more of a possibility and less of a probability".  We shall see.  Come what may, I will have my yoga to keep me centered, balanced and (at least marginally) happy.