Deliciousness

I've got the Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart Bread sitting on my stove, rising the second time and waiting to go in the oven.
Hubby's making spaghetti tonight (he's part Italian- of course he can make it better than I can!) for our main course.
And the German wine is chilling in the fridge.

Christmas Dinner 2011 is almost here! :)

In other delicious news, I'm hosting a relatively impromptu New Year's Day Dinner. We're having a game night, so I decided why not adapt my two-person New Year menu to serve the five of us? I'm excited!! I've already got some ideas, and I'll look for recipes tonight to round out the menu.... sneak peak: Pork Tenderloin in a Cranberry Apple Glaze.

My mouth is watering already. :)

One of those Days...

Today was just one of those days. Seemed like everything that could go wrong did go wrong... and I hate it when that happens. My poor husband had to deal with it when he came home for lunch, and I felt so awful about it. But things slowly got better as the afternoon went on.

It may sound silly, but I took some time while cataloging my Christmas presents in Rav (can you tell I'm a librarian at heart?!) to sit and pet my new alpaca yarn. :) It's soft. And it's pretty. And then it's even more soft. And those two things combined make yarn worth it in my book. :)

Since we got married earlier this year, I've been struggling with my weight. It's been a struggle for me over the past few years: first to learning how to love myself and my body, then accepting the fact that I was losing weight, and then enjoying my new self that felt (and looked) better. And then we got married and bam. Factor in the week of eating out on our honeymoon, eating others' cooking and portion sizes, moving to a new city, learning how to cook for two people's entirely different palates, eating out more often than what I was used to, full-time grad school, and the holiday season, and hellooooo pounds. :( I hate that despite my best efforts (sometimes, I'll admit that other times I just didn't care), the pounds came back. So today, instead of moping around about it and sitting on the couch, I went for a walk. Some two miles later, I was back at home, feeling somewhat better about myself. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this positive attitude up!

Bible Study tonight also helped lift my spirits. It's always amazing how God uses His word and some fellowship to help me regain some perspective. I'm really enjoying the topic we're studying, and learning how to better communicate my faith and theological training with those in our congregation.

And then I came home and made some tea. Thanks Megan for that idea. Honestly, I've got some of the greatest friends I could ever ask for. :) I love how we've all stayed in touch post-college and continue to support each other during the good and bad. What a huge blessing that's been to me, especially in the past few months of life changes.

So overall, I guess today didn't end as poorly as it began. :)

Knitting Update

I feel like blogging instead of writing out Christmas cards at the moment... so here's a little knitting update for you:

Love how this pattern is turning out!

Baby blanket: After unknitting 3 rows last night at Knit Night because I couldn't for the life of me figure out where I added an extra stitch, rendering the chevron impossible. Back on track now, although I haven't quite caught up to where I was when I had to start unknitting. I'm now at about 22", or 34% finished. I really need to start focusing on it more now that I'm done with classes.

Neck Warmer: Still about where it was a looooong time ago when I abandoned it to cast on the baby blanket. We're marinating at about 4.5", which is about 50% finished.

Mittens: Ha. Hahaha. I received the necessary needles in the mail a while ago, and have yet to start them again. I should get on that....

Oooh, pretty yarn!

As if my current knitting projects aren't enough, D and I went to the yarn store on our afternoon jaunt to Columbia to do some Christmas shopping and celebrate me finishing the semester this past weekend. I wound up purchasing 5 skeins of the lovely Black Currant colorway of Berroco Vintage. Gorgeous. And it'll look even prettier as this capelet. I can't wait to start working on it! It'd be lovely if I had it finished in time to use it this season.... :)

Semester: Complete!

Just taking a few moments while the dryer's finishing to say : THE SEMESTER'S OVER!!! I SURVIVED!

It's been a long, busy semester... lots of changes and adjustments, with a few breakdowns mixed in for good measure. It's hard to believe that it's only been 3.5 months since the semester began- it feels like much longer ago, and I'm equally amazed how much we fit into a semester's worth of learning.

So now that my finals are complete, and I have a few minutes to catch my breath, let me tell you. I am so much more relaxed than I was, even yesterday. It's a wonderful feeling! Slept in until 10:30 today without guilt, am currently wading through the mountain of laundry begging to be clean, and am finishing up the last minute Christmas shopping. Planning on writing some Christmas cards this afternoon, wrapping presents, and getting a few packages in the mail. Tonight of course is Knit Night with the Ladies, and I'm really looking forward to that- even more than I have been in the past few months. :) (Not gonna lie, some times it felt like just another thing to cross off the week's list, but I was always thankful for that break from homework.)

Tomorrow I'm finalizing my weekend menu!! I've been looking forward to cooking and baking for Christmas since last year around this time. Although I've not planned anything extensive or State Dinner-esque, I'm still looking forward to spending some time in the kitchen and concocting some delicious things. Pinterest has been such an inspiration for all this! (And I'm finally admitting right here that I will not be Christmas Cookie Baking on the same level as my Mom this year. I've got two, maybe three to make, and that's about it.)

I'm currently debating between these mini peanut butter pies and this chocolate pretzel pie for Christmas dessert. The rest of our menu consists of spaghetti (easy and tasty) and this delicious Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart Bread (at least I've heard it's delicious... I've yet to try it!)! I'm thinking the big Christmas meal will take place on Christmas Day... so maybe I should do the peanut butter pies for Christmas Eve? We could eat them instead of cookies while opening presents. While sipping Grandma Jo's Christmas punch. OM NOM. One of my favorite Christmas traditions- hands down.
And wine of course. I've got a bottle of German wine just begging to be opened on Christmas.

And now that my dryer's done, it's time to switch the laundry and start wrapping presents!! :) And listening to the Von Trapp Family Singer's Christmas Album. <3

Because Apparently I Enjoy Making Lists...

It's finals week. FINALLY. I'm so ready for the week to be over, but dreading all the work that still needs to be finished. Such is life. And as stressful as grad school may be, as much as I feel I'm neglecting other aspects of my life, I'm really blessed to have the opportunity to work on this degree- even if from a distance. Although I've decided my next degree (you know.... whenever that may be!) will not be online. I'm not so sure I can do this whole online thing all over again. A class or two if required? Sure. But an entire master's degree? No thank you.

So, in an effort to procrastinate on the impending mountain of doom final projects and exams, I have created another to do list. Deadline? Christmas.

• Legal Final Exam
• Preservation Evaluation
• Reference Final Exam
• Order Christmas cards
• Decorate apartment for Christmas- the tree's already up, but the rest of the decorations? Not so much. Yet.
• Finish Christmas shopping- aka figure out what to give my husband for Christmas
• Finish Christmas knitting- brother-the-younger's neck warmer and mittens, mostly
• Plan Christmas meals/festivities
• Pumpkin Baking. From the Great Pumpkin Adventure 2011.

That's all I can think of right now, although knowing me, I'm already working on a list of craft projects/reading materials to plow through over break.

But for now... it's back to the books. [Or, websites as the case may be.]

Dear Library Catalog,

When I give you limits, PLEASE USE THEM.

No love,
Frustrated Library Student Trying to Finish Projects

And in the end... it'll all get done...

I've been meaning to post, but we're in the last two weeks of school and suddenly everything seemed to happen. Papers and projects due every 4 days, the ensuing complimentary breakdown, my phone took a bath (and still needs replacing... whenever I can find time- ha!), you know, the usual end of the year stress.

Here's a run-down of everything that's due before the end of the semester:

• Legal Quiz 4
• Preservation Essay & Annotated Bibliography
• Legal Final Project - Licensing Agreement Analysis (WHEE! Finished a good 10 or so hours before the deadline.... feels good to finally have it done, but now I'm nervous about the feedback...)
• Government Info & Statistics Questions
• Pathfinder
• Legal Final
• Reference Final
• Preservation Evaluation

Plus, all the usual weekly assignments and posting requirements. It's definitely seeming more manageable than two weeks ago, and we even had time to put up our first Christmas tree last night! Now if I can just get through the rest of these assignments, I'll be able to finish decorating for Christmas and planning our meals!

I've got a long list of things I want to accomplish over break and I can't wait to start! Knitting, sewing (!), baking, reading FOR FUN! It's going to be a wonderful, wonderful month. :)