Christmas was fantastic this year. It is great every year but I got some great gifts from a pressure canner and canning kit, mermaid stuff, necklaces, a big scrapbooking kit, tickets to see Stomp (5th time!), books, movies, etc. This summer better be last summer because I need some good tomatoes so I can break out the canning kit!!! In general it is hard to be home because I am out of my routine and I have to pack up the rabbits to bring them down and they are quite pissed to be in a different place. Plus the froze every time Cobi barked and Piper laid outside the room crying at the door to get in.

On the plus side I get to see my family and get to sleep in since I have nothing to really commit to. I slept like 11 hours on Saturday… pure joy.

This year was great because we had a great Christmas Eve… including a present with a $58 wrapping job. Hilarious story about my mom going to get a gift wrapped, thinking it would be like $15 max. Well the woman comes back with this crazy wrapping and bow, the woman tells her it is $48, including her $10 store credit. So the box was carefully removed, presents removed from there, and box carefully put back into wrapping. This is going to live under my mom’s friend’s tree every year now just to earn its value.

On Saturday my dad, his girlfriend, my brother, and I drove to New Jersey to try these sliders that my dad saw on CBS Sunday morning. They were supposed to be the best sliders in NJ. So we drove though crazy traffic, in the rain, to get to Hackensack to try them. First we went to White Castle to get their burgers to be able to compare them with the famous ones from White Manna. So after waiting in the rain for a bit, then like 40 minutes in the place for sliders we figured that White Castle’s were better, plus no wait. At  least we tried them. Always an adventure.

Emily and I went to Cracker Barrel on our way back to Boston since we have been talking about it for the past 2 years. It’s always been like ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to go to Crackle Barrel!?!?!?’ Well it was but also horrifying. I had some Country Fried Steak- the gravy was more like wallpaper paste- and Emily had Chicken and Dumplins. She said if she started to should “dumplins!” it ment she had to throw up in the car. Luckily that did not happen, but we both will be paying for that dinner for a while.  

So now I’m home preparing myself for another 3 days work week Price is playing with the Wii my mom and step dad got him. I sense some very long nights of tournaments in our future!!!!  So glad we don’t have any plans for New Years!!!

Despite my reservations about being alone for Christmas, I had a surprisingly good day down under. Christmas Eve, I spent four hours baking and getting in the holiday spirit: a chocolate cake with Betty Crocker vanilla icing and M&Ms, butter cookies with frosting and sprinkles, cream cheese cookies, an angel food cake, and sugar cookies with M&Ms, all from scratch. This is very impressive for me, as I’ve never made a cake from anything but a box. Regardless of my feat, I would still kill for a box of funfetti cake mix.

On Christmas day, I got to do exactly what I wanted. I found some friends from the Pipi Patch and chilled on the beach. We ate cookies, played volleyball, and went for a fantastic dip in the sea. We even got some killer group photos, including a successful all-8-of-us-in-the-air shot.

When I got home, my roommates  Marie-line (from Montreal) and Avia (from Christchurch) and I had a sweet dinner: baked chicken with sun-dried tomatoes and brie, brown-sugar glazed carrots, and pesto and garlic pasta. We split a bottle of New Zealand Merlot wine and cut into the cake.

Everything was delicious and it was so nice to relax and have a low-key day.

Then, my friend Bronson, got a puppy for Christmas, just like every kid dreams about. I got to go over and play with Bones, and watch a bit of Phantom of the Opera, since there wasn’t a Christmas film on tv. He is the cutest puppy ever. I want one

One of the fun Christmas traditions down under is Christmas crackers. Inside is a paper crown, a slip of paper with a joke, and hopefully a toy. Clearly, Brons and I did not have to fight over who got the elastic bracelet that came out of my cracker. And he’s the only one I know who would wear a pink, blue, and yellow plaid hat, with a paper crown on top.

All in all, Christmas was pretty good. It was fun to be with other people who just wanted to hang out, and Heather in Room 6 at Pipi even shared some holiday spirit. Her mom sent over gifts from Canada including these precious packs of white cotton candy sold as ‘Santa’s Beard.’ Definitely something else to import for Christmas in the future.

I am a little, okay- A LOT, horrified that while out at the food store getting food for the buns that I saw a large display of Valentine’s Day crapola. Today is Christmas Eve!!!!!

What the hell is going on?????

Above are some of our attempts to take a decent photo for a Christmas letter.  We really should hire a professional photographer around here.

Our Christmas letter this year only made it out to a few people on our list, so I thought I’d post it here too.

10 December 2009

Dear ones far and near,

The past week has been chilly here in Portland.  Chilly enough to make it feel like Christmas.  And Christmas makes us want to connect with our family and friends—especially the ones we’ve been meaning to call or write or email for a long time.  So that’s what this is—our end-of-the-year, we-haven’t-forgotten-you-and-still-want-to-be-your-friends letter.

It’s been an eventful year for us.  Silvia Raine Miller joined our family in March.  Obviously, this has changed our lives in many ways, but we’re happy to report that the changes have been mostly delightful.  Silvie is a plump, rosy-cheeked little girl with a ready smile.  She’s cruising around and chortling and feeding rice cereal off of her high chair to the dogs.  She has stolen our hearts (even the dog’s).

In August we spent a couple of weeks in Indiana with our families.  When we returned, Deb went back to work for the school district.  We were prepared to have Silvie in daycare, but just as school was about to begin, Nate was laid off from his job and has been able to stay home and care for her.  While this was not exactly our plan, it is working out well for now.  We are hopeful that the economy will recover in the new year, and Nate will be able to go back to work.

There have not been too many other changes.  We live in the same house with the same dogs—Keegan and Abraham.  We have four chickens—Amelia Earhart, Rita Hayworth, Isabella Bird and Audrey Hepbird.  They lay eggs for us when they feel like it.  We go to the same church—Imago Dei Community.   We are still married.  In fact, we’re celebrating our 14th anniversary this month.

We hope this letter finds you snuggled up at home with those you love and filled with hope as we celebrate the birth of Christ,

Nathan, Deb & Silvie Miller

So here are a few photos of my new flat for everyone who’s been asking for them for the last 3 weeks. I have 2 roommates, Marie-line from Quebec, and Avia from Christchurch. We even have a tiny Christmas tree and I made apple turnovers!

So if this weekend is an example of what life is like without college I’m a big fan of it.

On Friday night Price and I went over our friends’ apartment for a holiday party. These Texan’s know how to throw a party since they had tamales flown in. After filling up on tamales and margaritas we headed home. But in need to another cavity we went to 7-11 for slurpees.

I’m a child

Saturday was another day ignoring the huge mess that is our apartment. Price and I got massages- mine to fix the cramping in my calfs and Price’s was a pay back for the model he made for me since he spent like 20 hours bent over making it. Then I visited a friend in the hospital and since he needed some holiday cheer I decorated his room with paper chains. Oh the bight side he has one of the best views in all of Boston, sadly just a liver that is quitting way too early in life. Donors welcomed :-/

And then there is today… I woke up after 10!!! Man I love to sleep. I was pretty disapointed by the snow that fell overnight. We got about 8 inches. I wanted the 24inches that DC got! Anyway…. I called up 1 of the Texans to go shopping. I wanted to go shopping with her but part of it really was to hear her exclaim ‘Look at all this snow!!” “This my first blizzard!” You know it does not snow in southern Texas!” “Oh my god this is my first icicle!!!” I loved it all. Plus I got to finish all of my Christmas shopping.

It had been ages since I had been to the mall. There was a whole wing that I had not seen. William Sonoma let me down since they were sold out of the thing I was looking for, but lunch at California Pizza Kitchen was pretty good even though I ordered the wrong salad- my bad. Our waiter made of Natalie and her slow talking, what the hell you do not make fun of the customers! But she gave it right back to him so that put him in his place. Plus, we ordered Sangiras since its National Sangria Day- yes I’m a huge dork but at least Natalie went along with it.

Once at home I wrapped Price’s gifts to have them ripped open within 20 minutes. We won’t see each other on Xmas so we (I) figured now is just as good as Monday or Tuesday night.

So excited for my slipper boot things! My feet are always cold- no joke. Our apartment is not cold but my feet aways are. I have even been in the house and worn 3 pairs of socks and been comfortable.

Now to write out Christmas cards and  finish a wreath I started last night! That’s right, I now have time for crafts!!

As you may have noticed, I haven’t been updating as much as usual the past week or so; this trend will continue over the next couple of weeks. The last couple weeks have been due to end of the semester activities and getting ready to go home (mainly Christmas gift making). The next couple weeks will be because my internet access will on be sporadic since we will be home for a week; and then vacationing in Maine for another.

When I return, I’m happy to say I will be able to do some crossing off on my DZP list! I’m almost done making the homemade gifts for Christmas, and everyone on my list is receiving a homemade gift! It was a lot of fun, and I plan to do it every year now. I will post more about my experience later.

Upon my return, I will also have completed “host two Maine trips”! Though neither of these reached the 15 people I needed to complete the other Maine trip goal.

And one last thing before I leave; here is a video describing how to knit a thin scarf with your fingers; I am going to try to whip a few of these out on the ride home.

http://www.vimeo.com/1546955

It’s been a dark week here.  Several people in our life have serious health issues.  A woman from our church lost her life climbing on Mount Hood last weekend.  The last week of school before Christmas break is always intense.  Teachers are at the end of their patience.  Students and parents are stressed about the economy and the holidays, and mental health issues flair.  Compared to these other things, it’s trivial, I know, but the darkness really gets to me.  I’m never a morning person but these days even when I’m “hurrying” in the morning it feels like I’m moving slower than molasses.  And then it’s getting dark by 4:30 p.m. and, well, the solstice can not come quickly enough for me.

But the light is starting to poke through.  Today was the first day of Christmas vacation and it was lovely.  We had some friends over for breakfast and then we worked on finishing up some Christmas presents.  They are Christmas presents that should have been shipped earlier, but….they weren’t and so now I don’t feel nearly as stressed about getting them done in time.  The laundry has been attacked, although not vanquished.  The Christmas tree is decorated.

Let the light break through!

I’m DONE!!!!!!!!

My last class was last night. It was a rough push for this final review but it came out well and the review was great. Typical comments of ‘ you could have done this…’, ‘did you consider….?’ ‘ I appreciate that you did this….. because….’. There were positive and negative comments which is fine. I designed a school into an exisiting Big Box store which has its own design challenges there but I had never done any school work before. This project idea came to me because there is a collision of schools that were built in the 60’s that need expansions or major renovations and a lot of vacant Big Bix stores (in Oct commerical real estate reached a 12% vacancy rate in MA). Some people design schools as a specialty so it was pretty nice to get some positive feedback since was my first school design.

As soon usual things came down to the end. I was printing right until I had to pin-up. Luckily, it was only 5 big sheets for this final review instead of all the process reviews with sketch paper pinned up and several 8.5×11’s photos tacked up there.

The hardest part about presenting a project is the printing. In this case I had a 1/8th inch scale plans at the last review which were too big to visually process so i reduced them to 1/16th.  I also reduced the sections and elevations to 1/16th so they would directly line up with the plans. this was a fail in layout design… they would have read better larger. Oh well, hind sight is 20×20.

Plus color on your computer is really different than color printed. This is a continuly problem but I thought I solved it by picking a LIGHT blue in illustrator. My sky blue  in my elevations is screaming blue (see first image). Again, oh well.

My model was awesome though. It was 4 slices that came together to be 40″x60″. That’s right, my model was 5′ long- just slightly smaller than me! It came apart in 12 pieces 4 roof sections, 4 second floor sections, and the 4 first floor sections. Price was a MAJOR part of getting my model done- umm he was my slave labor on wed and thursday. He was amazing and so helpful. I really would have been screwed without him. I love him so much for killing his hands for me.

Once I get to relax a bit I will finish the couple of walls that we forgot about as we were moving from section to section so quickly, the 3 exterior walls that I ran out of time to print and cut, and the columns that decided they did not like the frantic car rides from home> work> school.

It seems really bizarre to be done. It really has not sunk in yet, granted it has not even been 24 hours. Things will really be done when I don’t have to register and take classes in January again.

So today I am celebrating my FREEDOM!! by going out to go shopping at lunch. Finally a lunch that is not devoted to homework!

The rabbits were in trouble today. It is not usual for them to be in trouble though. This is because they eat our stuff. So Pricer and I are always trying to watch them when they are out so there is a lot of  ‘No Jack Jack!’, ‘ Misses Buns!’, ‘ Hey, Hey!’ etc. Really they are sneeks they act good and when you let your guard down they start to chew on the baseboards (gotta ‘fix’ those before we move), Price’s bike, my cowboy boots, chairs, and books! They love books, magazines, and paper. I can have the newspaper right next to me or even be holding it and Jack does not care, he just bounds up and starts to chew. I have turned in homework with their chewmarks- just don’t care.

I try to tell myself that this just gives our stuff character but who am I kidding? Really not myself. Esp today. Today, the day that I reluctantly called out of work because of the insane amount of work I still need to do and the lack of sleep that is creating a full body twitch (lovely), I was going though our bookcase for a book to reference for my paper due Wed afternoon. Seeing chewed books in nothing new, but they crossed the line with this one.

First I see the edge torn. Crap! I grab it to check and sure enough its been chewed. I tell myself it’s not so bad! Stay calm. I turn it to see the cover and then I see more rips at the bottom and top… AHH!!! Then I turn it over… BIG MISTAKE.

My SIGNED copy of Audition by Barbara Walters. THEE BARBARA WALTERS!!!!! The book that I purchased and then waited in line with Emily for well over an hour to get our books signed. The book that lead me to meeting her and noticing her amazing posture. The book that I still have not read, but can’t read in public since it looks like, quoting Emily, “a homeless person’s book”. It looks like I got hungry and went at it. I can’t read that on the T. I will become one of the freaks that I laugh at in my head.

So the rabbits were on my shit list today. As usual I threatened them with ‘rabbit stew for dinner!’ but they know that is an empty threat since I have found restaurants that serve rabbit and they are now on the ‘Do not enter list’.

Then to top it off, Jack ran over to my model and bit into the base. No hesitation, no glances to see if the humans are watching. Just ran up to it and took a bite out of it.

And before you even think/ask …we feed them!!

I love Mo Rocca.

I love to watch him on CBS Sunday Morning and he is my favorite guest on the radio show Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me on NPR. His comedic delivery is unbelievable and he covers the best, funniest topics on Sunday Morning.

Combine him and my new favorite show, Glee, and you get Mo singing and dancing…. loves it.

Mo + Etsy+ Martha Stewart=

hmmm… some girls crush on older men, men who need to be fixed, bad boys, guys they clearly can’t have, etc. I think have gone for gay, grey haired men since I love Mo and my ‘Silver Fox’ Anderson Cooper. Hey, we each have our own (very) unrealistic crushes.

1 week left of college!!!

Oh crap I have a lot to do….

I’m looking for recommendations on good books on CD to get….or even better loan me a book on CD!

Because stupid Jimmy has a conference to go to in Washington DC, Harree and I will have to make the trek back to Toledo by ourselves after being home for the holidays. I get bored easily and will need something to keep me entertained…books on CDs seems to be the best option.

On Sunday night I went to the Cheese 101: World Farmhouse Cheese and Wine class at Formaggio Kitchen, an amazing cheese store in Cambridge, MA. They also have South End Formaggio in Boston’s South end and Formaggio Essex Market in the Essex Street Market in New York, New York. If you are in Boston or New York you should really go because these people know their cheese and have a great selection. Try telling them you don’t like goat cheese, they will prove you wrong. Are you looking for a brined cheese- they have it. Need a jam to go with that Blue cheese- they have it and it’s amazing.

 The class was taught by Kurt, the owners’ son, and Rachel. Both were very informative and just great people. It really can feel intimating going into a cheese shop when you don’t know what you are looking for or what you want. They tell you to ask. Ask about the cheese, ask how it is made, ask what to pair it with, etc. Ask for a sample, and don’t feel bad about it either. They just want you to have something you like.

While having amazing cheeses I learned a lot. I learned about the history of cheese, the basics on its production, how it gets moldy, how to sotre cheese, why cheese is waxed, how blue gets blue, and that moose cheese is the expensive cheese out there @ $500 a pound! Ouch! As the class went on we sampled cheeses, dried fruits, jams, honey, wine, beer, and cider. I enjoyed them all expect for a cow’s milk cheese, and the cider. I can’t remember which cow’s milk that I did not like but it smelled like the ocean, a foot, and seemed smokey. I braved it out and tasted it but it was not for me. 

One of the things about the class was that we went down to the cheese cellar after the tasting. It was small, cramped, and stinky… pure cheese love there.

I purchased some Stichelton since I was in love with it. Plus I got Price and myself baked apples that were baked in Wood’s Boiled Cider. I’m not a fan of baked apples since they typically seem undercooked or overcooked but I had to give it a try since they looked so good. Plus apples baked in a reduction of cider had to be good- and they were! I got 3 French macaroons since I love them and it is now my mission in life to try them all over. (okay, that’s an exaggeration) Their strawberry one was the best. And a Peach Monin syrup, since I am addicted to Italian Sodas. The best was that all purchases were 10% off since I had taken the class.

I want to go to CHEESE! a huge biannual cheese event in Italy. Hmmm 2011 vacation?

Although we had a record high on Thursday of 69 degrees (beat the old record of 65 set in 1932) it’s now snowing. That’s right, 2 days later and 30+ degrees cooler, we now have snow. Big fat snow flakes are coming down now. The forcast is for 2-5 inches of snow in Boston. Yikes.

I got to wear my hat!!

I loved how the flakes photographed!

Looking down our street

not that excited about digging the car out tomorrow but still excited that this is the first real snow of the season

I’m trying to stay postive now since I really, really don’t like the snow and cold. Well I love snow, I just hate that it has to be cold to snow. Maybe if I stay enthusiastic now the winter will seem exciting and fun and I won’t want to scream every morning until mid March.

You take the good, you take the bad,
you take them both and there you have
The Facts of Life, the Facts of Life.

That theme song perfectly described my day yesterday…

Good- wake up early to do homework.

Bad- I suddenly realize that I left my chicken soup out of the counter at work. The story behind this is that it was still completely frozen at lunch on Tuesday even though I put it in the fridge on Monday to defrost. Planning on taking it out for a few hours would help it thaw so I could have lunch on Wednesday. However I realized I never put it away.

Bad- I wanted to toast bagels for Price and myself. Our toaster oven has a mind of its own so it can either take a long time 1 day or go quickly the next. The smoke detector going off before 8am is a sign that 1) it toasted quickly yesterday 2) I burned the bagels. But I ate it anyway, yep I did. Burned bagels are awful.

Bad- Get to work. Fears confirmed that my soup is ruined. Throw out a big container- like 3 lunches- of soup.

Good- I’m getting faster at doing Photoshop. I really struggle with it so things seem to be looking up. I love learning new things and pressure but I was hating on Photoshop yesterday.

Bad- Right before leaving for class I hear people discussing the meeting tomorrow, the meeting all this struggling in Photoshop is for. Although the client accepted the invite for 4pm they can’t do it then. I have to leave for class before finding out the new time.

Good- although I had to ‘listen’ to my crazy teacher for an hour and a half I enjoyed class because 1) I got to read magazines in class. 2) Today for some reason he mentioned space shuttles and the technological faults behind them (Challenger and Columbia), except he was wrong and someone told him that. That does not seem like a big deal but no one speaks in class, well we just mumble to ourselves when he says things like “WWII demolished Japan” and “You know what I’m trying to say…” 200 times a class.

Good/Bad- My boss emails me that the meeting is now at 10am. FML. Sooo glad to know so I can get in early but damn that’s a big loss of prep time!

Good- Get home- vent to Pricer about my day and go through the mail…. Christmas/birthday presents I ordered arrive, check from my dad, and Liz Kartchner’s new book!

Good- While doing homework I watched the tree lighting at Rockefeller Center and then Glee. (Aretha Franklin needs a new stylist)

Bad- Go to bed way too early at 11.30 but I decided that I needed to survive the day getting up at 5 and not having a meltdown because of Photoshop and Revit. Now need to stay up even later on Thursday and just about everyday until the final review.

I think that is crap, stress, and mood swings lead to my dream of being held hostage by Kirk Cameron. Yep, Growing Pains’ Kirk Cameron.  So here goes…. for some reason I am being held hostage. He is the guard for this operation. He tells me that he really does not want to see anything bad happen to me, since he is a Christian. Things even get to the point that he tells me he is willing to let me go if I agree in Creationism. I really want to go but I can’t agree. So I beat him with his crocoduck poster (seen above) and escape.

 Let’s see what today brings.

I know that I’ve been absent as of late and that many of my fanfictions have not been updated as regularly. I also know I’ve been ignoring this blog. There’s a few reasons for this:

• For a few weeks, I just didn’t want to write. I took a break. Sometimes this happens to me, and it’s usually after a spurt of creativity. I just…burn out. However, they’re usually very brief because, well, when all is said and done, I do love to (and need to) write.
• I was working furiously on my own personal projects and just didn’t have time to devout to fanfiction. My goal is to become a published author and that just can’t happen by writing fanfiction alone. In fact, my fanfics are basically what I call “clearing the mind”; I indulge in them when I need a break from my usual writing.
• November was National Novel Writing Month and so, for the whole of November, I was busy meeting my deadline of 50,000 words on my story.

However, all that is done with. I’ve promised a few people (and added it to my profile on FFnet) an update on “The Clockwork Heart” by the end of this week, and I intend to deliver! So, I’m working on that…the chapter is already half-done. I also have some other things in the works, too. Namely some posts on this blog, creating a DA account, and so forth. Stay tuned!

I have slowly been catching up on scrapbooking. Like photos that are 2-3 years old. They have been hanging out in a folder just waiting for some love and attention. The problem is lack of time and that I keep adding more pictures to this folder so things keep getting shuffled around. Well, I have been taking some time to get organized- but then it all went to hell- and do some quick scrapbooking. Like 15 minute pages.

This page is from January 2007! I took this picture of Price to commemorate his passing grade on his Segment 1 portfolio. ( Our school requires 2 portfolios of work to date to be submitted before being able to move on. Portfolio, like everything else at out school, sucks the life out of you. Plus, it is subjective and list of people who fail on their first attempt is quiet impressive. ah hem, we both failed the first submission. Mine stung even more because I took a portfolio class right before submitting. Super….) Well we went to school on the night of studio registration to find out if he passed or not, and then register for classes. After receiving the good news we went out to a bar to celebrate.

Solid paper, adhesive, chipboard, ink, and corner rounder punch are from Stampin’ Up!, patterned letters are from Martha Stewart, date stamp is from 7 gyspies, and patterned papers are unknown.

This is the current state of chaos out office is in. ALL MY FAULT! ALL MY CRAP! Thankfully Price is the most amazing boyfriend in the world and lets it get this bad without killing me. I promise it will be clean by Christmas!

Once again I have completed a NaBloPoMo (as of this posting). I completed another earlier this year, but this month is more of a big deal (it comes with prizes! see the NaBloPoMo site for details).

I will be adding this to my sidebar soon.

I can’t believe tomorrow is December. I have SO SO much to do. Granted, it isn’t like normal where I am flooded with research, writing, etc…Sure, I have plenty to do there, but I think it’ll remain a “9-5″ thing (more like 10 to 6, or 11-7, ahem).  The challenge will be in getting ready for Christmas and going home. Particularly, the making of Christmas Gifts…which I am pretty much going to have to work on every day until Christmas- starting tonight!

I also need to lose a few pounds before heading home for break, along with exercising and drinking lots of water consistently. I have doctor’s appt when I go back, and if I haven’t made any progress she’ll yell at me (and take my pill away). I started exercising again last night (I didn’t do it at ALL last week…when I wasn’t partaking in Thanksgiving festivities, I was cleaning/cooking). Today I started on the Sparkpeople plan that was working so well before.

I also really need to work on my Up for It challenges, my DZP list, and my Firefly game.

I got my 1st Secret Santa gift today…3 packs of gorgeous holiday stickers for crafts, 2 yummy lotions, and some reese’s pieces in Christmas colors & in a candy cane! I have a very nice Secret Santa! I need to make some purchases for my victim…I already know the 1st thing I am getting, but I need to go to a specific place to get it…

]]>