If you need a good laugh, read Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. It really is an encyclopedia, from A to Z, of observations of her life. So many of them rang true with me, and many of them are about things that no one bothers to talk about. My favorite entries are “Drying Off” and “Love”. I was literally laughing so hard I could not tell D what I was laughing about, which never happens when I’m reading.

Old Oven

New Oven!

I’m excited about our new oven/range, but it is so nice and clean, I am kind of afraid to use it. I’m sure I’ll get over it, though.

Today we celebrated New Year’s Day a day late by cooking/eating Asian food (Japanese, Chinese, Korean–we don’t discriminate). In addition, D and my dad watched football while my mom, sister and I made cards. We started this tradition a while back. My mom brings out all of her card-making supplies (a lot!) and I try to make cards that will last us the whole year. I’ve got Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, birthdays, thank you’s, baby, and weddings covered!

We hope everyone had a more exciting New Year’s Eve than we had. We didn’t make any plans, and when it started raining, that sealed the deal: we were staying in. D & I toasted the new year with sparkling blueberry juice from Trader Joe’s (quite tasty). We watched an inordinate amount of television and I managed to pack up all of our Christmas decorations. It was kind of sad to hear Dick Clark in not-so-good health…he finally aged, I guess.

Here’s a picture from Cookie Fest 2005:

Here’s D preparing to ski at Squaw Valley:

For a new year, we decided to spice things up a bit. After thorough research we chose to go with Blogger and add a fancy name to our page.

Top 30 North American Destinations

City Travel (Visited)
Urban
1 New York, NY (Y)
2 San Francisco, CA (Y)
3 Chicago, IL (Y)
4 Boston, MA (Y)
5 Vancouver, BC (Y)
6 Washington D.C. (Y)
7 Seattle, WA (Y)
8 Montreal, QB (N)
9 New Orleans, LA (N)
10Los Angeles, CA (Y)
Beach
1 Honolulu, HI (Y)
2 San Diego, CA (Y)
3 Miami, FL (N)
4 San Juan, PR (N)
5 Puerta Vallarta, Mexico (Y)

Adventure Travel
National Parks
1 Yosemite, CA (Y)
2 Grand Canyon, AZ (Y)
3 Yellowstone, WY (Y)
4 Banff, AB (N)
5 Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica (Y)
Skiing
1 Whistler Blackcomb, BC (Y)
2 Snowbird / Alta, UT (Y)
3 Vail, CO (N)
4 Mammoth, CA (N)
5 Squaw Valley, CA (Y)
Islands
1 Maui, HI (Y)
2 Big Island, HI (Y)
3 Kauai, HI (N)
4 U.S. Virgin Islands: St. John (N)
5 Bahamas: Harbour Island (N)