"I did a fishbowl shot! I'm only human, for God's sake!"
2011 was an intense year, but, for me at least, it had a lot of really high points - getting into the groove with my new job, moving into our home, getting engaged, getting more confident in the kitchen, and my awesome year-ending trip.
2011: I'm Not Mad at You.
January
2011 started out with Peter landing an RC helicopter on my head and getting it tangled in my hair; in his defense, he then gently dis-entangled it. Kerry threw an awesome craft day (including making the most amazing scones I've ever tasted). For my birthday, I had a facial and a hot stone massage, followed up by lunch with Ben - Cylia and I had an awesome joint birthday party a few days later. I went to see The King's Speech and loved it. Finally, Lily came to town and we met up for brunch and a nice downtown stroll. I was also just starting to cook more regularly; I made Lemon Dill Chicken Orzo (eh).
February
Ben and I met up downtown for a nice sibling dinner; I also picked up Jubal at the airport and we went for frozen yogurt. I had my first colonoscopy of the year (so I could go back on Remicade). I also made a batch of lemon poppy-seed muffins from scratch and smoked mozzarella macaroni and cheese (delicious).
March
I started back on Remicade, plus Vitamin D and Vitamin C. We moved into our house (with help from Marti, Bo, and Kenna). I also discovered that Shari's sour cream lemon pie is a good breakfast pie.
April
April was all about getting settled in the new house: we got some posters framed, and bought our new couch. We had a housewarming party, with homemade snacks (chicken wings, baked Brie) and Rock-Band sing-alongs. I bought myself some new clothes. Peter and I started watching episodes of the original Twilight Zone in the evenings.
May
May started out by me making a HUGE mistake at work, and then I accidentally wore my PJs to work the next day - not my best moment. I attended Cyl's graduation, at which I both celebrated her accomplishments and made snarky fun of the super-religious ceremony with Nate and Kerry. Cat came to town on a book tour, so she and Cyl and I had an amazing time having cocktails on the town, watching terrible movies, and having a Youtube dance party. For Memorial Day weekend, I went to Bend to pick up my dad's roll-top desk from my mom's place.
June
On June 7th, I wrote "Today's life lesson: maybe don't eat a chocolate eclair that a strange culinary student offers you when you're at the liquor store."
The BIGGEST news from June is that, while we were on a big camping trip with many of our friends, Peter proposed to me (and I accepted)!
We also had Peter's parents and sister over for a Father's Day BBQ - Peter grilled awesome blue-cheese burgers and we put out all the fixings. I made homemade pesto; I also had an allergic reaction to Remicade, so we put me back on Cimzia.
July
I found my beloved 90s X-Men cartoon on Netflix, and Peter and I started watching Star Trek: The Next Generation after work. I had another colonoscopy. I made cinnamon-raisin bread (which was FANTASTIC). At the end of July, we went camping at our normal family camping place; we scattered part of Dad's ashes (which was more emotional than I expected).
August
In early August, Cyl and I met up after work for cocktails, and then we kidnapped Richard from Ground Kontrol, and then Richard and I met up downtown for lunch at the food carts. Jubal threw his Southern Soiree, where I earned my reputation as the girl who's really good at Jeopardy while drunk. Peter and I took a trip to the beach with Nate and Marti, and I made my first loaf of bread without my breadmaker. Finally, as always, August ended with our annual trip to Seattle for PAX.
September
In September, I finally got my long-awaited iPhone, which I love. I called in sick to work for the first time at my new job (which shouldn't be a big deal, but it was for me). I also discovered another favorite food cart downtown (Brunchbox - my go-to place for breakfast sandwiches). I got officially notarized in the state of Oregon; I also got officially sick with a cold for the first time in forever. Kerry and I capped off September with a Harry Potter marathon.
October
October was a month of rocking accomplishments for me: I made Loaded Baked potato soup, Creamy Tomato Soup, Onion Buns, and a roast chicken with mustard butter from scratch, and altered some pants with my own sewing machine. I finally plugged in my chest freezer. We had our first Halloween at our house, featuring such amazing costumes as an (amazingly detailed) scarecrow, two ninjas (one standard, and one extremely shy), a flapper (with a zipped up hoodie over her costume), a "blue cat fairy", the most adorable lion ever, and Zombie Mario.
November
Overall, November really sucked - our 4-year-old kitten, Kokoro, was diagnosed with lymphoma and we put her to sleep four days later. She was the first pet I'd ever lost, and it was devastating. I got my haircut again, which turned out really well. I made pizza and hummus from scratch. We celebrated Thanksgiving with Mom down in Roseburg, and it went really well - I made homemade rolls and key lime pie, both of which were really well-received.
December
I started December by visiting Kerry in Bend, which was fun and relaxing and great. I had a great time at my company Christmas party, the highlight of which was when the intern ordered a round of tequila shots for our table. The day after the party, Peter and I went to the Humane Society and found Pixel, our new kitten. It was an incredibly busy month at work - 9, 11, 13 hour days, so I was really stretched out a lot of the time. We had our annual fondue dinner with Peter's family (one of my favorite holiday traditions). Peter and I had our 9th anniversary (which we completely forgot about until my mom called to wish us a happy anniversary). We spent Christmas Eve with Peter's extended family, and Christmas Day with Peter's immediate family; the day after Christmas, I traveled to Maine to spend the week between Christmas and New Year's with my dear friend Cat and her husband Dmitri, Cylia and her family, and Dmitri's parents. I ate lobster for the first time; I finally saw Heathers and Grosse Pointe Blank; and we celebrated New Year's Russian-style (a late dinner, vodka toasts, and a hilariously hard-to-understand Russian TV special).
2011: I'm Not Mad at You.
January
2011 started out with Peter landing an RC helicopter on my head and getting it tangled in my hair; in his defense, he then gently dis-entangled it. Kerry threw an awesome craft day (including making the most amazing scones I've ever tasted). For my birthday, I had a facial and a hot stone massage, followed up by lunch with Ben - Cylia and I had an awesome joint birthday party a few days later. I went to see The King's Speech and loved it. Finally, Lily came to town and we met up for brunch and a nice downtown stroll. I was also just starting to cook more regularly; I made Lemon Dill Chicken Orzo (eh).
February
Ben and I met up downtown for a nice sibling dinner; I also picked up Jubal at the airport and we went for frozen yogurt. I had my first colonoscopy of the year (so I could go back on Remicade). I also made a batch of lemon poppy-seed muffins from scratch and smoked mozzarella macaroni and cheese (delicious).
March
I started back on Remicade, plus Vitamin D and Vitamin C. We moved into our house (with help from Marti, Bo, and Kenna). I also discovered that Shari's sour cream lemon pie is a good breakfast pie.
April
April was all about getting settled in the new house: we got some posters framed, and bought our new couch. We had a housewarming party, with homemade snacks (chicken wings, baked Brie) and Rock-Band sing-alongs. I bought myself some new clothes. Peter and I started watching episodes of the original Twilight Zone in the evenings.
May
May started out by me making a HUGE mistake at work, and then I accidentally wore my PJs to work the next day - not my best moment. I attended Cyl's graduation, at which I both celebrated her accomplishments and made snarky fun of the super-religious ceremony with Nate and Kerry. Cat came to town on a book tour, so she and Cyl and I had an amazing time having cocktails on the town, watching terrible movies, and having a Youtube dance party. For Memorial Day weekend, I went to Bend to pick up my dad's roll-top desk from my mom's place.
June
On June 7th, I wrote "Today's life lesson: maybe don't eat a chocolate eclair that a strange culinary student offers you when you're at the liquor store."
The BIGGEST news from June is that, while we were on a big camping trip with many of our friends, Peter proposed to me (and I accepted)!
We also had Peter's parents and sister over for a Father's Day BBQ - Peter grilled awesome blue-cheese burgers and we put out all the fixings. I made homemade pesto; I also had an allergic reaction to Remicade, so we put me back on Cimzia.
July
I found my beloved 90s X-Men cartoon on Netflix, and Peter and I started watching Star Trek: The Next Generation after work. I had another colonoscopy. I made cinnamon-raisin bread (which was FANTASTIC). At the end of July, we went camping at our normal family camping place; we scattered part of Dad's ashes (which was more emotional than I expected).
August
In early August, Cyl and I met up after work for cocktails, and then we kidnapped Richard from Ground Kontrol, and then Richard and I met up downtown for lunch at the food carts. Jubal threw his Southern Soiree, where I earned my reputation as the girl who's really good at Jeopardy while drunk. Peter and I took a trip to the beach with Nate and Marti, and I made my first loaf of bread without my breadmaker. Finally, as always, August ended with our annual trip to Seattle for PAX.
September
In September, I finally got my long-awaited iPhone, which I love. I called in sick to work for the first time at my new job (which shouldn't be a big deal, but it was for me). I also discovered another favorite food cart downtown (Brunchbox - my go-to place for breakfast sandwiches). I got officially notarized in the state of Oregon; I also got officially sick with a cold for the first time in forever. Kerry and I capped off September with a Harry Potter marathon.
October
October was a month of rocking accomplishments for me: I made Loaded Baked potato soup, Creamy Tomato Soup, Onion Buns, and a roast chicken with mustard butter from scratch, and altered some pants with my own sewing machine. I finally plugged in my chest freezer. We had our first Halloween at our house, featuring such amazing costumes as an (amazingly detailed) scarecrow, two ninjas (one standard, and one extremely shy), a flapper (with a zipped up hoodie over her costume), a "blue cat fairy", the most adorable lion ever, and Zombie Mario.
November
Overall, November really sucked - our 4-year-old kitten, Kokoro, was diagnosed with lymphoma and we put her to sleep four days later. She was the first pet I'd ever lost, and it was devastating. I got my haircut again, which turned out really well. I made pizza and hummus from scratch. We celebrated Thanksgiving with Mom down in Roseburg, and it went really well - I made homemade rolls and key lime pie, both of which were really well-received.
December
I started December by visiting Kerry in Bend, which was fun and relaxing and great. I had a great time at my company Christmas party, the highlight of which was when the intern ordered a round of tequila shots for our table. The day after the party, Peter and I went to the Humane Society and found Pixel, our new kitten. It was an incredibly busy month at work - 9, 11, 13 hour days, so I was really stretched out a lot of the time. We had our annual fondue dinner with Peter's family (one of my favorite holiday traditions). Peter and I had our 9th anniversary (which we completely forgot about until my mom called to wish us a happy anniversary). We spent Christmas Eve with Peter's extended family, and Christmas Day with Peter's immediate family; the day after Christmas, I traveled to Maine to spend the week between Christmas and New Year's with my dear friend Cat and her husband Dmitri, Cylia and her family, and Dmitri's parents. I ate lobster for the first time; I finally saw Heathers and Grosse Pointe Blank; and we celebrated New Year's Russian-style (a late dinner, vodka toasts, and a hilariously hard-to-understand Russian TV special).