Happy New Year

We both have the day off work today, so I dragged John to a yoga class. During savasana, the yoga instructor said "Let's hope that 2011 be better than 2010 and build to have better and better years thereafter." Ain't that the truth? 2010 has been a really tough year for both of us. We've been through things we never dreamed could happen and had to make decisions no couple should have to make. All in all it's been a very trying year, but we are thankful to have each other to start 2011. In addition to fervently hoping that 2011 is fruitful for us, we do have a few resolutions. One of mine is to actually get to work on time! I've made a habit of rolling in around 9:30, which is directly correlated to my inability to get out of the office at a decent time each evening. I'm also trying to get better at going to yoga (and hopefully dragging John along with me). Not only is it great for you physically, but it's also a nice escape from the stress of the day. John doesn't have many resolutions because he thinks he's pretty darn perfect as it is. However, he is going to continue with the Primal Blueprint lifestyle he started this year.

We don't have big plans for the evening - truthfully, we aren't big NYE people. We are going to have a casual dinner in the neighborhood and see a movie with a friend.

Happy and Healthy New Year Everyone!

Merry Christmas!

We are rounding out our week in Tulsa for Christmas. It has been a week of family, fun, and food. Lots and lots of food. In fact, I'm pretty sure that we will be eating only broccoli for the next two weeks! We arrived in Tulsa on December 18th to surprise John's mother for her birthday, which is the 19th. Since then we have just been hanging out and seeing lots of family. We are sad to head back to the Windy City tomorrow, but it will be nice to be back in our normal routines, except that we just learned that the hot water heater in our building went kaput. A cold shower on Monday morning will feel awesome, especially since the high is only supposed to be in the 20s.

Hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday!

Oklahoma-style Christmas

Celebrating Stephanie's birthday!

Pre-birthday celebration

"Never Can Say Goodbye" by Katherine Jackson. Best. Present. Ever.

David and Bowser.

Annual pic in front of the tree.

The theme of Christmas this year: Air Soft pellet guns.

The results of my and Steph's afternoon of baking!

Christmas Continued

Chillaxing by the fire after Mexican Christmas Eve dinner

The whole fam! So lucky to all be together.

Eric getting handsy after the cousins luncheon

The Adams Cousins, minus Gracie who was tired of pictures.

'Twas the night before Christmas

More Holiday Revelry

Yes! A book all about pee!

John's new wallet!

We got my mom a Kindle

Finally some new silver TB flats - I guess that means I have to

retire the ones I have!

John in his new cold-weather gear

6 Years!

Today is our sixth anniversary! I cannot believe that we got married six years ago today! Time has really flown!

4th Annual Cookie Exchange

Tonight Nicole hosted the 4th Annual Cookie Exchange! I can't believe we've carried on this tradition for four whole years! It's one of the highlights of my holiday season, and each year we all improve on our baking. This year I made Paula Deen's red velvet sandwich cookies, which consist of super rich cream cheese frosting between to cake-like red velvet cookies. Everyone's cookies were delicious, and it will take some time for me to snap out of this sugar coma.

Nicole really outdid herself this year with a delish Christmas ham and other holiday comfort foods. And for favors she made the most adorable apple pies in jars. So creative! Tonight's party sort of kicked off our holiday festivities - we have lots more to come! And now John has lots of cookies to eat!

Some of Nicole's craft handiwork!

This year's crowd!

YUM! John has lots of work ahead of him!

2nd Annual (and probably last) Rock n Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon

Mom, John and I traveled to Las Vegas over the weekend so that Mom and I could run the half in Las Vegas. Running this race was sort of a last-minute decision, and as a result I was totally unprepared. I ran this same race last year and had a PR, but I also ran 400 miles over the year to prepare for the race. This year, I think I have run a total of maybe 25 miles, so I suppose I should be proud of myself for finishing.

Let's face it, I really only went for the post-race concert -- Bret Michaels! He was awesome and sounds just like he did 20 years ago. He was also filming the concert for his VH1 show, so I will have to look for myself in the audience on the show.

Other than the pain associated with the race, we had a fun time in Sin City. John won some money playing blackjack, and it's always fun to people watch at all the casinos. However, I think we had our fill of Vegas for awhile!

Pre-race, bright and early!

There were over 30,000 runners that took over The Strip

Really gross shot of Mom and me after the race.

Bret Michaels singing "Talk Dirty to Me"

Mom and me before dinner at Lavo