Monday, December 31, 2007

2007 in review

Best fiction book: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
This book was so good that it's even a contender for my top 10 all time faves. And if I remember correctly, this was one of the only books that everyone in book club enjoyed.

Best non-fiction book: Insight Guides Vietnam
If you want to get a feel for the culture of VN, then you need to pick this book up. It covers the history, food, religion, and people of Vietnam and most of its provinces. And the beautiful pictures are a bonus.

Best movie: Miss Potter
I don't think this movie received very good reviews when it was in the theater, but we were very pleasantly surprised when we rented it.

Best album: Into the Wild soundtrack (Eddie Vedder rocks)
If you stop by my house at any given time, chances are I'll be singing along to Eddie. I just can't get enough of this album. And the book and movie of "Into the Wild" were close contenders for making the "best of 07" list.

Best beauty product: Rosebud Salve
You gotta love this little pot of balm- I never leave home without it! You can use it as lip gloss on chapped or sun-burned lips, you can use it to tame frizzy or flyaway hair, and what I'm using it for lately - to soothe the skin around my nose.

Best restaurant: Sample
This tiny little restaurant on Allen St. serves everything in bite sized "samples". Doll-sized chicken pot pies, steak and frites, cheese fondue and even a tiny bread bowl of french onion soup. And this is where we discovered the Golden Monkey reisling.

Best moment:
beginning the adoption progress on our 3rd wedding anniversary. Need I say more?

Those are a few of my "bests" of 07, and I'm looking forward to having some of the "bests" of my life in 08! What are some of yours?

2007 in review

Best fiction book: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
This book was so good that it's even a contender for my top 10 all time faves. And if I remember correctly, this was one of the only books that everyone in book club enjoyed.

Best non-fiction book: Insight Guides Vietnam
If you want to get a feel for the culture of VN, then you need to pick this book up. It covers the history, food, religion, and people of Vietnam and most of its provinces. And the beautiful pictures are a bonus.

Best movie: Miss Potter
I don't think this movie received very good reviews when it was in the theater, but we were very pleasantly surprised when we rented it.

Best album: Into the Wild soundtrack (Eddie Vedder rocks)
If you stop by my house at any given time, chances are I'll be singing along to Eddie. I just can't get enough of this album. And the book and movie of "Into the Wild" were close contenders for making the "best of 07" list.

Best beauty product: Rosebud Salve
You gotta love this little pot of balm- I never leave home without it! You can use it as lip gloss on chapped or sun-burned lips, you can use it to tame frizzy or flyaway hair, and what I'm using it for lately - to soothe the skin around my nose.

Best restaurant: Sample
This tiny little restaurant on Allen St. serves everything in bite sized "samples". Doll-sized chicken pot pies, steak and frites, cheese fondue and even a tiny bread bowl of french onion soup. And this is where we discovered the Golden Monkey reisling.

Best moment:
beginning the adoption progress on our 3rd wedding anniversary. Need I say more?

Those are a few of my "bests" of 07, and I'm looking forward to having some of the "bests" of my life in 08! What are some of yours?

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Family fabric

I'm just getting ready to head over to my MIL's for dinner with Marc's family, so I thought I would post the quilt squares from his siblings. This one is from Jeanna, who fought in Iraq a few years ago and used part of her uniform for her material. How cool is that? And congratulations to Jeanna and Pete who just got engaged!!!

And this is from Carlo and Amy who chose this fabric because of their love of the ocean. I hope Poppy loves the ocean and the beach too!

Family fabric

I'm just getting ready to head over to my MIL's for dinner with Marc's family, so I thought I would post the quilt squares from his siblings. This one is from Jeanna, who fought in Iraq a few years ago and used part of her uniform for her material. How cool is that? And congratulations to Jeanna and Pete who just got engaged!!!

And this is from Carlo and Amy who chose this fabric because of their love of the ocean. I hope Poppy loves the ocean and the beach too!

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Merry Christmas!

We had a fabulous Christmas and I hope you did too! Everyone kept reminding us that this will be our last Christmas before Poppy's arrival. God, I hope so, but where are all the referrals?! Just another reminder that the only thing that is guaranteed in international adoption is it's uncertainty.

Here is a picture of our funky little Christmas tree complete with Marc's pride and joy (his grandfather's train set).

On Christmas Eve, my Godmother gave me this ornament for Poppy, which of course made me cry like a baby!


I'll leave you with a few quilt squares... this one comes from my cousin and her family, I really love the simplicity of the fabric.


And this fabric is from one of my friends at work along with a really sweet little letter to Poppy.

Merry Christmas!

We had a fabulous Christmas and I hope you did too! Everyone kept reminding us that this will be our last Christmas before Poppy's arrival. God, I hope so, but where are all the referrals?! Just another reminder that the only thing that is guaranteed in international adoption is it's uncertainty.

Here is a picture of our funky little Christmas tree complete with Marc's pride and joy (his grandfather's train set).

On Christmas Eve, my Godmother gave me this ornament for Poppy, which of course made me cry like a baby!


I'll leave you with a few quilt squares... this one comes from my cousin and her family, I really love the simplicity of the fabric.


And this fabric is from one of my friends at work along with a really sweet little letter to Poppy.

Friday, December 21, 2007

12 Days of Christmas

Check out this youtube video Courtney sent me - it's definitely worth watching 'til the end!

12 Days of Christmas

Check out this youtube video Courtney sent me - it's definitely worth watching 'til the end!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Good stuff

I'm still recovering from our fun-filled weekend. Friday night was our annual Christmas dinner with our closest friends. One couple had an exciting announcement to make - they're adopting from South Korea!! Congratulations Andy and Christa - we are so excited for you!!!

Saturday was a cookie baking extravaganza and then Sunday was Tucker time.



And we're all so excited that Courtney is coming home for Christmas! Yeah!!!!

And here are a few more quilt squares. These are from my cousin's family. I absolutely love these fabrics - I think the one with the cherries is my favorite.


Good stuff

I'm still recovering from our fun-filled weekend. Friday night was our annual Christmas dinner with our closest friends. One couple had an exciting announcement to make - they're adopting from South Korea!! Congratulations Andy and Christa - we are so excited for you!!!

Saturday was a cookie baking extravaganza and then Sunday was Tucker time.



And we're all so excited that Courtney is coming home for Christmas! Yeah!!!!

And here are a few more quilt squares. These are from my cousin's family. I absolutely love these fabrics - I think the one with the cherries is my favorite.


Thursday, December 13, 2007

Busy, busy

It's been a super busy week so far and I'm looking forward to an even busier weekend. Of course, nothing new going on with the adoption. But we expect for a few other families that are with our agency to receive a referral any day now, which is very exciting!

This is my MIL's quilt square, the first one we received with a Poppy on it!

And this one is from Marcia, a close friend of my MIL's.


Oh, and if you don't regularly follow Courtney's blog, be sure to check out her last post, it's absolutely hysterical.

Busy, busy

It's been a super busy week so far and I'm looking forward to an even busier weekend. Of course, nothing new going on with the adoption. But we expect for a few other families that are with our agency to receive a referral any day now, which is very exciting!

This is my MIL's quilt square, the first one we received with a Poppy on it!

And this one is from Marcia, a close friend of my MIL's.


Oh, and if you don't regularly follow Courtney's blog, be sure to check out her last post, it's absolutely hysterical.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Keep 'em coming!

I've been getting tons of fabric squares for the 100 Good Wishes Quilt lately! These are from my MIL's friend, Annmarie, who is also a school librarian. Her gift at my baby shower was, of course, tons of books! Really good picture books, board books and even a homemade CD of lullabies. Super special.

Keep 'em coming!

I've been getting tons of fabric squares for the 100 Good Wishes Quilt lately! These are from my MIL's friend, Annmarie, who is also a school librarian. Her gift at my baby shower was, of course, tons of books! Really good picture books, board books and even a homemade CD of lullabies. Super special.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Reading and cooking while I wait for Poppy

The author of Eat, Pray, Love was on Oprah today. I finished listening to the audiobook a couple of weeks ago and forgot to mention how good it was. But once again, I highly recommend that you listen to it on audio as opposed to reading it because there is something about the author's voice that made listening to it seem so real. When I finished the book, I went to the author's website to see what else she has written and apparently her next book that she is working on takes place in Vietnam. How cool.

I usually only like to read one book at a time, but I am currently juggling a few. Let's see, I'm reading Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman, which is a political drama based on events that took place in Chile. A few of us from book club are going to see the author speak on Friday night. I'm also in the middle of Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, but I borrowed it from the library and it was pretty overdue, so I had to return it (but I'm hoping Margaret will lend us her copy because I think Marc wants to read it too when I'm finished). I'm dying to see the movie, but I have to finish the book first! And then for book club I'm supposed to be reading Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which I have on my nightstand, but I haven't gotten too far into yet. The other book on my nightstand is What to Expect the 1st Year, but due to the lack of activity with the adoption, I don't feel an urgency to read that.

Marc and I made orange chicken with rice for dinner tonight and it tasted like orange chicken that you would get at a chinese restaurant, but even better! I'm addicted to orange chicken and I didn't think you could make it at home, but I found a recipe online and I can't believe how easy and good it was! If you share my love for orange chicken, shoot me an email and I'd be happy to share the recipe. Unfortunately, my relationship with my rice cooker has taken a turn for the worse. It keeps burning my rice! How is that even possible you ask? I just don't know.

This quilt square came from Courtney's family in Virginia. For some reason the color of the fabric didn't scan very well, but I love how it looks in person, and it came from Courtney's brother's homecoming tie, which I think is neat, and I love the wish.

Reading and cooking while I wait for Poppy

The author of Eat, Pray, Love was on Oprah today. I finished listening to the audiobook a couple of weeks ago and forgot to mention how good it was. But once again, I highly recommend that you listen to it on audio as opposed to reading it because there is something about the author's voice that made listening to it seem so real. When I finished the book, I went to the author's website to see what else she has written and apparently her next book that she is working on takes place in Vietnam. How cool.

I usually only like to read one book at a time, but I am currently juggling a few. Let's see, I'm reading Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman, which is a political drama based on events that took place in Chile. A few of us from book club are going to see the author speak on Friday night. I'm also in the middle of Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, but I borrowed it from the library and it was pretty overdue, so I had to return it (but I'm hoping Margaret will lend us her copy because I think Marc wants to read it too when I'm finished). I'm dying to see the movie, but I have to finish the book first! And then for book club I'm supposed to be reading Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which I have on my nightstand, but I haven't gotten too far into yet. The other book on my nightstand is What to Expect the 1st Year, but due to the lack of activity with the adoption, I don't feel an urgency to read that.

Marc and I made orange chicken with rice for dinner tonight and it tasted like orange chicken that you would get at a chinese restaurant, but even better! I'm addicted to orange chicken and I didn't think you could make it at home, but I found a recipe online and I can't believe how easy and good it was! If you share my love for orange chicken, shoot me an email and I'd be happy to share the recipe. Unfortunately, my relationship with my rice cooker has taken a turn for the worse. It keeps burning my rice! How is that even possible you ask? I just don't know.

This quilt square came from Courtney's family in Virginia. For some reason the color of the fabric didn't scan very well, but I love how it looks in person, and it came from Courtney's brother's homecoming tie, which I think is neat, and I love the wish.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Weekend fun

We had a great weekend...

Saturday morning we went to get our tree. Last year we found a Charlie Brown Christmas tree lot a couple blocks away from our house. This year we walked up there with Lola and walked home with our tree.



Then Saturday night Tucker came over for a sleepover. A couple of hours of Nanny McPhee with a side of popcorn. Fun times. When we woke up, everything was covered with snow. Obviously, snowangels were essential.

And then Marc was supposed to spend the afternoon working on the nursery, but somehow the nursery turned into a Choo-Choo station! It was really hard to tell who was having more fun, Marc or Tucker.


And then tonight we went out for dinner with my parents and discovered a new Italian restaurant in our neighborhood. Marc and I were surprised when we saw an old friend of ours and he turned out to be the owner! He was excited to hear about our upcoming adoption and made us promise to bring in Poppy when she comes home. I don't think he needs to worry about that- the food was sooo good that I'm pretty sure he'll be seeing a lot of us.

Weekend fun

We had a great weekend...

Saturday morning we went to get our tree. Last year we found a Charlie Brown Christmas tree lot a couple blocks away from our house. This year we walked up there with Lola and walked home with our tree.



Then Saturday night Tucker came over for a sleepover. A couple of hours of Nanny McPhee with a side of popcorn. Fun times. When we woke up, everything was covered with snow. Obviously, snowangels were essential.

And then Marc was supposed to spend the afternoon working on the nursery, but somehow the nursery turned into a Choo-Choo station! It was really hard to tell who was having more fun, Marc or Tucker.


And then tonight we went out for dinner with my parents and discovered a new Italian restaurant in our neighborhood. Marc and I were surprised when we saw an old friend of ours and he turned out to be the owner! He was excited to hear about our upcoming adoption and made us promise to bring in Poppy when she comes home. I don't think he needs to worry about that- the food was sooo good that I'm pretty sure he'll be seeing a lot of us.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Boring

Everytime I log in to post something, I desperately wish I had something more eventful to report as far as our adoption goes. Nothing. Going on 3 months since we've been DTV and absolutely nothing has happened. Our monthly update from our agency should be arriving in a few days, maybe they'll have some exciting news. And with Christmas right around the corner, the time is going to fly by and before I know it we're going to be in the #1 spot on the waiting list, right? Right?

Leaving you with two lovely quilt squares from my Aunt Bev and Pepper.


Boring

Everytime I log in to post something, I desperately wish I had something more eventful to report as far as our adoption goes. Nothing. Going on 3 months since we've been DTV and absolutely nothing has happened. Our monthly update from our agency should be arriving in a few days, maybe they'll have some exciting news. And with Christmas right around the corner, the time is going to fly by and before I know it we're going to be in the #1 spot on the waiting list, right? Right?

Leaving you with two lovely quilt squares from my Aunt Bev and Pepper.


Monday, November 26, 2007

Welcome to Holland

These next quilt squares are from Marylou, a teacher I work with, and her two sons. When they were picking out the fabric she explained what is was for and tried to explain what adoption was. Apparently this sparked quite an interesting conversation, which involved getting out a globe to show them where Vietnam is and her youngest son declared that our plane ride home with her is probably going to be at least 3 hours long. Wouldn't that be nice?! Her older son is autistic, which is what inspired the poem that she included for Poppy's wish. If you have a chance, please take the time to read it (it should enlarge if you click on it), it one of the most special "wishes" we've received yet.

And Courtney has decided to start her own blog to journal her days of bedrest in the hospital, which you can catch up on by clicking here.

Welcome to Holland

These next quilt squares are from Marylou, a teacher I work with, and her two sons. When they were picking out the fabric she explained what is was for and tried to explain what adoption was. Apparently this sparked quite an interesting conversation, which involved getting out a globe to show them where Vietnam is and her youngest son declared that our plane ride home with her is probably going to be at least 3 hours long. Wouldn't that be nice?! Her older son is autistic, which is what inspired the poem that she included for Poppy's wish. If you have a chance, please take the time to read it (it should enlarge if you click on it), it one of the most special "wishes" we've received yet.

And Courtney has decided to start her own blog to journal her days of bedrest in the hospital, which you can catch up on by clicking here.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Thanksgiving fun

After stopping at the hospital for a visit with Courtney, we had a low-key Thanksgiving at my parents house with my brother and Tucker. Here are a few pics from our day...

As usual, Tucker provided the entertainment. The next American Idol? Perhaps.

Then it was time for turkey! And this was the most entertaining part of the day- Tucker saw the big ol' turkey being carved and his eyes immediately welled up with tears and he starting say "Oh, no! Oh, no! Lola." He thought the turkey was Lola! It was quite possibly the saddest and funniest thing I've ever seen. We were able to convince him that it wasn't Lola, but he made it clear that he knows that that turkey was once a living animal and now it's not, and he wasn't having any part of it. I'm pretty sure he's gonna be vegetarian.

Of course we needed a nap after all that good food!

And then we had to do our hair up after our nap.

And the night ended with Sidney and Henry stopping over for a story from Uncle Marc.

It was a great Thanksgiving with so much to be thankful for.


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...