Success

I love to cross things off of lists. That’s about 90% of the joy of list-making for me. That rush that comes with the ink running through words and…okay, I clearly have a list-making problem. But last month I crossed two big things off my bucket list for 2012. (Incidentally, I’m not doing so hot getting that list done but it isn’t terrible, I guess.) 

In November, I passed my candidacy exams – 18 hours of writing, 42 pages, and a 2 hour oral defense. I don’t know that I have ever been that stressed out about anything in my life but I did it and it’s over and I PASSED! I am officially a PhD candidate. And clearly, very, VERY sophisticated.

 

                          BEFORE                                                                         AFTER

I also fulfilled my promise to myself to learn how to make a pie crust from scratch. It was not the prettiest but it tasted great and I’ll be excited to keep practicing!

What thing did you cross of your list recently?

love, elizabeth

Help Me Decide…

One year when I was little, my dad made plum pudding for Christmas dinner and don’t ask me why, but I’ve been wanting to try it again since then. It seems like a very festive, very grown-up thing to cook. So I did what any sensible blogger does and hit Pinterest for recipes. Apparently, however, ‘plum pudding’ means a lot of different things, some of which are more cake-like and not so much with the pudding. I’ve narrowed it down to a few different possibilities but I really only have time to try one of these this year so…I’d love your opinion. Which of these sounds the best to you? Have you had plum or ‘Christmas’ pudding before? Did you like it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: allrecipes.co.uk via Elizabeth on Pinterest

 

Source: tastemag.co.za via Elizabeth on Pinterest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: retroplanet.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: guardian.co.uk via Elizabeth on Pinterest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: octoberfarm.blogspot.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

 

I know. This is a highly momentous decision. Thoughts?

What is your favorite Christmas dish?

love, elizabeth

“I myself am having some Yuletide doubts.”

Source: impawards.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

 

As per my Christmas to-do list, we curled up on the couch on Saturday night and watched my favorite Christmas movie of all time, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. This movie is just awesome and Kyle and I have seen it so many times, we can quote most of it.

Here are some of our favorite Grinch-isms:

“One man’s toxic sludge is another man’s potpourri.”

“Blast, this Christmas music! It’s joyful AND triumphant.”

“She’ll be on me like fleegel flies on a flat-faced flugelhorse! We'll, I’m sorry, Martha baby, but the G-Train has left the station!”

“If you so much as utter ONE syllable, I’ll hunt you down and gut you like a FISH! If you’d like to fax me, press the star key.”

“Kids today. So desensitized by movies and television.”

“The NERVE of those Who’s inviting me down there on such short notice! Even if I wanted to go, my schedule wouldn’t allow it. 4 o’clock – Wallow in self-pity. 4:30 – Stare into the abyss. 5 o’clock – Solve world hunger. Tell NO ONE. 5:30 – Jazzercise. 6:30 – Dinner with me. I can’t cancel that again! 7 o’clock – Wrestle with my self-loathing…I’m booked!”

“Now listen to me, young lady. Even if we’re HORRIBLY MANGLED, there’ll be no sad faces on Christmas.”

What’s your favorite quote from your favorite Christmas movie?

love, elizabeth

Just ODed on the Internet

Being busy with my candidacy exam has meant missing out on a whole lot of awesome blog happenings. So yesterday, I attempted to catch up. Behold, seven awesome things I found:

1. The Kardashians teach us life lessons. And what the word ‘vomitacious’ really means.

2. Ernest Hemingway loved cats. Also, some cats have six toes.

3. The coolest flight attendant in the world talks about surviving Hurricane Sandy.

4. The Spinsters discuss what happens when all of your friends are married.

5. This gorgeous and honest post about being a new mom and a perfectionist and worrying and feeling alone and lots of other stuff.

6. Blogging is weird. And why we sometimes feel like we have to justify ourselves to other people. I so relate.

7. This DIY for yarn wreaths that Jennifer posted. The finished product is gorgeous and I can’t wait to try it out.

So share. What blogging have you been up to? What do I need to read? Tell meeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

love, elizabeth

Being Intentional About Christmas

Today blogging feels a like that treadmill I’ve been ignoring for a couple months – it’s not that hard when I do it everyday, it feels really good when I do it, and I feel better about myself after. But I keep staring at that treadmill like maybe I’ve really forgotten how to treadmill properly. So here I am, hopping back on the blogging train. I have so much to TELL you!

Beginning with my game plan for Christmas this year. Honestly, I’ve been feeling not-Christmas-y. I’ve been slower than usual getting decorations up. I’ve been staring at the tree extra critically this year. I’ve actually had a few moments of sympathy for the Grinch – I mean, the Who’s DO celebrate their festivities fairly loudly, don’t they?

My December issue of Better Homes and Gardens came (and this is not a paid advertisement, by the way) and I was struck by some of the advice in the Sanity Savers article about holiday organization:

“Before you launch into holiday planning, ask yourself: what do I love most? What do I dread? This exercise will help you decide what belongs on your to-do list and what needs to be simplified or deleted altogether. If quality time is a priority, put it on the calendar, just like you would any other important activity. Pick an evening to munch cookies, sip cocoa, and watch a favorite holiday film… Don’t get caught in the trap of doing something just because it’s what you’ve always done. Only commit to activities that really matter to you and your family.” (Thanks to B&G writer, Berit Thorkelson, for the wisdom. I’m taking your advice.)

So with this in mind, Kyle and I made a list of Christmas activities that actually matter to us. We have until December 31st to do it all…but if we don’t, that’s okay too.

Okay, your turn. What’s on your Christmas list that you REALLY care about? I can’t wait to hear.

love, elizabeth

PS: I’m also taking Berit’s advice about Christmas cards this year: “Defer sending greetings until another holiday such as New Year’s or Valentine’s Day, when both you and your recipients have more time to enjoy the sentiment.” So if you ordinarily get a Christmas card from us, be checking your mailboxes in February instead!

A Yam-Sham.

It’s Thanksgiving night and I imagine many of you are away from your computers and with good reason!

Kyle and I have spent the whole day together, just the two of us. That’s my favorite part about Thanksgiving – the two of us and the puppy snuggled up in our apartment every year, cooking and watching movies and making up holiday-themed dance routines in the kitchen and wrestling the giblets from the still-partially frozen turkey and arguing over whether Scrooged or White Christmas is the better Christmas movie.



It’s been a great day but you know what really clinched it for me? Finally sitting down at our tiny kitchen table and listening to Kyle talk about growing up in Steamboat Springs, watching his eyes close as he describes the layout of his childhood home on 7th Street, watching him smile as he explained how he and his little brother Aaron would help decorate for Christmas. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his face and I just kept thinking, “There is still so much I want to know about you. There is still so much to find out.”

On our eighth Thanksgiving, I keep imagining the next year and the next and the next. I have no idea what they will look like. Will they be like this one? Will there be a tiny new person soon? Will there be another house, another home? Another job? Another city? The future seems like an impossible, overwhelming unknown.

And then I hear Kyle’s prayer over dinner echoing in my ears: “Thank you for Elizabeth, thank you, God, for being the one who holds us together after all this time. We know that’s because of you. In Your name, Amen.”

Happy Thanksgiving…

love, elizabeth

I HAVE SLAIN THE BEAST AND LO, HE IS DEAD.

You heard me right. My candidacy exam is OVER. 18 hours, 42 pages, $87 in library fines, and an unholy amount of coffee later and I am DONE.

I am too tired to say much of anything about it except that actually sitting down and writing was pretty fun. And that feeling when I was finally done, when I had turned it all in…it seriously felt like I had wrestled an alligator or something. 

My oral defense is next week so I’m not out of the woods yet BUT it’s out of my hands and I’m glad for that. (Don’t let this bravado fool you…I’m nervous about that, too!)

After almost six months of preparing for this exam, I am suddenly done with it. Crazy town. And I’m so excited for Thanksgiving break! I have some super fun Christmas projects I’ve been dying to get to and BLOGGING! You guys, I can blog again!!!

Thank you to everyone for all of their sweet encouragement, especially this last month. It really got me through.

love, elizabeth