The Creative Salad

I can’t believe it’s mid-January! I think it’s time for us to take down the holiday cards on our mantle. (What you can’t see in this picture is David’s new mountain bike in front of the fireplace — yes, it’s in our living room. It’s like a family member.)

Our colds are almost gone. We’re still blowing our noses like crazy and I’m feeling oh-so tired, but otherwise we are on the mend. (It is so nice being able to sleep through the night comfortably!) In the meantime, I am enjoying my midday naps.

Yesterday Christana came over and I made a delicious cauliflower-cheese pie with a potato crust from Mollie Katzen’s The Moosewood Cookbook (one of my favorite cookbooks). It was so simple to make and delicious! We had a great time together — yay for fun social time. I love hosting friends at our house. This weekend we are planning a game night to try out some of our holiday game-related gifts. Should be fun!

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By the way, I’ve been updating my links page on a daily basis. Check out my del.icio.us links section for interesting articles and blog posts.

I am also trying to update our photos page more regularly. Photos from Julia’s birthday, April’s baby shower, my bridal shower, and Biosphere 2 are now online. (Look for more photographs coming soon!)

Last week I flew up to Oregon to surprise my cousin Julia on her twenty-first birthday! My aunt Deborah-Miriam picked me up from the airport; we picked up party supplies from the neighborhood dollar store, and then snuck me into the house (unbeknownst to Julia). Julia read her birthday card from Grandma — about how Grandma hoped Julia would like her birthday present because it was non-refundable and then I jumped in the room with balloons! It was great. (I totally cried.) Julia was stunned and so surprised and just thrilled. We had a wonderful three-day visit together eating ice-cream cake, opened presents, played Mad Libs, eating yummy sushi, touring around the area, going out for breakfast, watching movies, looking at family pictures, singing songs (we worked our way through Rise Up Singing!), celebrating a late Hanukah together, teaching me how to crochet, and even went hot tubing early in the morning with snowflakes fluttering around us. We had such a good time! Oregon was so beautiful: I loved the orchards and farms everywhere, the charming towns, and the people were so nice. I had a fantastic time. Click here to view photos from my trip!

2006 has flown by. So much has happened to us. What a year of self-discovery and self-growth! In April we took a huge leap and gambled our routine, comfort, and love of Boulder for new exciting adventures in California when David accepted his job here. We’ve moved, changed jobs and switched “roles” (I cook and do the laundry now!), met new people, and discovered new things (like knitting and mountain biking!). We’ve hosted friends and toured around San Francisco and Sonoma County. Thankfully David loves his job and we are both so happy. 2006 has been good to us.

As for 2007, my goals for the upcoming year are more continuations of our 2006 activities than far-reaching changes in our lifestyle. In 2007 I want to continue to exercise daily, practice yoga, expand my cooking menu, become a more advanced knitter, devote more time to photography, and keep smiling. The only really big and important goal for me in 2007 is to meet more people my age that are living here. I want more social time! I have high hopes for 2007.

What are some of your plans for the upcoming year?

We had a wonderful time in Silver City. Spent lots of quality time with family and friends (we were oh-so social!), ate lots of green chile, toured the galleries, lunched in Mexico:

frequented several new pubs, baked yummy treats, and received some awesome (mostly handmade!) presents. We even got to spend time at our favorite cob house with Mel, Jeff, and Raf:

We’re now back in California, exhausted and with head colds. Here’s to long weekends to relax and get healthy. Happy New Year, everyone!

On Thursday morning I visited Muir Woods with Miriam and Ross, who were in town from Philadelphia! We had a great time gallivanting around giant redwoods while catching up. It was such a treat to see them.

What a year for visitors! As a goodbye to 2006, I thought it would be fun to make a list of friends and family members who’ve come to visit us this year, as well as document our out-of-state excursions.

April:
Carrie’s dad visits us from New Jersey to help us move from Boulder to Santa Rosa; we meet up with Carrie’s family in Washington, DC the weekend before our move for Beth and Shaun’s wedding.

May/June/July:
Carrie’s aunt Deborah-Miriam and cousin Julia visit us several times during the summer while Julia has an internship in San Francisco, Carrie’s mom visits us from New Jersey, and Carrie’s uncle from New York takes us out to dinner in San Francisco. Carrie goes back east for her mom’s graduation. David also visits San Jose for business and Carrie tags along to see Monterrey.

August:
David’s mom Diana visits from New Mexico and later in the month cousin Rachel and her boyfriend Ed fly in from New Jersey. We also get to see Melanie and Jeff who are in town on their way back to Silver City, visit with Joe Tom and his family on vacation in Healdsburg, and say goodbye to Julia/Deborah-Miriam on their way back up to Oregon.

September:
We tour the Napa Valley with David’s uncle Mike and aunt Sherry visiting from New Jersey.

November:
Carrie visits family and friends back east while David attends a conference in Colorado Springs and meets up with folks in Boulder/Fort Collins.

December:
We meet up with Thorsten and Stefan (from Germany and Colorado, respectively) and Natalia (from Pasadena) who are in town for two different academic conferences, and Carrie gets to see Miriam and Ross at Muir Woods (see photo above). Carrie and David visit Tucson, Arizona/Mexico/Silver City, New Mexico for Christmas.

What a blast we’ve had! Please come visit!