Merry Christmas!

It seems like we had a strange Christmas season this year. It didn't feel very festive, even for me, up until last night. The snow and spending time with family and friends helped.

It was a nice Christmas for me and mine. I hope everyone else had an enjoyable holiday!

Last weekend, some of my family and their friends had a Hanukkah party. It was really nice to see everyone and eat delicious latkes! Mine never turn out that good... I can't figure out the secret!

But here are pictures of Raina at the party:

Here she is looking at my Auntie Francie

Raina smiling and laughing at Auntie Kema!

And on Christmas eve, we had a little family dinner at my mom's house. Again, here are some Raina-centered pictures because she tried baby food for the first time:

First taste!

Thinking the sweet potatoes might be alright! She liked them.

All tuckered out.

We got to spend time with Isaac's family, too, which is always nice. We had a brief get together with my brother, his (now!) fiance, and Raina and I had Christmas dinner with an old friend and her family.

I hope that I will get to see my sister this weekend and there is a great gathering of friends for our little Christmas! Still so much to do and enjoy! I am one lucky girl.

Excited for Life!

I am supposed to be working on my big graduation paper/project that is due tomorrow. In my defense, it is getting there. As I am finishing this, I am finally feeling excited about everything!

My paper will be finished and I will be very close to graduating with my Masters! I have loved my program and having the chance to further my education.

After I finish up, I get to move back home to be with Isaac and my rats! This is a little bitter-sweet because I will miss classes and my group. We have worked together all year and we spend an awful lot of time together. We're pretty tight. I know that I will miss them. I look forward to seeing where life takes them.

On May 26th, I am participating in the Boulder Boulder 10K with Isaac, Katja, and Jhenn. I am not much of a runner, but I am trying to prepare and I am pretty excited.

The very next day, Jhenn and I leave for Indiana where we will kidnap Amie and bring her home. Jhenn calls it "Operation Rescue Amie." Honestly, I don't care that I will be helping her move, I am just looking forward to the drive and hanging out with a couple friends!

Towards the end of June, my mom, (hopefully my sister), and I will be hosting a baby shower for my brother and his girlfriend! I am super excited! First of all, I get to be an aunt (again). Plus, I love my baby brother (I know, I know, he isn't a baby anymore...) and his girlfriend is a sweetheart. I am just happy to have another niece! Ahh! So much pink! I love it!

And the day after the baby shower, Isaac and I will be leaving on a lovely, nearly two-week-long vacation to Washington and Oregon filled with good quality time, fun, hiking, beautiful scenery, good coffee, good food, and family! It will be so much fun! And I feel that I deserve a nice vacation. I could be wrong.

And in the midst of all of this, I can start looking for a career in my field (not that I don't like working at Starbucks, I just think it is getting time to move on). I feel like the doors are finally starting to open in my field and I am looking forward to seeing what is out there!

So here I am, right now, loving life! It's a wonderfully uplifting feeling!

March 12

Today is my step-grandmother's birthday. Yay! Happy birthday! (I'm not sure that she sees my blog, but I stalk her on Facebook and, of course, I am thinking about her today.)

And then I remembered that it was also the second anniversary of my grandfather's death (as well as the day I took the GRE). First off, what a horrible birthday for my step-grandma. I can't imagine how heartbreaking that would be. She's a strong lady, though, and she somehow manages to handle everything. Tough as nails.

I was remembering the day I took the GRE. I was a horrible, nervous wreck. My mom met me for a bit so I could grab a chai before the test (to avoid the caffeine headache). She knew that Grandpa had passed away earlier that morning, but didn't tell me because she didn't want to stress me out more or distract me from the GRE. And even though she must have been heartbroken, she actually hid it from me pretty well and tried to keep me positive.

So I was remembering and feeling a little sad, but grateful for my incredible and amazing mom and my wonderful and tough grandma. I feel that I have been a pretty lucky girl with my family. I guess I just wanted to share.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the marvelous, magical..."

~Cats "Mr. Mistoffelees

It is past time for me to introduce my niece. Yes, I am an aunt! Isaac's lovely sister, Liz, had a little girl on June 8th. Her name is Wren Matilda!

Isn't she adorable? Being an aunt is definitely fun! I think I get all of the fun parts and I can hand Wren back to mom and dad if she gets too fussy.

For those of you who don't know me as well, my experience with children has been limited and awkward. Despite occasional lessons from my friend, Julia (mother of two), I don't know how to interact with them. And I have never changed a diaper (though I am sure that will change in the near future). While I dislike many children and feel out of place with the rest, Wren can stay. I love her already. Maybe it's because she is family, but I like her so much better than other kids and babies. I feel much more comfortable with her than I ever have with other children (though that doesn't say much since I still don't know what I am doing). I also attribute that to her being family. I know and am friends with Liz and Peter, and I know the family so I know the boundaries and what to expect.

Babies sure change the dynamics of a family. Everyone is so excited about a new baby (but, let's be honest, who wouldn't be excited about this cutie?) and everyone wants to be around. I think this is a good thing. For one, it's nice to have people around to help the new parents. For another, I think establishing strong family ties early on is important. Regardless of the reasons, Isaac and I have been over there an awful lot and so have other family members and friends.

Anyway, I am infinitely proud to be an aunt (Auntie Mara? Aunt Samara? I guess Wren will decide that one day). Liz and Peter have been amazing parents! It has been almost as fun to watch them grow as parents and people as it has been to hold Wren. You will probably see more about her in the future! I am so excited!