a few from christmas

gingerbread cookies...an annual tradition

adam loved my camera!

i actually hurt my hip from leaping around so much and was limping...oops.. Adam stands there like it's normal

merry christmas!!

the compost bin experiment

At the end of the summer Adam and I built a compost bin in our backyard. We got the directions for how to build it from my brother, who is my compost/dirt/farming/anything organic guru. Besides the rich soil and quicker breakdown of foods, it also keeps our trash can from smelling since we rarely throw food in it anymore.  In case compost bins are a foreign concept, it's a mixture of dirt, fruit, vegetable, and even egg shell scraps, and leaves or shredded paper.  We've been adding more food, leaves and dirt over the past few months so I'll be curious to see what kind of soil we end up with next spring. 

our compost pail that now keeps me company by my sink

"on to the next!"

Real Simple had a great article for January about being happier. When I read the title I thought it would be a little cheesy or self-helpish, but it actually gave 9 great practical tips to enjoy life more.
Some were random tasks, like lowering the thermostat in your house or making your bed in the morning; but there were two tips that stuck out to me.

1. Don't dwell- ask anyone who knows me well and they will tell you that I have a hard time getting over things. Sometimes is plays out as sweet sentimentality and but often it's just an inability to focus on what really matters. One of my many flaws. My friend Emily always reminds me to tell myself "on to the next!" There are more important things in life than analyzing every intention behind every word in a hard conversation, or feeling like I ruined a perfectly good day because I wish I would have spent an hour of it differently, or regretting a purchase because I found it for 50 cents cheaper somewhere else.- Much needed and good advice for the year to come.

2. Limit your options- confession...I added it up and I have spent more than 10 hours over the past week in fabric stores or online pondering what type of curtains I should have in my living room determined to find the absolute best option and best price in town and on the world wide web. Reasons this is overkill...  A. We rent- so it's not a permanent investment anyway.  B. I still have a set of curtains in the back of my car that I need to return and don't have any actually hung over my window. C. They're just curtains.

Maybe I should stick these tips on my fridge so I don't forget them before next year....or next week.  Hopefully, next time I am dwelling over a non-important issue, Adam will remind me "Remember when you blogged about that article about not dwelling on things and limiting your options? That was good advice."

Papa owns a Santa suit

Papa is famous for his annual Christmas poem. They always have to do with Santa doing some activity at the ranch and every year mid-fall my grandpa sets up a Santa "photo shoot" with him in the big red suit. You name it, he's done it. Everything from horse carriages to helicopters. This year's poem is about Santa and Papa fishing together. 

I am in charge of editing and mailing out their card this year of which I consider a high honor and responsibility- not everyone gets a sneak peek at the theme. A few weeks ago my grandma dictated the poem to me over the phone while Papa listened in to make sure she didn't make any mistakes.  My Papa asked me to help edit it, a term which being a journalism major, I take very seriously and my Papa does not

This was our most recent phone conversation:

Amy: "Papa you use the word pole at the end of two consecutive lines. Why don't you change Santa's favorite fishing pole, to Santa's favorite fishing hole?"

Papa: "Well we can't say that, cause we don't know if it is Santa's favorite fishing hole cause he's never fished here before. I think you should leave it like I wrote it." 

We wouldn't want to go on making assumptions about Santa would we? 

Papa's poems have become a Christmas tradition in our family and I'm so thankful he's 93 and still rhyming away.