Techy people without techy gadgets

So Jason and I are both fairly techy people. He is a computer programmer, and I am the Microsoft Office Queen, but neither one of us have been into techy gadgets. Well, this year we finally caught up to the rest of the world. Both of us got iPods, and together we got a TomTom. Yea! Now we can listen to music and watch movies while NOT getting lost in the car. Thanks to my mom (who by the way has had a iPod for years) and my brother we have a huge assortment of music and videos already.

We had a really great time visiting family and friends this holiday season, but the best part was spending so much time with our neice and nephew. They are little bundles of joy...well...most of the time. :) We're still not sure if we're ready for kids yet, but we get a little more practice every time we see them. Hope everyone else had a great Christmas!


Oh yeah...one more thing...Jason has started singing Thomas the Train songs randomly since he has them memorized now. Joy!

"It's a Winter Wonderland!"

...the words spoken by my grandma. Usually, Grandma, we don't live in Siberia. Sorry you had to endure the -20 degree wind chills and ice, but we're really glad that you came to visit us. Maybe you can come back when the weather is a bit more pleasant.

The scenery was beautiful especially when the sun peeked in through the ice covered trees, but I hope to goodness that it's melted by the time we get back from our visit home for Christmas. In other news...it's snowing...once again. When will it ever stop?? Thank you Illinois weather for making travel treacherous for the holidays.

So Jason and I became "Bears fans" this year. Our friend Matt thinks I'm bad luck, and it's always my fault if they lose...convenient, huh? Well anyways, we went over to his place to watch the game last night, and the Bears were really doing terrible. Orton threw two intercepted passes and things weren't looking good...and we still haven't seen the great things that Matt speaks of regarding Hester. Well the game was dragging on forever, and I ended up falling asleep during the fourth quarter. And apparently when I fell asleep, the Bears started doing decent, tied the game, and won in over-time. Did me not watching the game help the Bears win? Who knows, but Matt and Jason think so.

Charlie the Gingerbread Boy

So I've always wanted to make a gingerbread house. Laurin and I were going to make one but it just never worked out. When I was at Walmart the other day, I saw a big gingerbread boy cookie pan, and I knew I just had to buy it. Jason, the cheap ass, didn't want to, but I convinced him that I could use it to make other giant cookies as well. I finally made it today and I think it turned out really well...and it tastes good too! We named him Charlie, so Charlie is now missing his feet. Oh so sad...What's next you ask...his poor little hands. Muah-ha-ha!

Snow Day...err...Ice Day

Well...as you can see from the pictures below, we got hit by the ice storm that went through central Illinois. All the local schools had a snow day, including mine. Today was supposed to be the second day of finals, so now the students have to take them on the Tuesday after we come back from break. Not a good situation, but I guess that's mother nature for ya. Jason stayed home from work today too, but he's still working. We've heard that the roads aren't terrible, but we're not going to chance going anywhere. It's a good day to curl up on the couch in a blanket with sweatpants on. :)

I love the trees when they're ice covered. They look so beautiful. We only had one casualty in our backyard. The limb broke sometime during the night presumably from the weight of the ice. Everything is starting to melt as the temperature approaches the above freezing level. Let's just hope it doesn't re-freeze tonight.

Only 10 Days Until Christmas!

Well...not exactly. Christmas came early this year! Unfortunately, Jason's parents aren't going to be in town for Christmas, so we went to their house this past weekend to celebrate. Got lots of great gifts, had some great laughs, and played a lot of cards. Pam can play Euchre now! Woohoo! They also taught us how to play a version of Pitch. Here's a great shot of the fam...

Alright, so I've got to preface the next three pictures. Tim opened up one of his gifts and it was a double pack of Old Spice body wash. He was like alright, I love this stuff. So Jason makes the comment, I'm glad you got that because I don't really like it. A few more presents are opened...Tim gets a Leatherman...Jason gets a dremel tool. So here's where the story really picks up and where the pictures begin. Next present Jason opens...Old Spice body wash. Hilarious! Next present Tim opens...another Leatherman...hmm. So Pam couldn't decide which one he'd like so she bought him two so that he could decide. Jason moves over to his dad with the look on his face like I'll take the one you don't want. Tim picked the one he wanted and then they made a trade. Old Spice for the Leatherman. Too funny!



Kissy faces! We're such dorks!

The Bet

Wow...it's been awhile since my last post. Nothing terribly exciting has been happening. We've been working non-stop on our grad classes that will finally be over this week. Then we'll start again in January...fun, fun!

On to another topic. We actually have friends in Pekin! We've been hanging out with Laurin and Lucas quite a bit on the weekends playing cards and having a good time. They are both into Euchre, and so are we. Thus, we thought it would be perfect to have a little Euchre tournament...guys vs. girls. We started out just keeping track of who won each game so that the team to win could gloat about it. However, we thought it'd be interesting to make a bet. If the guys won, the girls had to cook them breakfast and then leave them alone all day so that they could play video games. If the girls won, the guys had to cook a three-course candle-lit dinner...including a dessert...and it couldn't be store-bought. The score last night before play began was 9-8, girls ahead. We were playing to 10. Who came out victorious you ask....GIRLS! Whoop! Whoop!

Any suggestions on what we should make them cook for us?? Keep in mind they aren't that skilled... :)