Jan. 28

Recipe Research

Sarah and I had the idea we would like to try our hand at making some of the dishes we so enjoyed gorging ourselves on in Italy last summer. But seeing as we aren't quite the accomplished chefs that we would like to be, the talented Miss Stephanie jumped in and offered to help. We dug through some cookbooks in preparation for Sunday. I am in charge of the risotto and a zucchini dish. Stay tuned on how this one turns out...

Jan. 27

Hot Apple Cider

My boss brought hot apple cider into work and it made my whole day!

Jan. 26

Massage

I live for my monthly one-hour massages! By some miracle this is covered by my insurance, so I pay my $12 co-pay and go happily on my way. I don't know what I'd do without them anymore!

Jan. 25

"90 Minutes in Heaven"

This was our book club book and I just finished it. It's an incredibly interesting true story about a pastor who was in a car accident, died, went to heaven and came back to life. He has an amazing story to tell about his experience. I would definitely recommend the book, but with one caveat: the man is a pastor, not a writer. I struggled with how he jumped around and repeated himself, but the message is good and worth reading.

Jan. 24

New socks!

Someone who shall remain nameless has been commenting that many of my socks are sorely in need of replacement. Today I got six new pairs of socks as an early Valentine's Day present!

Jan. 23

1954 Mercury

Today we visited Troy's dad in Waterloo and he showed us this car that he is in the process of refurbishing.

Jan. 22

Dueling Pianos (with trumpet!)

I'm on the board of an organization called the Youth Services Bureau of Rock Island County. We have all kinds of programs for juvenile delinquency prevention. One of our annual fund raisers is a Dueling Pianos event. This year's event was a huge success!

Jan. 21

Putt Putt

Sorry for the blurry photo. I really need to get new batteries for my camera. But anyway, this was at a Putt Putt fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters. It was a really fun night and raised money for a great cause! This is Sarah dominating the 10th hole.

Jan. 20

Ice, Ice Baby

You have no idea how hard I tried not to title this "ice, ice baby." Unfortunately for all of us, I was unsuccessful. Anyway, we had a major ice storm today, and really the only good thing about that is the opportunity for cool photos.

Jan. 19

Iced Tea Brewer

This is such a nifty little appliance! I actually bought it for Troy for his birthday, but I would say I'm enjoying it as much as he is! Since he gave up drinking pop several months ago, iced tea became his beverage of choice, and I've always been a big tea drinker. Anyway, this Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Brewer is a quick and easy way to make tea at home.

Jan. 18

Waiting for Spring

This is obviously the most gloomy time of year and spring still seems a long ways away. I'm really ready to see some sun and get outside, but for now I'll settle for this flower blooming on the plant at my desk at work. It only gets one bloom and it only blooms once a year so I have to appreciate it while I can!

Jan. 17

Cowboy Cookies (sort of)

In honor of the Cowboys playoff game on Sunday, I attempted to make cookies of their logo. Unfortunately, they are not exactly what you would call blue. More of a green, I'm afraid. And I ruined the icing, so no icing. But other than that they were perfect! It's the thought that counts, right?

Jan. 16

More January Birthdays!

Saturday night we celebrated what I think is the end of the January birthdays. Leah is now in the first year of her 30s and Troy is in the last year of his! Happy Birthday to Leah and Troy!

Jan. 15

My Bus

Ok, so it's not the best photo, but it's very difficult to take a picture of a moving vehicle from another moving vehicle. But this is my bus! This Metrolink bus has an ad for The Dispatch and Rock Island Argus newspapers and they used an actual front page of one of the newspapers to make the ad. The front page they used just happens to have a story on it that I wrote: "Zoo Works for Accreditation." So, my name is on the side of the bus; therefore, it's my bus! This bus has been cruising around the Quad Cities for the last five or six years and it always makes me smile when I see it.

Jan. 14

Shoes.

I don't know how this happens. I am constantly putting these shoes away, but every time I turn my back the area right inside the door fills up with shoes again! There must be little gremlins who carry them back out there when I'm sleeping at night. That is the only possible explanation.

Jan. 13

Mmm Cheesecake!

Happy Birthday to Andrea!

Jan. 12

Scenic junk?

If you look closely, you will see this sign says "Sunset Park Scenic Overlook" ... with an arrow pointing at a huge pile of junk. I think it is some sort of metal recycling place? Every time I drive by this sign it makes me giggle. To be fair, there is a nice park (Sunset Park) with a cool overlook of the Mississippi River just past the pile of junk. But still, the sign is in a bad spot. Just sayin'.

Jan. 11

Ahh January!

January is always the month where I try to make up for months of eating junk in a few weeks. Hey, it's worth a try, right? This salad was actually really good. Here's what I included: hearts of romaine lettuce, chick peas, dried cranberries, grilled chicken, walnuts, goat cheese, croutons and a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Everything but the kitchen sink!

Jan. 10

The Mississippi River is by far the coolest thing about living in the Quad Cities. I love seeing what it looks like all different times of the year. Of course, the summer is the most fun when it is filled with boats and jet skies and barges. But I think it looks neat frozen like this too. The path that you can see in the front of this pictures goes along the river for 30+miles and is my favorite spot for walking, running and biking. They even plow it in the winter for the die-hards (not me!).

Jan. 9

Go Cowboys!

I am also a Dallas Cowboys fan by default. My favorite thing about the team is their colors. I like the navy blue and silver together. Oh! And Tony Romo, the quarterback, is a fellow Eastern Illinois University graduate. He graduated one year after me. That is all I have to say about the Cowboys.

Jan. 8

Happy 30th Steph!

This was the delayed celebration for my friend Stephanie's 30th birthday. The first party - a surprise - was scheduled on her actual birthday Dec. 4. Unfortunately, she had her appendix out that day instead! The hospital is no place to celebrate a birthday, so we rescheduled and welcomed her into her 30s properly.

Jan. 7

Shooting Snow

I came home from work today and used my nifty little snowblower to clear the 7+ inches of snow that we got last night and today. I have to say I love this thing!

Jan. 6

Blurry Night

This is the view from my front porch tonight, looking down the street in a snowstorm. I tried to take this picture three times and it kept coming out blurry because I was shivering in the cold. Brrrr!

Jan. 5

We're going to Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA!*

Tonight we celebrated the end of the Iowa Hawkeyes successful 2009 season (insert boring college football statistics here) as they beat Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl. I would like to tell you what the final score was; however, I'm sorry to report I don't actually remember it. Let's be honest - I paid more attention to the incredibly entertaining halftime show by Kool and the Gang than I did to the game itself.

I am not exactly what you would call a college football fan, but I am now the proud owner of one Hawkeyes T-shirt and two hats. I had fun celebrating their success this year with friends who are die-hard fans.

Go Hawks!

* An Internet search has revealed the actual lyrics to the Iowa fight song to be:

"The word is Fight! Fight! Fight! for Iowa!"

However, I have never heard it sung that way, so I'm leaving it the way it is.

Jan. 4

This week I'm taking down my Christmas decorations. What a tedious task this is compared to the fun of putting them up! Lugging everything back up to the attic, or down to the basement just seems like such a chore. But it does give me one last chance to admire the ornaments and knick-knacks before storing them away for another year.

These three angel music boxes are my favorite Christmas decorations. The tall one in the back was my Grandma Glynn's and it plays "Silent Night." The one in the front right also plays "Silent Night" and belonged to Great Grandma and Grandpa Moeller. The last one plays "Joy to the World" and was a gift from Grandma Thon when I moved into my first apartment after college.

Jan. 3

When I woke up this morning the weather app on my iPhone told me it was -8 degrees outside and felt like -21 or something equally ridiculous. I realize it is January in the Midwest, but come on. In the afternoon I decided to venture out and get a pedicure. The sun was out and the temperature was a balmy 8 degrees, which actually didn't feel too bad!

Jan. 2

Today I spent the afternoon helping my friend Regan do some painting. She is getting ready to put her house on the market. 2010 is looking to be a year filled with exciting changes for many of my friends! I'm looking forward to seeing what this year has in store.

2010: My Year in Photos

Jan. 1

Welcome to my blog! I'm new to this whole blogging thing, so please bear with me as I attempt to figure it out. For some time now I have wanted to start a blog, but wasn't sure exactly what to write about. In fact, I reserved this name eight months ago after coming up with it over breakfast in L.A. with my good friend Taryn.

I decided to jump start this blog with an idea I've been wanting to try - take one photo a day for an entire year. This will give me a way to practice and hopefully improve my photography, while at the same time let me do some writing for fun every day. My friend Missi, is going to join me in this project. We are hoping to keep each other motivated.

Thanks for reading!