Scenes from the weekend :)

Ceremony brainstorming while sipping green tea out of our sweet new tea kettle courtesy of Mike and Tara. Also - drawing serious inspiration from our new lego bride and groom courtesy of Kat and Erik :).

Using up the frozen bananas in the freezer.

indulging our new addiction - bananagrams by candle light with hot cocoa :)

3 day weekend, come back please!

Simple Pleasures

stirring cream into sweet potato soup (that link is for YOU Clare :))- love something about those creamy swirls, love 'em in coffee and tea too!

golden afternoon sunlight in our home.

the dough hook on a Kitchen Aid - that thing does wonders with flour, salt, olive oil and eggs.

starting from scratch


and creating something that usually comes out of a package - it just tastes better even if it's a little uglier :).


the endless possibilities in bru-skeh-teh!

gorgeous days at the beach in JANUARY!


water crashing up against rocks and making great, big splashes!

new music (at least to me :))!

Thank you 2011.

For health, love and good friends.

For visits from Mom and Dad, Clare, Mark and Rachel, Niki and Ryan and Christina and Lane.

For a firm hand shake from the President himself and for almost getting to touch Joshua Radin -ha!

For moving in to a sweet home with my love and getting to start each day beside him and to end each day coming home to him.

For celebrating the marriage of two dear friends, Lindsey and Nate.

For introduction to the practice of meditation.

For the opportunity to see beautiful new parts of the country in Santa Fe and Crestone.

For the joy of watching tomatoes grow. And then eating them in all sorts of forms - like candy straight off the vine, in sauces, soups etc.!!!

For my own engagement story, more beautiful than I ever could have imagined.

For the new family that comes along with marrying Joe!

For Kat and Laura's engagement - it's so nice to have friends to go through the wedding planning process with.

For finding a beautiful wedding venue and having a family that constantly reminds me how excited they are to celebrate the love Joe and I share.

For the third annual Yosemite trip and Friendsgiving - Friend star and Friend star husbands and fiances - you continue to be such a bright spot in my life.

For a successful meeting of the parents at Thanksgiving in San Diego and loving and warm future in-laws.

For another opportunity to work with young women on the basketball floor - even if we haven't won a game yet :).

For reminding me that trying to arrive 5 minutes early has incredible stress reducing effects.

For a week on the road with my fiance visiting and basking in time spent with our growing family and friends.

For reminding me that relationships of all kinds take constant care to maintain but that if you care for relationships properly, they can be one of the greatest sources of joy in your life.

Happy 2012! Here's to a year of celebrating love (we have 6 weddings to attend so far!) and nurturing the relationships that bring joy to my life, including the one with myself.

2011 Holiday slideshow

From the snowy roads in Flagstaff...

or should I say the snowy front yards that Joe, Mark and Mike thwomped through in Mark's old Jeep in order to transport Christmas meal fixings...


To trudging through the back alley from Mark and Rachel's place to Mike and Tara's place with cups of coffee in hand - ALWAYS with cups of coffee in hand :).


To celebrating engagements with my future sister-in-law.


And up-ing the number of girls Clare has on her side!


She's been outnumbered by these guys for far too long :).


To Christmas morning madness...


and satisfied boys- ahem, men - with their new tools!

From road side coffee in Sedona - what else do you do when you need some caffeine and all the coffee shops are closed on Christmas day?


To the inevitable jump shot...


and a picture of the whole crew...

To sunset runs on the beaches of San Diego...


It doesn't get much better than this in December!

To shopping trips with my sister and favorite shopping partner ever (with the exception of my Mom)...

To hanging out with Grandpa listening to stories of the service in WWII that got him that shiny medal!

And cozying up around the fire with friends I've known since elementary school...

To ringing in the New Year on the Dipsea trail through the Muir Woods, Tamalpais State Park, and on to Stinson beach with the man I love and am going to MARRY in 6 months...

I feel grateful beyond words for all the gifts and challenges that 2011 brought and feel re-charged by all the family and friend time in beautiful places over the past two weeks. Bring it on 2012!

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu