Happy New Year!

Phew. I think it goes without saying that 2010 was jam packed with exciting and endless changes. We started the year living in Grand Rapids, working jobs we loved and loving our first year of marriage. We finished 2010 a year wiser - in a 'grown up' apartment in Chicago, having both (finally!) found jobs we love here. Life is great, and we rang out 2010 with a small celebration at our new place.

I made homemade pizza for 12 - let's just say I underestimated how much the dough would grow when it doubled!

 We threw a kicken' 90's party - here's the hubs and I 90's style. We danced and watched old music videos and drank too much champagne. So much fun.

 Oh yeah, those are some awesome shoulders for me. And hubs has a sweet gold chain!

 Party poppers and noise makers.

Party people! Bad 90's editing to go with bad 90's outfits!

 Party poppers - still not totally vacuumed out of the carpet!

 Party poopers, not poppers - two tired pooches.

 I hope you all had a wonderful New Year's Eve! Happy 2011!!

Ho Ho Ho

see the decorations in the bottom right corner? or yeah... that's our tree. i may or may not have decorated it before unpacking anything else. and then, we painted and washed windows. yay!

how's that for christmas spirit??

this will be our second married christmas, and i'm trying not to let the feeling of the season get lost in all the crazy hustle and bustle of the past few weeks. we're starting our own traditions, bit by bit.

this year, we're doing gifts on the 23rd and then going to zoo lights. i can't wait to see the polar bears by the twinkling lights of christmas trees. it's a way for us to celebrate on our own, before we start the crazy and wonderful trip back to visit both our families.

do you have any special traditions you've created on your own? i'd love to hear about them!

Why, hello there!

(hubby's picture)

Can I first say how much I've missed you these past few weeks?? My break from the blog world was unplanned and much needed.  Things have been busy in the Auburn Street household. Very, very busy.

A smattering of events from the past few weeks (smattering... i like that word!)-

• Packed up our lives. Again.
• Celebrated Matthew's birthday
• Hubs starting a new big boy job, on his birthday
• Moving into our new apartment, on hub's birthday (whew... tired yet??)
• Started painting and rearranging our new place
• Annual watching of Love Actually and Home Alone
• Crafting of Christmas presents and homemade wrapping for presents 
• Eating way too much freezer food because of all our dishes being packed for a week
• Unpacking boxes in order to make Christmas cookies!

So. Life is good, and we have so much to be thankful for, and we're hoping that life will slow down for a while now. At least until we hit the road for home in a few days!

Kitchen Battles!

Old kitchen...

I'd like you to meet new kitchen - a place I plan on spending lots and lots of time soon!

(we decided to leave our teeny studio for a less expensive neighborhood/much larger apartment that is closer to my job and downtown. down side - we'll be farther from lake michigan. upside - 2 bedrooms, stainless steel appliances, FREE washer and dryer for the first time in a couple years, and a fifteen minute bus ride to work to replace my hour commute. and packing aside - i cannot wait to move in!!)

Vacation Mode

(me. taking a deep breath, via hubby)

hi. did y'all have a nice break?

i sure did. in fact, it's really hard to switch gears back to the real world. 

i loved the time spent with family, seeing a few friends, and road tripping with hubby. but the truth is - i'm pretty tired. we logged 1200 miles in our trusty rental car, in just three days. 

so, yeah. i'm sleepy. 

and this month, this month is a doozy. birthdays, out of town guests, a cross city move (more on that later). 

and yeah. that little holiday known as christmas. 

needless to say, i'll take my break back, pretty please. pretty please with sugar on top??

(mistletoe)

Okay. So I don't get that break back. I'm planning on facing December fortified with lots of hot cocoa, a few twinkly lights, and lots of mistletoe strewn throughout the packing boxes! Stress or no stress, I love Christmas!

So. Are you embracing the upcoming season with a candy cane in one hand and some curly-cue ribbon??

(or do you need a little eggnog to get you through the next month??)

From time to time...

From time to time, it's nice to forget our age, our jobs, the rent, and planning our future.

It's nice to forget all those things so that we can spend a lazy Sunday morning climbing trees, pretending that we're ten years old all over again.

(Thank goodness that this week is Thanksgiving and I'm only working through Wednesday. I'm in dire need of a lack of responsibility!)

Fierce

 Sometimes, it's reassuring to have a tough guard dog on the lookout, keeping check on the neighborhood below.

(And then I remember that this guard dog would rather give kisses than bark, will do anything to be completely wrapped up in a blanket, and allows Matt to hold him in his lap.)

Who needs a guard dog, anyway??