Boppa

(Quite the handsome World War II pilot, if I do say so myself!)

Unfortunately, the holiday season didn't come without some sadness. My Boppa passed away in his sleep on Christmas morning. A slight damper on the holiday merriment, but we took the time to look through so many old family photos, so that definitely brought smiles to our faces.

Boppa is my mom's stepfather, but has been in my life since day one, so he was nothing short of grandpa in my mind. He was one month shy of 95, so we can be happy that he lived a full life. About 15 years ago, Boppa and Dee (his longtime girlfriend) became snowbirds, moving their lives down to sunny Arizona. Sadly, this meant less time with them both, but I think they enjoyed their consistently warm afternoon toddy breaks on the golf course.

I'll forever cherish the memories I have with my Boppa. The many trips to the Bellingham Golf & Country Club, charging any and every snack to his account, 007 (or double 'o' seven as we said it - we loved the James Bond-ness of his account!). He had such a distinguishable high-pitched chuckle, "hee heee." He was also a good story teller - I remember the hours passing by quickly when we sat on our deck during his visits. And to be honest, Boppa may be the reason I got good grades - he'd give me money for A's only. Needless to say, this gave me some great motivation and I cashed in each semester :)

WARNING: Nudity to follow, but it's under 2 years old so it technically doesn't count - I just couldn't help including this photo of us. That smile is just so Boppa! (And more evidence of how amazingly pale I am. You're welcome.)

Shop 'til you drop

It was warfare at the office. Nearly three solid weeks of WARFARE, I tell ya. Why? Oh, you know, just a friendly, turned ugly food drive competition at the office. There were secret strategy planning meetings, many competitive glares and a covert Costco trip to boot!

In total, as an office of 21 people, we donated nearly 1,200 items and $1,700! On average, that is approximately 60 items and $80 per person. Amazing!

Unfortunately, my team did not win. The other team took a sneaky (yet smart!) approach and filed papers for the company donation match, which earned them an extra $500! Well played, Team 2.

At the end of the day, the biggest winners are Northwest Harvest and the families they serve. We hope our efforts will bring smiles to a few more faces in 2012!

2012

Here's to another fabulous year filled with family and friends, fun weekend getaways, running more races, trying new recipes, checking things off my list and maybe even buying our dream home.

Posts from my blogging hiatus to come. But seriously, is anyone else excruciatingly tired to be back at work? It's hard to get back into the swing of things!

At any rate, Happy New Year!

P.S. This picture is from the photo booth that Autumn created for New Year's Eve! So. much. FUN!

Mr. and Mrs. Claus

As you've noticed, I'm taking this week off of blogging. So much to get done, so little time. But I didn't want to leave you completely hanging, so I want to share some big news. Like HUGE news. I found out this Christmas that my Dad is SANTA! Which in turn makes my mom Mrs. Claus. Talk about mind-blowing. Hope your Christmas was equally as exciting!

We have a winner.

Despite my lack of Christmas card sending, I am always stoked to see what's waiting for me in my mailbox this time of year. Travel photos, wedding photos, puppy photos or silly photos - I like it all. This year I'd have to say that Suz, Rob, Gene, Michelle and Jasmine take the cake. Talk about awkward family photo! I think I'm in love. (Michelle, the eye blink brings it to the next level!)

P.S. Josh, Brian and Judy, you were an extremely close second. I just couldn't resist Suze's Farrah flip!

Glögg

Do you have any vivid memories from your childhood? I definitely do. And one of them involves catching my Aunt Jeanie, Aunt Barbie and Aunt Nancy all giggling as they poured themselves a glass of glögg (spiced wine) on Christmas day at my Grandma and Grandpa Pete's home. I remember being so curious about this mysterious drink they hated, but liked at the same time. I asked my Dad if I could try a sip of his and he obliged, eagerly awaiting a face of disgust - and that's exactly what he got. Ewww! I thought they were all crazy. (However, when I was finally of-age, I gave it another try and actually really liked it!)

Fast forward 20+ years. On our third date, Joe made me Swedish pancakes, some sort of Scandinavian soup and glögg. Not your typical way into a girl's heart, but it worked for yours truly. I remember watching him do his thing in the kitchen and thinking, "yep, the Aunties and Grandma Pete would approve."

This year when we made a batch, it brought back both memories and made me smile. Now that's a reason to cheers. Or as the Swedes say, skål!

(P.S. Joe's recipe involves port, cloves, cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, almond slices, raisins, orange peel and maybe something else I'm missing. But here's a basic recipe.)

Ho ho ho!

Friends, I tried. I had every intent to send Christmas cards this year; I really did. I looked on Etsy quite early, browsing for options that would strike my fancy. Joe and I took a Christmas photo in case we wanted to go the photo card route. I even made a list of people I wanted to send one to! That's where it got tricky. Ten quickly became 20, which grew to 50+! Where does one cut it off? I can't bring myself to cut off my cousin's step-brother's girlfriend (ok, kidding, but really, the family is giant). Then when you take into account ordering that many cards, postage and getting everyone's addresses together, I was overwhelmed. Maybe I should put this on my New Year's resolution list: send Christmas cards in 2012.

So in place of snail mail (which I know is like 10x better!), I had a little tacky editing session with our photo. So from our home(s) to yours, Happy Holidays! We love you.

P.S. Do you like the return of the seasonal Petes Speaks?!