Christmas has come and gone and now there is only 2 days left of the year. As we sort through the wonderful presents and reflect on the wonderful year, I am already starting to think of my projects for next year. One of them is organizing our house. I'm going to start from the top and work my way down, room by room until there is a bit more order to the chaos.

Also new in 2009 is a different posting place. I started this blog 9 months ago, with the goal of recording memories with photos. Although I didn't get 365 photos, I did capture quite a bit. I am switching over to a new blog, with a new purpose soon...stay tuned.

SNOW!! We got 7" on Saturday...blizzard like all day, so we hunkered down and took a snow day, but I had to get out and play. So I took my cross country skis and skied around the neighborhood! Perfect timing - people were lazy and not shoveling, so the sidewalks were still covered, and now it feels like 35 degrees below zero, so I'm definitely not going ski anywhere. Come to think of it, skiing to work would be great, because I would generate more warmth getting there and my nose wouldn't freeze at the bus stop. I'll let you know if that happens. I may need some more home made hot cocoa. mmmm.

I've got about half the presents wrapped...and now I really miss our Christmas tree. I need some lights to cozy up to on this cold night. Maybe I'll work on stringing up something this weekend. You can never be too late with Christmas cheer...but for now, I'll just admire the lights in our neighborhood.

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...Two Turtle Doves. I just read on Wikipedia today that the 12 days of Christmas actually occur AFTER the 25th, so my plan is a bit flawed, but I'm going to keep with the spirit. These are my Christmas doves, perched in their home on the "mantel". Red and gold - my favorite holiday colors.

On the first day of Christmas...
I guess this is our tree this year - I like it because its a very mod tree and it kind of looks like I'm combining Christmas with Hanukkah...so we're just staying hooray for all modern day wintery celebrations. Right now, I'm watching the snow fall behind the twinkle lights. Its covering up the melted, frozen mess left behind from yesterday's high and today's plunging temps. Our nephew was out in the South Dakota Blizzard today...I hope it finally got white and stays that way until we get there!

too cold to take pictures.

Wow - these multi-picture posts are just becoming standard. I wish I had more time to ponder the pictures, but I guess its just another group of favorite things. While snow is one of my favorites, driving in it on a lonely road - not so much.

I love Christmas trees and all of our old ornaments (my mom has them cataloged, so if one goes missing or when we used to fight over who's were who's, we know).

LOVE Grand Marais sunsets.

My parent's dog Teeka is definately one of my favorite things (pets).

And finally, walking in the snow home from work is a favorite thing!