Christmas Zickgraf-Style

This is how it works at my house. Melody is my muse. This is my composition. I can only hope that's a compliment.

KCOM Prom

(I need some feedback on the photos. I edited them in Picasa and they look fantastic on my laptop screen, but terrible and orange on my desktop. What do you see?)

So we went to the KCOM "Prom" this weekend. Actually, it's the winter formal, but I'm a dork and it makes me giggle a little bit in my head to pretend like I'm going to prom again.


In any case, it was super fun. I spent far too much time getting ready, but it was super worth it.


First of all, I got my dress ages ago on sale at Dillard's. I knew I'd never have a chance to wear it, but it was $30 and ... well, a girl can dream, right? But more than not having the opportunity, I have to mention that originally it didn't have the little inset thing in the front- it went that low. Since it had a bit of a train, my wonderful neighbor (who, lucky for me, used to work as a seamstress for a formal/bridal shop in town) kindly made the adjustments to make it modest for me. Further, she also hemmed the wrap for me, since it was also sleeveless.


So there's the dress. Next, the hair- my darling friend Janae' helped me out in exchange for some Mary Kay product- although in all honesty, I got by far the better end of that deal! The nails hot pink were done with my sweet friend Jaime earlier in the day.

Once I spent pretty much the whole day getting ready, Derek and I drove to the TCC- and that thoughtful man dropped me at the door and then went and dropped the girls off at the free babysitting provided for the dance. He met me there and we found a good table (dinner was also provided. Did I mention dance tickets and dinner were free? As in, everything we did that night was awesome-- and FREE?


Dinner was fairly delicious and I was surprised at how good the cake was. Normally I'm not impressed.

And then? The rest of the night was just a fantastic night. See, perhaps I should give a little background here. Derek is an amazing guy. He's funny, he's intelligent, he's just got a great personality and people love him. However, since his favorite past-time right now is the World of Warcraft, few people out here have had a chance to see that side of him. So basically, he was my arm candy that night. We danced for forever and had a ball.


We got to break it down with some super rad people. Overall? It was a great night. Plus, he picked the kids up after sitting, too.

Xandri's First Birthday

My ikkle baby turned 1 yesterday! We kept it pretty low key, we didn't do a big party or anything... honestly, I think a party would have freaked her out. As it was, we just decided to make her first birthday special in other ways.

I picked out what I figured were her favorite foods for her meals: honeycomb cereal for breakfast, swirl coffee cake for lunch (amazing), and anything with noodles for dinner (we did spaghetti). I also made some chocolate cupcakes for her dessert.

I went shopping earlier that day with Avril for her gifts and got them out to wrap. I went to get the wrapping paper, and when I got back I saw that Avril had caught onto the idea- she had gotten all of the presents out of the shopping bags and was handing them to Xandri. So I decided to forgo the wrapping. She had also received two packages earlier in the day: one from Grandpa Jackson (my dad) and one from Grandma Zan (Derek's mom). So once we had all of her gifts open, we cracked open the packages.


Grandma Zan had sent matching outfits for the girls- which Avril noticed immediately and insisted they don right then and there as she stripped down in preparation for the switch.


So after changing their clothes, we opened Grandpa Jackson's package. He sent two books and a See 'n Say (makes animal sounds), and 4 ziploc bags stuffed full of animal crackers and teddy grahams. Xandri went straight for the bags. She seized all four in her little hands and proceeded to crawl around with them, flinging them around and protecting them from the very interested puppies.


Avril was very interested in all the other things, especially the See 'n Say.

Finally, after the day was over, it wound up really being too late for cupcakes. So this morning, I sat Xandri on the counter (a usual occurrence in our house- she's a very careful baby) and turned to make some bread. When I turned back, I found her covered in crumbs from her cupcake.


She had opened the ziploc bag on her own and took matters into her own hands. Just look at that face.

My baby's one.

Avril's 3rd Birthday.... (oh, the shame!)

the Birthday Princess

Yes, the shame. No, it was a darling party--- the shame is that it happened mid-July! So long ago I'll have to look up the date. I think it was the 12th or the 13th. I'm going with the 12th. Even so, it was a super fun party. We had it a little early (her birthday wasn't actually until August 4th) because all her little friends were going to be leaving since most of their daddy's were going out to their rotation sites the next week. In any case, we had a blast celebrating, despite the wicked weather (we were supposed to go to the wading pools, but it was rainy and slightly scary that day, so we just had it at our house).
Melody came over that morning and did a great job on Avril's cake. She mocked me for having a black cake for my three year old daughter, but I had the last laugh--- it looked wonderful and it was a perfect little butterfly! Anyway, here is a little slideshow of the party (and for those of you who came, thanks so much-- Avril had a blast and we miss all you who moved. Though I will take the opportunity here to rub it in your face that we still have cool people who stuck around PLUS new people who have, surprisingly, also turned out to be cool. So maybe you won't be missed as much as you hope.) (Ok, I'm only talking parenthetically now, but really that was just my angry, passive-aggressive jab at you people who moved. Yes, I admit it. I miss you terribly!)

Five Glorious Years

So, Derek and I celebrated our fifth anniversary last weekend. Yeah, I know, I lost my $20, too. Who knew, right? But, wow, what an amazing weekend! We don't usually do a date night because of various reasons (mostly scheduling a sitter around Derek's random studying habits), so it was really refreshing to be able to spend this time together. So a big thanks to Katherine for the overnight sitting and to Melody... and maybe Paul... for babysitting in the morning.

Our lovely night began at the Thousand Hills Lodge for our evening repast...

Now, I'll be honest. It was subpar. I was expecting a little more. First of all, the ambiance was certainly lacking. There was little to no decor, even though they had an amazing view over-looking the lake. Furthermore, their menu was limited and few things on it appealed to me. The food wasn't incredible, but it was good. The steamed broccoli was, perhaps, the best steamed broccoli I've ever had, though. I sent my compliments to the chef on it. I hope he wasn't offended that it was limited to the broccoli...

We also brought Xandri along for dinner (since I'm still nursing her it seemed like it would be the best idea just to have her there for the night). In retrospect, we should have just gone to our favorite restaurant and left her home with the sitter, picking her up right before we went to the cabin.

After dinner, we went back to the cabin where I had set up the OTM table (non-med students read: massage table) and treated each other to some delicious massages. I had also decorated the room a little with candles, music, LOTS of pillows and the like to set the mood (thanks again Melody for your lovely furnishings in that department). Things started getting a little amorous when we started kissing, but there's nothing like two big eyes looking at you from over on the other bed to kill the mood. It'll make you laugh, but you can't quite get back to making out until those big eyes go to sleep.

I had expected the rooms to be cramped, the decor outdated and the beds uncomfortable, much like a Budget Inn or something. So I was pleasantly surprised to discover that they were actually quite roomy and the beds and bedclothing were indeed rather comfortable. Unfortunately, I woke the next morning with a bit of a migraine. Derek offered to take Xandri into our morning sitter (again, thanks Mel!), pick up some breakfast and let me sleep it off. When he returned an hour later, I was ready to rock and roll.

So now... the fun part. For the reader anyway... We went and rented a couple kayaks for about 1 1/2 hours and paddled around the lake. It was so refreshing to be outside in the amazing weather, using our bodies (we both looked down on the lazy people reliant on motors) to propel our boats through the water and just enjoying each other and nature in general. (Lucky for us, they gave us half off the rental price for being students and renting in the morning. Love it.) We found a great little cove with a swim dock in it, tied up the kayaks and laid out for a while.

Now, you may think this was the end of our anniversary celebrations. And in all fairness, it could have been enough. But not for me! I wanted to make the ACTUAL day special. We're usually moving across the country on our anniversary and I can't recall for sure if THE day has ever really been celebrated before. SO. Calling on the brilliant planning strategies and expertise of my friend Eugena, I orchestrated a meal that I think I can claim was not only the best meal I've ever made, but the best meal either of us have ever eaten (barring the outrageously expensive and amazing meals we had at two upscale French restaurants in Georgia...).

Once again, Melody came through with some of her cool decor and I was able to once again, set the mood for dinner. Perfectly planned out and perfectly executed, all the food was ready at the same time and warm at the same time! Yeah, I didn't know it was possible either. Derek didn't actually believe that I made the focaccia bread or the dessert, a panne cotta with fresh strawberries and blackberries (which I totally forgot to take a picture of... crap!). I had to tell him three times on each of them that I did.

Anyway, this is what was on the menu: salmon al cacciatore, grilled portobello, red onions and bell peppers, rosemary and basil focaccia breads, and panne cotta. My mouth is watering even now. I never knew what I had in me. All in all, it was a fitting celebration for five glorious years. I think I may have convinced him to stick around for another five. I know his magic hands & the OTM table convinced me.

Birthdays

Well, today is Derek's birthday. The difficult thing for me is, first of all, how do you handle the Sunday birthday? It tends to be a bit difficult to celebrate ON the day, but at the same time I hardly think it should pass unnoticed--even if it had been celebrated the night before. I've decided to go ahead and make the day special (i.e. he's king of the world today and picks his meals), but all the hoopla happened last night. Plus, let's be honest. How much of this celebration was for Derek and how much was for Avril? She opened at least half of his presents and extracted far more enjoyment from his helium balloons than he did. Did I expect anything different? No. In fact, I really played to her enjoyment!
Furthermore, Derek is a riddle wrapped in an enigma when it comes to birthdays. Two weeks ago, I suggested we attempt a SuperBowl birthday party. He seemed to like the idea, but when I mentioned it again a couple days later, his interest had decidedly waned. So I asked if he would prefer a small get-together. He perked right up. Then he decided he probably needed to study. This Thursday, two days before the party was potentially going to be held, he still hadn't decided on a guest list or if he even wanted a party. He finally made up his mind. Yesterday. At noon. So of course I wanted it to be special and fun and have good food, so I rushed to the store and got a bunch of stuff for hors d'oevres and what not (the MOST delicious bruschetta recipe--- if you ask me, I'll get it to you), chips and salsa, the classic chocolate pudding cake, dip brought by the only friends who knew in advance. Luckily his two single friends had no plans and showed up for a short time. But the two couples I talked to could only tentatively agree to come--- neither did. Next year, I'm throwing a surprise party.