365/365 December is done!

The last month of 2009 and Project 365 and 366-1 are done!

365/365 New Years Eve

Our New Years Eve began with a little treat. This is what was in my stocking this year. Apparently my amazing husband told Santa what I really wanted :)

The Gingerbread ones are my favorite.

Later I played a little with my camera and my nifty fifty lens.

We celebrated a low key New Years Eve. Chili and chilling with our friends at home. We did make it to midnight (just barely) and toasted with sparking cider. Here it is, all ready for the countdown

It's our tradition to eat grapes at midnight for luck. One for each month of 2010 (and I always throw in an extra one)

364/365 Ornaments

As the year winds down, it's time to check the clearance sales. We went to Target in search of our annual ornament and marveled at some of the Christmas rejects.

Is it any wonder that creepy see through, glitter faced Santa is still on the shelf?

How about the odd scuba diving bumble bee?

I actually kind of like the Santa surfing pig - but really????????????

Here's the ornament we finally picked. I really like it.

363/365 Winter Evening

Today was a cold day. We spent most of the day in PJ's, watching movies and enjoying the cold snap. When it came time for dinner it just seemed like the perfect time to use up the little bit of produce I had left in the fridge and make soup. I served it with toasted Dilly bread from Knaus Berry Farm in Homestead, Fl - so yummy!

Matt serving it up

Dilly bread

362/365 Home again, home again

We're back home and our kitties are thrilled! Colors can't get enough of being near us. While we walked around today she stalked us from her perch.

Owen was so happy to get to be "outside" again. He's not really outside, but he gets to go out on our enclosed patio. It's the best of both worlds - he gets to enjoy the fresh air and the smells and he stays safe. He was so happy to discover that "outside" was safe and sound.

It was good to see that my garden survived us being away. We have the BEST cat sitter (Monica, thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Not only does she baby our kitties like they are her own babies, she also took care of the garden. The poinsettia is looking great! This is the one we got last year.

And our tree - it's nice to see our tree again. (Even if this is the view I have before I put my contacts in)

After some running errands and taking it easy, we decided to enjoy the VERY cold (by our standards) weather and head over to Disney World. I really wanted to see The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Hollywood Studios. It's so lovely, especially on a cold night with the fake snow.

In motion

Up close angel

Dancing

One of our favorite things to do there is to try and find the Hidden Mickeys. Some are easy, like these two.

Others are MUCH smaller - the size of three light bulbs. There were 32 this year we found 27 before we were too cold to keep looking.

How cool is this? (BTW, the center soldier is a hidden Mickey - look at his head)

Some pictures of us amid the lights

After getting our fill of lights, we headed over to the Magic Kingdom for the parade and fireworks. It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cold on the tram.

Fireworks over the castle

I love Cinderella's Castle at Christmas.

361/365 Last day in Miami

Today was our last day in Miami. We began the day with some relaxing time in front of my mom's Christmas tree, did some last minute shopping and house hunting for my brother and ended the day with a wonderful dinner. I love my family and the times we get to spend in Miami and it's always so hard to leave. The only thing that makes it easy is knowing that our three lovely kitties can't wait for us to come home.

A few pictures of my mom's tree. It's my favorite kind of tree for a few reasons. One - it's real. In my house we have an artificial one and while I know that it's the best choice for us on so many levels - I do still love a real tree. Two - it's decorated with family ornaments. My mom's tree is like a time capsule of our lives. My baby ornament, my brother's baby ornament, the ornaments we made in preschool and a series of gifts over the years. It also has some amazing handmade ornaments from family members who passed away years ago.

Check out this shot

The egg shaped ornament to the left of the middle was made by Lucille Stelle more than 30 years ago. How cool is that?

The blue and silver one in the bottom left corner were hand painted by our then neighbor and still friend Sonja Nikel. They were a gift at least 15 years ago, because it has been that long since she moved away.

Here's another view:

The white glass ball towards just right of the top middle is part of a set. 6 red, white and blue ornaments my mom purchased in 2001. Her way of showing love for our country during a really difficult year.

At the top right corner you can see two ornaments. The one in the back is a glass ball from Disney World. It's from a family trip in 2000. Every time I see it I remember that really fun time. My brother and I were still in college, it seems like so many lives ago!

Just in front of it is an crocheted bootie that has been around longer than I have been. To the left is a small apple. Those were Christmas gifts from Bony - my mom's friend from before I came along. She gave one to each of us of in the mid 80's.

The front middle ornament was a gift to me in high school when I was playing cello. Just below it to the the left is one of the newest ornaments - initials that my mom gave each of us on Christmas morning this year. The G is for my dad.

How about another view?

The red sparkley glass ball to the left of the center was a gift from me in 2002. I made ornaments for people that year using glitter and handmade decorations. The words on the papers didn't last, but the glitter did!

You can see another momento of a Disney vacation in 2002 to the right of the center.

This is another new ornament this year - from our Christmas trip to Disney. It was my families first time seeing the Candlelight Processional at Epcot and my mom wanted something to remember it with.

After some errands, we went house hunting with my brother. He's been looking into buying his first place and every week he and my dad check out a few places. While we were hunting, we stopped by a house that a family friend of ours hopes to close on soon. It will need a lot of work - but she's up to it. It's a mess right now and apparently some kids have been using it as a dumping grounds for toys. We found this in the front yard.

Afterwards we regrouped at home. Since it was our last night, we took some family photos.

How cute are these two?

One more

And then we enjoyed a fantastic family dinner.