In the Christmas Spirit

First off, I'm learning how to blog with my photos embedded, and yes, I know my last post overlapped my links a bit. It took two tries to get it to look like that, so bear with me as I learn. :)

I am getting in the Christmas spirit this weekend. I have most of my shopping done, thanks to the internet. Seriously, I think I will only have to go to the store for stocking stuffers.

I have had all my decorations up for a couple of weeks now. This year, I even got little clips and put lights in my giant window overlooking my patio. Only I and my close neighbors can enjoy, but that's fine with me. I had friends over yesterday to do some Christmas baking. We made peanut butter balls and caramels. I am very impressed with my parents' nextdoor neighbor Debbie--she makes those and about a dozen other treats every year and I got bored just stirring caramel for over an hour. While Sam and I baked, Cameron and Brad assembled a gingerbread house that i'm going to try to bring to work--we'll see if it can make the 4 block walk.

Now I need to do a little online shopping for wedding gifts for 2 weddings I have this month. As I do it, I will sit in the glow of my Christmas lights and listen to Amy Grant's Home for Christmas as I sip a cup of coffee. I wonder if it will snow again--it has snowed twice today already (with no sticking--my kind of snow) Here are a few pics of my place at Christmas:

Fall Adventures

I'm a little behind on what's been going on in my world, so here's a quick update. I moved in early September to my new condo (thanks to help from my parents). Here is are a few photos of my new place, with a little organization left to do so I can live neatly.

My living room:


My dining room (which is technically part of my living room):


In late September, my maternal grandfather passed away. I was able to see him when I went home in July, which was a real blessing. Another blessing: my brother got me a plane ticket for nearly free instead of the thousand it would've cost. One our way back to Minneapolis, we spent a little time reminiscing around Lake Okoboji where we spent a lot of childhood summers. here are a few pics.

The Nutty Bar stand in Arnolds Park where we often went right before getting back on the boat to head back "home":


My very first roller coaster:


My grandparents' mailbox:


Our beach:


I also had a few social events in October. I had a costume party in honor of the season premiere of The Office and Mark and Danielle came to visit for a long weekend as week.

Cam, Sam, Brad, and Maurice:


Danielle and Mark at Haystack Rock (from The Goonies) in Cannon Beach, OR):


In work adventures, two great things happened. I achieved my Intermediate Certification and just this past week I received an additional boost and am one of our first few Master Level Certified Coaches at InsideTrack. Additionally, we had a significant shuffling happen and the DeVry coaches moved to a building down the street. Here is a picture of the new view from the 8th floor (we were on ground level in the last office):


Well, I'll try to be a little more diligent in my posting from now on so I don't have to post a billion pictures and notes at once. :)