Just Because

Back from Vegas

More about the trip soon...

Complete

I was able to finish the mosaic puzzle mentioned in the previous post this weekend with help from my sister-in-law Heather. Definitely a challenging puzzle, but still no match for me :) We had a college reunion of sorts this weekend and it was a blast! Thank you Drew, Chad, John, Spike, Heather, Josh, Bishop, & Val for making the trip to Bemidji to hang out! I fell asleep early - whereas everyone else (except Bishop of course!) went to the bar for Saturday night karaoke. I hear there is video somewhere out there and if I get my hands on it I might have to embarass them by posting it :) It was awesome having everyone back here and we will definitely have to make it a habit!

I also made a few wallets today - hopefully these will help eliminate the need for a purse in Vegas - since I am prone to losing things constantly! The first one took a bit, but once I had the pattern down I was able to make four more fairly quickly. One for each of us, plus a spare :)

Challenge

This puzzle may look pretty easy - but it is actually a mosaic puzzle - so each piece actually is made of little tiny pictures of flowers - and when you put them together they make one big flower :) Both the puzzle and the mat were christmas gifts from my hubby - thanks babe! I already have about a sixth of the puzzle done, basically because I am that good ;)


In other news - just booked a spur of the moment trip to Vegas in a few weeks with a coworker/great friend who always has her eye out for deals! Thanks Stacy - you are awesome and I know we will have a great time :) Four nights at the Golden Nugget sounds pretty sweet to me!

Happy Holidays :)

First pic shows a few of the gifts we received, followed by a few pics from our second annual Christmas Eve Eve dinner. This year I made Chicken Parisienne (one of my faves from Gram P. ), calico beans, fresh green beans with creamy portabello mushroom sauce mix from Tastefully Simple, garlic/bacon/ranch mashed red-skinned potatoes, and of course a veggie tray with dill dip. Our awesome guests brought the drinks, including a 20 year old bottle of port from Aunt Lisa and homemade mead from Sean. Heather made the dessert this year - as shown in the pic - which was a frosted chocolate mini bundt cake sprinkled with crushed candy canes, with a homemade chocolate shot glass inside filled with chocolate-mint liqueur - YUM! As you can see from Sean - that shot helped make for a good time indeed :)
Christmas was then spent in Brainerd at Gram's house, followed by New Years in Nashwauk. Not too shabby for this year's holidays - good food, good company, and a warm place to stay - I really cannot complain!
The last pic shows an update of how my flowers are growing in my new greenhouse - amazing how fast they have grown - the daffodils are blooming already, and the amaryllis is close.