Twas 3 Days Before Christmas

... and C is on his way home. He has been in TN since this past Sunday for work, and I'm so glad he's getting home today or we'd be late for his birthday/Christmas Eve party with his family. Plus, I miss him.

The only really exciting thing going on this past week was my new Wald bike basket that I have yet to use. Unfortunately, to get anywhere good to ride we either have to ride our bikes down a busy 2-lane highway, or we have to drive our bikes to a good starting point. Maybe we will get a chance to ride tomorrow, but that is unlikely. Isn't he cute? I'll call him Waldo.

Okay I lied, I used it once-- Davie is the best sport

I guess having a half day for work on Thursday and being off on Friday was also exciting. Off until January 3rd!

I had two work parties to attend this week; a potluck after school on Wednesday, and the other with my favorite ODU bunch yesterday for lunch at Traveler's restaurant in Amherst, VA. I thought it was a great little lunch or dinner spot; very cute and the food was good and priced right. For both events I made my favorite buttery cookies, Snickerdoodles. They are made of butter, sugar, and the slightest hint of flour. Everyone seems to love these (or they are just great liars), so here is that recipe:

Snickerdoodles

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1  1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I use slightly more, as in I do not level off the flour)
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in the egg, then stir in vanilla. Combine your dry ingredients and add to wet, stirring as you go. Roll the dough into 24 small balls (about ping pong ball size), then roll each one in your combined sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake on 375*F for 8-10 minutes, or until golden. Let cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Book update:

• I finished Ridiculous by D.L. Carter, and yes, it ended up being a romance. Woo. It wasn't too bad though ;) It was silly, but I loved the ending!
• I couldn't get started on Eldest. I tried, but I'm just not into it right now. Plus, I have a back log of books to read that I've gotten from the library and that people have lent to me. I will try this series again at another time.
• Right now: I'm reading Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. This is one of those that have been lent to me, so I'm diving right in. It is supposed to be another Twilight knockoff (with a twist of course), so I'm a little hesitant, but I'll give it a try. So far: Bella is a 10th grader who lives with a single and absent mother who travels constantly for work (don't worry, they have a maid), Edward is a good-looking moody dark angel of some sort, and Forks, WA is Maine. And the Edward character is called... Patch. I'm only on chapter 3, so that's all I've got for now.
• I am also re-reading Little Women on my Kindle. Perfect time of year for this book!

Merry Christmas everyone!

First Post and Various Updates

Hello! My first post on my new blog. As usual I'm not sure what to expect from blogging, but we'll see what happens here.

First post and already so many things to talk about. 

Unfortunately, the second-most deadly school shooting occurred yesterday in CT at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and I would be remiss not to mention it here. Because I work in a school (Middle grades), and I have my teaching certification in PreK-6, this truly hit home for me.  The horror of what these teachers, students (20 children, dead!), and parents are going through is unimaginable to me. My fiance (who I will refer to as C) was present for the most deadly school shooting (at the time of my writing this) at Virginia Tech in 2007, and the horror of that tragedy is still so fresh in my mind. There really isn't much more I can say on the topic, I just wanted to document it here. Unbelievable how many senseless shootings and mass murders have taken place in our country recently.

Good news from this week: wedding location! C and I have been engaged since January and are now on location and date 3 for our upcoming wedding. While we would both love for all of our family members and friends to be present on this day we are so excited for, we finally came to the conclusion that a big (for us) traditional wedding with all the frills and customs of catering, table settings, invitations, seating arrangements, and decorations, among many other "requirements" of planning an American wedding, are not for us. I am thrilled about our current plan-- a mid-June wedding in Yosemite National Park. We are waiting on confirmation of a family member who is trying to rearrange her schedule at work for the date, and to officially apply for the permit, but hopefully once that takes place and we get approval, plane tickets and hotel reservations will be made! We had planned on a UK tour for our honeymoon, but now that we will already be out in California we plan to drive to San Francisco and up through wine country. I am SO excited. England will wait. Plus, getting to say our vows with this view... priceless (not really, it'll cost quite a bit ;) :

(Source: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2197514)

We had an exciting night last night. Our little mouser Davie found and hunted down an annoying mouse who we've been hearing within our ceiling/floor between our first and second levels. Downside: this happened at 2 a.m. Upside: although Davie didn't quite kill the little fella, C managed to trap the very tired and injured mouse under a trashcan, then transferred him to a bucket with a lid. He released him this morning in the woods near our house, which I've heard isn't the greatest idea (since they know how to get back in), but hopefully the terror of the great Mouse Hunter Davie will deter him from returning here.

Heh.

I suppose this is a long enough start for now. I do want to make note of two books I'm currently reading:

1. The second book in the Inheritance cycle by Christopher Paolini, Eldest. I read Eragon a few months back because it has many things I enjoy in a fun read: magic, dragons, a hero, possible love story, action, and so on. However, I understand the negative fuss over these books. Compare this series side by side with J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, and you'll see the ridiculous similarities. Despite the obvious lack of originality, I am still enjoying these books. My only real problem is the length (Eldest is about 700 pages long!) and the fact that these books definitely drag in many places. It took me much longer than usual to finish the first in the series, despite wanting to see how the story progressed. I am still giving the second book a shot, though.
2. Ridiculous by D.L. Carter. This was a free e-book on Amazon that I've been reading on my Kindle during my lunch breaks and while walking/biking on machines at the gym. I think it is billed as a romance, but as I am just over halfway in I am still in the comedy/unrequited love part of the book. It really is a funny book and I find myself chuckling out loud while reading, but I feel like things are about to take a turn. I look forward to seeing how this one ends!
3. Next up: the Matched trilogy by Ally Condie. The assistant librarian at my school recommended this series to me, and I just checked the first two out from the library to read during the holiday break. I've heard/read mostly good things about these books so I'm looking forward to starting Matched.

Hopefully I will update on my progress with these later. I wish everyone a great weekend. Only 3.5 days of work until Winter Break!