Ice in Folsom

You can find a fun little ice rink in Old Folsom during the holidays. Mo has never been ice skating so of course we had to go. Below, Our attempt at synchronized skating. We never did get it right for the camera.

It looks small, but it was plenty big enough for those of us who were inexperienced. (Me included.)

Enough with the nice pictures. This is how it really went down:

(Below, Anna trying to skate backwards. Didn't even move an inch.)

I fell three times..."Toe pick!"Zuki did great after she got over her initial shock of falling—I don't think she knew what to expect. And Mo did great too, he made sure the wall was in good solid condition throughout the evening.

Thanks Dad for taking pictures all night and Mom for hanging out, we love it when you guys are there!

Random Games

Hayden loves the board game Quelf. It had us doing some very random things...I don't know which she likes more, being silly, or watching everyone else be silly.

New years Eve we each planned 2 minute to win it games. We finished playing about 5 minutes before midnight. Good timing!

Below: the guys picking their weapon—a needle they must thread more times than their opponent.

And lastly, we learned how to play Craps. It's a little difficult to wrap your head around at first (especially if you're like me and can't hold numbers in your head) but after playing several times we got the hang of it—although I wouldn't put our knowledge of the rules up against a casino's rules. But it was fun! Hayden cleaned house.

Magic Pixie Dust

Because of the fairy portal, Tinkerbell has been a frequent visitor to Natalie's house. So, since they are good friends, I wrote a letter to Tinkerbell asking if she collect some pixie dust for me so I could give it to Zuki for Christmas.

The dust arrived in a cute little pouch with a tiny little letter from Tinkerbell describing how the magic works. She told Zuki to sprinkle a little bit on her food and after she eats it, the magic will start working. Each color will do something different. They will help her to feel happy, brave, smart, and be a good listener. Tinkerbell instructed to use it carefully as it takes a long time to collect enough pixie dust to send to a human (as you know, they only get one cup at a time—a fairy cup that is.)

I was able to make this for just the cost of the sprinkles. Everything else I had on hand. I don't know if it's a popular item or not since it's not a toy. But it was fun to make! Thanks Maryann, your blog about sprinkles has been on my mind ever since I read it...and that's what sparked the idea!

When Santa Visits

Santa used to leave a room filled with balloons when we were growing up. With the help of Dwynne, once again balloons have been a main attraction for the kids. Zuki went to bed and was terribly exited about seeing them in the morning. But Malaika got a sneak peak the night before...and then some.

Merry Christmas all!

Provençal White Bean Soup

This is a quick, light, french soup. After having several heavy meals over Christmas, it is the perfect dish best served with Dad's dutch oven french bread. Click here for the soup. Click here for the bread.

If You're Ever Stuck

Little did we know what an odd day our trip home from Mom and Dad's would be. We flew standby on Southwest (thanks to some thoughtful friends) which means we take our chances on catching flight, and if there are empty seats available, we are last to board and you know what that means—squishing between two strangers and frequently waving at your husband from across the plane who is vying for shoulder room between his neighbors. 

This time I was stuck next to someone who kept tooting! I'm sorry but what is a girl to do?!? Every few minutes a new wave of foul air wafted my way. I tried different methods of breathing techniques, through the mouth, short quick breaths...not breathing at all. In the end I decided it would be best to be unconscious—and tried to sleep. Thankfully we reached our layover at San Diego an hour and half later and I could breathe again. I found Adam, sat next to him, and we were off to our next layover in El Paso.

El Paso provided a new kind of adventure; all power to the terminals was out due to bad weather. We exited the plane down a set of stairs on roller, onto the tarmac and entered a cold building with no heating and no available food. I knew I should have packed a lunch and a coat! We waited to board standby through two flights, and to our dismay, found there were no more planes heading out to Dallas that night. 

Welcome to El Paso.

Normally I would have gutted it out at the airport. But with no power, no food, and already freezing...we were ready to pay the cost of a rental car and a hotel. We asked the woman at the car rental for a restaurant referral. I mean, we were in El Paso...what should we NOT miss? El Paso is close to the border so she suggested heading toward Carlo's and Mickey's Authentic Mexican. 

(Above image found here.)

These weary travelers couldn't have been happier to find somewhere to relax, warm up and eat. So if you're ever stuck in El Paso, try it out. The food was great. Check out my giant tostada chip!

The atmosphere was fun and crowded (despite the photos.) and there's live music every night! I'll bet you can't guess what kind :) 

Everything was quite spicy. We are told everyone and their mother eats here. I'm glad we went. It was just what we needed to lift our tired spirits.

Later we bought some toiletries and headed to a hotel. After ANOTHER layover in Austin, we finally made it home the next day. I'll tell you, I was VERY happy to be done. And although we made the most of it...I hope we don't get stuck in El Paso, (or next to someone with intestinal distress) ever again.

On Kids and Pictures

Photographing kids takes talent.

Evidently I don't have it.

No More Payments!!!

We pushed really hard in 2012 to pay off the car and my student loans. 

WE DID IT!!!

How did we do it? Ever hear of Dave Ramsey? Ever hear of Gazelle Intensity? Or perhaps The Total Money Makeover book? That's how. We are following Dave's plan to get out of debt, stay out of debt, and build wealth. It's been hard, and we went without doing a lot of things but this year we paid off the car 13 months early and my student loan 3 years early. Next we'll start working Adam's school loan. We are SO excited about it, I can't even tell you. 

Below is Anna and Zuki making that last payment of $577.92. 

Then for extra umph we printed out the payment receipt and burned it.

The next day we headed down to Folsom (we were in California) and had a wonderful lunch at FATs Asian Bistro to celebrate. (I could hardly hold my tongue, I wanted to tell all our servers why we were there.) I highly recommend the place but make reservations. I am told they are ALWAYS busy. We waited almost an hour for a seat. (Images found here.)

Just in case you decide to go: The food was delicious, and the building is directly off Highway 50. Anna chose Thai Seafood in a Fat Pot (shrimp, scallops etc. in a rich coconut red curry broth. It was enough food for about three meals.) Adam got Red Chili Tiger Prawn Noodles (tiger prawns marinated in chili, grilled and served on a bed of lo mein noodles with green beans and oven dried tomatoes in garlic sauce.)

And our fortunes couldn't have been more appropriate for the occasion.

I'm sure once Adam's payments are over, and we are completely debt free...we'll have an even bigger celebration!

Anna's New Year Mantra

Instead of setting multiple goals and ultimately NOT meeting them, I wanted this year to be different. Actually, I needed this year to be different. So I have adopted a mantra and I will recite it often.

You'll see it behind my eyes when I'm talking. It will seep through my grimacing teeth whenever I think of Texas. And you know I'll be screaming it when I'm exercising. THIS word is going to help me achieve all that is needful for an accomplished year.

(Adam is still working on his Mantra. I am sure it will be fabulous...)