2010: A Year in Review

January

Celebrated Scott's Birthday.

Took Allison back to Texas Woman's.

Arrived in Aix en Provence for our semester abroad.

February

Spent a long weekend in Paris.

Traveled to Rome, Assisi, and Venice for winter break.

March

Spent a long weekend in Geneva.

Took an excursion with our study abroad program, where the great hay debacle occurred.

April

Traveled to Edinburgh, Dublin, and London for spring break - with a surprise trip to Paris.

Celebrated Adam's birthday.

May

Spent a long weekend in Barcelona and day-tripped to Monaco.

Flew back to Houston in time for my birthday.

June

Observed our last dating anniversary.

Celebrated Allie's birthday.

Took a family vacation to Austin and San Antonio.

July

Was surprised with an awesome shower and bachelorette party.

Got married!

August

Was a bridesmaid in Arli and Phil's wedding.

Honeymooned in Cancun.

Moved back to Pittsburgh.

September

Attended Steve and Elizabeth's wedding.

Rode the tallest, fastest roller coaster in the world at Cedar Point.

October

Participated in fun fall activities like the Newman Center Barn Dance, football games, a trip to the pumpkin patch, and Halloween.

November

Toured Fallingwater.

Attended Sam and Ben's wedding.

Roadtripped to Denton and Austin.

Spent Thanksgiving in Houston.

December

Became dedicated basketball fans.
Almost died laughing at a Second City performance.

Celebrated Christmas.

What a wonderful year!

P.S. Here's our 2009 year in review.

2010: Travel

We were quite the little travelers in 2010. This year we lived in:

- Aix en Provence, France {January to May}

- Houston, Texas {May to August}

- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania {August to December}

And we spent at least one night in:

- Paris, France

- Rome, Italy
- Assisi, Italy 

- Venice, Italy

- Geneva, Switzerland
- Saintes Maries de lar Mer, France

- Edinburgh, Scotland

- Dublin, Ireland

- London, England

- Barcelona, Spain

- Austin, Texas

- Cancun, Mexico

- Slidell, Louisiana

- Elizabethtown, Kentucky

- Denton, Texas

Hark, The Herald Angels Sing

Glory to our newborn King!

Christmas Celebration

Last Friday, Adam and I had our first Christmas celebration as married people. First, we enjoyed a delicious dinner of pulled pork and mac & cheese. Not exactly your typical Christmas fare, but we'll get plenty of that good stuff with our families, so we just cooked up our favorite meal instead. Just so you know, that's iced tea, not wine!

Then it was time to open our stockings.

Santa brought each of us two J.Crew shirts {he knows us so well!} and dark chocolate Hershey's Kisses.

Adam's gift to me was Photoshop Elements - to use with our fancy new camera!

Adam had four presents under the tree. I told him which order to open them in. In the first box, he found a nun-chuck.

Then a Wii controller and Super Mario game.

And the last present was a Wii!

Happy, happy husband! I went a little over our Christmas budget {the wii was actually used}, but I figured it was okay because I did some clothes shopping over the last few months, while Adam didn't buy anything for himself.

We ended the evening with Christmas cookies and a classic holiday movie - the Bishop's Wife.

Now, we're back in Houston for two weeks, spending some quality time with our family and friends. Stay tuned for a few posts recapping 2010!

Second City

After a long week of finals, there's nothing better than just laughing your butt off. So, last night, Adam and I went to a comedy show put on by Second City, a hilarious improv troupe from Chicago. We actually saw them once before, on a Pitt marching band trip to Notre Dame.

{Two years ago, as a lowly sophomore and freshman.}

When we heard the Second City was coming to Pittsburgh {and that tickets were only $15 for students} we jumped at the chance to see them perform again. We had such a great time!

So, so many legendary comedians got their start at Second City. Steve Carell, Rachel Dratch, Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey - just to name a few. We couldn't help but wonder if any of the actors we saw would be famous in a few years!

Let it Snow

I can get pretty grumpy about the cold, but snow makes everything better. Adam and I took a break from studying yesterday to walk through Schenley Park, which transformed overnight into a winter wonderland.

 

Baked Potato Soup

When it's hovering around fifteen degrees outside, there's nothing better than a warm bowl of soup for dinner.

Baked Potato Soup

{From Southern Living}

Ingredients:

5 large potatoes

1/4 cup butter

1 medium onion, chopped

1/3 cup flour

1 quart half-and-half

3 cups milk 

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

8 bacon slices, crumbled 

Directions:

1. Bake the potatoes in a 350 degree oven for one hour.

2. Melt butter in a large pot and saute onion until tender. Add flour, stirring until smooth. 

3. Stir in the potatoes, half-and-half, milk, salt and pepper. Cook over low until thoroughly heated.

4. Top each serving with cheese and bacon. Makes eight servings.

We enjoyed our soup with green beans and delicious garlic-cheddar biscuits.

Our Weekend

Even with finals looming, we managed to have quite a fun weekend! On Saturday afternoon, we went to a Pitt basketball game at the Consol Energy Center, where the Penguins play.

Pitt faced their toughest opponent yet, Tennessee.

Sadly, Pitt just had a really off day and lost by seven points.

Ahh, I crack myself up. {About 99% of the time after I make a joke, I start laughing really, really hard. Adam ends up laughing not at the joke itself, but at how hard I'm laughing at my own joke.}

On Saturday night, we went to a Christmas party thrown by Brett {the head FOCUS leader at the Newman Center} and his wife, Natasha.

There was lots of delicious food and good conversation.

The highlight of the party was the white elephant gift exchange. Brett's gift was a live lobster!

We gave two $5 gift cards to our favorite places around campus, Pamela's Diner and Dave & Andy's Ice Cream. We got a random assortment of goodies - chocolate, body spray, and sponges.

The next day, we directed the nativity play at Sunday School. It was both awful and adorable. Then we had a little party with Christmas cookies and a Veggie Tales movie. I'm going to miss my little kiddos so much over the break!