So this was my first Thanksgiving away from The States; away from my family…away from the snow. Fintan took me for a very exotic Thanksgiving lunch. This lunch consisted of sushi, salmon, curries, and bread pudding. It was actually very tasty, though not traditional. Our Thanksgiving dinner was very American (it wasn’t turkey!) we ate microwave popcorn! A store here finally got it in…so though it may not seem like a festive Thanksgiving dinner…it was the BEST for me, I have been craving it for so long! This was also Fint’s first Thanksgiving ever…so hopefully next year we will be able to celebrate it in America and show him how we really do Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is a time to stop and count your blessings so here are a few things I am thankful for, Fint, my family, my girls (Penelope and Tallulah Belle), my nice comfortable home, making so many new memories with Fint and last but certainly not least…Skype.
Winter Wonderland
We were able to get a real cut tree to decorate! Fint and I had to get all new decorations, so we decided on black with red ribbons. It turned out so pretty; a very modern tree. It felt very nice and festive to have a real tree for Christmas.
This Christmas was very unusual for me. On Christmas Eve we held a BBQ by our pool! It was great fun…with meats, salads, sangria and beer. Fint got everyone Santa hats to wear; and we all had a lot of fun swimming in them! However, I may never fully understand why swimming in the pool while wearing a Santa hat is more fun!
Christmas Eve BBQ
We were able to get a real cut tree to decorate! Fint and I had to get all new decorations, so we decided on black with red ribbons. It turned out so pretty; a very modern tree. It felt very nice and festive to have a real tree for Christmas.
This Christmas was very unusual for me. On Christmas Eve we held a BBQ by our pool! It was great fun…with meats, salads, sangria and beer. Fint got everyone Santa hats to wear; and we all had a lot of fun swimming in them! However, I may never fully understand why swimming in the pool while wearing a Santa hat is more fun!
Christmas Eve BBQ
Christmas Dinner was full of new gastronomic experiences for me also. First off we had turkey instead of ham. Then for sides we had Yorkshire pudding, bread sauce, sausages rolled in bacon, a completely different style of stuffing then I am use to, Christmas cake, mince pies, and Christmas pudding with brandy sauce. We had our friends Jessica and Richard over for dinner and had a marathon of Christmas movies. It was great fun.
Cheers to a great dinner!
Irish Coffee
Christmas Pudding with Flaming Brandy Sauce
Ringing In A New Year
2009! Wow 2008 was a fast paced year full of unexpected changes and challenges for me. If I had to choose 2008’s word it would be “whew!” So much has happened in 2008 that I can’t even begin to guess what 2009 has in store for Fint and I!
I have accomplished many things in 2008, some expected and some so not expected. Some I set out to accomplish and some that were imposed upon me; both leaving an equally important and satisfied feeling in my heart. I have had to make huge decisions this past year…life altering decisions, not knowing which path was the logical and sane path. So not equipped with the intellectual understanding of how to choose a rational path for these particular decisions, I chose to let God lead me and follow my heart. I let my heart open up and feel, I closed my eyes, and I jumped. I jumped by faith knowing that it was a long way down if it didn’t work. But this was one gamble I was determined to make, not wanting to live without Fint after falling in love with him. I could stay safe and comfortable in my familiar surroundings or I could go and make a path through the unknown…the greatest revelation I had along the way was, I am not cutting this path alone. Here I thought all this work was going to be on me…and I found the most amazing support group in Fint, my mom, my dad, my brothers, God, and now Fint’s family. What a blessing.
New Year’s Resolutions
Jennifer’s
Here is where I make a lot of promises to myself…go full throttle at them and then most likely let them fall to the side of my path and forget about them. However, this year I am going to throw, “Keep up the momentum!” as one of my resolutions…so we will see. I have the usual resolutions of course, lose weight, pray more, do more charity work, work out, manage my time better, find a job I love…I am not immune to the standard and mandatory resolutions. But this year I have one more…I want to learn to be at rest. I want to learn to find my inner balance…and be at peace with it and my own mind. I have a good life and a great fiancé…I am enjoying life and looking forward to all that God will bring Fint and I in 2009!
Fint’sTo be able to step on the weighing scales without it screaming.
Making RoomWell the holidays are officially over…Fint is at work and I am taking down all of the decorations and removing the tree from the house. I will miss our happy tree; the room will look so empty without it. I definitely missed everyone terribly during these holidays; I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.
2009! Wow 2008 was a fast paced year full of unexpected changes and challenges for me. If I had to choose 2008’s word it would be “whew!” So much has happened in 2008 that I can’t even begin to guess what 2009 has in store for Fint and I!
I have accomplished many things in 2008, some expected and some so not expected. Some I set out to accomplish and some that were imposed upon me; both leaving an equally important and satisfied feeling in my heart. I have had to make huge decisions this past year…life altering decisions, not knowing which path was the logical and sane path. So not equipped with the intellectual understanding of how to choose a rational path for these particular decisions, I chose to let God lead me and follow my heart. I let my heart open up and feel, I closed my eyes, and I jumped. I jumped by faith knowing that it was a long way down if it didn’t work. But this was one gamble I was determined to make, not wanting to live without Fint after falling in love with him. I could stay safe and comfortable in my familiar surroundings or I could go and make a path through the unknown…the greatest revelation I had along the way was, I am not cutting this path alone. Here I thought all this work was going to be on me…and I found the most amazing support group in Fint, my mom, my dad, my brothers, God, and now Fint’s family. What a blessing.
New Year’s Resolutions
Jennifer’s
Here is where I make a lot of promises to myself…go full throttle at them and then most likely let them fall to the side of my path and forget about them. However, this year I am going to throw, “Keep up the momentum!” as one of my resolutions…so we will see. I have the usual resolutions of course, lose weight, pray more, do more charity work, work out, manage my time better, find a job I love…I am not immune to the standard and mandatory resolutions. But this year I have one more…I want to learn to be at rest. I want to learn to find my inner balance…and be at peace with it and my own mind. I have a good life and a great fiancé…I am enjoying life and looking forward to all that God will bring Fint and I in 2009!
Fint’sTo be able to step on the weighing scales without it screaming.
Making RoomWell the holidays are officially over…Fint is at work and I am taking down all of the decorations and removing the tree from the house. I will miss our happy tree; the room will look so empty without it. I definitely missed everyone terribly during these holidays; I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.
Our pretty tree.
Chinese New Year
CNY is the best!! I had a suspicion it would be…but it was better than I imagined! First Fint took me to China Town for a walk around. It was so nice, less busy because of the CNY. After our nice long look around Fint took me to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel for a Chinese dinner, which consisted of Chinese herbal tea, spring rolls, Peking duck rolled in tiny pancakes and beef noodles…soooo yummy!
CNY is the best!! I had a suspicion it would be…but it was better than I imagined! First Fint took me to China Town for a walk around. It was so nice, less busy because of the CNY. After our nice long look around Fint took me to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel for a Chinese dinner, which consisted of Chinese herbal tea, spring rolls, Peking duck rolled in tiny pancakes and beef noodles…soooo yummy!
Our good fortune goodie bag
We were driving home and seen a Lion Dance setting up outside the Hard Rock Café. So we stopped in and got ring side seats, ordered two beers and then got a call. We unfortunately got called away before the dance began because a friend needed us. So although we missed our first Lion Dance, we were able to help a friend in a time of need and all turned out well with them. Not a bad way to start a new year.
In closing…2009, bring it on!
Photos:
Bringing the tree home.
Full fridge for Christmas!
