Hectic Holidays

So, what has kept Amy so busy that she can't be bothered to blog, you ask. Well, nothing everyone out there isn't probably doing as well. It was just a surprise when we got back from our cruise that it was already December! I know, it's sad, but true. Living on a tropical island really forces you to look at a calendar to keep track of seasons. Although it has finally cooled off enough that I can wear my cords again. Life is good. This will be a blog mostly of pictures since I got my new camera!

Here is the very first picture taken with my new camera. Anyone want to guess what my subject was? Yep, it was Rana.

She likes to hide under the desk when Chris and I are both in the office. She gets a little nervous when both of us get on the ground because she thinks an ear cleaning is coming. She hates having her ears cleaned!

I've also been busy staying in shape and trying to avoid holiday weight gain. This week alone I have a spouse ornament exchange with heavy appetizers, a squadron potluck, the official squadron party, and my work party potluck! Yikes!

Please note, that it is still warm enough to wear a tank top while running and despite the slightly cooler temps I'm still working up a sweat. One good thing about running early is that the sunrises have been beautiful:

I'm not the only one trying to stay healthy this holiday season. I go through a yogurt pot about every 5 days and Rana reaps the benefits. I love this picture because Rana's eyes are going crazy looking down because the cat has come to investigate:

Last week I was busy making sugar cookies:

My friend Konnie had people over for a candy making night and I took sugar cookies because they're her favorite. The candy night was so much fun. Konnie normally does this on her own, but let a few of us in on her trade secrets. Here she is filling some of the molds:

And Ayako making chocolate covered pretzels:

Konnie breaking the white chocolate peppermint bark! This is my all time favorite!

Here are some turtles. We made these. They look professional, huh?

And an overview of candies we got to take home. The foil wrapped ones have Bailey's and Kahlua. We also made buttercream, chocolate buttercream, and caramels.

I know I already made a post with Rana's Santa pictures, but my new camera lets me take almost continuous shots and this series was cracking me up:

I don't understand why Santa looks so angry! ;)

At this point most of you are probably thinking that we spoil Rana too much, but at least we don't do this:

OK, if Rana wasn't close to 60 pounds we might do that.

With all the excitement of Santa Chris needed a little snack:

But what he really wanted was a BIG snack:

Saturday night Chris made the best pizza ever! Homemade crust, butternut squash, onion, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted pepper, and a 2% sharp cheddar blend. Yummy!

That led to Sunday's dinner which was the best calzone ever! It has mostly the same toppings, but we added chicken and homemade marinara. Holy Yum!

We're taking advantage of all this gorgeous weather with extra long dog walks. The hibiscus are still in full bloom:

Some of our time has also been spent trying to make Rana appreciate the joys of dressing up. We've tried to make her into a triathlete:

As well as an elf:

I'm pretty sure she's not buying into it.

The real place we've spent significant time recently is making the holiday newsletter, buying presents, packaging everything , and getting it shipped out!

Even in today's modern world we send out about 50 Christmas newsletters through the old snail mail. Anyone else out there going with the old postal service this year?

The good news is we're done! Finished! Wahoo! We mailed out everything yesterday. What a relief. I hope everyone is enjoying their December and try to not let this hectic season get to you.