Christmas (part one)

I am a little late posting on Christmas as I failed to take my camera out very often so I had to ask others to forward their photos along. It was a nice, quiet Christmas but we missed Ryan's parents - Donna and Sandy and also Todd, Cathy, Owen and Grant out in Oregon.
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Let's get started...Christmas Eve was for Ryan and I. I had reserved this night awhile back when I said this was "our" night and we were to have a romantic dinner out and chill back home by the twinkly lights. We had done this once years ago when we were dating and it was so much fun. So, we headed to a local Italian restaurant, Fratello's, which is in a renovated mill building in downtown Manchester for some yummy pasta and brick oven pizza. We had a great time and it was complete with twinkly lights and a festive pianoman that entertained us.

Here is our table at Fratello's - you can see me in the dark background perusing the menu. There is the yummy bread basket to the right!

We had my mom, dad, sister Jodi, brother-in-law Jon and nephews Ethan and Aaron over for brunch on Christmas Day. The kiddos were patient enough to allow us to cook, eat and clean up before we opened gifts. We had a menu of blueberry pancakes, bacon, cheesy eggs, scrambled eggs, bagels, blueberry bread (handmade by my dad - yum!) and fruit salad. Ryan, Cood and I.

Aaron, Jodi and Jon after brunch and presents. Time for a nap!My mom and I.

We also celebrated with Ryan's brother Mark, sister-in-law Allison and niece and nephew Chelsea and Hunter but I have no photos... I think taking the camera out more often is a good New Year's resolution! Overall, a great holiday. A belated *cheers* to you all!

Zzzzz....

My two favorite guys were snoozing on the couch and I could not resist snapping the photo. How cute are they?

Cats 101

I have to preface this post by saying that I do promise to write about something other than our cat sometime very soon but this was too funny not to share....

I found a show called Cats 101 on Animal Planet and I thought it was pretty cool so I DVR'd a few episodes and Ryan and I sat down to watch one with dinner last night. The show tells some personal stories about cat owners and their beloved pets (like the cat who saved her family from carbon monoxide poisoning) but it also tells some interesting facts about different breeds and the fun details you might not necessarily know about your cat.

So, I have detailed in a past blog about how Coodie seems to like Grey's Anatomy because he actually sits and watches almost entire episodes with me. Other than Grey's, he doesn't seem to have much interest in the TV. Well, as you may have guessed...Cats 101 was a different story. Not only did he watch it...he sat about as close as he could sit to the TV and stared straight at it in a complete trance for the entire hour. His head bopped around following the cats on the screen and if we interrupted him he would "yell" at us and then go right back to watching the screen.

Here he is with his new favorite show. We had to bathe him today - which he is obviously not a big fan of -so I am hoping another saved show will appease him. The only problem is that when we shut it off, he runs around the house like a madman! Cats 101 24/7? Not so much....apparently, we just need smaller doses!

So, before you say it...we have already been told twice this weekend that it is about time we have kids (since our cat is so spoiled). OK, guys...we'll think about it!

A Visit to the Vet

Like most cats, Coodie doesn't like to leave home. If he even sees that he is headed toward the car he gets stiff, his eyes get big and he meows like no tomorrow... and it gets worse if he is in his carrier because he bangs his little nose into the cage. I usually feel bad for him and hold him on my lap for the 5 minute drive to the vet's office. Luckily, we do not need to take him in the car very often but today he had his yearly physical. I had the day off and Ryan and I (the proud parents) brought him in to be checked out. The ladies at the office always remember him as does the Doctor. He is a local celeb.
Poor Cood in his little cage....





"I am outta here before she takes my temp again!"

Cood is watching for the Doctor.....

Our big boy weighed in at 13.5 pounds and got a clean bill of health!

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When we got home, we put up our new little tree. Cood got over his anxiety pretty quickly as he had something new to contend with....

Feeling Festive

Ahhhh, you have to love Thanksgiving weekend....a nice 5 day weekend to ramp up for Christmas. Ryan and I did not have to travel far this year so we took some time to decorate, organize and relax. We both started having the Christmas bug on "Black Friday". Having been a former retail manager, going out to shop is my biggest nightmare on "BF" so we generally stay away from the stores. So, we started each morning with a 5-7 mile power walk or trip to the gym then came back to clean one of our closets that were absolute disasters. Ryan also took a trip to the Grenon Trading Post in Bedford and scored some amazing deals on festive decor. We are headed back there tomorrow to see what else we can find.... anything over $30 is 1/2 off! Gosh, are we bargain shoppers or what?? Here are some photos of our accomplishments:

Kitchen closet #1 - such a disaster before it was almost dangerous. I only wish we had thought to take a "before" photo to show the difference!

Kitchen closet #2 - this closet was overrun with coats, jackets, mops, brooms and other random items that we had forgotten about since we moved here in 2006. Good times!

And now for the festive photos....

Here is our new centerpiece for our dining room table. These poor snowmen have been through the ringer in the last few years. They have been super-glued back together at least 3 times due to Coodie's tail knocking them off the kitchen cart. We decided to move them this year and see how they fare.

Welcome to our home! Our front door - the wreath is fresh and smells like fresh pine. Hey, if we can't have a fresh tree at least we have a wreath!


We also put our window lights in and Ryan lit up the small tree in front of our place so here is the evening shot.

Happy pre-Christmas festivities to everyone!! Enjoy the decorating, Christmas music, good food, etc etc etc ....

Good Friends and Fam

Last weekend, Ryan and I drove to Amherst to see Ryan's cousin Lindsy, husband Mike and two beautiful daughters Phoebe and Olivia. We used to spend a few holidays a year with them but now haven't seen them in two years! We love these guys and have tried to make plans for awhile but it hasn't materialized even though they live about 20 minutes away. So, we finally had solid plans and headed to see their new house and "new" baby Olivia (she just turned one!). After the full tour and some catching up, we headed to our regular weekend spot to go for a walk in the woods.

Above, you'll see the whole Faucher gang and below is a close up of Olivia - so cute! We had a great time catching up with Lindsy and Mike but also LOVED seeing the girls. We promise we won't wait so long next time! Hopefully, there is a Christmas Yankee Swap in our near future....

I love my gadgets!

As we speak, I am blogging from my relatively new iPhone. How cool is this?


Here is Ryan playing with his new phone ... We both love them.
Tonight I started searching for new apps by scouring the Internet and the "best of"
lists and am amazed by the technology that I have just begun to scrape the surface of. As I said, I love my gadgets but most get old quickly. I think this one will stay fun and fresh for quite some time!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone