See ya, 2011

I don't think I've ever done a year-end recap...always thinking ahead to the next one, I guess. But 2011 was a big one for us, so I thought it might be fun to spend a few minutes looking back this year.

Obviously, the big news of the year is Baby McBookworm. It took us a long time to decide whether to have kids, then when to have kids, and all the ensuing logistics (we're big on thinking things through), but we know she will be worth the wait. And since we took so much time to plan, we'll be sure to be perfect parents, right? ;)

A close second on the 2011 happenings would be buying a house. This was another huge step for us that was a long time coming. I love owning our own home, but, as with all good things, it has come with plenty of challenges (like the fence collapsing the week we closed).

Wrapping up the top three, Jason and I both completed another year of doctoral work. I finished my residency requirement (two back-to-back full-time semesters) and am now a living testament to "that which does not kill us makes us stronger." ;P We both learned a lot, and we're excited that we just have one(ish) more year of coursework. (This was us during spring finals, I believe.)

Finally, after several years of maintaining two separate blogging identities, I combined my personal and professional lives right here! It's going well so far, but I'll probably at least keep tweaking the look as the year goes along. (Suggestions for that are always welcome, btw!)

Other fun happenings of 2011...our major snow storm in February, our sixth anniversary, and our trip to Seattle. I read about 35 books this year, and favorites included The Power of Half, Bringing Up Girls (and Cinderella Ate My Daughter), and Pretty in Plaid (no review, but it was mighty fun Christmas reading).

Overall, it's been another fabulous, frustrating, fun-filled, faith-requiring year in Fort Worth. We've been blessed to see God's amazing provision time and again, and we're humbled at the blessings He has showered on us this year. We know that He is with us through good and bad circumstances, but we really are grateful for a "good" year. Now we're excited to see where He leads us in 2012!

Merry Christmas!

Hope you're all having a fantastic Christmas! We neglected to take our traditional picture in front of the tree, so here is one of our own little Santa Paws instead...

It's been a wonderful weekend--our church's lovely Christmas Eve service last night, then opening presents while watching A Christmas Story this morning. Now for two more days off!

Since this is our last Christmas as a family of three, we've been thinking of traditions we'd like to start or continue for Baby Girl next year. Jason read her the story of Jesus's birth last night, and I like that idea. We have our favorite movies we watch, of course, and we always include fruit (clementines!) in our stockings. We usually have plenty of reading, cookie-eating, and music-listening, too.

What about yours? What are some of your favorite holiday traditions?

Non-School Reading, Alternative Guide to Dallas, and Renewing Wedding Vows

Anyone reading anything good these days? I've been devouring N.T. Wright's work lately (The Way of the Lord was the latest), and I'm also reading Murdering Mr. Monti by Judith Viorst (of Alexander--the one with the very bad day--fame). It's always fun to take a break from school reading.

But one of the class books I did enjoy from this semester was The Information by James Gleick. It was looong and had some overly technical (from my perspective) chunks in the middle...but, overall, a good read.

One of the bits I found interesting was the discussion on Wikipedia--its history, what gets left in and what gets removed (bringing up the ubiquitous question for information scientists of what is information). I especially enjoy reading the histories on pages to see what edits have been made.

Anyway, here's an article with more on that. I believe there's even a wiki-morgue of sorts out there paying tribute to what is gone.

Moving on...anyone visiting Dallas this holiday season? (If you are, be sure to say hello!) Here's an alternative guide for you, complete with vegan dining options and "cool, random stuff." (And, oddly enough, I just noticed that this came from a site I referenced in my qualitative research final paper...random indeed.)

An update on the digital natives...

And if Mr. McBookworm and I ever renew those vows, I'm thinking this is how we'll do it.

Updates

Creative title, huh? ;)


I'm at the exhausted holiday/end-of-the-semester point, so that's all I got. One more final to go, and I'm not gonna lie, this semester just about did me in. But we believe God has called us to this place in our life, so we believe He has also equipped us to handle the circumstances.


Other than school and work, we've also been blessed with two more baby showers! My pals at work threw us a book shower, and the sweet ladies at church hosted a lovely shower for us as well. {Can I just say that they both knocked it out of the park on the food? Gingerbread men, sugar coated cranberries, cider punch...WOW} 


We're so grateful for everything we've received for Baby Girl!


Now, no update post would be complete without a photo dump, right?

34 weeks and counting... 

Random shot with my wonderful Reference workers {a rare photo op of all of us after a staff meeting}...

We've finally started decorating for Christmas. {Motivation being the above students workers and about 15 others coming over for a partay tomorrow night.}


It's going to be fun seeing how apartment decorations transition into a house. More {hopefully better quality} photos to follow, but we've gotten off to the most important start...the bookshelf...

Meanwhile, we've always just taped the Christmas cards we received to the front closet door, but we wanted to do something different this year. Jason came up with the idea of putting them on a bulletin board we're not using. I covered it in Christmas wrapping paper, and it turned out pretty cute! Also filled a sad, lonely space on our mantel. 

We're not super crafty, so this was a big step for us. 


So now you're updated, and my break's over. Time to put up the tree. Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season so far!