annual christmas photo

christmas eve eve 2007 - vallejo, ca

another tradition! ever since we've owned a digital camera, we've taken an annual christmas photo.

usually, its taken at around midnight on christmas eve, after having spent the evening with mark's family and just before opening our presents to each other - which means that sometimes the photo sessions are cut short due to a combination of tiredness and anticipation!

this year's photo was taken two days before christmas....we wanted to take it at our home, and tomorrow we'll be heading back to chicago for the week!

so i'll take this opportunity to wish you a very merry christmas. may God richly bless you this holiday season.

love,

audrey

christmas eve 2006 - rogers park, chicago, il

sadly, our photos from 2003 - 2005, when we lived in evanston are permanently "stored" on a crashed hard drive. anyone know how these might be retreived? three years of photos is a lot to loose.

christmas eve 2002 - schaumburg, il

christmas eve 2001 - our first christmas married - des plaines, il

christmas day 2000 - newly engaged! photo taken at the cruz's home, chicago, il

isn't it fun to see how much we've changed (and grown up) over the years?

quality friday: christmas traditions

Christmas time is here
Families growing near
Oh that we could always see
Such spirit through the year







with christmas just around the corner (yay! hooray!), the week has brought with it a few christmas traditions for mark and i...

christmas trees

since we've been married, we have only ever purchased fresh christmas trees for our home. we love the smell of pine and the festivity that it adds to our home.

last year, our rogers park apartment didn't really have room for a tree so sadly, we didn't have one. and this year, since we'll be traveling to chicago for christmas, we briefly considered forgoing one again.

we quickly discovered, however, that although mid-50 degree weather doesn't make it feel like christmas outside, a tree, decorations and candles lit inside will do just the trick! off we went, found ourselves a fresh tree, and smiled at the cheer it brought to our home.

that, and the little ceramic tree with tiny colorful lights, that's pictured above. as a little boy, mark loved decorating this mini-tree, and although the bright star on top broke many years ago, and a few of lights have been lost over the years, we hope that some day our children will love doing just the same.

that very first gift

although i didn't realize it as a tradition until this year, i now recognize that opening the very first christmas gift in our home deserves its own place on the list.

you see, the earlier we finish christmas shopping (for each other, that is), the sooner this tradition surfaces. some years it finds its way into our homes on the morning of the 24th, just after all the gifts are wrapped. and on other years - like this one - it happens even sooner.

inevitably, my dear husband (who loves christmas and presents very much), will look at me with sweet and innocent eyes, and ask, "can we open just one?"

"please?", he asks. or worse, "i really want you to open one. i don't care if i do or not."

i've never been able to resist the pleading, so why start now? officially, its a tradition in our home - one that we celebrated on thursday this year.

and my gift? this lovely wristlet that i'd been wanting. thank you sweetie! more traditions will follow as we make our way to christmas day. until then, happy quality friday to you!

sweet home, chicago

last week brought me back home for a few days, and boy were they busy ones! i packed in as much "seeing people" as i possibly could, and here's a bit of a recap of the little taste of home that this quick trip brought!

• wednesday afternoon, my plane landed and i got to see snow on the ground!
• quickly headed to my parents, let myself in, tiptoed into the living room (not that it was a surprise, but still), and was greeted with squeals and hugs from my mom and dad. dad's first comment was "i'm having trouble getting to your blog...can you help me with that" :)
• daniel was home, too, and jonathan got home shortly afterwards, having just finished his last final (congrats, jonny!) - we all headed out to dinner, and enjoyed a scrumptious meal.
• brandon joined us for dessert, and after some light shopping in downtown evanston, mom and i headed over to see his NEW CONDO!!! it really is gorgeous. proud of you, brandon!

• thrusday, i headed in to work for the day, and then had a delicious dinner out with my work team.
• i left and got to my old high school just in time for my brother, daniel's, concert choir performance. they sounded amazing - great job, daniel!
• mark's dad, norman was there, too. and i got to see my choral conductor, mrs. brown, from my own concert choir days! as in, the teacher from the class where mark and i met almost thirteen years ago. i haven't seen her in over 10 years!
• afterwards, the family enjoyed a relaxing night at home - brandon's girlfriend, shruti, was also at the concert and hung out later with us.

• friday brought another busy day at work, which i got to break up with a wonderful lunch with my dear friend, lindsay. i really do miss her.
• after work, i stopped by my friend precious' home, for a quick visit with her, and to meet her beautiful twins! jakob and jaimie are beautiful, and i'm so happy for this wonderful family.
• after picking up some wine, i met melissa for dinner at a local favorite (seriously, they make good everything), and even ran into our friends mandy and don, who were having dinner there, too!
• we got to spend the rest of the evening enjoying melissa's beautifully decorated pine scented home and some catch-up bff time. and i finally got to see her spain photos:)

• and saturday morning, i woke up for an early flight home. snow was falling, beautifully covering the ground, and it felt like christmas to me. ahhh.

i can't wait to head back next week. it'll be fun for mark and i to be there together this time, and we're looking forward to a wonderfully busy week. save some snow for him, okay?

quality friday: afternoon breaks

some days desperately call for a little something extra to break up the monotony or busy-ness of the day.

back when i worked in an office [i know, i'm saying that like it was ages ago], i would enjoy a lunch-hour run with my workout buddies, as a way to clear my head and rejuvenate for the afternoon ahead. it worked wonders, and now that i work from home, you'd think that these types of breaks would be easier to take. in fact, they're not.

when i'm on the road, there are definitely days when my lunches are either highly condensed or completely non-existent. on the days i'm working from home i either find myself forget about lunch, or i spend the hour checking my personal e-mail, friend's blogs, or other such stationary activities. sadly, at the end of the day, i look back and realize that i've just spent 8+ hours sitting on my couch with my computer on my lap and a phone to my ear, having done almost no physical activity at all.

not only do i end up feeling sluggish, lethargic, and just plain gross, but my back and neck have also started to ache from my poor posture.

this week, i finally determined that i was going to make an effort to do something active, something enjoyable or at least something that didn't involve a computer on my lunch hour. on tuesday, it was a trip to the bank and a walk around the grocery store to pick up ingredients for dinner. on wednesday, a run on the treadmill while watching martha make fudge [and have i mentioned that my knee no longer hurts when i run?!?!?!]. on thursday, some pilates and stretches at home, because the rain was coming down something fierce.

and friday break certainly topped off the week!

i took the day off so that i could enjoy mark's end-of-semester vocal recital [he did a fantastic job, by the way!!], and we got to his campus about an hour before the performance, leaving me with a little time to wander about. i found this lovely spot, cracked open my book, and basked in the sunshine on my face and the warmth of the mid-60 degree day, enjoying the gorgeous clouds that the rain left behind, fluffy in the bright blue sky.

it was perfect and refreshing, as all afternoon breaks should be.

what do you do to break up your day? to relax after a busy morning? or to clear your mind and prepare yourself to take on the afternoon? i'd love to hear from you!

homesick

something about being far away from home (home being chicago, of course) as the holiday season began, started to get me down last week.

my week of vacation, during which i was finally able to slow down and relax a little, was followed by a week of very little travel for work. nice as it was, it also left my mind free to finally realize just how much i miss my seeing, and being with, my friends and family.

you see, for a while after we moved, i was finding myself back in chicago every few weeks, so the experience of moving 2,000 miles away was just a little bit cushioned. following this "transition" came almost 2 months of no trips back. and with it, a noticeable lapse in communication with folks back home (and i fully admit that i am as much to blame as anyone), no more marathon to train for, the reality of not being able to get together with anyone easily, missing out on things i wanted to be a part of, and then, our first holiday in california.

i started to feel very, very, far, far away. and the sadness hit like a ton of bricks.

i've never lived away from home before. i went to college 15 minutes from my parents house, and since we've been married, mark and i have never lived more than an hour away from the people that we care about most. so this has been a first for me, and all-of-a-sudden, all at once, the reality of distance set in.

i started to notice that i didn't have much energy to do anything. after a day of sitting at the computer, all i wanted to do was take a nap. and with mark working some nights, i was especially lonely. i found myself in tears one night, wondering things like does anyone even miss us? and can't we just pick up and go home? thankfully, i have a wonderful and supportive husband who held me as i cried, and even cried with me (until we were both laughing:), reminding me that these feelings are normal.

and the next day, i spent a few hours re-connecting with my dearest, oldest friend.

and then i got an e-mail from my mom that reminded me that i'm at the top of her list.

and the next day, we got a call from our friend, and church choir director from home, just to see how things were going with us.

and then my brother, brandon, called and we spent a long time catching up and planning for Christmas.

and to top it all off, i also found out, that work will be bringing me back to chicago even sooner than our planned Christmas trip!

and so, i feel a million times better.

isn't God good? He knows exactly what we need, exactly when we need it, and He always, always, ALWAYS provides.

quality friday: broadway, baby

orpheum theater - photo from theaters of san francisco

since we've moved, we've tried to make it our mission to take in all that we can of our new surroundings. of course, that can sometimes be difficult with my work travel schedule, and mark's equally busy school and work combination, but when we have the chance to do something unique or fun we certainly attempt to.

last weekend, mark happened to flip on the tv, and our cable company was listing an advertisement for a great deal on theater tickets to see the color purple, presented here in san francisco (and all around the country) by a popular chicago icon, no less! we quickly looked online, and found that the deal was only for 2 weeks, with the first show option that following tuesday.

knowing that i had a day trip to seattle planned for wednesday, and thus that i could pretty much guarantee i'd be in town on tuesday night, we jumped at the chance and purchased tickets for 4 days out.

tuesday night, we had fun getting dressed up and heading to the historic orpheum theater to see this wonderful show. the music was a beautiful mixture of jazz, gospel and blues, the story inspiring, and i'll certainly have to watch the movie sometime soon, at mark's recommendation.

if its at a theater near you, take the opportunity to enjoy this story of hope and testament to the healing power of love.

the view of city hall we saw from union square tuesday night

and a lovely thanksgiving weekend, it was.

thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday.

it captures the essence of family, to me. time spent together, the aromas and flavors of wonderful comforting foods, and all without the commercialism and pressures of gift-giving that christmas can sometimes become. it really is the perfect time to give thanks.

growing up, i enjoyed this one time each year that my mom's family would gather together. i remember the food was always delicious, lovingly prepared, and more than filling. but it was the company that made the day special - i loved the time with my cousins, aunts and uncles - playing games, catching up on the events of our lives, and cherishing each other.

when mark and i started dating, i remember him coming over for thanksgiving dessert to meet the family, and at then end of the night, my aunt pattie told me that he was "a keeper"! and after we were married, i'll never forget the year i spent 48 hours taking the greyhound home from a trip to visit my nanay who had just suffered a stroke, arriving on thanksgiving morning just in time for a huge celebration at mark's parent's home. it was the last time i saw my grandma before she died. and it was also the last thanksgiving that mark's mom was here with us.

just last year, we finally decided that we were going to stop "splitting" the day between both families. we spent thanksgiving day with mark's family (enjoying a meal at maggiano's), and invited mine over for homemade Greek food on saturday, and planned to reverse the time in years to come. looking back, who would have guessed that this year we'd be 2000 miles away?

when mark's dad and sister decided that they were going to travel to visit us for the weekend, we were thrilled! not only would we have family with us for thanksgiving, but we were also looking forward to having guests for the long weekend, and this being leslie's first trip to visit us in san francisco, we wanted it to be extra special. and it was.

thanksgiving weekend, 2007

thanksgiving day was spent cooking the perfect [both in size and in quality!] meal of turkey, gravy, carol's (mark's mom) famous dressing, homemade cranberry sauce, rolls and spinach gratin. once we were all positively stuffed, we settled in for naps or for a viewing of the princess bride.

friday we took off for some light shopping, lunch of the best burgers california has to offer, and then an afternoon of napa valley wine tasting! we came home and enjoyed an evening of grilled seafood and bacon-wrapped fillets, cheese and more wine:)

saturday, we rounded out the weekend with two trips into san francisco! we drove in over the golden gate bridge, marvelled at the palace of fine arts, had lunch at pier 39, curved down lombard street, stopped for a wade in the ocean, and toured the presidio before heading home to get gussied up for a night of jazz and fine dining.

thanks for joining us for a memorable thanksgiving, norman and leslie! we love you!

madonna estate's reserve tasting room - where mark's favorite was the dolcetto, norman's the cabernet sauvignon, leslie's the muscat canelli, and my favorite the gewürztraminer

enjoying château service at domaine carneros, where we sampled flights of sparkling wine (the Le Rêve was pheNOMenal), pinot noir (mark was dying to leave with the famous gate), smoked salmon and an amazing cheese tray

leslie was determined to touch the ocean...but didn't expect it to be as COLD as it was when it lapped over her feet!

the four of us, thoroughly enjoying the ambiance, cuisine and jazz trio at BIX. i must recommend the following menu items - truffle cheese and sweet onion "croques", tuna tartare, smoked trout salad, grilled hill ranch pork chops, and the american kobe "bavette" steak. the only dissappointment, in my opinion, were the specialty drinks. why make a cosmo with rum, or a gimlet with vodka, when the originals are wonderful the way they are?