Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great, safe new year. We were blessed with a low-key, but fun evening with another couple. We had appetizers here, followed by dinner at a new Italian restaurant and an hour of watching drunk people at an Uptown bar. My cousin, Stef, who lives in Florida, was back in Minnesota for the holidays and joined our toast at midnight.

As I write this, I realize a lot has happened in the last few weeks, and I have not written about it. Ben was a culinary king in December, mastering toffee (which involves stirring non-stop for 20 minutes) and cooking steak in a cast-iron skillet. My dear friends, if you like steak, you need to learn this method. It's better than the grill. We also planned our meals -- all from the Crock Pot -- this week: Monday was pork with butternut squash, dried plums and apricots; today we're feasting on barbecue chicken; and on Saturday we'll make potato soup.

We hadn't been home since Labor Day, until we had a wedding in mid-December. We returned home two weeks later for Christmas.

OK...so I maybe exaggerated when I wrote that a lot happened in December. It wasn't an incredibly significant month, but it was filled with holiday parties, baking parties, travel, hanging with friends and family, etc.

As I reflect on 2008, we've had a big year.

--I landed a job at a newspaper I love with terrific, talented colleagues. I seldom grumble about work. And I've made many friends. I am also blessed with an editor who seems to have confidence in me and who makes me be a better journalist.

--I ran four half-marathons, one 20-mile race, one marathon and more than 1,000 miles. That's a lot of running.

--We got a dog, who we equally love to pieces. Indiana relieves our stress and brings us joy.

--We traveled to California.

--We learned how to salsa dance.

--Ben got accepted into graduate school.

--My sister got engaged to her long-time boyfriend. They're getting married July 11.

I'm excited about the upcoming adventures in 2009. This year, I want to run two marathons. I've already signed up for the Fargo Marathon, which falls on May 9. Ben registered for the Stillwater Marathon on May 23. We plan to both run the Chicago Marathon. I also want to journal at least once a week for my eyes only. I kept a journal in Thailand, but have not done any other personal writing with the exception of the blogs.

Goodbye 2008. Hello 2009.

Wanted: Puppy sitter

Wanted: A trustworthy, puppy lover to occasionally watch our Indiana. Must be willing to play and cuddle with puppy. Must also feed him and take him potty every few hours. And must not get too attached. We'll want him back:)

I really felt like a Mom this weekend when Ben's parents babysat Indiana while we were at a wedding. It was hard to leave him. But I felt so relieved to leave him in safe hands -- and not in a kennel -- while we spent the afternoon and evening out of town at a wedding.

Ben and I plan to be out of town for long weekends in January and February. But our parents live three hours away. So we need to find a puppy sitter willing to watch Indiana (how could you not want to watch our little guy. He's so cute!) in exchange for beer and/or wine.

Brooke and Tony already have dibs on watching him when we travel to Honduras for a week. But they live two hours away. It's not logical for us to line up their help every time we leave town.

So, I'm on the hunt for a puppy sitter. Any takers?

A small milestone

I just entered tonight's run in my log on Runner's World, and I saw that I have run 1,000 miles so far in 2008. Actually, I've run 1,003 miles to be exact.

How cool.

Second annual baking party

Baking with the gals during the holidays at my house has become a tradition.

For the second year, I invited my close friends to bake and swap cookies and other goodies. This year's gathering was a big hit. We added a fourth person, meaning more sweets to go around.

While sipping wine and sparkling juice, we baked and talked. We each worked at our own "station." And everyone took turns washing and drying dishes, though Heather did a bulk of the work (sorry Heather!).

Within about four hours, we were able to pull off six different recipes. With the exception of burning my first batch of spritz cookies, we had no major catastrophes.

Photos to come. Until here, here's the line-up of ladies and what we made:

Brady
Chocolate Snoballs (see recipe here)
Spritz cookies (see recipe here)

*I have two recommendations for the spritz cookies. Depending on your oven, you likely will not have to bake the cookies for the 12-15 minutes recommended. Mine were done in about eight minutes. I wanted to double the amount of cinnamon, but forgot. Don't make the same mistake I did.

Britt
Double chocolate cherry drops (see this amazing recipe here)

Naomi
Mini ginger cookies (to die for)
Chocolate pumpkin fudge (healthy and delicious)

Heather
Rice crispy bars with Dots!

On motherhood...

In less than two weeks, I've become a doting mom.

Today, for example, Ben and I brushed Indiana's teeth, cleaned his ears, expressed his butt glands, and so on.

I carry him down the stairs, because at 5 months (he's 5 months tomorrow) they are still a challenge for him. I clean his butt after an occasional messy poop. And we wipe his paws when we come into the house.

Even though we pledged not to bring him into our bed, we occasionally will sleep with him in our bed for a few minutes at night or in the morning.

And while I type this, he is relaxing across my stomach.

Indiana, explained

After several e-mails today, I realized I left a lot of questions unanswered about Indiana.

Q: What's behind the name?
A: Ben is a huge fan of Indiana Jones. So long time ago, Ben asked if we could name our dog Indiana if we ever got one.

Q: How big is Indiana?
A: He appears big for a puppy in his close-up mugs. But he's really only about 10 pounds. He'll likely end up around 20 or 25 pounds.

Q: Is he trained?
A: He poops outside but pees indoors.

Q: Did you know you were getting a puggle?
A: Heck no. I had a weird feeling Saturday that Ben might get me a dog. But I knew better. And I had recently gotten an e-mail from our landlord saying he preferred we not get one. So that was that. Ben called him yesterday, though, and explained that puggles aren't big dogs.

Indiana is a huge surprise. It was hard being away from him today. I feel like a mom.

Q: Does he have any weird quirks?
A: He snores loudly, so he and Ben have that in common. He hasn't barked yet. And he hates his leash.

Q: Is he playful?
A: Not really. He sleeps a lot. We're sure that will change.

The family is getting a new addition

Our household is expanding.

Ben and I have decided we're going to have a baby.

A baby puggle, that is. My honey came home tonight with Indiana, our 4-month-old puppy.

He's timid and quiet, to be sure. But he'll get used to us soon. He's easy to love, even if he does snore.