I cannot believe it’s already 2012. Where has the time gone?
2011 was a great year, all told. I interviewed with and was accepted into a genetic counseling program, I graduated with my first Master’s degree, moved to a new city, started my second Master’s degree program, participated in two races, got into a car accident, finished my first semester, and spent time with friends, my family, and Jack’s family.
The kick off of 2012 involved a lovely evening filled with Jack’s family. We started off making some garlic parmesan pull-apart bread.
We didn’t have a bundt pan but we improvised with casserole dishes, loaf pans, and eventually baking sheets. The final product though was well worth the wait and recipe adjustment. We served the bread balls with marinara sauce and garlic balsamic dipping oil. I may or may not have had upwards of 20 bites myself…
For dinner following our appetizers, we all made individual pizzas. Mine used a pita as the base, some pasta sauce, Italian cheese, artichoke hearts, green peppers, sundried tomatoes, pepperoni, shrimp, and BBQ sauce.
It was delicious and just the small size I needed after having so much bread earlier. After dinner, we busted out a few rounds of Telepictionary followed by Trivial Pursuit.
Some dark chocolate M&Ms played with me. Some almond joy truffles too. Wine as well.
As midnight approached we set up a live stream of the ball drop through Jack’s mom’s huge TV not hooked up to cable.
After a few tries and some adjustments in setting we finally had picture.
Next up, cocktails for midnight! Dani made us some delightful concoctions using peach champagne, orange juice, sweet and sour, and grenadine.
Taste approved! We all toasted and kissed at midnight and moved boldly into the new year.
We thought it fit to celebrate with cake and fireworks next. Dani had made a rose water glitter cake and boy, it was awesome.
I loved the slight floral hint the rose water lent to the cake. It wasn’t overpowering at all. The from-scratch buttercream was also incredible. I was on a sugar high when I finally hit the sheets after fireworks.
When the house arose in the next morning we all partook in the marzipan pig for good luck in 2012. Note to self: take a piece from the inside away from the waxy coating…the flavor is much better there.
The rest of the morning was Christmas #2 for everyone. We walked into the living room to find stockings, cases of toothpaste, and a nicely full tree.
If you’re wondering about the toothpaste, let’s just say that’s what happens when you live with an endodontist. Anyways, we had a great time opening up gifts. Some of my highlights include a knife sharpener, Stonewall kitchen mixes and jam, and a RoadID pouch. After we finished the lot, brunch was made. I took over waffles, Jack did omelets, and Amanda/Dani took over mimosas.
Note to mimosa drinkers: for a prettier drink use pulp-LESS orange juice. About 50 minutes later breakfast was served complete with bacon and turkey sausage.
Nomnom. I had a bit of everything and I split my spinach, sun-dried tomato, artichoke heart, mozzarella egg white omelette with Dani.
When brunch ended it was well past lunch time so people took to doing crosswords, watching football streams through phones, doing some things on computers and such. All in all, it was a very quiet afternoon and eventually we all went our separate ways after a dinner of Chinese takeout. We had sesame chicken, vegetable lo mein, steamed dumplings, and steamed shrimp with vegetables.
I was incredibly happy to get home. I hadn’t spent prolonged periods of time in my apartment since back in December and I was really ready to be back in my zone. Just sleeping in my bed was enough to relieve a bunch of stress. I wasn’t super happy with the state of the apartment, messy and otherwise, but I rectified that today after a nice long sleep and a four mile run. I also did some weights as well:
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Leg extensions: 3 x 10 reps x 30lbs
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Chest press: 3 x 10 reps x 30lbs
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Leg curls: 3 x 10 reps x 30lbs
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Bicep curls: 3 x 10 reps x 10lb dumbbells each hand
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Sumo squats: 3 x 10 reps x 20lb dumbbell
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Tricep dips: 3 x 10 reps x own body weight
- Exercise ball crunches: 3 x 20 reps x own body weight
To refuel I had a chicken & apple sausage dipped in maple syrup, leftover Chinese takeout rice with sage and garlic, broccoli with parmesan cheese. I washed this all down with about 50 ounces of water too.
Post-shower and computer/internet therapy I tackled my messy apartment on a cleaning mission. By the time dinner rolled around I was very pleased with just how much progress I had made and how fast the time flew by. I was happy and much less stressed afterwards. I liked being able to see my floor. =D Speaking of floors, Jack and I spent the first part of the evening on the living room one. Amid the snowy weather we decided to order in.
We got pizza, broke open a bottle of wine, and started to clean out the DVR of movies.
Two bites in we realized that the sauce on the pizza was buffalo sauce, not BBQ as we had agreed upon. My mouth was on fire. Jack checked the order and realized that he has accidentally messed it up so we were stuck. I tried to eat my slice but one bite later I couldn’t do it so we put the pieces back…
…and ordered another round of pizza. Jack will eat the other stuff for lunches this week. Our next two pizzas were BBQ shrimp (with actual BBQ) and a super deluxe 4-5 cheese pizza with mushrooms and bacon.
Dinner take two was much better. I’m glad we switched. My mouth was also grateful. Now though I should think about sleep. I have to work tomorrow through Friday which means I’m getting up at 7:30am tomorrow morning. With that, I’m out and so begins the last week of winter break.
Questions: Ever ordered the wrong pizza?
How did you ring in the new year?
