Why I'm not Canadian.

My dad was born in Canada and followed in his father's foot steps as a young hockey player. My grandparents moved the family to Buffalo, NY when my dad was a young boy so he could play on the Junior National Team. If not for that, I think I would be singing, "O Canada..." right now.

Dad went on to play hockey at Cornell University and during his sophomore year, they went undefeated as Division I National Champions. I googled it and it came up on Wikipedia...

Wikipedia: NCAA Hockey

"The 1970 Cornell Big Red are they only Division I men's NCAA ice hockey team to record an unbeaten, untied season."

Crazy right?

Dad is #17. Below he is in the middle celebrating with teammates.

 

In February, I will head back to Lynah Rink in Ithaca to watch Dad and his teammates from 1970 take the ice in celebration of the 40th Anniversary. It is going to be so much fun! Pictures to follow.

Blessed by Friends

Just a quick post to acknowledge how blessed we are by our friends. This past weekend we had the opportunity to enjoy a basketball game at school, share spaghettti with Ashlee & Barrett and enjoy IHOP pancakes with Ryan & Laura. We loved it all!

Mix in a phenominal Sunday at church, sunny weather and time to rest at home and we sincerely see the blessings that surround us. It's amazing how quickly I can forget to see blessings....this time I got it!

It was the toaster all along

When Chris and I got married we registered for a toaster oven, but it was a forgotten item when it came to setting up house. We never got one and now, here we are approaching our 4th anniversary --- still no toaster! I guess we're weird because we don't own a coffeemaker either, huh? Don't judge --- it's healthier! Neither of us drink Joe.

This week we purchased a simple little toasting gadget because we both enjoyed eating toast over the holidays with family. It's ridiculous, but for the first time in our marriage, we both are eating breakfast! Usually, we each just run out the door. Apparently, the toaster oven holds some magical power over our eating habits! Cheers to breakfast and the little toaster oven.

New Year's Resolutions...

I had to snag this interesting piece of an article from one of our friend's blogs. It makes sense to me. I would much rather set goals than resolutions. Certainly, one at a time seems logical.

Excerpt from an article on willpower and decision making:

"Willpower, like a bicep, can only exert itself so long before it gives out; it's an extremely limited mental resource.

Given its limitations, New Year's resolutions are exactly the wrong way to change our behavior. It makes no sense to try to quit smoking and lose weight at the same time, or to clean the apartment and give up wine in the same month. Instead, we should respect the feebleness of self-control, and spread our resolutions out over the entire year. Human routines are stubborn things, which helps explain why 88% of all resolutions end in failure, according to a 2007 survey of over 3,000 people conducted by the British psychologist Richard Wiseman. Bad habits are hard to break—and they're impossible to break if we try to break them all at once."

Merry Christmas from Africa

Thought I would share one of our favorite Christmas Greetings from this year. Bethany and Jeremy are pictured below with the rest of their team that helps run the farm.

I grew up with Bethany. Church, high school, student government, volleyball, we did it all and now she is in Zambia doing even greater things. Pray for her and Jeremy. Their everyday life is an amazing story of God's faithfulness.

Bones

Our family has an affinity for certain television shows. On more than one occasion with have spent a considerable amount of Christmas vacation committed to watching a season or more of a particular show. This year, it's all about Bones. I love this show, and after a few episodes, Chris did too, so we bought the first four seasons! It's awesome --- no commercials and immediate follow-up episode after episode.

We're half way through season 3! The show is currently in the midst of their fifth season. Progress!

To New York and Back

We returned home this weekend from our traditional Christmas trip to Ithaca, New York. 10 hours in the car with Ruthie & Jack is quite the adventure! They did great overall. It was great to relax with my parents, see friends and enjoy our vacation time. In fact, I had such a great time, I never took the camera out! Yikes! Not my intent. As a lame substitute, I will list off all the wonderful things from the trip.

This picture is actually from Susan's camera. Thanks lady!

New York Trip Highlights:

Dad's homemade cooking

16 degree days, plus a bit of snow

Visiting the Iamaio's in Rochester

Checking out our favorite NY winery

Walking the dogs around the neighborhood

Hours and hours of Bones, Season 2

Visiting the Ransier's in Syracuse...

...Seeing Julie, as well

Playing Rummikub with Mom & CD

Sherlock Holmes & Did You Hear About the Morgans?

Pheasant hunting with the dogs and dad

Dinner reservations for New Years at Joe's

Watching Ruthie and JoJo play

Meery Christmas 2009 & Happy New Year 2010!