and a Happy New Year!

Happy New Years from Milo and Alex! (I just hope your midnight-kissing buddy is a little less hairy!)

Sally's favorite quote of the day

''No, I don't have a gambling problem. I'm winning, and winning is not a problem. That's like saying Michael Jordan has a basketball problem, or Def Leppard has an awesomeness problem.''

EARL (JASON LEE), ON MY NAME IS EARL

Smoothie 101

Ben and Ryan like makin' smoothies. Milo is scared of people makin' smoothies. Sally is unimpressed by smoothie makin'.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

I hope you had a happy holiday! I know I did. I think I have a holiday hangover today from all the food, fun and festivities.

Ben and I hosted a big traditional Christmas meal at our house on Christmas Eve. The guests included my mom, dad and sister, Ben's mom and dad, our roommate Ryan and Ben and I (see the picture below of our happy crew). I got all Martha Stewart and made place cards for everyone. I had never made a meal like that before, so I went completely overboard and made enough food for about 23 people. The menu consisted of: pineapple glazed ham, pear, walnut & blue cheese salad, mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, Waldorf salad, scalloped corn, broccoli salad, marsala glazed carrots with almonds and fresh baked bread. For dessert, we had pumpkin and apple pie. (Nothing was store-bought, by the way.) Needless to say, we will be eating leftovers for the next 8 months.

After dinner, we went to church and then came home for pie, snacks, presents and games. For those who are wondering, I gave Ben a laptop case, sweaters, Converse shoes, socks and underwear. (Yes, we are officially married.) He gave me a black jacket, red shoes and a pizza stone.

Christmas day was spent in Burlington, Kansas with Ben’s extended family. There was a lot of food there as well and I had approximately 9 desserts. Don’t worry – I paced myself. I’m thinking about going professional. Do you think you can earn a certificate in eating or is it more like a pilot’s license, where you need to have a certain number of hours? I better look that up.

Is there crack in Starbucks?

I have never been a fan of Starbucks. I think it is wildly overpriced (it's just coffee for heaven's sake!), unnecessarily complicated (1/3rd decaf, triple shot, Grande, sugar free vanilla, sugar free hazelnut, soy, light whip cream, extra hot, white chocolate mocha, with a smiley face on the bottom of the cup) and I HATE that Tall is actually small.

That being said, I had a coffee from Starbucks this morning and now I can't stop thinking about it. Where can I get my next cup? When can I get my next cup?

Bad puppy!

We made smoothies the other night and Milo wanted in on the action. He ended up sneaking a few licks from the dishwasher while I was loading it with our dirty dishes. I think he got more than he bargained for.