The End of 2014

I've been away from the blog for awhile. Decorating for Christmas and then taking down said ornamentation took a surprising amount of time and energy. Having successfully wrangled strings of lights and such things, the blog is back! (Try to contain your excitement.)

Over the past year, Steve and I have had the pleasure to get to know Brooke, my brother's friend of about a decade who became his girlfriend. We've had a lot of great food and done a lot of fun activities together. For example (pictures stolen from Brooke's blog because I'm terrible at remembering to take photos)...

Corn maze (with Jim and Brooke's friend Patrick):

 Me and my little brother at aforementioned corn maze:

Glow Festival at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History (our facepaint glowing under blacklight - I have a rainbow across my forehead with a sun on one cheek and a pot of gold on the other):

Decorating mini-pumpkins (and a lemon and banana):

Dickens Faire:

Yes, I wore a fancy dress (that was actually my grandma's prom dress), a bonnet and the whole bit. I felt horribly self-conscious and weird (as I feel in any dress). But it was a lot of fun. Steve also looks awesome in a giant red bow (tied expertly by Brooke) and a festive vest that belonged to my grandpa.

Steve and I were delighted when Jim said Brooke would be joining him to celebrate Christmas with the Pools/Loveridges (or, Poolridges, as I like to call us). What we didn't expect was for her to show up with some shiny new hardware (of which I don't have a picture). The crazy kids got engaged a few days before Christmas. We are thrilled for them and look forward to a beautiful wedding and a lifetime of happiness. 

Now, to wrap up 2014 with a few Christmas pictures...

Decorating the tree:

Adding sprinkles to the traditional spritz cookies:

 My mom and brother play piano together:

Everything went well. Steve made delicious food for us all and I completely failed to take pictures, so everything was normal and wonderful.

On to 2015...