Happy Holidays!

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What a Year!

Snow Update

As you now know, Seattle is in the midst of a major snowstorm. For our families in Montana, Wisconsin, and New York, 10 inches of snow may not seem like a big deal. In Seattle, however, 10 inches of snow is devastating with local jurisdictions and the state completely ill-equipped to handle such a demanding snowfall. Since snow of this magnitude is extremely rare, we don't have sand or full fleets of snow plows to clear roadways. In fact, the airport ran out of deicer yesterday, so flights had to be canceled and travelers were stranded.

To make matters worse, the forecast is not showing any signs of a break. Another significant storm front is moving in later tonight and will stick around through Christmas. Ryan is starting to go a little stir crazy and decided to shovel off the roof of our garage, and he had to use a garden shovel because we don't own a proper snow shovel. I, on the other hand, have a million things to do with work, but I think Mother Nature is sending a clear message that I should be outside and enjoying a few extra days of vacation.

I love snow; especially when it doesn't stick around long enough to get dirty and messy. Personally, I'm excited that our first Christmas in the new house is likely to be a white one. But let me go on record now and say that as of Dec. 26, the snow needs to go. If I want to see it again, I'll drive to the mountains and go skiing or snowshoeing.

Here are some updated pictures of the mayhem:

Ryan and Soma saving our garage from almost a foot of snow.

Our raised beds look like graves for the fall vegetables that never matured.

My azalea shrub is about 3 feet tall and is nearly covered with snow!

The front yard on Monday morning.

One of the evergreens in our front yard burdened by lots of snow.

Basketball and Blizzards

Yesterday, we went to the "Battle in Seattle" between my alma mater, UConn, and "local" team, Gonzaga. The game was amazing with UConn emerging as the winner in overtime. Although the crowd was clearly cheering for the Zags, I was happy to see a few UConn fans in the house. We had a negative run in with a macho Gonzaga fan who was allowing his two little boys to scream profanity and even through a bottle at a nearby UConn fan. Here's a note to sports fanatics: it's one thing to be passionate and cheer loudly for your team but it's another to be a jerk. Please don't cross that line!

The local weather forecast included the worst winter storm Seattle has seen in ages, and sure enough, it was snowing like crazy after the game. The drive home was interesting and I got a little artsy and tried to capture the chaos of the moment on my iPhone:

Tracers from car lights on the way home.

Overnight, we got about 5 inches of snow. We've never seen snow like this since moving to Seattle five years ago. Usually, we get an inch or two and it's gone within a day. We took Soma out to play and took a few pictures.

Snow on our camellia tree

Soma looking for something to chase or eat

Jack Frost nipping at our noses

Ryan feels right at home in the snow.
It reminds him of his glory days in Syracuse.

Our front yard

Icicles clinging to the camellia tree

Ryan and Soma in the Snow

Welcome Baby Ingrid!

My brother, Matt, and his wife, Emily, welcomed their third baby girl into the world last week. Say "hello" to baby Ingrid!

Being a baby is a lot of work!

Lucy (5), Amelia (2 and a half), and Baby Ingrid

We're so excited to have a new girl in the family! We can't wait to meet Ingrid and want to congratulate Emily and Matt on their new arrival. Hopefully Ingrid is like most of the Nonemachers -- a sleeper!

Snow in Daylight

As we posted last night, snow blanketed Seattle. Our first snowfall in our new house is beautiful and so exciting!

Someone's ready to go play in the white stuff!

The view from our window

We're off to go play outside!

Holiday Cookie Exchange (More Cookies, Less Exchange)

As you well know by now, we love the holidays. Last night, we went to a Seattle Choral Company at a cathedral in the city. It was a lot of fun and just the right event to put us in a holiday state of mind!

Tonight we had some friends over to share holiday cookies. It was a very casual and "no stress" zone, since the holidays often tend to be overwhelming and busy. Before folks came over, I made some paper snowflakes to hang in our window. It seems like we - a city where it almost never snows - always get storm on the same day that I make my annual paper snowflakes. Well, tonight was no different.

You would think that two people from Montana/Wisconsin and upstate New York wouldn't marvel at snow, but get a light accumulation and we're out there taking pictures.

My garden is almost covered with the white stuff. I'm so excited!

Even the Christmas decorations can't escape the snow!

Now back to the cookie exchange. We made two different sweet treats and two of our friends brought some cookies to share. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your perspective), our friends are heading to Mexico tomorrow, so they didn't take many cookies with them. I think we're going to become popular neighbors in the next day or two.

Chinese Noodle Cookies

Almond Bark

Good Old Fashioned Peanut Butter and Hershey Kiss Cookies

Our "Fireplace"
We actually have a working fireplace, but since we live in a city, we don't use it even on cold nights. Instead we put candles in the space, which give it the same warm glow that a fire does but without the mess!

We hope you are warm and cozy wherever you are!

These Halls are Officially Decked!

My two favorite holidays are Halloween and Christmas because you can decorate like a maniac for each of these holidays without looking like the neighborhood crazy-person. Today, Ryan and I spent some time getting our house ready for its first Christmas with the Nonericks. I think I'm going to like it here!

The Grand Entry

Now we just need some snow to make it really holiday-ready!

Dining Table Centerpiece

The stockings were hung on the mantle with care...
Looks like Soma is hoping that St. Nicholas soon will be there!

The tree that Mike and Ryan picked out and decorated right after Thanksgiving.

We have a new resident, Oli the Owl, in our Christmas tree.

We hope you are having a great December! Stay tuned for our annual recap of Nonerick adventures!

O Tannenbaum...

Ryan usually has a very strict rule about Christmas decorations. In his opinion, you can't decorate for the holidays until after December 1. During Thanksgiving dinner, our friends, Amy and Byron, mentioned that they were going on a fun outing to pick out the perfect tree on "Black Friday".

After much cajoling, Ryan eventually gave in and we went to pick up our tree. Interestingly, Ryan dramatically changed his mind and was all about decking the halls with Christmas cheer. We'll post pictures of the final product tomorrow. In the meantime, check out these pics of the shenanigans.

Ryan and Mike find the perfect tree.

Ryan loves having his picture taken.

What did I tell you? Ryan loves the holidays.

Proof positive that tree hugging runs in the family.

When company comes to Seattle, we put them to work!

Three Cheers for Tofurkey!

You may remember our Thanksgiving post from last year (click here to jog your memory) where we made a delicious Tofurkey. Well, the tradition continues, but this time we drafted another participant: my little brother, Mike.

For some reason we always end up with a ridiculous amount of food, which is great because there is nothing better than T-day leftovers. Tofurkey only gets better with time...

I was a terrible blogger and didn't take enough photos, but here are a few snapshots from the day.

The Thanksgiving table with flowers from my garden and my favorite new obsession, glassybaby candle votives.

The New Emeril

A good chef always tests his food

Just a few leftovers...

This is what a food coma looks like.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The New Me!

BEFORE

AFTER!

From The 'Cuse To The Emerald City

Ryan's brother, Sean, and his girlfriend, Carolyn, flew out from Syracuse to enjoy Seattle's incredible November weather. By "incredible" I mean dark, rainy, and cold. Actually, the weather wasn't terrible, but it was bad enough to prevent two lazy hosts (us) from taking our guests hiking in the beautiful surrounding mountains. Instead of hiking and enjoying the outdoors, we ate, lounged, ate some more, enjoyed some of Seattle's great sites, and ate again. When the visit was over, we all had "food babies" in our bellies and talked about the need for nutritional "detox".

Check out some highlights from the weekend:

Walking at Discovery Park

Soma Caught in the Act of Cleaning His Nose

Sean and Carolyn's Feet at the Ballard Locks

An Incoming Commercial Fishing Boat

Taking in the View of Puget Sound

Ryan and Soma Checking Out Puget Sound
It's fitting that we spent some time on the Sound this weekend because our state entity charged with saving/recovering the Sound (the Puget Sound Partnership) came out with a draft plan the day Sean and Carolyn arrived.

We didn't see any seal pups, but we did see this sign. It always amazes me to think that wild animals can live in such an urban environment.

Sean Hiking Up From the Beach

Ryan (finally!) smiling in a photograph.
What a handsome devil!

We had a great time with Sean and Carolyn, and we hope we see them in Seattle again soon (with or without a moving truck, but preferably with). Thanks, S & C for coming to visit!