Year in Review

Merry Christmas!

Christmas in the Nonerick house was pretty quiet this year. Both Ryan and I have been so busy lately that a quiet holiday seemed like the perfect opportunity to rest and relax before the next wave of activity. While we appreciate the time to ourselves, we missed our loved ones. The house was just a little too quiet for our taste.

To cope, Ryan worked like a maniac on our new media room. Enjoy a few pictures from us to you.

Waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve.

Last year, we started a new tradition of walking around Olympic Manor in our neighborhood, which is well known for its Christmas light displays. This year, we didn't have to walk in a foot of snow!

Ryan's new hedgehog ornament. So cute!

Cookies for our holiday cookie exchange with neighbors and a few friends.

Ryan's new "man cave" with new HD TV.
We still need to put in floors, baseboards, and some finishing touches, but it's looking fabulous!

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday full of good times, good food, and lots of love!

Watery Basement Update

The next week will be a very busy one for the Nonerick house. First, we're hosting a holiday cookie exchange with our neighbors and a few friends. We haven't been super-social lately, so it will be good to interact with people as opposed to work on the house, watch football, etc.

Then, we have workers coming to dig a trench around the inner perimeter of our basement, put in a sump pump, and take care of our water issues. That way, we can move forward on finishing the basement with confidence. We may even be able to put in a real floor to keep our fee warm in the winter time.

After that, we are hosting my work holiday party. The halls are decked (pictures to come), and my inner-Martha has reemerged from crazy Halloween decorations.

Finally, we have a couple events with Ryan's office and perhaps a holiday concert with friends. I think we're going to take time off between Christmas and New Years to veg in our pajamas.

The path of most resistance.

Ryan has been working hard on our new media room in the basement. Sadly, however, the winter rainy season has set in and this morning we found two puddles on the floor of the basement. Poor Ryan is really bummed because he feels like he can't get a break on this basement project. Every time he gains momentum, a problem springs up (no water pun intended) and stops him in his tracks.

Next week, we are bringing in a couple waterproofing experts to take a look at the basement and give us a quote, which will help us know if we can actually have a finished basement or not. Please send us good thoughts!

Life is a learning experience, right? Why did we become homeowners again?

Music, Soccer, Doughnuts, and Billy Mays

Ryan and I have had a great week. It started last Friday when we saw one of our favorite bands, Gossip, at a great venue. Then, we spent the week gearing up for Halloween, and we all know how I feel about Halloween. On Thursday night, we went to the first-ever playoff game for our local Major League Soccer team, the Sounders. Unfortunately, the Sounders tied Houston (0-0) and have to win their next game at Houston to move on in the playoffs. The Sounders have a good road record, so we think they have a good chance.

Anyway, the week ended with a bang. Amy and Byron hosted their annual doughnut making party and our neighbors, James and Lori, held a Halloween costume party. Amy and Byron's doughnut party rocks -- who doesn't like mountains of gingerbread and apple cake doughnuts mixed with delectable maple bars. We're spending Sunday watching football and recovering from some serious doughnut hangovers. The pain is totally worth it!

Our costumes for the costume party were some of our best works. Ryan was Billy Mays, the OxiClean guy who died earlier this year after bumping his head during a heavy plane landing and had cocaine in his system. Weird.

I dressed up as Tippi Hedren from The Birds. Here is photographic evidence of our shenanigans:

Ryan was almost unrecognizable as Billy Mays. Creepy!

Help! I'm being attacked!
I couldn't find a green suit like the one Tippi wore in the movie, but I substituted with pink. I made the ravens with black felt and fake feathers. For those who may dress as Tippi in the future, I suggest using a drible of fake blood on your forehead.

Hope everyone had a very happy and fun Halloween!

The Best Holiday Ever Made!

I love Halloween. While many people around the world find great joy in the holiday, I think I'm a little more dedicated than the average fan. Ryan likes Halloween, but he had to take some serious steps to curb my enthusiasm. For example, he put a moratorium on Halloween decorating before October 1st. He also leaves virtually all of the decorating to me so that I won't go overboard -- as if there is such a thing!

Halloween rocks my world because it's the one day of the year that has no limits or expectations. You can do almost anything you want, and the weirder it is the better. Grown ups can act like kids. Homes that are usually warm and welcoming can creepy or scary. Kids in costume get to rebel from showing elders respect by demanding candy or else. In a word, Halloween is just plain cool.

This weekend, I entered what I call "Phase 2" of my Halloween decorating. I constructed a ghost sculpture that I found on Martha Stewart's website.

Meet the newest member of the Nonerick family, Stewart.

We will have lots of photos from our Halloween this year. We have an donut party and a costume party. What are our costumes? Ryan is going as Billy Mays, and I'm going as Tippi Hedren from "The Birds."

Happy Halloween!

Leaf Peepers

Recently, Ryan and I went to the east coast for a little family bonding, R&R, and leaf peeping. For those of you who have no idea what leaf peeping is, it's an activity where city folk head to forested areas (also known as "the sticks") to enjoy a little bit of nature and a lot of maple flavored products. Lucky for us, we have family in Vermont, which saves us from qualifying as "yuppie leaf peepers" because we don't have to stay in a fancy bed and breakfast with couples like Bert and Ethel from Long Island.

Here are some pictures of our leaf peeping adventure.

Walking on an old carriage road covered in leaves.

Poor Alice!

Something about the beautiful view, colorful foliage, fresh snow, and work boots makes Ryan think about becoming a farmer. Then he realized that farmers don't have time to code.

The fiery trees seem to work together to create beautiful patterns.
It's almost as if the trees are saying "After you. No, after you."

Hangin' with Ava, Hannah, and baby Xander at our deluxe accommodations. Incidentally, their house used to be a fancy bed and breakfast. Yet more evidence that we can't avoid being yuppie leaf peepers.

We also attended a family wedding in Syracuse, but we need to get some pictures from Ryan's mom before we post about that part of our itinerary.

Thanks to Ryan's family for putting up with us for a full week! We had a great time and can't wait to see you again soon!