That's What Jenni Said

How many kings step down from their thrones? How many lords have abandoned their homes? How many greats have become the least for me? And how many gods have poured out their hearts To romance a world that is torn all apart How many fathers gave up their sons for me?   This is the chorus from a new Christmas melody that has been making its way around the country this holiday season. It's absolutely beautiful both in sentiment and tune. You can hear the song on the blog of one of the band members here .

Christmas morning J awoke to discover that he had slept 15 hours. Happily, he felt much better. The two of us excitedly rifled through our stockings to see what Santa had brought us. He always brings us sweet and useful treats like chocolate and bubble bath. We played with the pups for awhile, had a quick breakfast (green chile egg burritos) and then got down to the fun business of opening presents. Our family and friends were very generous to us this year. J received a lot of dvd movies he wanted, clothes, his beloved weather calendar (from me), and an mp3 player he had his eye on (also from me). I received a lot of presents as well. One of my favorites was the 7th edition of The Professional Chef , sent by J's older brother and wife in Seattle. I simply adore the cookbook/textbook. It's the standard used at the Culinary Institute for training new chefs. So, in theory, once I work my way through the whole book I should be a quasi-pro. Another one of my favorite was the Fuj...

By the third day of our vacation J and I were feeling pretty settled into our snowy accommodations. The pups had both finally oriented themselves to the deeper snow (Poor Jenna had such a hard time at first because she would sink way down and it was a struggle for her to walk/plow through the deep snow) and we were delighted to have another day of recreation together. In the morning we drove out to the White Mountain Cog Railroad to visit the museum and gift shop before our legendary ride on the Cog train. It was another spectacular event! Following a quick brown bag lunch we had brought, we boarded the train to ride halfway up Mount Washington. The tracks actually continue onto the summit but with world record wind chills it is just too cold for the workers to run the train all the way in the winter. In West Virginia, J and I had previously ridden a steam train that zig zagged its way up a mountain side. This, this is totally different- the steam engine pushes a passenger car stra...

Sunday morning J and I slept in, enjoying our vacation. When we finally dragged ourselves out of bed, I made a hot breakfast for the both of us (eggs, bacon, toast, apple cider) and then we were off adventuring. Our first stop was the White Mountain National Forest to do some winter walking. The forest is truly spectacular- over 880,000 acres of wilderness purchased and now maintained by the federal government. New Hampshire was in a selling pattern to raise cash, auctioning off a lot of state late to the highest private bidders (mostly logging companies). The feds became involved in the purchasing frenzy in the early 1900s with the passage of the Weeks Act. President Taft signed the Weeks Act into law on March 1, 1911. The law authorized the federal government to purchase lands for stream-flow protection, and to maintain the acquired lands as national forests. Initially, eastern lands along navigable watersheds were considered. As the years progressed however, the Forest Service ...

The alarm buzzed at 3:45am and as I slid over to J's side of the bed to turn it off I grumbled. I hate getting up early in the morning for road trips. I am *not* a morning person. We loaded up the last minute items in J's car-we had done most of the packing the night before- and then we were off on our Christmas vacation. I was so excited. A white Christmas was waiting for us in Conway, New Hampshire. The roads were easy and the traffic was light. It was a smooth trip all the way up to New England. We arrived at our cozy little cabin, unpacked everything and then ventured out into town to pick up groceries and to eat dinner. There is a smokehouse bbq joint that was highly recommended so we enjoyed dinner there and it was delicious. Moat Mountain Smoke House 3378 White Mt Highway (Rt 16) North Conway, NH 603-356-6381 After dinner we put away the groceries as we listened to Christmas Carols on the xm radio (we got the indoor docking station just for this purpose) an...

Friday December 21st was a great day for me professionally and personally. At the office we finished a major project team deliverable and I was still flying high from finishing my individual assignments on Wednesday- 2 more technical manuals/papers. Two of my coworkers brought me Christmas presents and that added to my holiday cheer. In addition, we had our annual Christmas party and work and J volunteered to drive to Rockville on a company errand so he was able to stop over and enjoy the festivities as well. It was great to finally introduce him to all of my coworkers who have heard so much about him over the past year but had yet to meet him until then. The food was great- Iranian cuisine, and I received a Starbucks gift card during the gift exchange. I got home pretty late from work [8pm] and J and I set about packing for the trip. It took us an hour or so to pack everything up, then we enjoyed a quick dinner before J went off to bed [he was driving first shift in the a.m.] and ...

  Today we officially finished all of our Christmas shopping. It was a fun and stress-free shopping season. The majority of our gifts we purchased on Black Friday and the rest we purchased online, avoiding the crowds at the malls. Went to a Christmas party for the Women's Fellowship group and learned a new game called 'Mad Gab'. I wasn't the best at it but I wasn't the worst either. The food was good and the company was even better. One of my favorite friends, Irma, was there. She has a very infectious laugh and is always full of such joy and optimism. I really enjoy being in her presence. Church was very special on Sunday as a couple we are friends with had their little baby girl baptized and we all came up to the altar and gathered around her to pray. I'm a mushy girly girl so you know I cried. One thing I really love about the Christian Church is the pervasive sense of love that permeates throughout the entire congregation. It's nice to enjoy a sens...