the second thing (finally) -- same old?

Not to be mundane...but I get to go back here this summer:

Mongolia!

This is what the camp looks like in the wintertime (photo credits to camp staff).  Of course it will look more like this when I go back:

Every time I think about seeing the friends I remember, I get re-excited.  (And thankful.)

Lord willing!

the first thing (fingerprints)

Several things have been happening lately.

I graduated college:

That is the first thing.  I am happy about this.  I haven't asked, but I think Dad is also happy to not have three kids in college anymore.

One of the nice things about graduating was that I also got this in the mail:

When I mentioned my licensure the other day, somebody brought up drivers' licenses.  Well, yes,they are similar in that it helps to not be a criminal to get/keep either one.  A teaching license is slightly more involved.  The state had to fingerprint me to see if I was really a criminal or not.  The results showed that I was not, so Iowa said that, after four and a half years and a lot of work, I can teach "for real" now.

New Year's Day

Christmas Day

Nathan & the log splitter

Grace & Sebastian

Caroline & Charles II

Peter & the Advent wreath

egg nog

I can make my own egg nog!

While it is not the point of Christmas, I get excited about egg nog every December.  (I think people either hate it or they love it.  True?)

Eggs, whipping cream, milk, sugar, vanilla, nutmeg (not to turn this into a food blog...)

Dad didn't like it.  He said it tasted like raw eggs.  Ah well, "All the more for the rest of us."

in the doghouse

Room enough, Pounce?

Meanwhile, canines Bear and Sebastian enjoy the 4-degree weather outside.

I always said if I were an animal, I'd want to be a cat.

for the last time...

Another paper -- did she survive??

(Did her family survive?)

"Come back tomorrow to find out."