Christmas and New Years

Christmas Eve was spent at Dana's house with all the family on my mom's side. As usual, oysters were the highlight of my Christmas Eve! I always look forward to that. We had lots of good food and drinks, and had a beautiful dinner outside.

The Christmas tree with presents for the kids.

dinner tables outside.

Christmas Day was at my parents house again, with Alexis's family, and my dad's side of the family. We had a LOT of food, a lot of drinks, and we played a LOT of Rockband and Guitar Hero on the Xbox 360. It was a very good Christmas. (I got some Uggs to help me brave the Indiana cold! Very exciting.)

We came back to Indiana the Saturday after Christmas and we both went back to work the following Monday. I think next year we will take two weeks off!

For New Years Eve, we had no plans. We had been debating on whether to go to a party or just stay home and do nothing, so when the party was cancelled, that made our decision real easy. We started calling places to eat at about 6pm, so naturally most places were already booked. We ended up eating at Joseph Decuis, which is in Roanoke. I have heard lot's of people talk about this restaurant, and they were doing a special prix fixe menu for New Years Eve. It was sooo good. We had an amazing 5 course meal:
- complimentary glass of champagne
- a cauliflower with truffle oil soup to start
- calamari and crab cakes for appetizer
- the best caesar salad ever
- surf and turf (steak and lobster) for me, and a fish and risotto meal for Alexis
- a triple truffle tasting, and a mousse cake for dessert.

Easily one of the best meals of my life! The restuarant was in an old building, and on our table was a mens and womens party hat, and two noisemakers to ring in the new year. The meal was almost ruined when the power went out right before the main course, but luckily enough power came back on to light up the room, and the kitchen is powered by gas. Dinner took almost three hours, and we barely made it home to watch the ball drop!

Joseph Decuis in downtown Roanoke
(the camera wouldn't take a clear shot)

downtown Roanoke.

Bella with the hat that was on our table at dinner.

Teddy.

Happy New Year!

New Years resolutions:
1. Start eating healthier, pay more attention to what I am eating, eat less sugar and less meat. A pretty normal resolution. Over Christmas I read the book Skinny Bitch. Just reading this book causes quite a comotion with people when they find out. If you tell people you are reading this book, they immediately roll their eyes and defend why you should eat meat. That's fine, I don't care. I never said I was going to stop eating meat or tell anyone else they should stop eating meat. I just wanted to read the book for my own information, and I am glad I did. For those that don't know, it's a book telling you what not to eat if you want to lose weight, and goes into great detail about meat and the treatment of animals. It definitely opened my eyes, although I have not turned into a vegeterian.

2. Work out on a regular basis. I HATE working out. That will never change.

3. Watch less TV! Alexis and I get so frustrated with the amount of time we waste watching TV. This year we want to shut down the computers and turn off the TV, whether it is to get things done, or just spend more time together.

I don't think I have actually ever kept a New Years Resolution. Apparantly I don't have much will power. Hopefully this year will be different. Especially since we are starting the year off in a good place - we both have jobs, and things are going good, which was not the case last year. I am looking forward to a good year, and I wish for a fantastic year for everyone else as well!