My company is closed today, so i have the day off work. Nathan is working, so i’m home alone. Here’s how i entertain myself (once i’ve finally rolled out of bed):
I photograph the sugar cookies i made at my cookie decorating party. 
Merry Christmas!
Due to recent developments in the life of Steph, i may have to come up with a new theme for this blog. I’m more like 50% Disaster and 50% Dreamer now. I’ve been laid off from my position as a web designer, and that’s three strikes. I don’t plan to return to design again; from here on out i’m either a web developer or studying to become a programmer, depending on what happens in the next few weeks.
In the personal realm of life, Nathan and i have been enjoying the season together quite a bit, despite having opted for Thai food and a zombie movie at home rather than a party on Beggars’ Night. We made a trek to Iowa City a few weekends ago and visited an orchard, picked up some seasonal microbrews, had dinner with Nina & Karl and went to a hookah bar after discovering that the band we had traveled to see had cancelled the show due to van troubles. At the orchard we picked a couple of ill-fated little pumpkins and enough apples for Nathan to double our current stockpile of delicious homemade pies.
The treasure was a small decorative gourd.
Evidently the squirrels around here have a taste for pumpkin.
More recently, i walked the Race for the Cure with my mom, a thirteen-year cancer survivor. It was quite a sight to see a river of pink filling the streets of Des Moines and all the names written on their backs of survivors and victims alike. It wasn’t quite the feeling of accomplishment that i got two years ago when i ran/walked it, but it was definitely more of a sense of sisterhood. This time it was about relationships rather than endurance.
Autumn has been pretty kind to us this year; we haven’t seen a snowflake yet, but it is getting chillier as the days pass. Most of the leaves have fallen now. It’s time to pick up the pieces.
Oh shoot, i’ve got to start composing my end-of-year blog entry! In the meantime, here are some photos from Christmas:
The gifts under my tree, most of them for me from Nathan
This is a rather poor composition, but i still like it.
