Another semester: Saturday mornings

Our second semester in Bloomington has begun, and it's back to the academic grindstone for Jim. He's taking a heavy load of 4 classes (3 is considered full-time). One of the joys of student life is of course the weekend, and Saturday mornings for us mean Jim gets up early to start studies while Jul sleeps in, then we have breakfast together and face a long morning of reading (Jim: articles etc for class; Jul: NY Times and USA Today) and drinking coffee/tea.

Last week in fact we celebrated 6 months in B-town - with waffles! (I couldn't resist posting another photo of Jim in an apron. That's for you, Heather.) Mom G, the wafflemaker worked great!!! It's going to transform our Saturday mornings.

This is the life, right, Jim? Often his reading assignments are PDF articles that he downloads and reads on the computer.

and here's Jul (well, not really) sipping tea and reading the papers. Ah, what basketball/tennis/football games are on this weekend and how can I watch them without distracting Jim?

"Cinnamon Roll" Scones

As one of our fun activities last week (when we actually had a couple of days at home to relax together) we decided to have a J&J mini-Christmas morning. Naturally Jim wanted to make cinnamon rolls but for something different (that didn't require raising) he made scones! After making the dough he rolled it out into a rectangle, covered it with butter & cinnamon & sugar, then rolled it up and cut it into slices. Into the oven they went, and out they came, risen and browned and very tasty. We definitely recommend them as an alternative to yeast cinnamon rolls; the texture of the dough is different but they sure still hit the sweet spot.


Alas, after this morning we finally put away the Christmas music and decorations. Now the new year and new semester begin!

Back in Bloomington - SNOW!

We're back in Bloomington, grateful for safe travels through 6 states over the holidays, and now really sleeping in and enjoying a few days of rest before the next semester starts up (though Jim and I are both still working part-time this week). And what a way to relax with our first snow of the season in Bloomington!! We had been told not to expect much snow here, something about air currents, so we'll love it while we can. I mean, if it's going to be cold, it needs to snow sometimes! I think we have about 6 inches now at the end of the day.

After Jim attempted to sweep our front area, we took a walk amidst huge snowflakes. (ADT shout-out for our South African friends. We feel right at home with the sign.)

Thankfully I got some new wool mittens ("Smittens" made by cousins Susie and Wendy) and a long down coat for Christmas, so I was all set. Those mittens are seriously warm.




Not a snowball thrown at Jim... that's a falling snowflake!

A few more from Wheaton visit

The Gieser Cousins' Ornament Exchange usually happens around New Year's, complete with lots of good eats and talking and yelling & swapping of the ornaments each person chooses. We had 17 cousins in attendance this year! (Anyone recall how many years has this event been going? 10??)

This year Nate and Susie hosted the event.

We all bring a wrapped ornament, choose a number from a hat, and get to pick an ornament in that order (or swap with someone else who has already chosen). Here's Wendy giving instructions, which of course resulted in much bickering over the exact details - how many swaps allowed per gift, per round, etc. Somehow this same argument happens every year.

On Sunday morning Mom and I enjoyed making lattes on her espresso machine (a Christmas gift from a few years ago), which gave us the energy to complete a puzzle that afternoon!

Another photo with Katie and Noah before they headed out the door for the return trip to Memphis (in a packed truck).

And oh, check out these chubby cuties, Avery (left) and Bella (right). Okay so I 'stole' this photo from Tiffany, since we didn't get to see them over this Christmas. But how could I resist adding a photo of them to this post! Don't those cheeks look kissable?

Christmas again: Gieser-style

Monday night (yesterday) we arrived safely back to Bloomington after our 2,500 mile road trip to Memphis, Waco, Memphis, and Wheaton! Looking back, here are some shots from our time with the Gieser clan: Katie & Noah and Mom & Dad.

It was SO fun to stop in Memphis overnight and stay with the newlyweds, see all the progress they have made on their new house, and get a glimpse of their life together there.

After a night in Memphis, the four of us caravaned up to Wheaton together. The further north we got, the colder and snowier it was! The following day the six of us spent time in Chicago. One of the most remarkable things we saw was at the Chicago Botanic Gardens - every year they have a model train and city display. All the buildings are replicas of famous sites in Chicago and they are made entirely out of natural items (nuts, bark, leaves, etc)!

In the afternoon we visited the Baha'i temple in Evanston, near Northwestern University and amidst ritzy lakehouses on Lake Michigan. The 9-sided temple was completed in early 1950s. Dad remembers visiting it with his father as a child, who remembered seeing it being built when he was a child growing up in Highland Park and delivering meat in a horse-drawn wagon for his butcher father.

A stop at the Hershey's shop and cafe on Michigan Ave. Yes, that is a 5 pound bar of chocolate that Noah is holding and No, we did not buy it.

Seeing the lights on the Magnificent Mile was worth the cold!!

We decided to have another Christmas Day celebration (on New Year's Eve). Here is Noah calmly finishing up a pencil drawing for Katie (of her former Wheaton house that she lived in for 8 years).

Cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning, of course!

And a Christmas afternoon walk around the neighborhood. It was FREEZING and the snow was too dry to make snowballs (though we did our best anyway). But that is the wonderful fun that such a walk involves!



We definitely missed having Steve & Tiff and Avery & Bella (getting cuter and chubbier every day!!!!) with us this week. We hope to see you soon in 2010!