Saturday morning wake up call

Saturday morning I woke up to lots of commotion in the house (Eric rummaging around to find his camera), and the door swinging open and slamming shut. I got up to see what all the fuss was about and upon peering through the blinds I see Eric standing in our backyard in the snow in only his pajamas (shorts and tshirt) and his slippers. Then he runs full speed down the drive way all the while taking pictures. Naturally I put on my coat and scarf and gloves, grabbed his coat and the keys and sleepily ambled out to the car and tracked him down on the sidewalk so we could go chase this balloon that had flown over top of our house. Ahhh wonderful weekend.

Come and get it! Sushi Sunday

Loved

The Lititz Pretzel

Welcome to the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Factory in Lititz, PA. We went while we were home and oh my goodness... super fun. It was Eric and I along with a bunch of grade school kids learning how to roll pretzels. Believe it or not this Lititz Pretzel Bakery is the first of it's kind... ever. Pretzels have a long history... leftovers from making bread were made into soft pretzels by monks who were trying to teach orphan children about prayer. (folded arms of a pretzel) Apparently soft pretzels then became a hot commodity with all those german folk who brought the tradition to PA. Some guy, Julius Sturgis, was working in one such german pretzel bakery in Lititz and tried one of the "burnt pretzels" and thought they were mighty tasty. He thinned down the dough to thinner strips to the bite size snack we have now and took them to his boss thinking he was about to make it big. The boss laughed him out of his office so Sturgis left and started making his own in a bakery he made himself in the back of his house where wife and 14 children also lived. The rest is well pretzel history you might say...

Birthing the modern pretzel

Welcome to the Julius Stergis Pretzel Factory Lititz, PA. Eric and I went while we were home and oh my goodness... it was super fun. It was Eric and I along with a bunch of grade school kids.

December 28th Post

Our first year anniversary was a lazy Sunday spent recovering from Audrey and Joe's Brazilian Meat Eating Wedding Feast. I was writing in my journal the other day about reflections of the past year and I realized I get to also evaluate my first year of marriage at the same time. It's kind of silly how much difference a year can make. Conclusion: I am grateful for my husband and our rather wonderfully student lifestyle of the moment. It feels selfish and poor and all sorts of spontaneous fun.

Christmas in PA!

These puppies pee submissively out of love. We miss Boscoe and Star.
At Blue Ridge Summit with Ginny, Doug, Matthew and Ethan.
My first Blueberry Pie!
Sara and Kyle Risk wedding: six years to the day of their first date. This was a really great weekend that I got to be a part of. I saw so many people from high school that I haven't seen since the night of graduation as well as celebrating in Kyle and Sara's special day.
The boys being silly in their stocking gifts.
Audrey and Joe Anderson wedding: 364 days after ours! Advice for future brides: book a Brazilian restaurant for prime guest gut splitting. I don't ever think I have eaten SO MUCH in my entire life. I lost count at the second round of "...bacon wrapped filet mignon?", which was after seven or eight other skewered meat sword wielding gauchos had come by. What a great weekend this was! Three Parks weddings three Christmas' in a row!

In remembrance

Hours before we were leaving for the holidays our gerbil Marge passed away. Being gerbil owners the past year has taught us a few things:

1. We love gerbils.
2. It's nice to have something to take care of other than a basil plant or beta.
3. Keep receipts. Gerbils are prone to depression and most major pet stores have a two week warranty.
4. Gerbils love coconut huts, sunflower seeds, squeaky wheels, paper towels and toilet paper rolls.
5. Two gerbils may be cuddle buddies one day but enemies the next.
6. Broccoli causes bloating in gerbil guts.

Marge was our very best gerbil friend. We miss her lots.