Christmas at the movies

There are so many great Christmas movies to watch this time of year. I still swoon every time Bing Crosby croons a ballad or Danny Kaye dances in White Christmas, even though Paul makes fun of the "Snow, Snow, Snow" song and always says Rosemary Clooney looks like a man. Jimmy Stewart's promise in It's a Wonderful Life to lasso the moon for Donna Reed if she wants it is quite possibly one of the most romantic gestures I have ever heard of. I get teary-eyed everytime the old man with the snow shovel embraces his estranged family at the end of Home Alone. And I find myself quoting Elf pretty much year-round because it is so over-the-top hilarious.

But last night, Paul made me watch a totally different kind of Christmas movie. I had no idea that Gremlins was a Christmas movie. Have you seen it? It was absolutely awful. Quite possibly the worst Christmas movie ever, although Die Hard takes a close second in my book.

But the completely ridiculous part of it all was that those freaky little monsters actually scared me. Its completely moronic to be scared of claymation beasties running amuck on an unassuming small town the night before Christmas, but I was truly disturbed. I like scary movies that are intense thrillers, but throw in a deranged creature with pointy teeth and a tendency to use claws to draw blood and I end up with nightmares. And to top it all off, there was the absolutely frightful acting. That is two hours of my life that I will never get back. Shudder.

'Tis The Season!

With Thanksgiving behind us and December underway, Amy and I are so excited for the Christmas season to finally be here! I am one of those people who won't listen to Christmas music or break out the decorations until AFTER Thanksgiving is past, even though lots of stores around here have had Christmas items on sale since Halloween. Sadly, this year Amy and I are not putting up a Christmas tree since we don't have room in our apartment and all our ornaments are stored in a closet at Amy's parents' house.

One of the best parts of this season, in my opinion, is how everyone gets together with their family and friends to enjoy one another's company. Today we went to my parents' house in Alpine and got to spend time with my brothers, sister-in-law, parents and grandmother.

Their tree is beautiful and my mom put festive decorations all over the house.

Even Bosco had his Christmas bells collar on!

My mom set a beautiful dinner table and prepared a wonderful meal for us all to enjoy together.

After dinner, we had fun sitting around a roaring fire and playing card games while Christmas music played in the background.

Even though its only the 7th of December, today was a great beginning to the Christmas season. I look forward to many more family gatherings, tasty food, and other wonderful Christmas traditions. I hope you all have a very merry Christmas season this year!

French Macarons

Mac-uh-ron, not macaroons. I know my last post was about staying focused, but hey, even when I am focused on school, a girl's gotta eat, right? These were uh-mazing. Found the recipe here. Crispy outside, chewy soft hazelnut and chocolate inside. Yummy. Now I just have to keep myself from losing control and devouring the whole batch. I gave some away as a precaution.

Paul's photo, by the way. Do I have a talented husband or what?

Focus, focus, focus

This is where I spend my days.


These are what I spend my days reading.


This is how I spend my evenings. In PJs, studying at my computer.


I have final exams for the next two weeks. In law school, your grade is based entirely on how well you do on the final exam. There are no quizzes. There is no homework. There is no extra credit. Needless to say, this next two week period will be incredibly stressful. The Law is all-consuming this time of year.

But being completely honest, and this should surprise no one, despite all my griping and wailing and complaining, I get a major rush taking exams. There is just something about the proctor saying "Begin," jamming in earplugs to silence the drone of fifty other students clickety-clacking away on their keyboards, and feeling the seal of the exam packet tearing open. It just gets my blood pumping. Its the same feeling I had even in grade school when standardized tests were administered where we had to fill in the little bubble sheets with our Number Two pencils.

Sheesh, I just re-read this post and I am mortified at how nerdy I am. Oh well, there you have it world - another confession of my complete geekiness. Wish us luck!

Naked Out of Necessity

Here is a photo of our rings that I took a couple years ago. I guess Amy didn't remember I had these photos, so here you go.

As you can see, a cleaning/repolishing is desperately needed, so the two-day separation from our rings is well worth it...although I have noticed a substantial increase in the number of girls smiling at me, checking me out as I walk by, and asking for my number... I think tomorrow I will just need to stay indoors.