Usual Year-End Survey

2008: In The Beginning
Where did you bring in the New Year? At Mepkin Abbey, around a sorry little bonfire

Who were you with? Leo and Dismas. A bunch of monks!

Did you make any resolutions? Eat right. Exercises. The usual.

2008: Your Love Life
Did you break up with anyone? Yes.
Did you get anything for Valentine's day? A cross necklace.
Did you meet anyone special? No, but I did get to know someone special again.
Did you fall in love? Oh, yeah, I'd say so...

2008: Friends and Enemies
Did you meet any new friends this year? Lots of new friends, yes!
Did any of your friendships end? Friendships changed, but didn't end.
Did you dislike anyone? Not too terribly bad, no.
Did you make any new enemies? I don't do the whole enemy thing. Too much work.
Did you resolve any fights? I didn't really have any to resolve. No big ones, at any rate.
Who was(were) your closest friend(s)? My newest closest friends are my roommates! :)
Who did you grow apart from? Several people, as inevitably happens as lives change.
Do you have any regrets when it comes to your friendships? Zero.

2008: Your BIRTHDAY!!
Did you have a cake? Yes!
What did you do for your birthday? Came home to cake and lovely roomies! And then went out with a bunch of friends. Read about it here.
Did you have a party? Not a party, per-se, but I did have dueling unicorns!
Did you get any presents? Yes. A hair-cut, clothes, tickets for the dance, and other little things.

If so, what was the best thing you got? Coming home to a surprise from my roommates. :)

2008: All about YOU
Did you change at all this year? I'm always changing.
Did you dye your hair? Nope.
Did you get your hair cut? Yep.
Did you change your style? Not terribly.

Were you in school? Yes, but I'm at a new school now.
Did you have a job? I'm super-nanny!
Did you drive? Too much. I now go to a school that's 45-minutes away.
Did you own a car? Yeah, I bought a new car.
Did anyone close to you give birth? Not this year.
Did you move at all? Nope. But I did consider it.
Did you go on any vacations? Yes. Spend a week at the coast with my family and a week in Michigan with Mike.
Did you leave the country at all? No, not even Canada, ay.
Would you change anything about yourself now? Nah. I'm pretty content with my life. :)

2008: Wrap Up.
Is 2008 a good year? It was for me.
Did 2008 bring any new insights? Insights into a lot of things, totally.
Do you think 2009 will top 2008? Each year trumps the last.

2009
How old will you turn in 2009? I'll turn 25 at the end of it. Omg. 25. ACK!
Do you think you'll be married by then? Who knows?

What do you look forward to most in the next 2 months? Investigative Journalism!
Will you be looking for a new job? Not a new job, but an internship.
Will you be looking for a new relationship? Definitely not.
New house? Not for me.
New Years resolution? Touch my toes, save money, exercise.
Any trips planned? Nothing big.
Wedding plans? I'm planning on being in two weddings.
What's on your calendar? Nothing other than the aforementioned weddings and maybe missing Mike for a week or two.
What can't you wait for? OH, you know.
What would you like to see happen different? I'd like to see myself continue going in the direction I'm headed. I like it.
What about yourself will you be changing? Relying less on myself or others and more on God.
Will you be nicer to the people you care about? Sometimes that's a matter of mis-communication. And yes, I'm working on it.
What happened in '08 that you didn't think would ever happen? I got back together with Mike. Honestly didn't see that one coming.

What will you do differently in 2009? Oh, probably touch my toes finally.

♥, TiffanyAnne

Christmas recap

So, it's been a while. Sorry about that, I've been away. Michigan was wonderful. When I got off the plane, the air was so cold I couldn't believe it. And I loved it! It snowed while we were there! The snow was wonderful. There's no way I could recap the trip without boring you half to death, so I won't try. But I did enjoy my Christmas.

Mike got me a Nintendo DS with Brain Age 2 (which he played almost more than I did!) and a Chia Herb Garden! Ha! I just planted some herbs last night: cilantro, basil, majoram, and parsley.

Probably my favorite present--after the DS, of course--is a snowflake necklace that I got from his mom. It's perfect and definitely fits my style of jewelry. It's a silver snowflake with little CZ and detailed design. Super cute! I've got to wear it while I still can, though, because who wears a snowflake pendant in the summer?

The best part about the trip is the whole reason I sacrificed having Christmas with my family. I spent it with Mike and we had a wonderful little Christmas vacation.


♥, TiffanyAnne

Happy Christmas Adam!

Christmas Eve is tomorrow and, like Eve from the Bible and Adam who came before her, what comes before Christmas Eve is Christmas Adam. I first heard about this from my sister, but after Googling "Christmas Adam" last year, I learned that we were not alone in this silliness. :)

We don't actually have any traditions or anything of significance on Christmas Adam. Of the few people that "celebrate" Christmas Adam, some use it as a day to open an extra present. Most, however, are like Stargirl and me--we just want another day to build the Christmas anticipation.

Are there any extra little days that you like to celebrate this holiday season?

♥, TiffanyAnne

Christmas with the snow, with the snow, with the snow snow!

Monday: Snow showers, 20°/7°
Tuesday: Cloudy, 28°/28°
Wednesday: Few Snow Showers/Wind, 32°/11°
Thursday: Mostly cloudy, 21°/20°
Friday: Mostly cloud, 30°/22°
Saturday: Cloudy, 29°/24°

Above is *not* the weather for cast for my wonderful southern metropolis. Above part of the 10-day weather forecast taken from the Detroit airport (from weather.com) where Mike and I will be flying in to spend Christmas with his family.

I'm excited. I'm excited about the week off work, spending time with Mike, flying, and snow! I'll miss my family, but it will be interesting to experience another family's holiday traditions. And I'm excited about spending Christmas with Mike.

Oh...and just for comparison, this is the weather we're leaving behind:
Monday: Partly Cloudy, 45°/27°
Tuesday: Mostly Cloudy, 47°/38°
Wednesday: Showers, 58°/33°
Thursday: Sunny, 54°/34°
Friday: Mostly Cloudy, 55°/42°
Saturday: Partly Cloudy, 56°/46°

Or more importantly, the weather we are coming home to!

♥, TiffanyAnne

Christmas countdown

Christmas is one week from today. It's coming so quickly! Is everything ready? Am I ready to fly out on Monday? Have I bought all the presents? As the final days of Christmas tick by, I thought about all the ways we countdown to Christmas.

Advent comes from the Latin word adventus which means "coming" and rightly so as Advent is the season in which we anticipate the coming of Jesus--a sort of "christmas countdown." For those who celebrate Advent, the only pink candle on the wreath was lit last Sunday to signify the start of that Advent is half-way through.

There are so many Christmas calendars that people have. Little houses with 25 boxes. Or 25 drawers. Carboard calendars with 25 preforated flaps underneath which lies a piece of chocolate! We never had those in my house growing up. Plush calendars with little plush presents or animals in each day.

The kiddos have a Santa calendar which has a little pockets for each day from December 1 until Christmas day. A plush present attached to the calendar by a string is moved (taking turns!) each day to get the kids excited about Christmas coming.

How do you countdown the days until Christmas?

♥, TiffanyAnne

twenty-four

"Where's the cake?" I asked. "I smell cake!" I started sniffing around the kitchen.

Lauren, my roommate, was fiddling with something on the counter.

I opened the oven. Empty. "Tiffany! You're silly," Lauren said.

I had just arrived home from a wonderful day of work. The kids had been well behaved. I got some good one-on-one time with each of them. I got a generous gift from the family. And my morning had begun wonderfully with a present from my roommate and a message from my sister. "Da na na na na na, They say it's your birthday! Da na na na na na, it's my birthday, too!!!"

I was supposed to be getting ready to have dinner with Mike and maybe a few friends.

But I smelled cake.

I heard the upstairs roommates say something. Lauren disappeared. I went into my room to drop off my bag and coat and when I emerged, Ellen and Heidi were holding a freshly frosted cake while Lauren lit the candles.

How's that for a fantastic welcoming home on your birthday, hmmm?

So, we stood around the kitchen eating cake and being silly. Lots of silliness ensued. While we wore cone-shaped birthday party hats.

And we took a LOT of pictures.

Shortly thereafter, Mike arrived bearing gifts. Just a little things that made him think of me, I suppose. We went out to eat with a few friends to a local restaurant/cafe where my all-time favorite local musician was playing that night. We had dinner followed by coffee and a shared desert. Everyone got to hang out and I got to hear Jacob Johnson play again.

After that, three of us went to see the new Keanue Reeves movie. I can't do it justice in one sentence, so I won't even try.

Birthdays are generally overrated. There are no more cupcakes at school or princess themed party plates. Often, throwing a birthday bash means time, money, and organizational skills. So most birthdays end up being just another day.

However, this one--full of friends and thoughtfulness and smiles--was absolutely perfect.



♥, TiffanyAnne

Girly whirly birthday party

The other day, I went to the local nail salon with a few lovely ladies. They all got their nails done because the birthday girl decided that was what she wanted for her birthday party.

Me, the birthday girls mom (also my boss) and another mom hung around, chatted, and snapped photos while a group of 3- and 4-year-old little girls get their nails painted in various combinations. Lauren chose a red/green combo to go with the Christmas holidays. The other girls chose blue/white, blue/purple and purple/red. They all behaved so well. I think they were a little nervous about being in there.

Lauren was so excited about getting her nails done that she was falling over herself just to get to the nail salon.

When we got home, we opened presents before eating lunch and having cake. Among other things, Lauren got some pink and purple frosted nail polish.

So, what did I find her doing that very afternoon? Using her new nail polish, of course, to paint over her freshly done nails.

♥, TiffanyAnne

Birthday haircut

So, I'm turning 24 tomorrow. As part of my birthday present, my wonderful boyfriend set me up an appointment with the owner of a downtown salon.

For the past couple of years, my style has consisted of deciding to get my hair cut a certain way and then growing it out or chopping it off. Now, however, I finally feel like I have a haircut that I'm going to hang on to for a while.

♥, TiffanyAnne

Wise guy

♥, TiffanyAnne

Christmas Survey from Missy

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I prefer wrapping paper if I have the time.

2. Real tree or Artificial? At my house we have a teeny-weeny red tinsel tree. I'd love a real tree one day, though.

3. When do you put up the tree? We put it up the weekend before Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? Probably early January.

5. Do you like eggnog? I've never tried it.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?

7. Hardest person to buy for?

9. Do you have a nativity scene? No

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? How about neither. Well, okay, a few people get 'em.

11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A cheap, ill-fitting used coat my brother bought at a yard sale.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? does "Love Acutally" count?

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Early. Pre-thanksgiving.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Actually, not that I can think of.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? All of it!

16. Lights on the tree? Of course! :)

17. Favorite Christmas song? "Baby, Please Come Home" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I'd rather stay home. But then I'd have to give up being with my family, and I'm not about to do that!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Oh, I can quote the man himself: Now Dasher, now Dancer, now Prancer and Vixen! On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen! To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall! Now dash away, dash away, dash away all!...um. Safe to say I read that book alot. Oh. And Rudolph, of course!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel

21. Open the presents Christmas eve or Christmas day? Christmas day

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The stress that we bring into it.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? White and twinkly. :)

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? I really love cranberry sauce. Particularly the canned kind--ha-ha!

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Good memories.

♥, TiffanyAnne

Hey Ya, Charlie Brown!

♥, TiffanyAnne

Loafers

Monday night, I was scurrying around trying to find a decent outfit to wear on Tuesday night. Nothing I owned looked professional enough and everything my roommate let me try on looked, appropriately enough, like my big sister's clothes that almost fit me. Having been a nanny for almost five years, I lack in the "business casual" department these days.

Tuesday morning, I hit the a discount store and the consignment store right next to it. I was able to find the perfect outfit--and it acutally fit me!

There was one problem: The pants I was able to find that actually fit me were too short to wear with my high-heels, i.e. my go-to dressy shoe. While staring at the options the shoe store hand for me, however, my eyes were opened to a whole new genre of shoes.

The loafer. Now, the closest I have ever come to wearing a loafer are my moccasins. Loafers were modeled after moccasins, but probably not the ones I wear with my Native American dance regalia (you know, the white ones with pink sequins). I have never worn loafers before Tuesday, but I found a cute pair [pictured] at Payless and fell in love. Then, last night, I found a pair of black loafers that my sister had given me a while ago. I'm wearing them right now.

Survey says? I love loafers. They're cute, dressy and way more comfortable than high-heels. When I buy jeans or pants in short/petite lengths and try to dress them up with heels, they look way too short. With loafers, they look perfect.

Plus, they look professional and "grown-up". Which, for someone who is often mistaken for a teenager, is quite nice.

♥, TiffanyAnne

So this is Christmas...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Ev'rywhere you go;
Take a look in the five-and-ten, glistening once again
With candy canes and silver lanes aglow.

We are officially into the Christmas season. I think the Christmas season officially begins after the official Thanksgiving Day nap. Which, by the way, is not tryptophan induced.

Some people, think that the Christmas season officially begins somewhere around 12:01AM on November 1st. This past Halloween, while I was on a church retreat, I had to make an emergency run to Walmart. I breezed through the doors very shortly after midnight and began my search for the right aisle. I was surprised to see Super-Center-Sized Christmas decorations out and waiting to be displayed despite the fact that many a drunk college girl was still celebrating in her sexy Little Bo Peep costume.

The wikipedia "Christmas and holiday season" page gives several dates for the Christmas season:

• According to Yanovski et al, in the United States the season "is generally considered to begin with Thanksgiving and end after New Year's Day".
• According to Axelrad, the season in the United States encompasses at least Christmas and New Year's Day, and also includes Saint Nicholas Day.
• The U.S. Fire Administration defines the winter holiday season as the period from December 1 to January 7.
• According to Chen et al., in China the Christmas/winter holiday season "is generally considered to begin with the winter solstice and end after the Lantern Festival".
• Some stores and shopping malls advertise their Christmas merchandise beginning after Halloween or even in late October, alongside Halloween items.
• In the UK Christmas food appears on supermarket shelves as early as September.

I like the U.S. Fire Administrations dates best. January 7th is the Ephiphany and, according to Catholic tradtion, is when the Magi found baby Jesus.

I usually institute some sort of personal ban on celebrating Christmas at least until Thanksgiving Day. This year, however, I got in the swing of things a little earlier than usual. The Sunday before Thanksgiving, Lauren-the-roommate and I went shopping in search of basic stuffs: toilet paper, rice cakes, a magazine basket. Sometime during our expedition, we decided that it was high time to decorate the house for Christmas--as much as poor college roomies can, that is.

I've been happily listening Christmas music and singing carols in my car since the radio stations turned it on November 1st. At home, I favor the Sufjan Christmas CD.

When do you start celebrating Christmas?

♥, TiffanyAnne

Tomorrow's news. Today.

Today, during my first ever foray into a newsroom, I came to the very obvious conclusion that I need to write more. A few weeks ago, at a "Media Day" event at my school, I met a reporter from the local newspaper who invited me to stop by the newsroom sometimes. Today, I did just that. I was there for almost three hours talking to reporters, hanging around the copy desk, and watching tomorrow's paper get put together.

As I walked into the newspaper building escorted by that reporter, we began to exchange the usual pleasantries. He asked me how I was doing. "Good!" I replied, ever perky. He gave me an odd look and said that it had been an "interesting" day in the newsroom.

Indeed, it is an interesting time to be someone who wants to go into print journalism. I was researching Gannett for a school project when I came across news about layoffs within the company. Huge Gannett layoffs are happening this week and I had the unfortunate timing to show up on the day they were happening at the local newspaper. People who had been writing for the paper for longer that I have been alive were let go.

What does that mean for me as someone who one day wants to see a byline in print?

"While the industry continues to undergo changes — [Mitch] Weiss calls the Internet “the mother of all threats” to print media — Weiss believes there will always be a place for people such as [Tiffany] Heuser, and that there are few more rewarding careers."

There will always be a place for someone like me. Though, I think that in a few short years, that place will be almost solely on the web.

♥, TiffanyAnne