It Was a Very Merry Christmas...

The one thing that bothers me about Christmas time is that it seems to go by wayyyy too quickly.  I am always so sorry to see it go, but it does make me look forward to it the following year.

We had a great, low key Christmas this year.  Our tradition of going out to dinner on Christmas Eve continued and Rob and Michelle were able to join us this year.

Rob and Michelle at McCormick and Schmidt's

Unfortunately for me, I had woken up at 3:30 am Christmas Eve morning sick.  I did not really feel to fabulous but I could not miss Christmas Eve dinner with our crew.  I may not have had much to eat, but I enjoyed the company.

We normally stop off somewhere for drinks afterward, but we ended the night early.

Someone is super excited for Christmas morning!

I felt so much better on Christmas morning.  

Kya was so excited to see what Santa left in her stocking!

She made out pretty well.  Every girl loves a fox ornament (representing our fox friend Francis) and creme sandwich cookies.  I mean, what husky would not be thrilled?

She had to quality check the creme sandwich cookies.  I would have done the same.

Theodore watched from the stairs.  I think he is jealous of the creme sandwich cookie.  Or maybe the fox ornament, I am not sure.

Angel did pretty well as well.  She ended up with some snacks, mice, and an ornament with black coal that says naughty.  Very fitting for little miss trouble maker.

Of course Kya was jealous that the cats were getting gifts and attention...

Theo had to check out the snacks.  If you know Theodore, you know that food is at the top of his list.  Always.  No exceptions.

One thing about Mr. Theodore, he is super obsessed with weird random objects.  One of those objects happens to be Christmas bows.  Yep, Santa should have skipped the mice and just brought Christmas bows.   

With my sweet little hooligans

Angel and Theo had to quality test their treats as well.  

Santa brought me a new Starbucks coffee mug in my stocking

Every husky mom needs a 2013 Siberian Husky calendar

Angel thought it was important to get Ken a bottle of Bailey's Irish Creme.  I think she earned a few brownie points!

I was a sweet wife and made my husband these my super yummy, homemade, pumpkin cinnamon rolls.  It is okay to be jealous.  And to be truthful, I had one, Ken had three.  That's right, the person that does not eat sweets had three cinnamon rolls.  Does that tell you how good they are?

Just a boy and his bows...

Us three girls lounging around

We ended our day with Christmas dinner made by yours truly.  We also went to the movies to watch Django Unchained earlier in the afternoon.  It was very good.  Very weird, but very good.  Christmas 2012 could not have been better!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

Fa, la, la, la, la....la, la, la, la...

We spent our yesterday evening with our friends Brian and Jill.  One of our Christmas traditions is to go with Brian and Jill to the Plaza for dinner and to see the lights.  This year did not disappoint.  We had dinner at a newer place called Seasons 52.  The unique thing about this restaurant is that everything is under 475 calories.  It was really good and we received excellent service.  My favorite thing is the mini desserts that they have.

We went over to Brian and Jill's a little early to watch the Mizzou game.  I got to play with Miss Avery.

This girl cracks me up.  She is such a mess!

Jill and me in front of our favorite tower all lit up.

Brian and Jill

Mr. Handsome and me

Thanks for a fun evening Brian and Jill!

Dinner with the Girls...

It seems like the month of December has flown by!  It is so hard to coordinate so many people for a dinner during December, but somehow we managed to find a date that worked for everyone.  I am sad that Jill had something that came up last minute, but the rest of us were there.

Finally, a restaurant got it right and seated us at a round table so we could all take to each instead of a long table.  Bravo, Bravo!

It was a great time catching up with one another, hearing about everyone's travels, work schedules, children, dogs, and the baby on the way.

Michelle and me

All of us girls.  Thanks for the picture, Melissa!

Winter Wonderland...

Guess what we woke up to today?  Snow!  So what if it was only an inch or so, it was still on the ground and it still caused me to have Ken drive me to my office.  Guess who got to enjoy her very first snow in her new back yard?  She had so much fun.  She just lives for the snow.  It makes surviving the 100 degree temperatures from the summer worth it.

Do you see the husky?

She was in heaven out there

She ran around, ate some snow, and just had a fabulous time!

We could have done without the 40 mph winds, but other than that, the snow was welcomed!

Deck the Halls...

We had quite the busy weekend!  We had a birthday party to attend on Friday night, that included adult go cart racing.  I am not so sure I have ever driven a go cart before, but given the way I drive my car at times, it could be scary!

We had a little time to kill before going to the birthday party, so we stopped off at Hobby Lobby to see if there were any Christmas decorations that I could not live without.

I found a singing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.  Of course I hit the button to make it sing.  I was completely in love until I noticed...

The Abominable Snowman!  This is my I think I love him face.  He sang too!

All smiley and ready to race some go carts!  Spoiler alert, I had to have a booster seat to be able to drive.  It is the story of my life being 4'10!

Mike and Ken are ready to take off.  Too bad it was girls racing with girls and guys racing with guys.  I would have loved to raced with the boys to cut a few of them off!

While I had to have a booster seat and my pedals adjusted, Mr. here could barely even fit in the darn thing.  Ah, the story of his life.

Well, if I am completely honest, I must admit that I had to have TWO booster seats because I am just too freaking tiny!  I probably could have used a third, but I was too afraid to ask.  Yes, I look awfully scary here with my mean face and two booster seats...

Saturday night we decided to cruise thru Starbucks for a latte and drive around to look at Christmas lights.  We found a listing online of houses in Southern Johnson County that go overboard.  Oh and guess who went with us?

That would be Miss Angel.  She loves going bye bye in the car, so we figured she would like the lights as well.  She loved it!  

One of the neighborhoods has 23 houses that takes part. It is so pretty!

On Sunday, Jill and Avery picked me up so we could do a little last minute shopping.  If I am being honest, I must say that Jill and I were shopping for ourselves and not others.  Merry Christmas to us!

I was watching Avery while Jill was paying and she ran over to this rack and started picking things out saying I want that!  It was priceless.  I guess the apple does not fall far from the tree.

She is such a mess!

A Little Holiday Cheer on 12/12/12...

There is no question, Christmas is my favorite holiday and time of year!  I just love Christmas music, all the decorations, the weather, and the meaning behind the season.  I will never miss an opportunity to have friends over, especially during the holidays.  So, when I decided to invite the girls over for a little holiday cocktail hour, there was no question that I would have them over on 12/12/12.

I served Chocolate Cream Martinis, straight out of my Southern Living Christmas Cookbook that I bought last year at Dillards.  Spoiler alert, I have already bought the 2012 book!  I love me some Southern Living!!  The martinis were oh so good and yes, that is Godiva Chocolate Liquor!

Erinn, Natalie, Heather, Michelle, and me. 

Thanks girls for such a great 12/12/12!

Running...

Even though I have not been talking about it too much, I have still be out pounding the pavement running wise.  I am not going to lie, I totally slacked off after finishing Ironman Louisville, but I think that it was very much deserved. 

I have been running three to four days per week, trying to focus one to two days on speed work.  It has been so nice here lately, that Kya has been able to join me on most of my runs, so I do not go to the track that is down the street for formal speed work.  I usually do husky focused speed work that involes sprinting for a minute or two.  That girl sure can move.

I am maintaining a long run around 8-10 miles for now.  I always like to be able to run a half marathon if necessary.  This is basically how I gage if I am in decent shape or not. 

For the last few months I have really just enjoyed not being on a schedule and pretty much doing whatever I want.  I had forgotten how "normal" people live not always training for something.  I am not going to lie, it has been so nice.  Sure, I miss running with a purpose, but this break has been so nice. 

I am still wanting to train to try to qualify for Boston, but I am not sure if 2013 is going to be my year.  I have quite the semester planned for me starting in January and while I fully intend to maintain running three to four days a week, I am not sure that I will be able to handle working, school, maintaining our house, and trying to run a 3:35 marathon.  I will do it one of these days, but I need to be realistic on the expectations I set for myself and accept that 2013 might not be a good year.

As of this moment, I am planning on running the St. Louis Marathon in April, but it is still a little on the tentative side depending on my final class schedule. 

Us girls enjoying an afternoon walk.  

This and That...

What have we been up to in the KJ household?  Lots and lots of things.

We went to the Overland Park Arboretum Luminary Walk with Brian and Jill and the hooligans.  Santa was there and it is apparent that Avery is not a fan. 

This sweet girl has been under the weather.  She ended up getting kennel cough while we were in Mexico.  She sounded horrible.  I brought her to work with me last week so I could keep my eye on her.  It is safe to say that Miss Kya is feeling much better and will be up for running this weekend!

Ken was pretending to eat Kya's food to make her eat it.  I could not get an action shot, he was on to me.  Kya is not much of an eater to start with (that is a husky trait) but she really lost her appetite while coughing like a pack a day smoker. 

Ken took me to Plaza to see the lights and to Kona Grill for a little sushi date.  We ordered carrot cake and I am pretty sure this was the largest piece of cake I have ever received in my life.  It was so good!  I did share with Ken.

On a side note, Ken had a major blow to his ego last night.  We were checking out at Target and the cashier asked Ken if he was shopping with his daughter.  Talk about awkward...Ken may or may not be looking into anti-aging creams and ways to look young like his apparent teenage wife.  :)  Bless his heart.