I'm going to try again. This past year I stopped keeping track around book #29. I know I didn't make it to 52, but I will give it a shot again this year.

I just bought the 2012 pdf today and am considering the iPhone app. I have some iTunes gift cards that I got for Christmas. I wonder if I can use those to buy apps?

I got What To Drink With What You Eat by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page. I also received an Amazon giftcard which I will use for Kindle books.

Christmas Eve dinner: White Bean Chicken Chili in crockpot toppings (tortilla chips, salsa, sour cream, cheese) salad Christmas Day breakfast: cinnamon rolls breakfast casserole fruit Christmas Day dinner is at my dad's. Not sure what's on the menu this year.

Mass is at 5pm for us, so this year I am doing White Bean Chicken Chili in the crockpot so it is ready when we get home. We'll also have toppings like tortilla chips, salsa, sour cream, and cheese and a salad. Christmas cookies for dessert.

I always do a make-ahead dinner for Christmas Eve so we can eat soon after getting home from Mass. In the past I've done lasagna or baked ziti (made ahead) and had my brother (who doesn't attend Mass with us) put it in the oven at the right time while we are gone. This year he may not be here for dinner, so I am going to do White Bean Chicken Chili in the crockpot, served with toppings like tortilla chips, salsa, sour cream, and shredded cheese, plus a salad.

My dress was $250 plus alterations. My mom paid for the dress and I paid for the alterations.

The House at Pooh Corner

Have you tried the flavored prunes? My DD won't eat the plain ones but loves the orange flavored ones that Sunkist makes. They also have lemon and cherry flavored ones if I recall correctly.

I have spent most of the day (in between cooking, laundry, and cleaning) reading all of the posts in this thread. I know I am fairly new to posting around here, but I thought I would share my story with the OP if it will help her understand. When it became apparent to me that I was not able to carry a child to term, I was happy to entertain the thought of adopting. In my mind, this was God telling me that we would grow our family through adoption. Because my husband is adopted, I thought he would be happy with the idea, but I was wrong. He wanted to “keep trying.” This was devastating to me, because I knew emotionally and physically it would be so hard for me. I think now that because he had no contact with his biological family at the time (he has since been reunited with his biological mother and her family), he really wanted to have the possibility of a “blood relative.” After one more miscarriage, he finally changed his mind. At that point, I went crazy with researching our options. I joined and read many different adoption forums and listservs. It became very apparent that the choice of domestic vs. international and also the choice of which country is a very personal one. There are wonderful success stories and also heartbreaking stories everywhere. My personal goal at the time was to choose the adoption process that I felt would be most likely to end with a healthy, young child placed in our family forever. The decision for us was to go to China for our child. And even though there were bumps along the way (the wait that we thought would be less than a year turned into almost three years for us and is now at more than five years for a healthy younger child), I knew it would work out. In 2008 we adopted our DD at 12 months old. In China we fell in love with our daughter, with the Chinese culture, and with China itself. We couldn’t wait to go back. Fast forward to last year. We knew from the moment we brought DD home that she should have a sibling (most likely a sister) and that she would be from China, too. After visiting an orphanage in 2008, I knew there were so many children with differing needs who needed homes. We have decided on a special needs adoption this time around (we would have decided on this even if the wait for a healthy child wasn’t 5+ years). Our younger DD is currently 21 months old and waiting for us in China. We plan to bring her home in October or November and we are so ready! In retrospect I look back and sometimes wonder why we did not go with special needs the first time around. But my answer is that we would not have our daughter. A previous post explained it perfectly: China is where my children are. The decision has to be unique to every family. It should be an educated decision, but you should also feel it in your heart. It is an amazing thing to see a child’s picture and/or read his/her file and “know” that this is your child.

My story is similar to Parrothead's. In grad school I was working in a small science library (Library and Information Science major). The librarian went on maternity leave and I was in charge for a few months. Our undergraduate student assistant quit, so I had to hire someone to replace her. The person I hired later became my husband (much, much later).

I'm embarrased to admit that I'm woefully behind. I'm still on book #5 for the year, An Echo In the Bone by Diana Gabaldon.

I'm still on book #5, An Echo In the Bone by Diana Gabaldon.

http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2010/10/08/the-baked-brownie/ I just made these on Tuesday and they are the best brownie I have ever had. I'm throwing away all my other brownie recipes.

Our neighborhood elementary is a 5 (this is not necessarily where my daughter would attend if she were to go to public school; we are not guaranteed attendance at the nearest school). Our middle school is a 1! :eek: And our high school is a 9.

$3.15 this morning

DD3: Memory game and Zingo game and since she is currently an only I get to play every.single.day...many times

I haven't posted for a couple of weeks but in the meantime I have finished Mommy, Teach Me! by Barbara Curtis (book #4) and have started An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon (book #5).

Sunday: Lentil and sausage soup, sunflower seed rolls Monday: Spaghetti casserole, rolls, salad Tuesday: Chicken Cordon Bleu pasta, salad, rolls Wednesday: leftovers Thursday: Breakfast for dinner (cocoa-banana pancakes, sausages) Friday: DH cooks Saturday: out

Last night I finally finished book #3, The Children of Henry VIII by Alison Weir. This morning I began book #4, Mommy, Teach Me! by Barbara Curtis.

Happy anniversary to your DD. I can relate as I have been seizure-free for thirteen years now.

We give DD a small gift (usually a book). This year I plan on having her help me bake some treats.

I just haven't had much time to read these past few days, so I am still reading book #3, The Children of Henry VIII by Alison Weir. This week's schedule is a bit lighter, so I should have time to finish the remaining 100 pages and then start in on book #4, if all goes as planned.

Hidden Stories in Plants by Anne Pellowski

We almost always have on hand: avocados green beans broccoli cabbage carrots garlic parsley cilantro leafy greens mushrooms onions potatoes green onions We do buy other veggies, but only seasonally.