Breaking my blog silence...

I have been meaning to post something on my blog for several days now but I’ve just been caught up in the hubbub of Christmas and haven’t taken the few minutes required to post something up here. As a result, this will be a slightly longer blog post. It’s been so long (over two weeks!) it’s hard to know where to begin…

FAMILY:
We had a very nice, albeit slightly hectic, Christmas. We were in Portland staying with Missi’s mom and we traveled to Salem on Monday afternoon to have Christmas dinner with her mom’s side of the family. The kids seemed to be excited about the gift of a puppy, and we’re all looking forward (with perhaps a bit of fear and trepidation) to January 12 when Zeke will come join our family. I’ve attached a picture of Zeke below. He is the puppy on the left. I got some great stuff for Christmas, but I think my favorite gift was the “12 Days of Christmas” that Missi gave me. I could write a full blog post on just this gift, but ask me about it some time.

In other family news, my sister Julie got engaged a few days ago. Her fiancée is a great guy named Brian who she met during college. They are thinking about a May wedding in Vancouver, Washington. We’re very excited for both of them. My parents spent Christmas in Chiangmai, Thailand, but I was able to talk to them briefly on Christmas Eve.

SCHOOL/WORK:
I finished up the semester feeling alright about my exams, although it’s tough to say how accurate that feeling was as I haven’t received my grades yet. Taking exams was certainly much less painful this time around than it was last year. I am continuing to work a bit throughout my break, but my hours are pretty limited and my work is extremely flexible with my schedule.

OREGON DUCKS:
The Las Vegas Bowl was extremely disappointing. The Ducks just flat-out didn’t show up to play and nobody (perhaps except Jonathan Stewart) really seemed to care or put any effort into it. Here is a really disheartening article about Belloti’s complacency following the game. At least the basketball team is doing pretty well (12-0, ranked #20 in the country). I’m looking forward to taking Drew to the USC game and going with Missi to the UCLA game, which will potentially be a showdown between two undefeated teams.

EXTRAS:
Here is a good article on the Christmas season.
I’ve spent a fair amount of time this Christmas break learning how to use iMovie. I made a ten minute long DVD for some family members. What a sweet program! Makes me love my Mac even more.
I traded in my Treo 650 for the (allegedly) improved Treo 680 and so far I’m really regretting the decision. My phone keeps freezing up and it won’t hot sync to my computer. I’m getting very frustrated with the situation.
Other miscellaneous highlights from this break (so far):
1.) Seeing my buddy Aaron when he came to Portland. He is a really great guy and it was a treat to hang with him. We had coffee together one day and then dinner with another good friend the next evening. He is preparing to enter the Air Force JAG and if I was a single guy I’d be thinking real hard about following in his footsteps.
2.) Hanging out with my buddy Jeff. We watched the unspectacular Ohio State-Florida basketball game together, and while the game wasn’t too exciting, it’s always great to spend time with him.
3.) Visiting with my grandparents. I had lunch with my grandmother at her nursing home and we spent an evening at The Farm with my other grandparents. Both were really great times and made me appreciate even more the fact that they are all still alive.
4.) Christmas party at the Foglios. Although the power went out for about 90 minutes, we had a great time enjoying a chocolate fountain and being with some of our closest friends. Amazingly Jeff and Mike both sported very festive sweaters like I did (see below). Apparently great minds think alike.
5.) Visiting with Missi’s cousin Jake. Jake is a West Point grad currently serving in the Army. He returned in September from his second tour in Iraq and it was really interesting to hear his take on the situation and catch up with he and his wife, who currently live in Tennessee.

The newest member of the Wilson family is on the left.