my 2010.

The idea came from Taza & Husband. Olivia did it, too. And now I'm doing it. Here's what happened to me in 2010.

In January, Taylor took Refuge and officially converted to the Buddhist faith. We made Devil's Food Cake and Popovers. I wrote a note to Jeffrey and felt thankful for my parents. I also photographed my winter break.

In February, Jeffrey and I went on a fancy date, I wrote a note to my beloved Produce Section, I made cupcakes that were delicious, Jeffrey and I went on a Valentine's Day picnic (with a heart-shaped pizza!), we ate breakfast at noon, and had a lovely weekend at home.

In March, my sister came to town. I started The Quirk Project, celebrated spring with Jeffrey, visited the Junk Lady, made a Red Velvet Cake that wasn't very red, went to our favorite burger joint, got a plastic Diana from Jeffrey, and talked about some of my favorite things.

In April, we went to a salvage yard, I made a chocolate cake with Ovaltine, played Bocce Ball with people I love, tried out a new sidewalk lunch spot, ate ice cream in the parking lot, made my Grammy's croutons, ate lunch outside almost everyday, and dyed Easter eggs.

In May, I started writing lists. Jeffrey gave me a bouquet of daisies (my favorite!), my dad and I whispered and drank Starbucks while my cute cousin was napping, I introduced Jeffrey to my favorite Italian market, I made things and went picnicking with Jeffrey, I celebrated my mother & had a candlelit dinner with her.

In June, I celebrated my dad, celebrated Jeffrey's birthday with pizza + bowling, felt excited about everything (!), watched Dr. Oz's special on makeup, and bragged about my cute dogs!

In July & August, I ran my own camp! I felt sentimental about leaving home, and wrote a little about starting my third year of college.

In September, Jeffrey and I went to St. Augustine, I freaked out (unnecessarily), and wrote about our three year anniversary (that actually happened in July!).

In October, I gushed about a pair of pants, celebrated my 21st birthday, missed Jeffrey, spent a really lovely weekend at home, Jeffrey and I made a trip to one of our favorite little places, and I bragged about my sister.

In November, Jeffrey and I went camping, we went to Jeffrey's beloved Bulli Brigade, and I wrote about the things I'm most thankful for.

In December, I began recapping our summer trip to Wisconsin (I'm still not done!), wrote about my sweet, old dog, and got ENGAGED! Your kind words regarding our engagement mean the world to me.

2010 was such a spectacular year, and I can't wait to see what 2011 has in store for myself and all my loved ones! xo, R.

a happy little story.

I have some big, exciting news to share! I've been waiting a few days because it's been kind of fun keeping it all to myself (Well, not really to myself. Lots of people know now.) but now I'm ready to tell you. On December 23, 2010, Jeffrey and I got engaged! Before I tell you the story, I think it's important to say that our engagement came as a total surprise to me. Jeffrey and I have talked a lot about marriage over the past few years, but after all of our conversations, I came to the conclusion that the proposal wouldn't come until sometime in the spring. Turns out, I was wrong. And it also turns out that it's sort of fun to be wrong. Sometimes.

Anyway. So, Jeffrey and I planned to get Thai takeout (from our favorite Thai restaurant of all time) and take it to our favorite picnic spot. We got to our spot and it was dark. The sun sets quite early these days. It was cold, but we had a blanket. And it was dark, but we had a lantern. Everything was perfect. We were eating and talking about all sorts of different things. If you were to ask me if I knew that at this point Jeffrey was planning on asking me to marry him in a few short minutes, I would say absolutely not! I know Jeffrey, and I knew that he would be nervous and scatter-brained and all of the above when it came time for him to propose. Or, so I thought. But, nope. That Jeffrey was as cool as a cucumber, and he totally had me fooled.

Well, it became clear that we were both really quite cold. I suggested that we head home, but Jeffrey suggested that we not head home. I said okay. Then, Jeffrey started rifling through his wallet. It seemed irrelevant, but hey. Sometimes I randomly pull out my wallet because I think I've left my credit card somewhere, and I just want to make sure I have it. I thought it possible that he was making sure his credit card was tucked safely away, and I let it be. Then, he pulled something out of his wallet, looked me right in my eyes, and asked me to marry him.

Well, the waterworks ensued, I gave Jeffrey a big hug and for a split second I wondered how I had gotten so darn lucky. Here I was hugging the love of my life in one of our favorite spots of all time, in the peaceful, calm, dark of the night. It was so perfect I wanted to grab the whole moment and tuck it away to save forever. It's probably quite obvious that I said yes.

After our perfect little moment, we walked across the street to a little path that's lush and kind of like a mini-jungle. Every time Jeffrey and I have a picnic at our spot we carve the date into a bamboo shoot. I held up our little lantern and Jeffrey carved the date and the word 'engaged' into the shoot. It was so sweet and sentimental to the both of us. We stood back and admired Jeffrey's handy work; a long line of all the times we had made the short little journey to our favorite spot to enjoy a picnic together. It felt unreal and beautifully perfect.

The outpouring of love that Jeffrey and I have received from friends and family means the world to us. It's so comforting to know that our support system extends further than we can even imagine; that there is a network of people thinking of us as often as we breathe. It is all very magical.

It was so very special that Jeffrey proposed to me while my sister and Mark were here. It made everything that much sweeter! I'm so very pleased to be hitching my wagon to Jeffrey's. xo, R.

happy holidays!

Hello, everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Wednesday. My sister, mom and I went shopping. It was super fun! In honor of Christmas time (and spending as much time with my family as I possibly can) I'm vacationing from this blog. I'll probably pop in some time after Christmas to give a small update, but won't begin regular posting again until sometime in the near future. I hope you all enjoy the holidays (no matter what it is you celebrate!). Stay warm, happy, and drink a hot beverage (or two!). Remember to be thankful for your surroundings and count your blessings; I know I sure do, and my readers are one of the many things I feel particularly thankful for. Thank you for reading — it really means so much to me! :)

Happy Holidays, everyone! xo, R.

flash back: wisconsin summer (part six).

Today's post is all about bike riding, screen printing shirts, and an ice cream parlor + a carousel. Sounds fun, right? We thought so, too! First, we went on a bike ride all around Madison and stopped at all the important bike shops. Jeffrey is absolutely in love with all things bicycle related (and Mark and Evie thought about buying some new handle bars) so a bike tour it was! I'm pretty sure Jeffrey was in bicycle Heaven (if such a place exists)!

Then, we decided it would be fun to create a family t-shirt. We combined our last names, Evie created a design, and Jeffrey+Evie created the screen. Mark and I offered moral support, which is very important, but you probably already knew that.

After that we made a trip to Ella's Deli, which is a restaurant/ice cream parlor with a carousel right outside! My sister and I love carousels (I once wrote an entire paper on them) and the fact that she hadn't visited Ella's Deli in the year she had lived there was just no longer acceptable. We remedied that and had ice cream. A win-win! It was such a fun & relaxing day! xo, R.

flash back: wisconsin summer (part five).

I absolutely adore this picture because we all look so happy!

Well, it's about high time I compile another update of our trip to Wisconsin. There's going to be some back tracking because I somehow managed to skip an entire day. Who knows. It's all a little foggy. So... on a day that ended in 'Y' we went to the Arboretum. It was full of trees, plants, flowers, and about one thousand gallons of mosquitoes. Everything was great, except for the last part. That was actually like something out of a horror movie. We ate a picnic of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and mint chocolate Newman's Own cookies (aka fancy Oreos). It was so incredibly windy, we probably could have flown away if we were holding onto a big enough kite. Then, we ventured out to Frederick's Hill, where Mark proposed to my sister! It was so beautiful and fun to see where it all happened. :)

In other news, my sister and Mark just arrived at our house for Christmas. Tonight, we ordered calzones and played Catch Phrase. It's finally starting to feel like the holidays around here. Since school kind of went up until the very last minute I haven't felt like I've been able to savor Christmas time, but since I've been home for a few days the holiday spirit is finally settling in. Yay! I hope everyone had a really wonderful Monday. If things don't get too crazy, I'll be back tomorrow with another Wisconsin update. We shall see! xo, R.

baking together by blog.

Some updates and new posts. Go quick!

xo, R.

the little engine that could.

Last year's tree. So cozy!

I'm almost done with exams, and my hardest one was today. My friends and I spent the whole day in the library yesterday and rewarded ourselves with sushi. The payoff was that I think things went well, but I'm a little superstitious, so I'll leave it at that.

Jeffrey and I are going to a cookie exchange party and we're thinking of making these and these. (I'm making them, he's volunteering at a bike race with friends, sigh.) They look good, right? And, guess what? Your favorite baking blog has been updated. Yay!

That's about it around here. I haven't done anything too exciting lately, but that's all about to change! I'll be heading home tomorrow, and I couldn't be happier about that.

And, as always, thanks for reading. You're the best people. Ever. :)

xo, R.

why i won't be here.

It's finals week. Oh, your finals are already over? Yeah, I know. I think my school is the only one in the nation who thinks it's appropriate to make finals week the entire week before Christmas.

When am I supposed to do my Christmas shopping? I blame you, Dean of Students, if the people in my life have hap-hazard Christmas gifts. So Mr. Dean, if you get angry snail mail, you know where it came from. And I'm not taking the blame.

That is all. See you on Thursday when I'm cuddled up at home with my sweet pups. Which reminds me, any kind thoughts for my oldest pup would be greatly appreciated. His heart isn't what it used to be and it's not being super reliable right now. He's a hearty old man, so we're hoping he'll push through it, but your love and kindness sent his way would still be very welcomed. xo, R.

He's cute, right? Sorry it's not the best photo ever. He's as shy as they come, so this is the best I could do, which is pretty good considering he's very, very scared of the camera (and vacuums, thunder, fireworks, and anything else that makes unpleasant noises).

dear everyone,

I have a question for you. I haven't been following any blogs for a long time because I don't like when it shows a huge list of the blogs I'm following on the profile page. (Does anyone know what I'm talking about?)

So, my question to you is this: How do you like to follow blogs?






So much to do, so this will be my post for the day. Guess you'll have to wait for more Wisconsin until next week. See you then! xo, R.

flash back: wisconsin summer (part four).

Before I tell you the details about the most amazing mini-golf course in all the land, I think you should check out Kelle's wonderful post about her three year blogging anniversary. I promise it's worth the peek!

Well, after our trip to the Weary Traveler, we decided we still needed to do something else that was exciting. The obvious choice was to go mini-golfing. But not just mini-golfing...mini-golfing at Vitense GolfLand, which I can assure you takes mini-golfing to a whole new level. First of all, there are not one, but TWO possible courses: California or Wisconsin. I think we may have been a little disloyal when we chose California, but there was a giraffe AND hippo statue, so, ya know.

So, what other wonders were there to behold at Vitense GolfLand? Well, let me tell you.
1. A life-size, exact replica of the Statue of Liberty.
2. A slide that presented the only way for players to get to the next hole & there were streams everywhere. Clearly, Mark is a very skilled golfer who is willing to take all kinds of risks to get the perfect shot. Now that's dedication.
3. A giant hippo sculpture, along with a giraffe (sadly not pictured).

And in case that hasn't swayed you (but let's be honest here, you already bought your plane ticket, didn't you?), they also have a special spot where you, yourself can become an Avatar.

But seriously, it was very cool & I think we'll try out the Wisconsin side next time. Tomorrow I'll back track because I somehow forgot an entire day. xo, R.

list eleven: christmas wish list.

{Our house after the festivities last year.}

My mom has been asking me to create a Christmas wish list. I'm sure this will make Santa happy, too. (I'm pretty positive he reads my blog.) Let me start off by saying this: All I really want is for my family to be together under one cozy roof, living in health and harmony*. But if we're talking real, tangible gifts here (and I think we are) then all I really want is the Nikon D3100. I will be saving up for it, but let's be honest, it's going to take some time. But, without further ado, here's a few other things that I would love to own.

Also, I feel like I should say this from the beginning: As an elementary education major, I have to start dressing pre-professionally next semester. And yes, to answer your question, I'm pretty happy about that. Yay, teacher clothes!

1. These slacks from Gap.

2. A simple black (or dark gray) jumper. For such a simple request, it seems impossibly hard to find. If you know where I can get one, let me know. (And, to clarify, I'm talking about a dress. Are there other pieces of clothing called jumpers? Maybe I'm thinking of a romper, which I think is a no-no.)

3. These tights.

4. This cardigan. In red. :)

5. Because I like homemade salad dressing.

It seems as though some of the items I would like are not available on the Internet. Well, I've seen them in person, Internet, so take that!

* I really, actually mean that all I really want for Christmas is to be reunited with my sister. Because I really do miss her. And I like her more than any material item. Same goes for the rest of my family.

Come back tomorrow to see pictures of the coolest mini-golf course ever, and myself as an Avatar. Yep, you read that right. xo, R.

flash back: wisconsin summer (part three).

Well, I was planning on writing about baking with my sister, but I realized I had a whole blog dedicated to it (don't be mad that it hasn't been updated recently) and I blogged about our Wisconsin baking adventures here and here.

Then, I planned on writing about our trip to the Farmers' Market until I realized I didn't have any good pictures of it. So let me just tell you what was important. A) My sister and I accidentally wore the same outfit. It wasn't exactly the same, but it sounds way better when I say it was. B) We ate spicy cheesy bread in front of the Capitol building. Yum. C) The Farmers' Market was overwhelming. So much stuff everywhere. And everyone was so excited. It was kind of awesome, but kind of overwhelming, too. I think it would take a few trips to get used to it. (It's like an amusement park. I'm serious.) D) My sister bought my mom a bouquet of flowers. Cute, right? Why didn't I think of that?

So, now I'm going to tell you about a sweet little pub (I don't really think it was a pub, but that's what I imagine pubs feeling like) called the Weary Traveler. Picture time.

(Looking back at that first picture up there, I see they call it a 'freehouse.' I have no idea what it means, but it sounds accurate.)

We ordered sandwiches. I got a grilled cheese, my sister got a something-vegetable-something sandwich (this is not the official name), and I don't remember what Jeffrey got. Maybe a hamburger. We also got drinks, which is unusual since we almost always order water. My sister and I got sweet tea & Jeffrey got a cherry coke. Big spenders. We then played Scrabble. I think my sister won, but who even remembers at this point? It was such a cute little place to duck into for the afternoon. It reminded me of a set from a movie where friends go after a long day of work, it's snowing, the guys are wearing really awesome trench coats, and the girls are sipping red wine while their hair looks impossibly good. We've all been to a place like that, right? If not, you should go to the Weary Traveler. You're welcome.

After our delicious meal, we decided to go for a walk. It's probably valuable to mention that at this point my parents had gone back home to FL and I believe Mark was working on school work. He's a studious teacher, he is. Anyway, we were walking around town when we happened upon three baby raccoons. Let me tell you a secret. Baby raccoons are much cuter than adult raccoons. You probably knew this. Now you're seeing it for yourself. We watched them for about 20 minutes, and I could have stayed longer. I mean, have you seen something so cute? No. The answer is that you haven't. Also, the people in Wisconsin have unreasonably cute porches. I want to know: Who are these people? Always nice & polite, always dressed cute-as-a-button, and always cute porches. Moving there as soon as my life allows it. You want to take a trip to Wisconsin, don't you? You're welcome, again. xo, R.