Alaska Photo book

Sarah and I made this photo book of this summer's Alaska vacation for one of her Christmas presents.  We love it!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Christmas Card 2010

We did it!  Here's a copy:

Snowy Sledding Christmas Card

Turn your photos into personalized Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Christmas cards

Recently, I’ve been convicted about the amount of time I spend thinking about the present and future—and how little I spend thinking about the past. That reflective time doesn’t come naturally to me, but I know that it’s healthy for me. Two tell-tale signs of this were the lack of blog posts and the puny amount of journal entries in my bedside journal. New Year’s resolution, anyone? Here's a start to help get myself back on the right foot.

With December comes the best season for the post office: Christmas cards. Sarah and I just received our first cards this week from family and friends with great delight. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who isn’t interested in a hand-written envelope with photos/letter/notes inside. My family always made a newsletter, but Sarah and I haven’t decided what our family tradition will be.

This year, I found a deal on Shutterfly that will provide us with 50 or so cards for free (this is the same company that we used to make our wedding album from their photo books...and--full disclosure--they are giving us the cards for mentioning it on our blog). We had just thought that maybe we were going to wait until we had kids to start Christmas card-ing, but this was too good to pass up (thanks Amanda Hilldore for the idea!). If you'd like to get one, fill out this form by December 18, and I'll make sure you're on our list!

Now we just need to pick out a photo. How to represent the whole year in one picture...?

Basketball championship

Our school basketball team won their first ever championship this week!  Some of my students were on the team.  Here's a video from the game:

Philly = snowy

Right now I'm enjoying my 5th snow day in February.  Philadelphia has shattered its all-time record for yearly snowfall...most of which has come this month.  In fact, we're listed as the number 4 city for snow this year!  What's even more amazing about it is that we've had over 70" when our average is 14".  As you might expect, this has led to delays and cancellations all over the city.  Some parts have been good (being forced to slow down, resting at home, reading books, enjoying my Wii, accomplishing tasks I'd normally procrastinate about), but others have been bad (kids bouncing off the wall at school, lonely/quiet days at home, and less purpose).  It's just so strange to expect work and then not have it.  Currently, the school district plans on shaving off two days of its spring break and tacking on an extra day before summer.  No word yet from Spruce Hill on our decision...here's hoping we keep our normal schedule and declare this wintery weather an "act of God" and grant everyone grace.  =)

Here are some pictures from two weeks ago's blizzard.  Sledding down the art museum?  Life goal accomplished!

Getting married?

Oh man!  If only Google had these out a few years ago when Sarah and I got hitched...

http://www.google.com/google-d-s/wedding/#utm_source=ogb&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=en-bnr-dswed

Food of the year, 2009

The calendar's turn from December to January brings about reflection of the past year, fond memories, painful regrets, hopeful aspirations, and of course, Eric's announcement for Food of the Year.

This is the 4th annual award. You can read about past posts, but allow me to summarize the previous four recipients:
2006 = pita and hummus
2007 = guacamole
2008 = homemade smoothies

Many people speculate and try to predict which edible delight will win. None will do so correctly. I say that because this year's winner is a dark horse. So dark, in fact, that you may have never tried these two items together. But this new combination of salty and sweat is so tempting that it unseated a previous year's winner for my favorite after school snack! (sorry 2006, but 2009 is tastin' fine!)

My Food of the Year, 2009 is........
................
.............
.........
......
....
..
.

PRETZELS WITH PINEAPPLE COTTAGE CHEESE!

Hold on--I know what you're thinking: that sounds kinda gross. When Sarah first introduced me to pretzels and cottage cheese, I thought the same thing. Weird, right? And I've always disliked cottage cheese my whole life! Well, one week, Sarah bought the pineapple cottage cheese flavor. I tried it with pretzels, and I loved it. The salt dances with the sugar in the pretzels to form a delicious duo. What's even more wondrous is that it's a healthy snack: each serving has 2% of my daily fat with 24% of the daily protein. So crazy!

Here are a few pictures of how I like my Food of the Year. Make it your New Year's resolution to try one in 2010:

Asian Carp crisis

This weekend, I learned about a crisis happening in the center of the Midwest: the Asian Carp migration.  Apparently, some folks in Arkansas brought in some scavenger fish from Asia to help clean.  The fish escaped into the main water source and have been traveling north along the Mississippi River ever since.

The problem with the carp is that they reproduce quickly, move fast, and destroy the natural food chain.  In addition, they get agitated when boats go by and jump out of the water.  This can cause injury and scares for boaters.

See this video for a rather vivid demonstration:


Right now, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio are battling Illinois in the Supreme Court to block the passage from the Chicago River into Lake Michigan.  The states argue that their ecosystems are in danger of being ruined by this invasive species.  Illinois doesn't want to block its locks because it has an economic interest in keeping trade open with other Great Lakes states!  And so the battle continues.

New Chicago Bears fight song

This pretty much sums up the last few years in Chicago Bears football:

(for reference, here is the official theme song, which makes it funnier)

Bargain hunters

This weekend, Sarah and I found one of our favorite paintings in the bargain bin at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  The painting is called The Singing Butler by Jack Vettriano.  We couldn't believe the price...until we saw hole in 

the bottom-left hand side of the painting.  Still, our marriage's decorating committee (consisting of Sarah--I'm on the technology committee) decided this was a wonderful opportunity for our apartment.

Tonight we hung our new masterpiece!  

If anyone has any suggestions for how we can cleverly conceal our hole, let us know.  =)

Grandparents Day

Here's a video my principle took and I put together for our school's grandparents day yesterday. Pretty special. =)

What is a browser?

This is a great, short video to help explain what a browser is!  Helpful for those who are confused between the difference between a browser and a search engine.

101 and counting...

The Chicago Cubs were officially eliminated from playoff contention this week, which was terribly disappointing given their success last year and amount of money they spent on their payroll.  (an ESPN poll recently showed that the Cubs season was far more disappointing than the recent loss of the Olympics)  I had been following the team closely until the last two weeks...at which point I realized they wouldn't make it again.  Being a Cubs fan is a lesson in faith.

Here is a graphic by the Chicago Tribune that shows the last 101 World Series winners since the Cubs last won it all.  I'll now turn my patronage to the Phillies for the remainder of the 2009 baseball season.  Go Phils!

Beer thrower turns himself in

The photo on the Tribune's website was correct: that was the guy who threw the beer at Victorino. Here he is after he turned himself into police.

Cubs/Phillies, part 2

About a month ago, we got a group of 25 fans to go watch the Phillies battle the Cubs while they were in Philadelphia. The game went into extra innings, but the bad guys won (sense a theme with the last post?). Here's a clip from singing the 7th inning stretch:

Beergate

Last night, the Cubs played the Phillies at Wrigley Field. I watched the game while playing Quizzo at Urban Saloon--a local restaurant/bar in my Fairmount neighborhood. The game wasn't actually much of one, as the Cubs lost 12-5. But that wasn't the real excitement in the game. In one of the later innings, one of the bleacher bums had had enough: when Phillies player Shane Victorino tracked down a fly ball, someone threw his beer on the center fielder. Victorino caught the ball, but was doused in beer. Security saw a man heckling Victorino, thought he had done this indecent act, and escorted the wrong guy out of the stands! Here's a photo provided by the Tribune:

Booing the other team is one thing; throwing a beer at them is extreme fan interference. First the goat, then Bartman, now this beer-tosser...what's going to happen next at Wrigley?!?!

Sarah's graduation (a little late)

As I was glancing over my blog postings from the last few months, I realized that I hadn't posted about Sarah's graduation from medical school!  Tragic!!! 

Sarah ended her four year pursuit of a Jefferson Medical College medical degree on May 28, 2009.  The graduation took place in the Kimmel Center, arguably the most beautiful venue for the arts in Philadelphia.  Sarah was joined by 100+ fellow graduates who probably spent at least two of the last four years studying or learning in the hospital.  Sarah's parents, sister Elizabeth, and I were the privileged ones to receive Sarah's four tickets for the ceremony. 

It was quite something to experience all these students recite the Hippocratic Oath together and for them to officially become known as "doctors."  There was much rejoicing!!! 

We were all so proud of Sarah.  She worked so hard to get this degree in order to help people with their medical issues.  One of the reasons I am proud of her is her pursuit of primary care--specially family practice medicine.  While not as well respected on the East Coast in terms of prestige and paycheck, she wants to be a family doctor to develop relationships with her patients and their families to foster better care for their health.  The emphasis on preventative medicine and health education makes family practice the closest an MD will ever be to a teacher!  Or maybe I'm just biased.

City Hall surprise!

Monday afternoon, my parents and I took a tour of Philadelphia's City Hall.  The building is extremely ornate, with more carvings inside and outside of it than any other building!  It's also the largest city hall in the country; when it was designed, it was the tallest building in the world.  (during its 30 year construction, the Washington Monument and Eiffel Tower overtook it...but they aren't "buildings") 

About 20 minutes into our tour, we were outside the SE quadrant admiring the statue of William Penn.  Suddenly, people started flooding out the doors.  The fire alarm was going off!  Much to our dismay, we waited outside for about 25 minutes as all 700 rooms were evacuated, the fire department was dispatched, and order restored.

While we were waiting, we noticed several cars parked in front of the building.  An off-duty police office who was touring with us said that they were the mayor's cars, and that he worked in the very quadrant we were in front of.  Sure enough, Mayor Michael Nutter decended the steps and walked safely into the crowd around us!  After some coaxing from my dad, my mother and I walked up to him, shook his hand, and talked with him for a bit.  He was very friendly--despite all the PA budget issues--and was willing to pose for pictures. 

Our tour soon resumed, and we dashed in and out of several gorgeous rooms before ending at the tower: a 22-story elevator that takes visitors directly under Penn approximately 500 feet in the air.  What a view!

We managed to make it to the top and down before our parking meter ran out.  Thankfully, the tour guide refunded our money due to the tour interruption.  It was a City Hall tour unlike any other!

Parents to Philly

This weekend, our De Boer parents came to Philadelphia.  We had perfect weather for it!  Our fun events included eating outdoors multiple times, touring City Hall, going on an Old Original Walking Tour, watching the Phillies/Cubs game, and reshuffling our living room decorations.  Here are a few photos from the fun:

Improv Everywhere

Now I've mentioned the fun-loving urban prankster group Improv Everywhere before, but the mastermind just released a new book about his pranks (or "missions"). He was on the Today Show recently promoting it. And yes, this man is still my hero.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

This was their latest prank: a random wedding reception for a couple married at City Hall!