Oh, great.

Errr...and oh, great, is THIS my future? Sheesh.

Chocolate martinis, Wii bowling, and snow, oh my!

Happy end-of-December, friends and family! The Christmas season has been absolutely wonderful to us all in the Lake family (and hopefully Chloe; Sharon, the lovely lady who is watching her, says that she got a bouncy ball for Christmas that she loves). Hopefully your season was good, too!

Did I tell you guys that I "adopted" three soldiers?! Well here's a picture of James ("Jim") reading my Christmas letter and card (and apparently blushing from a funny story, although I haven't heard why it was so funny yet).

Here's Captain Sean, obviously super excited for my rockin' DVDs that I gave him. I also have a pretty funny picture of him with reindeer antlers that light up if you want to see it).

The Laurie family Christmas is always a hoot, and this year proved to be on par with the past! Here's my aunt Mary with all of the Texas gear I got for the Christmas gift exchange. Please note that she's wearing a stocking on her foot, the Texas apron, a Texas flag handkerchief as a hat, and a wine bottle holder as a mitten. You gotta love her!

Mom's awesome Christmas gift...that is probably going to be regifted next Christmas!

I was also lucky enough to be able to see my favorite newlyweds (you're still newlyweds until a full year!), Scott and Stephanie Dickson. Here's a bit of a blurry picture, but I think it's cuter of both Steph and I than the clear one!

Hope you all are well! Love and miss you!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, from Sarah, Chloe, and the Lake family!

Decembrrr!

Aloha! That's what I'm trying to tell myself really, as it's been freezing here and I need a little bit of positive thinking! It snowed in Houston and Austin last week (Waco's in the middle, nope, it was just freezing and windy) which is unusual, and now I hear that Washington (Western Washington!) is getting snow too?! Jealous! I feel a little left out of Christmas right now, as I don't really feel like it's Christmas...it was 75º outside today (and currently it's 65º, albeit windy but that doesn't count). However, I go home in less than two days! Tuesday in fact, so Washington, here I come!

To make it seem more like Christmas, me and the gang went to go see Baylor's Christmas tree lighting and, well, it was pretty wimpy compared to PLU's--remember last year, mom and dad? There was singing and prayers and hot chocolate and cookies, and the only thing that BU's had in common was hot chocolate, baaaad cookies, and a tree... no prayers, no nothing. It was really weird, actually, but at least we got free hot chocolate! Anyway, here's a picture of me, Jeff, Joanna, Robyn, and then Nathaniel and Jay in the back, right after the anticlimactic tree lighting.

Fast forward to this past week, and Dr. Stanford and his family invited out our lab plus Dr. Dolan to his family's church for their annual Christmas pageant. Here's the Stanford family (Luke, Julie, Caleb, Joshua, and Matt), Nathaniel, Dr. Sara Dolan, me, and Robyn outside the church after the play.

Here is an incredibly adorable picture of Chloe that I couldn't resist taking, even though she ripped the ribbon off moments after this was taken.

Yesterday, I went to a wedding as a date for my friend James, who was the best man seated at the head table and would've been mightly lonely without someone next to him. Thus, I graciously accepted his offer and went to my first Texas wedding...I've never seen so many people two-step at a wedding in my life! Plus three people had on Wranglers, plaid shirts, large belt buckles, and cowboy hats on...as "dress" clothes. Needless to say, it was quite a cultural experience! Anyway, as a thank-you, my wonderful date James got a PEZ with my head on it! It's safe to say that I have a new favorite PEZ now!

A side of my head...is my nose really that big? ...Don't answer that.

Because the wedding was in College Station (where Texas A&M is), I figured I should drive around a little bit and check out the scenery. Who knows when I'll be back?! So here is their gorgeous clock tower with a full moon in the background. See, Texas can be pretty...if you take pictures of architectural structures!

And this one is for us to giggle at, as the George Bush (Sr.) library is in College Station, along with a billion roads with the name.

Dining Room Table!

Exciting news, family and friends! Sar, after a long time (errr, five and a half months), finally got a dining room table! I had been looking at this specific table at Ashley Furniture for a while and it was a little too expensive for my budget, but they had a great sale the day after Thanksgiving and...guess who finally has a table?! :) It's exciting, and it looks great in my dining room! So here are some pictures (and yes, mom and Cheryl, if you click on the pictures, it gets bigger and you can see close-ups). Love you!

Here is the pre-table, after finally getting everything up the stairs! My neighbor's son Ian was nice enough to come over and help us lift the darn thing up the stairs; we actually ended up opening the box and then taking the pieces upstairs. Much more effective! So here's Robyn (and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in the background) and our pre-dining room table mess!

Then, we have the fourth chair that didn't come with hardware. All of the other pieces of furniture had the hardware attached to the bottom of the chair (or the bottom of the table) but this chair didn't have any! Grrr! So Ashley Furniture will most definitely be getting a call from me tomorrow morning.

The completed dining room table and three chairs, a bit further away so you can see it with the height of the light (yes, mom, that was for you).

Close up! Preeeetty! And mom, don't the limes look nice and festive?! ;)

Sarah's Christmas Letter!

From what I have heard, most people have received their Christmas cards and letters from me! So to those who live far away (like Miss Wilkins, who will receive a card once she gets back to her parents' house), I decided to post my Christmas letter. I made this into a lovely PDF document as well, but I can't figure out how to put the darn thing on my blog! So here's a website version (without the pictures of me and Chloe) of my 2008 Christmas letter. Love you all!

[ Sarah and Chloe Catering ]
Menu for 2008:

Main Course:

Pasta la Vista- Pack your bags and move to Texas, baby! This one’s a winner, complete with a new condo, new graduate school, and a new kitten named Chloe.

Jamaica Me Crazy Chops- If you want to move to Texas, you’re going to have to get there somehow! Order the Jamaica Me Crazy Chops and spend three whole days with your Dad in a U-haul traveling 2200 miles! Excessive Beatles and ZZ Top songs available upon request.

Just for the Halibut Fish ‘n Chips- Enjoy your last few days of fresh seafood in Washington, because once you move to Texas, it’s all frozen! Until you hit the 110º heat, that is.

Coffee and Dessert:

Uncommon Grounds- This coffee cake comes with your first week of graduate school and is all-inclusive with three classes: two you take and one you teach! The more you eat, the better you are at teaching, so make sure to order seconds!

Cup-A-Cabana- For those stressed, over-worked times, a coffee break is enjoyable! Just one sip will have you writing 15-page papers in a blink. Side effects include singing Barry Manilow with your headphones on and bystanders giggling.

Whine List:

Sparklin’ Rose- If you like warm things, this whine is for you! Completely with a high of 115º summer (and a high of 85º in November!), this drink will keep you sweating all day.

Chez When- Semesters are good, because you are able to “chez when” and go home for Christmas! Although Texas and Baylor are a lot of fun, make sure to order this when you need a good dose of family.

Dine One One: For more great cookin’ ideas,
visit Sarah’s blog at http://SarahsInTexas.blogspot.com
and make sure to leave a comment so she knows you visited!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Sarah and Chloe Lake

For Amanda W, and everybody else

Manda-Panda, have you heard of this? Seriously, hours of entertainment! For everybody else, it's still hilarious!

http://eavesdropdc.blogspot.com/