Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

If I didn't get to send you a Christmas card, here it goes -

Have a blessed one!
Photos taken by B. Ortega

Favorites

Got these from Ken this Christmas. Two of my favorites..."The Hundreds" and "running". Thanks babe!

Winter Wonderland

Here in SA, winters get really cold. Being from San Francisco, I welcome the cold weather. The only thing is that over there a cold night is around 50 degrees and over here its 30-40 degrees! Yikes! That didn't stop us from visiting the Riverwalk though. The family and I bundled up and enjoyed the scene. We even got to do some last minute Christmas shopping...

A Christmas Celebration

Parents cant help but get giddy seeing their kids up on stage, and we were no exception last Friday at Calvary's Christmas play. The show served another purpose for our family,it was Kaleb's first recital! We were proud of him. He sang in the choir too. Our daughter, Nia, was a little angel that sang and danced!

He did an amazing job!
My lil angel in the red dress!
Ashley...Nia's best friend.
Kacy was Mary in the play.

Sweet Swap...

This morning I went over to a friend's house for a Christmas cookie exchange. Since I only found my cookie recipe a few nights back, I had to come up with ingredients, plus have several batches done from scratch rather quickly. I remember surfing the net for a little bit before my eyes were captivated by a very mouthwatering photo of some chocolate cookies. That moment I knew I found the recipe for me. I was gonna bake some Super-Duper Chocolate Kiss Cookies! Basically, it's a chocolate chip cookie rolled in chocolate sprinkles with a kiss on top.

While I was out shopping, I was tempted to buy a tub of pre-made cookie dough as the recipe called for, but I remembered the rules...must make from scratch. The only thing is that I did end up buying chocolate chips and kisses instead of taking a stab at making them! Could you imagine making chocolate chips and kisses from scratch? It would have taken me days or weeks even! Here's some pics from that undertaking...

Various cookies displayed at the exchange...
These were yummy!
These too!

Holiday Madness

It's been a challenge this season, trying to maneuver my way around crowds, and more than likely with kids in tow. I've decided not to give in to the madness by making it a point to get things done and at the same time still enjoy the holidays. No matter the glitz, chaos, or undertakings, it's Christmas! It's my very favorite time of year!




How I buy time....ICE CREAM! (The baby rockin my favorite baby J's)

Ride for our money...

Found this in Austin for a good price (we won!) and got it for Ken's birthday as a start up. I gave it a shot on my living room floor and had to hold myself up by using the wall that was parallel the bike...haha! We'll see if I end up joining him in this fixie fixation down the road and get one in my size...

What I want for Christmas

Not much I want for Christmas, but if I had to choose it would be Christmas in New York!

Happy B-day baby!

We knew our schedule would be busy that day, so we made plans to have lunch together on Ken's birthday. I surprised him by bringing him to BJ's Restaurant (newly opened in SA), a restaurant we've enjoyed a couple times before in Houston. The food was good. The ambiance amazing. I describe it as much like being in a sportsbar, but in Belle Air or something!

Deep dish pizza...a rarity for sure...

Peace. Joy. Blog

Was holding off on starting this blog coz I was wrestling with deciding on a blog title. Finally decided on "Piece. Joy." since most of what I want to blog will be pieces from my life, pieces that I enjoy with the realization that they wont truly satiate. You always seem to want more, right? That said, here's one for ya...