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2008: In The Beginning Where did you bring in the New Year? At Mepkin Abbey, around a sorry little bonfire Who were you with? Leo and Dismas. A bunch of monks! Did you make any resolutions? Eat right. Exercises. The usual. 2008: Your Love Life Did you break up with anyone? Yes. Did you get anything for Valentine's day? A cross necklace . Did you meet anyone special? No, but I did get to know someone special again . Did you fall in love? Oh, yeah, I'd say so... 2008: Friends and Enemies Did you meet any new friends this year? Lots of new friends, yes! Did any of your friendships end? Friendships changed, but didn't end . Did you dislike anyone? Not too terribly bad, no . Did you make any new enemies? I don't do the whole enemy thing. Too much work. Did you resolve any fights? I didn't really have any to resolve. No big ones, at any rate . Who was(were) your closest friend(s)? My newest closest friends are my roommates! :) Who did you grow apart from? Several people

So, it's been a while. Sorry about that, I've been away. Michigan was wonderful. When I got off the plane, the air was so cold I couldn't believe it. And I loved it! It snowed while we were there! The snow was wonderful. There's no way I could recap the trip without boring you half to death, so I won't try. But I did enjoy my Christmas. Mike got me a Nintendo DS with Brain Age 2 (which he played almost more than I did!) and a Chia Herb Garden! Ha! I just planted some herbs last night: cilantro, basil, majoram, and parsley. Probably my favorite present--after the DS, of course--is a snowflake necklace that I got from his mom. It's perfect and definitely fits my style of jewelry. It's a silver snowflake with little CZ and detailed design. Super cute! I've got to wear it while I still can, though, because who wears a snowflake pendant in the summer? The best part about the trip is the whole reason I sacrificed having Christmas with my family. I spent

Christmas Eve is tomorrow and, like Eve from the Bible and Adam who came before her, what comes before Christmas Eve is Christmas Adam. I first heard about this from my sister, but after Googling "Christmas Adam" last year, I learned that we were not alone in this silliness. :) We don't actually have any traditions or anything of significance on Christmas Adam. Of the few people that "celebrate" Christmas Adam, some use it as a day to open an extra present. Most, however, are like Stargirl and me--we just want another day to build the Christmas anticipation. Are there any extra little days that you like to celebrate this holiday season? ♥, TiffanyAnne

Monday: Snow showers , 20°/7° Tuesday: Cloudy, 28°/28° Wednesday: Few Snow Showers /Wind, 32°/11° Thursday: Mostly cloudy, 21°/20° Friday: Mostly cloud, 30°/22° Saturday: Cloudy, 29°/24° Above is *not* the weather for cast for my wonderful southern metropolis. Above part of the 10-day weather forecast taken from the Detroit airport (from weather.com) where Mike and I will be flying in to spend Christmas with his family. I'm excited. I'm excited about the week off work, spending time with Mike, flying, and snow ! I'll miss my family, but it will be interesting to experience another family's holiday traditions. And I'm excited about spending Christmas with Mike. Oh...and just for comparison, this is the weather we're leaving behind: Monday: Partly Cloudy, 45°/27° Tuesday: Mostly Cloudy, 47°/38° Wednesday: Showers, 58°/33° Thursday: Sunny, 54°/34° Friday: Mostly Cloudy, 55°/42° Saturday: Partly Cloudy, 56°/46° Or more importantly, the weather we

Christmas is one week from today. It's coming so quickly! Is everything ready? Am I ready to fly out on Monday? Have I bought all the presents? As the final days of Christmas tick by, I thought about all the ways we countdown to Christmas. Advent comes from the Latin word adventus which means "coming" and rightly so as Advent is the season in which we anticipate the coming of Jesus--a sort of "christmas countdown." For those who celebrate Advent, the only pink candle on the wreath was lit last Sunday to signify the start of that Advent is half-way through. There are so many Christmas calendars that people have. Little houses with 25 boxes. Or 25 drawers. Carboard calendars with 25 preforated flaps underneath which lies a piece of chocolate! We never had those in my house growing up. Plush calendars with little plush presents or animals in each day. The kiddos have a Santa calendar which has a little pockets for each day from December 1 until Christmas d

"Where's the cake?" I asked. "I smell cake!" I started sniffing around the kitchen. Lauren, my roommate, was fiddling with something on the counter. I opened the oven. Empty. "Tiffany! You're silly," Lauren said. I had just arrived home from a wonderful day of work. The kids had been well behaved. I got some good one-on-one time with each of them. I got a generous gift from the family. And my morning had begun wonderfully with a present from my roommate and a message from my sister. "Da na na na na na, They say it's your birthday! Da na na na na na, it's my birthday, too!!!" I was supposed to be getting ready to have dinner with Mike and maybe a few friends. But I smelled cake. I heard the upstairs roommates say something. Lauren disappeared. I went into my room to drop off my bag and coat and when I emerged, Ellen and Heidi were holding a freshly frosted cake while Lauren lit the candles. How's that for a fantastic welcoming

The other day, I went to the local nail salon with a few lovely ladies. They all got their nails done because the birthday girl decided that was what she wanted for her birthday party. Me, the birthday girls mom (also my boss) and another mom hung around, chatted, and snapped photos while a group of 3- and 4-year-old little girls get their nails painted in various combinations. Lauren chose a red/green combo to go with the Christmas holidays. The other girls chose blue/white, blue/purple and purple/red. They all behaved so well. I think they were a little nervous about being in there. Lauren was so excited about getting her nails done that she was falling over herself just to get to the nail salon. When we got home, we opened presents before eating lunch and having cake. Among other things, Lauren got some pink and purple frosted nail polish. So, what did I find her doing that very afternoon? Using her new nail polish, of course, to paint over her freshly done nails. ♥, TiffanyAnne

So, I'm turning 24 tomorrow. As part of my birthday present, my wonderful boyfriend set me up an appointment with the owner of a downtown salon. For the past couple of years, my style has consisted of deciding to get my hair cut a certain way and then growing it out or chopping it off. Now, however, I finally feel like I have a haircut that I'm going to hang on to for a while. ♥, TiffanyAnne

♥, TiffanyAnne

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I prefer wrapping paper if I have the time. 2. Real tree or Artificial? At my house we have a teeny-weeny red tinsel tree. I'd love a real tree one day, though. 3. When do you put up the tree? We put it up the weekend before Thanksgiving. 4. When do you take the tree down? Probably early January. 5. Do you like eggnog? I've never tried it. 6. Favorite gift received as a child? 7. Hardest person to buy for? 9. Do you have a nativity scene? No 10. Mail or email Christmas cards? How about neither. Well, okay, a few people get 'em. 11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A cheap, ill-fitting used coat my brother bought at a yard sale. 12. Favorite Christmas Movie? does "Love Acutally" count? 13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Early. Pre-thanksgiving. 14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Actually, not that I can think of. 15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? All of it! 16. Lights on the tree? Of course! :) 17.

♥, TiffanyAnne

Monday night, I was scurrying around trying to find a decent outfit to wear on Tuesday night. Nothing I owned looked professional enough and everything my roommate let me try on looked, appropriately enough, like my big sister's clothes that almost fit me. Having been a nanny for almost five years, I lack in the "business casual" department these days. Tuesday morning, I hit the a discount store and the consignment store right next to it. I was able to find the perfect outfit--and it acutally fit me! There was one problem: The pants I was able to find that actually fit me were too short to wear with my high-heels, i.e. my go-to dressy shoe. While staring at the options the shoe store hand for me, however, my eyes were opened to a whole new genre of shoes. The loafer. Now, the closest I have ever come to wearing a loafer are my moccasins. Loafers were modeled after moccasins, but probably not the ones I wear with my Native American dance regalia (you know, the white ones w

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas Ev'rywhere you go; Take a look in the five-and-ten, glistening once again With candy canes and silver lanes aglow. We are officially into the Christmas season. I think the Christmas season officially begins after the official Thanksgiving Day nap. Which, by the way, is not tryptophan induced . Some people, think that the Christmas season officially begins somewhere around 12:01AM on November 1st. This past Halloween, while I was on a church retreat, I had to make an emergency run to Walmart. I breezed through the doors very shortly after midnight and began my search for the right aisle. I was surprised to see Super-Center-Sized Christmas decorations out and waiting to be displayed despite the fact that many a drunk college girl was still celebrating in her sexy Little Bo Peep costume. The wikipedia "Christmas and holiday season" page gives several dates for the Christmas season: According to Yanovski et al, in the United S

Today, during my first ever foray into a newsroom, I came to the very obvious conclusion that I need to write more. A few weeks ago, at a "Media Day" event at my school, I met a reporter from the local newspaper who invited me to stop by the newsroom sometimes. Today, I did just that. I was there for almost three hours talking to reporters, hanging around the copy desk, and watching tomorrow's paper get put together. As I walked into the newspaper building escorted by that reporter, we began to exchange the usual pleasantries. He asked me how I was doing. "Good!" I replied, ever perky. He gave me an odd look and said that it had been an "interesting" day in the newsroom. Indeed, it is an interesting time to be someone who wants to go into print journalism. I was researching Gannett for a school project when I came across news about layoffs within the company. Huge Gannett layoffs are happening this week and I had the unfortunate timing to show up on th