SMORGASBORD. I googled that.

Well, I really planned to be more frequent with blogging this year!  January is almost gone, and I'm still writing about Christmas time.  But I'm glad for the busy couple weeks.  Better busy than bored!
So here's a smorgasbord of things!

While in states, I made sure to spend a lot of time with my lovely, and dear friend, Katy.  We shared great conversations, laughter, and most importantly, each other's company!  We sorted through a box of folded up, wrinkled, and halfway torn notes, homework, and a few projects.  

From Junior High and High School. 

Oh dear.

  

Mr. Allison's 6th grade class project: "Chris and Heather." We got an A.

Katy was the inspired author, and I was the creative illustrator.  We were a good team!

So, that was a little walk down Memory Lane.  It's fun to wander there every once in a while :)  

Onto BAKING!

These:

That would be, Bolillos.  And my mom...is the World's Best Bread Maker.  Hands down.  

Oh, the SMELL OF BAKING BREAD.

She could open her own bakery.

Nothin' like crusty bread alongside a rustic, hearty soup.  Tuscan Garbanzo soup sounds so good right now.

Okay, moving onto something else! Once we can back to Germany, my friend {who was kind enough to watch our two dogs} informed us that one of the pups is an Escape Artist.  

This one.

Normally, these puppy dog eyes make me melt.  But not this time.  

Why not?  Because we're on fence number 4.  

All have been put up with skill and perfection, by my handy husband, but Wrigley outwits us, and is quite the clever little guy. Sneaking under, through, and over it; this mongrel is trouble.

  

Our neighbors put up the white fence the keep the three horses out of our yard.  Didn't work so well.  And oh did I kicked myself for not having the camera handy that afternoon. 

Well, that's that.  {I'm abrupt with these endings sometimes, aren't I?}  I'm still behind on a few blog postings, but when I find time, I'll write more!

I'm thankful for those of you who enjoy reading about what goes on in the Ogden Household!  Have I bored  you yet?

Here's one last picture of the 'mature one' of the two. Boomer has his moments, but it's rare.  

-Christine

Short and Sweet. {Updated!}

{new photo version!}

Hello!  I've been away for a bit.  A lot of family and friend time over the past three weeks, and every minute of it was happiness.

Glad to be back here in my sweet Stambach, though.  Here's a couple things I wasn't able to write about before we left for Christmas Break.

On Sunday, we went to the coolest Christmas Market.  As always, it was wonderful! This one was extra-awesome, because it was in the middle of the woods.

A friend of ours played in this band...their fingers had to be so cold!!  I should know what these nuts are called, since they're at practically every Christmas Market.

--------------{this next group of pictures was added just recently.  I can't believe I forgot to put them in here!!}----------------------

The food at these Markets is simply amazing.

But I didn't eat this.   

---------{sorry, this blog is wayyy disorganized, but I wanted to share the pictures from another Christmas Market.  A French Christmas Market!  Strassbourg, France}---------

These are the cutest!  Handmade "family members."  You pick which ones most closely resemble your own family, and you have a very unique gift!

This building was decked out!

French pretzels are just as good as German pretzels.

----------{and that concludes the very late Christmas Market insert!}----------




After this, we went home, had plans to sit and watch a movie...but then remembered that we never did a family photo for Christmas cards.  Changed clothes in about 2 minutes, and drove to my favorite photo shoot location.

Well this was not an easy task.  I thought it would be with my wireless remote, but keeping the dogs still...

One good one out of about 30 attempts.  As you can see, the sun was still out in the first photo.


I know, this was insanely brief.  But that's what a blog is for, right?  Sharing life {exciting AND dull} with friends.

More next time, I promise.

-C

Things from the Weekend.

I celebrated my 27th birthday last week, and it was a grand day!  It was a really wonderful weekend, actually. 

Went on a long walk with the pups, and took a few last shots of my favorite time of year.  {am I the only one still desperately clinging to the last bits of Autumn?} I'm so sad to see it leave.

My friend Christina took me to a used book store, {on Base} so all the books were in ENGLISH!  I bought just a few.

And just as I was driving back home, a met a man in our driveway holding a BEAUTIFUL floral arrangement in his hands.  From my parents :)

'Pretty' is rarely a sufficient word for such blooms.

Mom Ogden sent this absolutely adorable apron a few days ago.  I've actually never owned an apron!  Well, I'm in love with this cute thing. {It's so darling that I almost don't want to get it dirty!}

A few other weekend activities:  Going to Metz, France Christmas Market.  I have to admit....it was a little bit of a let-down.  With the exception of the ferris wheel.  

   

Ate stuffed mushrooms, à la Dani:

 Nom nom.

And played a serious game of Texas Hold 'em.

So it was a really fun and full weekend.  

Our friends are our family over here.  I hate to see some of them moving on and leaving, but these are the friends that we'll have for a lifetime! 

-Christine