I baked our Vanocka bread in the beginning of the month.
And was thrilled when it came out perfectly! I used this recipe this year.
Peter and I went to our favorite local British pub – Stoney’s – to a dinner celebrating the the Feast of St. Andrew. This picture is what I like to refer to as a “happy accident”. It’s totally out of focus but I love how the Christmas lights are glowing!
We tried the traditional dinner of Haggis, Neeps and Tatties. Yes, it’s actually called that! It was…interesting…the Haggis tasted weird, and the mashed veggies were ok.
I tried Thai food for the first time! I went to a place in State College after one of my last classes. I had Pad Thai with fried firm tofu. It tasted better than this picture looks.
I started off the cookie baking with a new Czech recipe – Moravian Spice cookies. Despite Jasper’s best efforts, he did not get to try one.
My last drive to school for this semester had beautiful views with everything snow covered (but fortunately very safe as there was no snow on the roads). I treated myself to this goofy new hat to celebrate my last day of semester 1!
We continued our international food experiences with a trip to White Marsh, Maryland to attend the IKEA Swedish Christmas Julbord dinner. It was packed! So packed that I didn’t even attempt to take my camera out while we were eating. I’m sure I would have bumped our neighbors! The food was tasty and the kids that were dressed up to sing were really sweet.
Jasper continues to respond very well to his new insulin doses. In fact he’s almost as active as he was when he was a kitten! Although, giving him that wet food back on Thanksgiving was probably not a good idea, because now he’s convinced that anything I set on the counter is a can of wet food (that’s just my lipstick!) and attempts to get it. 
Christmas cards from friends and family have started to arrive. This one from our vet (ok, it’s just a reminder card, but it looks Christmasy so I’m going to count it) was especially funny!
We’ve been enjoying our Vanocka bread on an almost daily basis. It’s especially good with butter and honey. It’s great with scrambled eggs too! Jasper is so spoiled. Peter always lets him jump up and share his chair. I think it just encourages him to make a jump for the food. He hasn’t stolen any though. Yet! 
Christmas came early for me! Peter picked out a fabulous new suitcase for me to use on our upcoming travels! I love the beautiful green color! Not too sure how I feel about the size…I mean I understand the importance of it being small…Peter researched the airlines we typically fly internationally with to make sure it would fit as a carrry on…BUT….that means I have to pack even less! Sigh. I’m glad he put so much effort into finding me a great suitcase though. I’m actually looking forward to dragging this through the airport!
He also gave me a new camera! It’s a Canon Powershot s100. I’ve only taken a few pictures with it so far but I’m very impressed! I’ll be breaking it in over the next week or so and can’t to share pics!
More Czech Christmas cookies! These are linzer cookies filled with red currant jam.
Jasper and Jasmine have done a lot of what they do best…sleeping! This is one of the rare times they’ve slept side by side and played nice with another – no meowing OR hissing.
We’ve been working on our Advent calendars together! We each had a Lego calendar to open this year. Peter’s having more fun than I am. These Lego figures are tough! This particular one was fairly easy, but the tiny ships are something else! I love that Peter always knows the name of everything I make when I just called it “flying thing” or person. He’s knows that it’s XYZ Space Craft. He claims that everyone who has watched Star Wars (I haven’t!) knows these basic facts. I think it must be because he watched it many times. 
I’m loving my new Peppermint Mocha! I added a few (maybe a lot!) marshmallows yesterday and it was the perfect jolt I needed to get through my To Do list.
I’ve made sure to spend some extra quality time with Jasmine lately. Sometimes she gets overlooked a bit I think because Jasper tends to be the one that wants to be held and hugged. She likes those things too (in moderation!) but much prefers to play!
