Saturday mornings.

There's nothing quite like a lazy Saturday morning when the weather outside is dreary, the air inside in chilly, and you have nothing (absolutely nothing!) on your agenda.


Sleeping in until 10, warm people wrapped in a dense, heavy cocoon of blankets.

The warm, roasty smell of brewing coffee.

Dragging chairs and laptops into the warm kitchen and sharing internet clips and funny blog posts we wait for sweet popovers to "pop" in the oven.


This American Life weaving curious, inquisitive stories on the radio.

Yes, friends. This is the homebody life that a wintery morning demands of a newly married couple.


Here's a link to the popover recipe we used: Sugar-Crusted Popovers.
Let me offer a tip or two: if using a muffin tin, heat it in the oven while you blend the batter. Put a pat of butter (just a tiny, bean-sized one) in each indentation. Add the batter once the butter is completely melted. Don't worry about brushing them with melted butter (it ended up being TOO rich for us). Dust them with sugar or another topping. We like: powdered sugar and lemon, honey butter, lemon curd, cinnamon sugar, jam. Anyhow, use his batter recipe, though. It was perfect.

Winter in the desert.

Snow, cold; cold, snow. Wind, clouds, sun, cold, snow, snow, snow.

Winter has settled in on Boise. We've had a few days of snow tempered by melty, 40 degree days, sunshine, and rain. The good old back-and forth. Rumor has it that the foothills trails are a mucky mess, so our options for shot dayhikes are slim. We've been eyeballing the snow depths in the nearby mountains, and our snow shoes are burning holes in the wall. Maybe tomorrow.

I know, you probably want to hear about the wedding and the holidays. As several weekends spent almost entirely in our pajamas evinces, we still feel like we're catching up and recovering.

Since our last update we've honeymooned in Mexico...

 

 

(These, and the rest of the pictures from the trip are located here: "Troncones" on Ariel's flickr stream)

Traveled to the Mother Land for the holidays...

 

 

 

And enjoyed Christmas with all the various permutations of our families.

Now, with the last long slog of winter ahead of us (though the days are getting longer again!), I guess it's time to buck-up and address those real, grown-up things that we've been putting off for the last few months (bank accounts, name changes, etc. JOY!).

In some respects it's a little relieving - we now have the time and wherewithal to actually settle into somewhat of a normal life again. And that is a good thing.

That said, knowing us, chances are it won't be altogether TOO normal.

(Photo by Steve Schmidt of Olyphotos)

Happy holidays, happy new year, and all our love and warm wishes for the days and months ahead.