day

Throwing this in from wayyyy back.

Got some Peruvian while thinking about Megan.  Daren's birthday dinner at Inka Heritage when we discovered you can make reservations for 30 at a small restaurant and where I indulged in ceviche because I don't eat nearly enough fish in Madison.  It's even plated like a fish - a hungry fish with no fins.  Needed more carb than sweet potatoes and giant corn kernels because it was super sour like a loaf of bread to soak it all up.

And I snuck in a bag of cinnamon sugar baked donut holes with this random chocolate sauce I made with some leftover chocolate chips.

Anyways, so here's to 2015.  I never actually make resolutions, but I kind of let some bounce around in my head as I sat around all day on January 1.  Stay on top of your shit.  Gym.  Work.  Enough to take two weeks off during the summer...  Gym.  You know, the usual.  Vague enough that I neither keep nor break them really.

 Babies are so freaking tiny.  Little Nathan (Kaden) Chen was born like... several days before we went up to Maryland.  Sure, I was also 14 years smaller when I first met my baby brother, but I didn't believe babies could be this tiny.  I melt every time I see a tiny sock, but you can't really comprehend the thing that's supposed to fit in that until you hold it.  Look at this thing!  The palm of my hand is bigger than its head.  It's nuts.  I was afraid I'd break him in half the entire three minutes I was holding him and staring into his eyes.  HOW ARE YOU SO SMALL, KID?

 His baby brother no longer thinks he's a baby even though his little hands still make me melt as well.  ("I'm almost four!")  He is also catatonic when he watches The Lego Movie and random Youtube videos about toys.  He gives kisses on command.  And he's an adventurous eater already aka better than my abnormal brother.

We made a glazed cinnamon Christmas tree with rainbow sprinkles and M&M ornaments.  I will teach these kids to love baking.

 Dogs definitely take after their humans.  We got Sandi and new bed, and he doesn't leave it unless food.  I don't blame him though; it's a pretty comfy bed.

 We have a huge bowl of duck fat rendered from two ducks (that I would gladly bring back to Madison if I could - wait, can you bring vacuum sealed fat on the plane?), so I specifically went out to get some tater tots to make meatless but not vegetarian breakfast burritos.  Even cooked the peppers/onions and eggs in the leftover tater tot fat.  And then I ate two and fell asleep.  Happy New Year to me.

And just because I am obsessed with this stairwell that I will probably never see again...

It's giant DNA.  So beautiful.  Geek attack.  Took too many shots as I walked up and down the stairs to TA sessions.