This is an alley in Chania. Chania is the nearest big city. I absolutely fell in love with all of the alleys and stairways in Chania.
Another street in Chania... It was so fun to explore all the little knooks in the city.
Greece is full of little doors. They are everywhere. I made Jebin pose in front of this little church door to show how short it really is.
On one of the first days that I was in Greece we drove through the mountains looking a small villages. It was pouring and the roads were super dangerous, but we survived and saw a lot of cool stuff.
We stopped at a small coastal village and had lunch. This was my first bite ever of Octupus. It wasn't too bad.

I wrote my schedule on the white board at work. It was so exciting that I had to take a picture.

ONE SUITCASE!!! That is right! ONE SUITCASE!!! It is a miracle! Two weeks in a foreign country and I packed with one check-in under 50lbs. and a carry-on. I think this might be my greatest accomplishment ever! I weighed myself a million times holding my suitcase. As I would eliminate things, I would get on the scale holding what I had just eliminated and hope for a super high number. Definitely the first time I have ever gotten on a scale hoping for a high number.

Thank goodness for weekends!!!

Kim, Carissa and I had a little girls night out. We laughed a ton and I think they enjoyed their night without the kids.
Can't beat Chilis! Well, except the milkshakes, which are not up to Kim's standards.
I started pre-packing for Greece. Talk about crazy! I think I might be paying the extra $100 to check a second bag.
Kati and I hiked Spencer's Butte this weekend. It was a gorgeous day and it was super fun!
Kati and I made it to the top and we made sure to take a picture for evidence.
This is our type of hiking. We kept answering our phones. The people calling us were always surprised that we were hiking. I wonder why?

My first Rory Feeding

My first experience watching Rory eat real food. Well...excluding those little bites of ice cream and whip cream her naughty Auntie Em sneaks her.

What happens when bald mullets get out of control...

WARNING...This is what can happen if bald mullets are not taken care of early on.

New Years in D.C.

We spent a lot of time at Borders on my trip. Mindy had to do lesson plans and I caught up on my emails, blogging & reading Chelsea Handler's book.
Mindy worked hard during our Border trips. I was very proud of her.
In case you don't know the story of the life size John Cena cutout...John Cena is Mindy's ideal man, so I gave her the cutout for her birthday two years ago. He has been a welcome addition to her condo in D.C.

Don't Mindy and John look great together. I think I need to let him know what he is missing.


Although John Cena isn't really my type, I still didn't mind groping him a little each night before going to bed. LOL!
There were a lot of late night desserts and girly movies! I loved it!
On New Years Eve we went to this adorable little cafe called, "Waiters and Poets" for dinner. The food was delicious!
Mindy and I getting ready to head to China Town for a big New Years celebration!

Mindy was gearing up for a big midnight kiss. Little did she know that after being slightly assaulted by two cute young Brazilians, we would end up just kissing each other at midnight.

Christmas Leon/Mason/Slaughter Style

My friends' daughters, Jacy and Lanie, were the most delightful little mice in the Nutcracker in Cottage Grove.
My old roommate, Naomi, had an "Office" themed Christmas party. I came as Meredith and she was Phyllis. I found a flask at World Market and the outfit at St. Vincent's. Don't worry though, I didn't flash anyone at the party.

My dad at 8pm on Christmas Eve. A word of advice...don't plan anything for my dad after 5pm.
Katie and Sydney were a little hyper on Christmas Eve, so I captured some of their moves on film.
Audrey sure looks sad for a little girl on Christmas Eve.

Whenever I have my camera, I have Katie do her "big eyes" for me. This was a picture of her Christmas Eve "big eyes".
Charlie was reading to little Rory on Christmas morning. He is such a good cousin!
Sydney and Grandpa having fun!
After much convincing, Amanda agreed to join Rory and Audrey for a little binky break.
Amanda and Jed made Katie, Sydney and Audrey the most BEAUTIFUL treasure boxes. They put so many hours into them and they turned out adorable. The girls loved them!