What happens when inspiration, a holiday and sugar get combined? A recipe for cookie bouquets! I spent a better part of the weekend and a few days before Valentine's Day arranging these sweet treats for 6 coworkers and friends. Each cookie on a stick was made with love, tied with a festive ribbon and arranged in a pink flower pot. It was a lot of hard work, but I am very happy with how they turned out.

When Ames heard John Mayer was coming to Columbia, her and her friend Adriana decided to buy tickets they day they became available. The concert was awesome. A band called Soulive, which none of us had heard of opened up for him and they were pretty good too!

For the first time since we moved here, it's snowing in Columbia. We had a "wintery mix" a few days ago, and that's what we were expecting this morning, but instead it started snowing. Amy and I were so excited that we had to go out and take some pictures and video.

To celebrate their centennial anniversary, the graduate school at USC held a poster contest for current graduate students. The theme: "What about your graduate education experience at USC has been most interesting or personally rewarding?" Amy's submission is more artwork than poster, but I really think she nailed it, and I hope she wins!

Ames and I had a great Christmas. We hosted a party for her research group (complete with a Chinese gift exchange), exchanged gifts on the 19th and then headed to Vero to spend time with the Mathis' for about a week. There's not many places in the world where you can go for a barefoot walk on the beach in late December.

For our last full day on the west coast, Amy and I decided to take a trip down St. Helena Hwy for a tour of Napa Valley. While we were there we stopped at the Artesa, Andretti, V. Sattui, and Merryvale wineries, ate dinner at Tra Vigne Pizzeria, and had a mud bath. The mud bath was...weird...but everything else was fun and delicious.

Between Amy's conference, visiting the city with Jered and Aimee, sight-seeing on our own, and going back and forth between the airport, Amy and I spent a lot of time in the city by the bay. Here are a few of the pictures we took while we were there.

We flew into California late on Nov. 10th, but Jered and Aimee had the weekend off, so we decided to get up early and drive up to Lake Tahoe to see snow. Although the slopes weren't yet open for skiing, there was plenty of snow to see and play in on the way up.

It's been over a year since we moved into our house and from the time we did, we knew the pine that was growing into our back deck had to go. Well it's finally gone, and now I know what I want to be if the internet ever dissapears.

Amy and I are always up for corny activities, so when Wes and Eyma decided to go out for Uno's Pizza and late night corn maze wandering in Lexington, we were definitely in. It was fun, but thanks to Casey's amazing cartographic skills, we made it out without getting too lost.