Enter 2012

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a nice New Year's Eve and a good beginning of 2012.

Veronika's napkins at our New Year's celebration.

I'll begin with an ode to 2011.

Dear 2011,

You were a year full of changes of the large-scale variety. We started the year with a surprise in January when Jake received the earliest admission ever granted to UNC. We thought for sure we'd end up in North Carolina. And then, just a few short weeks later, we heard from Michigan with an offer we couldn't refuse.

February brought a trip to Michigan for Jake and the acceptance of UM's offer – our plan was beginning to take shape! We later learned that Jake had been accepted to 8 out of 9 of the schools he had applied to and they were all offering impressive fellowships. That was a pretty thrilling time.

March passed quickly as we began to plan for the big, cross-country move. In April we heard that, due to his special fellowship, Jake was offered a spot in UM's summer school. Most students do not have this opportunity and we thought it would give us a chance to settle in before the fall semester began. There was only one problem: school started mid-June and our plan was to move at the beginning of July. So, April had us scrambling to restructure our plans and move in two months instead of three.

At the beginning of May, Jake and I visited Ann Arbor together to secure housing. We arrived just as spring was coming into bloom and I immediately loved all the green. Ann Arbor was beautiful and we couldn't wait to make it our home. What followed was an incredibly stressful week trying to find housing. In the end it all worked out and we found a fantastic place, but we didn't know it was ours until two hours before our flight home!

We both wrapped up work on June first, Jake quitting and me taking a three week break. On June fourth we packed our belongings into two metal containers and wished them a safe ride across the country. The next day we packed ourselves and our cat into the car and began the trek too. The first day we drove from California to Wyoming, an 18 hour drive. The next day, also 18 hours, we drove through to Iowa. Finally, on the third day we drove 8 hours and arrived at our new home. The rest of June saw us settling in, Jake beginning summer school, and me resuming work on a part-time basis.

In July and August we began to explore Ann Arbor and I started keeping this blog. In August, I was notified that the company I worked for would be folding and I would lose my position at the end of September. It was sad news for sure, I had worked there for four years and my coworkers had become like family. Fortunately, I was quickly able to find freelance work and have actually enjoyed the change of pace. Working on my own schedule is a wonderful flexibility.

The Jewish high holidays came in September and with them a whole group of wonderful, new friends! You can read about our adventures on this blog. October was a happy month with the change from scorching summer to beautiful fall. We took a lot of walks and enjoyed not being eaten by mosquitos.

November brought the start of the holiday season and a visit from my brother. It was good to see him and we're glad he came out. In mid-November, our cat attacked me and I began a two-month period of bad health. This sad time peaked with some devastating news at the beginning of December which we continue to work through. There are many people who have been a wonderful comfort during this bad time and I am forever grateful, thank you!

But December was far from all bad! We just had a fantastic visit with Jake's mom and it seemed like we had a party every week. Winter is so cold but so beautiful and we have both enjoyed our first exposure to snow.

So now we bid adieu to 2011 and thank you for all the wonderful things you have brought into our lives. We will remember this year fondly as one of great leaps and new experiences and look forward to the surprises the next year will bring!

Thank you, 2011! Tamar and Jake 

And now to the festivities! For New Year's Eve, Veronika, Anna, and I planned a big party. We all made tons of food, including a number of traditional Russian dishes, and organized a few games.

Here are the dishes I brought:

Clockwise from the top: cheese plate with Zatar, two home-made hummos plates, GF and regular crackers, deviled eggs, fruit plate, GF thumbprint cookies, GF sour dough baguette.

The cookies were kind of a funny story. I followed a recipe I found online and was surprised at the small amount of Xanthum Gum (that's what holds things together when there's no gluten). They started out looking like this:

But ended like this:

Oh well, they still tasted good.

There was sooo much food! What's shown below isn't even everything - there was still more on other tables.

This photo courtesy of Anna!

And a note about the beautiful tree. According to Veronika, it is traditional in Russia to bring in the new year with a new year's tree. Obviously, this is a custom born out of Christmas traditions, but this is not a Christmas tree. It does, however, make their house smell wonderful!

Let me introduce you to the guests!

Dima and Luda, who also came with their daughter Vlada (photo from Anna)

Our hosts, Freddy and Veronika

Co-conspirator Anna with Luda – and Dima... (photo from Anna)

Jake and I (photo from Anna)

After we stuffed ourselves on the yummy food, we played a Russian version of Charades, called Krokodil, in two teams.

Team one with mascot (Sonya)

Team two – the best team!

Veronika pantomiming something

After Charades we had fun with a second game in which silly tasks were written on strips of paper and inserted into a balloon. Each person had to pick a balloon, pop it, and perform the tasks.

The balloons.

Jake selecting his: Kiss your sweetheart!

Luda attempting the scariest part.

Freddy doing the Macarena.

Anna singing a New Year's song.

Then it was time to toast the New Year! We watched the ball drop in New York and clinked Russian champagne. I was really thrilled to be in the "right" timezone this year – it always seemed a little weird to watch the ball drop in New York "live" three hours later.

Cheers! (Great photo from Anna!)

We brought in the new year with dessert and a photo op. Love this one!

Veronika, Tamar, and Anna

Hope you all brought the New Year in with style too! Here's to a wonderful 2012.

Our first photo in 2012, two seconds after midnight.