Christmas 2017
Christmas season 2017 has been very busy. This is just a small sampling of what we’ve been up to this month:
The photo we used for our 2017 Christmas Card
Amanda’s friend Megan did an amazing job with their office Christmas card.
Amanda’s IP Christmas Party was the night of the ACC Championship.
My Fluor Christmas party was the next Friday. We also had a smaller Fluor Business-Line Christmas party the night before.
We held Lyle Family Christmas on the 23rd.
Hannah and Charlie hosted the Lyle Family Christmas. We enjoyed lots of good food and time with family.Next up was the Luckie family Christmas on Christmas Eve. We actually have no photographic evidence of this evening. We had a great time in Columbia, attended Christmas Eve Mass at the Church I grew up in, and enjoyed the traditional Luckie Family Christmas eve dinner, heavy hors d’oeuvres with Chinese takeout, were entertained by our niece and nephew, and got to see Steven & Nichole’s new house.
We ended up driving back late that same night and sleeping in, in our own bed, on Christmas morning. Once we finally got up, I spent the rest of the day playing with our new gifts.
I had asked for some smart home lighting devices, including an in wall switch. I’d never done any electrical work before, but after some You Tube videos and some trial and error, we had it working. I have a few more projects in the works and hope to post on them soon.
The other Christmas gift I lost no time before playing with was a Sous Vide cooker. In my first attempt, I cooked the most perfectly even and delicious steak of my life.
145 Degree Medium for Amanda
Finishing sear with gas torch.
At this point I was nervously anticipating getting a peak inside.
Success! Dang that is even.
A few days later successful St. Louis style Ribs.
26 Weeks Pregnant
Amanda is 26 weeks pregnant and we will be starting birthing classes the first week of the year. Today we watched the baby turn over in her belly, it was amazing to see the head protruding out of her belly as it moved from one side to the other. We’ve been told by our ultra sound technicians that we have a very active and long/tall baby.
Engagement (then and now)
By the way… we got engaged 5 years ago tonight. Clemson also beat LSU that night and began an unprecedented run of success. Coincidence?
Then…
…and now. I still hate shaving. And she’s still too pretty for me.
We enjoyed a calm New Year’s eve at the piano lounge at the Westin Poinsett.