Merry Christmas from the Hills!

We just wanted to share some more holiday cheer with this year's Christmas card. Why are we holding an alligator? The photo is from our September trip to Florida, where we spent a day riding on air boats and watching crazy people wrestle alligators. And of course, Luke INSISTED that we hold one. Little did I know, the cute little guy would make it into our Christmas card.

So, Merry Christmas from the Hills and their alligator friend!

Still Writing About Space...

Yes, that's right. I'm still writing about space ships and launching people into orbit. I never thought this would become my speciality (who knows, maybe my true calling is to work for NASA).

I've started doing some freelancing for Seattle Business Magazine, which is owned by the same parent company that I work for in Minneapolis. I had sent the editor there my resume and it had some info about how I wrote articles on NASA and space travel. So, when Paul Allen announced Tuesday that he was investing $200 million in a new space travel vehicle, the editor called me up and asked me to crank out a blog article in an hour and half. I knew my Master's degree would be good for something! So here's the result:

Read the full article here!

Out of This World Sugar Cookies

I'm going to share this FABULOUS sugar cookie recipe with you. I've already made it twice in the past week and it's simply the best. It's so easy and quick - you will love it. I got it courtesy of my mom, so you can thank her when you become addicted to these little treats!

Makes about 2 dozen

1 cup sugar, divided

1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine or butter

1 egg

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make cookies: Cream 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup margarine together. Beat egg, 1/4 tsp vanilla and margarine mixture together. Combine flour, baking soda and salt thoroughly and add to margarine mixture. Form round balls using about 1 Tablespoon dough. Roll in remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Press with glass dipped in sugar. Bake 7 to 9 minutes, until light brown at the edges. Cool on wire rack.

Happy Baking!

Super-Happy-Holiday-Fun-Day!

Yesterday was our second annual super-happy-holiday-fun-day! We spent the day doing all things holiday and were definitely wiped out by the end of the day. Here are some pictures from our adventures!

We commenced the day with cookie baking. Well, let's be honest- I commenced the day with cookie baking and Luke unwrapped the Hershey kisses :)

We went downtown for a little Christmas shopping and had lunch at Macy's Walnut Room next to the GIGANTIC tree.

Then we made it to the Millennium Park skating rink. It was raining a bit, but we endured and enjoyed some time on the ice.

And then we delivered more cookies to Luke's friends at work. Here are a couple pictures of our walk downtown on the State Street bridge. Gotta love those city lights!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Even though we are only going to be in Chicago for a couple more weeks, we didn't want to skimp on the holiday decorating. So, we dug out our mini "boot" tree and stockings, and Luke hung lights around the apartment. It's quite cozy and festive now! Here's a little Christmas joy from our family to yours. Merry Christmas!!

Unlike most people's trees, ours resides on the desk.

Stockings! I can hardly believe this is our FOURTH Christmas being married. The ornament hanging on the right is from our first Christmas together.

Almost done!

So, my grad school experience is nearing an end. It's sad and exciting all at the same time. I have spent the last 10 weeks working as the editor-in-chief of the Medill Magazine Innovation Project. We created a brand new tablet magazine and it was crazy. We had a big presentation yesterday and you can watch it online if you're really that interested :) Just click the link below to find out everything you wanted to know about the world of tablet magazine innovation.

HINGE Magazine presentation