Apparently, it doesn't take much to knock me off of the blog posting bandwagon. After a really strong November blog posting month, December was pretty weak. We'll see if I can get the groove back in January.

So what to do about December? Well, I'll try to put up several posts to catch up for the last two weeks of December.

In summary, we've really enjoyed being at home together for two weeks. Yes, we're getting a little stir-crazy but all-in-all it's been very nice. The last time we did this we were in Beijing and we had to take an impromptu road trip to Tianjin just to keep ourselves from going crazy. That's not the case here since it's sunny and we can go outside everyday if we wish.

Still, we really wish we were in Iowa right now. Not because we miss the abysmal weather but we miss our family. I hope everyone realizes that.

Jess and I spent the past week or so really working hard on the house plans. I read a residential architecture book and Jess has been like an iPad zombie, going through hundreds of floor plans looking for house ideas on Houzz.

Truman assuming the "Christmas Vacation" position: