I'm posting today to say Happy New Year! Also, I need to ease myself back into the school routine, and since I blog about school, I figured this was the easiest way to ease. I hope everyone had a healthy, fun, and relaxing break! Truth be told, I am looking forward to seeing and creating with the kiddos again.

We were supposed to have off until Thursday but will be returning a day earlier to make up a day missed due to Hurricane Sandy. Boo, hiss! Ah, well. It was a fabulous break here. I ate, slept, and celebrated my way through 11 days of goodness. And we had snow!

New Year's Eve was especially exciting, as my husband and I celebrated our first anniversary! Insert obligatory wedding day picture here!

How about another? This was taken after the bouquet toss, which of course was won by my sister-in-law Maria.

It's hard to believe that it's been a year since we danced our way into 2012. What a blessing this past year has been! Yesterday, we celebrated our anniversary with brunch, professional massages, a movie, a fancy dinner, and champagne at midnight (in pajamas!).

Rewinding to Christmas Day, I must share one of the highlights, when I received this beautifully matted and framed reproduction of Picasso's "The Dog."

Please forgive the reflection of that hideous it-was-here-when-we-moved-in ceiling light.

Picasso had a dachshund named Lump (pronounced 'Loomp')--hit up Google for some great black and white photographs of the two of them together. While Cubism isn't my all-time fave, I love Picasso's series of simple animal gesture drawings, and since my husband and I have a little weenie dog of our own, this was the perfect gift. Rudy approves--or he would, I think, if he weren't too busy with all of his Christmas loot.

Happy 2013, friends!