And a happy new year.

Happy 2009, everyone.

We were happy to carry the lazy holiday period over into the earliest days of 2009. We rang in the New Year at a friend’s party, drinking cocktails on the balcony overlooking the beach and watching the fireworks from above the crowds at midnight.

We woke up on the first day of 2009 feeling... not quite hungover, but tired and thirsty. I made a lazy batch of pancakes, which we topped with jam (rhubarb for me, four fruits for Andy) and had alongside some fresh mango.

We spent the morning doing nothing much—some uni work, some reading—so weren’t too hungry for lunch. So, I made some mango-orange-carrot-apple-beetroot-ginger juice, which left us feeling full and healthy.

A movie, some dilly-dallying in the kitchen and more reading made up the bulk of our afternoon. For dinner, Andy made some “sausage rolls”—puff pastry filled with deliciously-spiced lentils—and I made some seitan enchiladas.

For dessert, I tried to recreate my all-time favourite food I had while in Thailand—khau neau mamuang, or sticky rice with mango. I didn’t have sticky rice, so I made a thick coconut rice pudding instead. This was good, but I’m going to get sticky rice next time I’m at the asian grocery because it wasn’t quite what I remembered.

Still, it was great to have mango for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I’m a bit sad to see the holidays go. Lazy days filled with good food, swimming and tropical fruit are kind of, well, awesome. But the holidays are well and truly over—I’m in my office on a Saturday. Before 2009 gets going full steam ahead, I’m going to reminisce about 2008…

It was hectic but a good year. I did lots more travelling around Australia, which I’ve been meaning to do since before I moved here (for instance, I went to Brisbane, twice; to Melbourne; to Auckland; and to places around North Queensland like Bowen, Alligator Creek, Mission Beach, Crystal Creek, and Wallaman Falls).

Andy and I watched Nacho grow up into a self-righteous but sooky, playful and still clumsy adult cat.

Andy and I got engaged, and are planning to elope at some point in the future.

I’m another year closer to finishing my PhD—13 months to go until hand-in, so long as I don’t extend.

We both got new bikes so now I can get around with no hassles when Andy goes away for weeks at a time.

We got much better at the DIY lifestyle, with the acquisition of a yogurt maker, a bread maker, and a juicer.

We also discovered chickpea cutlets, which was probably the recipe which has had the biggest impact on our usual repertoire of cooking.

As much as I liked 2008, I’m happy to be moving on to another year. I hope you all had a great 2008, and that 2009 has lots of good things in store for everyone!