Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Hello Friends! Wishing you all a very blessed holiday season from our family to yours

xoxo

Some Christmas Cheer and a Break

Hello wonderful Friends! 

I hope this post finds you well and filled with Christmas spirit and truly enjoying the gifts of this season. And of course I don't mean actual presents....but the true gifts being time with family and the peace and joy of anticipating our Lord's birth. Or a blessed Hanukkah or whichever meaningful faith or tradition you hold dear this season. My life has definitely been filled with lots of meaningful family moments, church time, concerts, decorating, baking, and shopping lately.  So I know I've been absent of late and I am planning to take a break for the rest of the holiday season. I may try to get a Merry Christmas post up before Christmas with our family card - as I don't have them back yet. This past weekend my son's girlfriend was over and I asked her to take some shots of us as a family outside and of myself and our 2 kids (to get some pics for hubby's desk).  It's always nice to have an updated family photo, even if it's just a casual quick unplanned sort of one.  ;) 

So I thought I would share a post with some Christmas cheer in the form of some fun vintage pics, some recipes, and also of some photos from around our home this season. And if you'd like to get an idea of what our house looks like this time of year, I gave a tour around this time last year and you can find that post by clicking here.  A few things change each year...but overall it's a lot the same. Over the holiday time when I get a break I will come around and visit you my Friends and say hello. I miss your posts!! To give you an idea of the busyness around here lately this week alone I have 3 kiddos' concert events (2 at school and 1 at church), and 3 hockey games between them. Also, a full tourney this weekend for Annie. Hockey Mom life folks. In between I'm trying to handle all the details of Christmas as we host family every year. However, I am beyond grateful for the gift of family and it's been a wonderful kind of busy. I am blessed. 

I have also been completing the last steps of my hospice training and I will begin "working"  in that capacity after the holidays. I will officially be stationed at a local hospice house. I may also do some in home visits as needed now and then.  I am so excited spiritually to serve others through that new chapter in my life. I will keep you posted on how things go in the months ahead. For now I wish you all a blessed holiday season filled with laughter, love and peace.  

We had some more snow over night so it's definitely looking like it's going to be a white Christmas in the northwoods. And I guess I'm always drawn to vintage pics that remind me of a white cozy Christmas - especially churches and homes with lights glowing in the windows:

But here are some more cozy pics from around our home:

The real reason for the season 

I love the tree reflected in the mirror and the window

I've made a good dent with shopping and wrapping ;) 

Been practicing holiday hairdos on Ms.Annie - here brushing up on my dutch braid skills

And another special part of this season is that my Hubby and I will celebrate 22 years of marriage shortly after Christmas. We were married on a Friday night because Saturday could only be in the afternoon - and we wanted the Christmas tree twinkling in church and the candles glowing. It was a clear day, but after the service that night we came out of the church to magical big snowflakes falling. It was such a special day. We have been together for almost 30 years now (since we were 16 years old). And life has thrown lots of ups and downs our way - and this past year has been especially stressful with his work and his Mom in a facility with Alzheimer's, worrying about his Dad etc. But I think the true measure of a couple is how you get through those times. How you grow together. In my opinion marriage is a constant roller coaster of joys and sorrows - and if you have enough love to laugh, forgive, learn, and take your turns really being there for each other when you need it...well then I believe you will have a marriage that can stand the test of time.  I am blessed with many gifts in my life and my husband is definitely one of them.  

And before this post gets too crazy long - here are a few fun recipes I pinned for this season that I may have fun trying:

I thought this was such a cute idea for a veggie tray snowman ;) 

And these gingerbread bars with cream cheese frosting sound so good! You can find the pin for it with recipe here.

And I'm really thinking I"m going to decorate my sugar cookies like these Christmas lights this year - so cute!! You can find this pin here.

(one of the pics of the kiddos with me for hubby's desk)

Until we chat again Friends I'm wishing you a very Merry and cozy Christmas and Happy 2018! 

xoxo

Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy Monday Friends ~ 

 I know I was absent and missed HHM last week, but that's just life these days. I'm sure you all can relate. ;)  The holiday season kind of snuck up on me this year, but I'm going with the flow.   I was getting a little upset with myself over the weekend - that I wasn't as on top of things as I usually have all my decorating done by now. My Hubby was so sweet and took charge on getting some of my things out and helping me feel the spirit a bit more. So I got a lot of it done this weekend and hope to finish the rest today or by tomorrow. And with both kiddos' schedules, endless hockey, and more endeavors for myself this year....I'm just enjoying all of it and not sweating the small stuff. I'm blessed to have this time with my kiddos as they get more self sufficient every day and will be grown and gone before we know it. I'm blessed to have the freedom to pursue some soul filling and growing things for myself.  I think it's all in a person's approach and mental perspective towards life, right? Plus,  I think it's just having one's priorities straight. Anyway, didn't mean to go off on that tangent ...just wanted you to know why I wasn't around last week. During this holiday season I will be a bit more hit or miss with the blog as my focus will continue to be more on family time. Just know I love all of you and your visits and I love visiting you and will continue to do so as much as possible in between the crazy right now. 

I hope you had a lovely weekend as well. We had my son's hockey games, Annie had practices and I got more holiday shopping done. I've made a good dent there thankfully! I went to a Christmas concert last night with some family & friends. It was at our church and included local college singers and orchestra/band members. The acoustics were amazing and it was so beautiful! It put even more perspective to my thinking and lots of loving Christmas peace in my heart. Now on to this week ahead:

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

Cloudy foggy and dark today. Makes our Christmas lights glow though! :0) Supposed to hit 40 today and get some rain. Then get cold later and turn to snow. Maybe a bit more snow tomorrow and colder temps all week - in the 20's to low teens. Bbrrrr

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

A piece of toast with a little nutella and some coffee with coconut creamer

 

RIGHT NOW I AM:

Listening to Christmas music. Looking at my Christmas tree lights and working on my weekly planner. 

AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW:

It looks so gray and misty and makes me feel cozy inside - I may even turn the fireplace on. But it makes me sleepy, though, and I have too many things I want to accomplish today!

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE:

I still have some Christmas bins around. I'll finish emptying them and take them back out to storage. Love the cozy glow around my home right now.  This time of year in the northwoods we get a lot more cloudy and dark weather. As well as it gets dark so early at night, and so it makes it extra nice to have lots of lights that can glow through the darkness. 

ON TODAY'S (& this week's) TO DO LIST:

Both kiddos' hockey practices. Both kids have games this week too. I need to get groceries. Some other errands/appts. MIL time and FIL meal and help with his Christmas decorations. My final hospice exit meeting and talk about my placement for volunteering. I'm so excited about that new chapter in my life! I'll be keeping you posted about it. I'm going to be running errands with my Mom later in the week as well. Finish things around the house for cleaning/decorating and start wrapping the gifts I've already picked up. Work on my other projects. Local hockey tourney this weekend  ahead too. 

 

CURRENTLY READING:

More Louise Penney series 

 

ON THE TV TODAY:

  This is Us, The Good Doctor, Survivor, Outlander, Holiday Baking shows, Gold Rush, Shark Tank, holiday movies that are taped, my cooking shows

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

MONDAY: leftovers?

TUESDAY: build your own breakfast biscuits, fruit, veggie tray

WEDNESDAY: homemade pizza, winter salad (with pears, apples, cheese, cashews & homemade honey dressing)

THURSDAY: easy (maybe Subway?) hockey game night

FRIDAY: salisbury steak with gravy, roasted veggies, slow cooker mashed potatoes, dinner rolls

 

WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT

Finishing up my Grandpa's scrapbook. Getting legacy box filled with old slides to send in. Working on project for hopeful planned future Etsy store.

NEW RECIPE I WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:

I plan to share some holiday recipes this week

TIP OF THE WEEK:

 

After reading how bad microwave popcorn is for you (lots of chemicals in the bag) - I've been popping  my own for years now. But I never keep my jar of kernels in the fridge. Does anyone else do that? I've never heard of it. 

FROM THE CAMERA:

I thought I'd share some photos of my Boy (#16) from his hockey games we went to this weekend. He had a blade malfunction one game - but once that got fixed he was able to play great!! ;) 

Before the upstairs tree was fully decorated - I had to get some pics of the glow once the lights were on. I love being outside looking in through the window at the cozy. 

More glow everywhere. Love it!

I decided to be a little wild and crazy and got some "rose gold" streaks in my hair. What do you think? :P

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

I'm linking with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.