Writing about all the big & little things
Tim told me he saw this in the store and KNEW he had to buy it for me.
And when I opened it at Christmas, I laughed and almost did a happy dance. Yes. This cup was meant for me.
I tend to get so excited about things that I burst into random dance moves. Well, less of dance moves and more “squiver” (part squeal part shiver, yes it’s a made up word…). Maddie has inherited my random dance genes of excitement, but I will say it’s much cuter on a 4 year old. Ha!
I found some “helpful” notes drawn on my Piano Contest list… I have the sneaking suspicion that Maddie was in my studio this weekend.
I used to have a beautiful insulated cup that I loved. It was given to me as a gift from a friend at church. It was pretty purple with a kind of plaid pattern with a domed top and a straw.
Sadly, last month I left in my car and it cracked in the cold. 🙁
I was very sad to throw it away. But then after Christmas I saw this fun pink/red pokey cup on clearance and it made me smile. It is so very sparkly and over the top, I just had to have it. Everyone needs a cup that makes drinking water more fun!
I know I just have to be patient, but I’m so over this Plantar Fasciitis. It’s getting better, don’t get me wrong, but I want it to get better faster. Isn’t that the way we are with everything, though? Ha! Hopefully I can remember this frustration when I don’t want to do my jogging or aerobic exercises later and I’m actually able to.
I’m not sure exactly what I did to tweak it in the first place, but I’m pretty sure it was during one of my plyo workouts back in October or November where everything was a jump move. I can recall saying, “ah, man, I hurt my foot during my workout today” and I just chalked it up to being so out of shape at the time. But then it didn’t heal after a couple of weeks and it got me thinking… and then after I talked to Mom about it I realized what it was.
So, before I realized what it was I’m sure I kept right on jumping on it thinking I just needed to power thorough. Oops!
At least I know now!
Kylene and I like to joke how I always have to talk about food whenever we chat. I love food. I used to only love desserts, but I’ve started to branch out and enjoy cooking and eating more interesting vegetables and main dishes and even soups. It’s easier for me to eat healthier if I make delicious food that also tastes good. I’m not going to willingly reach for cauliflower at supper, but if I have some creamed garlic cauliflower in the fridge, then I will. But of course, that takes planning ahead of time. And quite a bit of trial and error.
So I’ve decided to do Food Friday posts, because I love talking about food. 😀
I’m sure over the course of many weeks I’ll make my share of healthy AND unhealthy things, but that’s part of the fun. And if food is something you don’t care to read about, then feel free to skip my Friday posts.
Topic for Today: Christmas Baking!
We had our annual Baking day just before Christmas and this year we made 14 kinds of treats.
And this year we forgot to take a selfie together… so I had to take one by myself, haha!
Tim got me a new microwave for Christmas! Isn’t it so pretty?
It’s part of the very slow process of updating our kitchen. This process will take many years, but last year I got a new stove and now this year I got the matching microwave! Yippie! I will admit that I will miss our old white beat up microwave. It had some nice features that our new pretty one doesn’t have. But I’m sure I’ll get used to this one in no time. It does have some extra features that include sensing the food so it will stop it when it’s done and I don’t have to set a time. I’m a little nervous to try that out, but it would be so nice if it works!
As many of you know (because most of you reading this were actually there–haha!) we met up with my side of the Family for Thanksgiving. We rented a house in East Peoria, IL that turned out to be a renovated church with a bunch of “themed” bedrooms. It was the perfect space for our gathering because it had plenty of bedrooms and space for the kids to run, plus it had lots of tables and gathering spots for the adults to hang out, and even a game room for the kids to run off even more energy.
This was an exceptionally exciting reunion because I was able to meet my newest nieces for the very first time! My brother and his wife (Luke & Krista) just adopted a set of 3 sisters (ages: 5, 3 & 1.5 if I’m remembering correctly…) so they officially have 5 kiddos now! See? We don’t have the most kids anymore! 😀 The girls were simply charming and fit perfectly into the family–almost as if they had always been a part of it. And my kids enjoyed playing with all of their cousins.
A memory that stands out from the reunion was our game night. We always do a white elephant gift exchange with the adults (once the kids are in bed) and then we sometimes play a game or two. This year we played a version of charades. It. Was. Hilarious. Never underestimate the power and joy of laughing together as a family. Those game nights will continue to be some of my favorite memories with my family. Well… except the time we played a card game that involved lying and I am TERRIBLE at lying so I was found out right away and that was super frustrating and then I had to sit through the rest of the game for like another hour and had nothing to do since I was already out and then I was crabby because I’m not good at lying, which is a stupid thing to be mad about really…. (deep breath)… what I mean to say is–I learned to steer clear of those kinds of games in the future. Haha! 😀
The other day I dropped Maddie off at preschool and then came home to finish up some tasks before Levi got up from his morning quiet time. When he got up we sat and snuggled on the couch–he played while I drank my coffee and savored the pretty lights of the Christmas tree on final day before taking it down.
I don’t stop and slow down very often. I have a hard time just relaxing. I’m sure that comes as no surprise for anyone that knows me… so this was a nice little moment.
I’ve always thought these cookies are so pretty.
The lovely clear “glass” (A.K.A. candy) is stunning. But I’ve chickened out making them until this year–I couldn’t imagine how the candy part wouldn’t burn while baking (but lo and behold, it doesn’t!).
It took me a couple of tries to figure out how much hard candy to put in the center and I also needed to make sure I kept the star shape a little on the oversized shape before baking… but in the end I think they turned out very well.
Now, the taste, on the other hand…. Well, I wasn’t impressed. The cookie was a basic sugar cookie which was a little on the bland side, but that was necessary because of all the candy flavor combinations that might go with it. But, in my opinion, there are just some flavors that don’t go well as a cookie. Green apple sugar cookie? No thanks. And then I broke my rolling pin smashing the hard candies (it gouged the wood on my rolling pin–boo!) so that is also giving me a negative take on this whole experience… but I digress. The flavor was just, meh. And let’s face it, I’m at a point in life where I only want to eat the really good desserts, you know what I mean?
But, I can now cross, “Make Stained Glass Cookies” off of my bucket list!
One of my students gave me a set of nail wraps (these were from the company Color Street Nails). They are a bit more “festive” than I normally tend to wear, so I opted to put them on over Christmas break. I was pleasantly surprised how easy they were to apply and how well they are lasting. In fact, they are lasting REALLY well. I’m not sure how to take them off… I’m guessing I can just peel them or use nail polish remover like I would on my Jamberry wraps. But so far I’m curious to see how long they last!
Of course, in about a week or so, I’m going to feel strange with such festive nails… see?
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