2015 Noel

Anybody else have a hard time saying goodbye to Christmas? Me too. In fact, I suggested to Terry that we wait until late January to put up our Christmas tree. It’s so festive and I think our dining room really benefits from it. Terry says he will give me until the end of the week…

The last few days were spent with people I love dearly. On Wednesday, I spent the day with my three best friends since childhood. We ate lunch at Groucho’s, which is right next to Baskin Robbins. With all the mint chocolate love everywhere, my first love was calling my name: mint chocolate chip ice cream. So dang good.

We had a great time catching up and exchanging gifts. Funny enough two of them both gave me a recipe card box. Apparently we know each other too well. 

Christmas eve was spent with my Dad’s side, which involves lots of cousins.

My biggest accomplishment was making overnight cinnamon rolls from scratch for Christmas breakfast. Oddly when I was making them I had to add almost a whole extra cup of flour to get the dough to the right consistency. It was a very humid day!

You don’t even know how excited I was to wake up in the a.m. and see how big they grew. Yeast is the coolest thing… at least the kind you put in bread.

We enjoyed our sweet with a savory egg white sausage casserole. I am going to share the recipe tomorrow. Terry was really impressed with it and I was relieved it all meshed together so nicely! Since there was just the two of us, we had plenty of leftovers (not mad about that).

After gift giving and breakfasting, we headed down to see our families.

My sweet niece Abbi looked adorable in her Christmas get up. One of my favorite parts of the day was taking her outside to try out her new bike. It is kind of funny to see someone try to ride a bike for the first time- mostly because you know that in no time they will be zooming around!

I spent the evening with my parents and siblings, eating yummy foods and wrapping the night up with a little game of Apples to Apples. Mom kicked our butts.

On our way out of town we grabbed Chipotle (I’ve missed it!) and walked through the Fresh Market with my friend Rachel.

I ended my Saturday evening by finishing, The Art of Racing in the Rain. I saw it on Meghan‘s Instagram and it peaked my interest. It was a really fun read, but it was totally a heart tugging kind of book. It’s told from the point of view of a dog, so I have to admit it gave me a new appreciation for my pup, Jules. 

Sunday we got some news that brought some uncertainty into our lives. While part of me wants to freak out, it is hard to do so after having a weekend like this one. Knowing that I have a supportive and loving family and friend group, there is little room for worrying. Knowing how BIG my God is gives me little room to freak out. Uncertainty is a weird place to sit, but it doesn’t have to steal my focus and attention. I love this quote by Maya Angelou: “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”

Anyways, I have some fun blog posts planned for this week, so check back tomorrow for a yummy recipe!

Tell me…

Favorite gift received or given?

How did you relax on Christmas/post-Christmas?