Welcome to the place where I share what I’m up to each week and a bit of my real life outside of the blog.
Sparkle Trees!
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Doing
Happy New Year! I’ve settled into the deep winter lull. With all the craziness of the holiday season behind us, we are in full on hibernation mode.
I kind of love it. I always feel like I go go go spring through Christmas. Having 3 or 4 months of a winter lull to really slow down and just enjoy being home is fabulous. Yeah, the weather is lousy and I slipped on my icy driveway this morning and cracked my knee. Yes, it gets dark at 4:30 and doesn’t get light til after 7, but I am totally ok with that. I’m one with my blankets, my corner of the couch, my fireplace and my nice hot coffee cup.
Even my daughter gets into. She loves having pj days in the winter and just being home. Sometimes she’ll say to me, “Mommy, we’re not going anywhere are we?” And then if we are, she kind of whines and wrinkles her nose in distaste.
And to be honest SAME.
Watching
Oh so many things! I’m still working my way through all the hordes of bad Christmas movies still on Netflix because that’s clearly a thing grown adults do. On New Year’s Day I made my husband endure Christmas with a View and A Christmas Wedding Planner. Let’s just say the man deserves a prize. Christmas with a View was entertaining enough but the mess that was A Christmas Wedding Planner… well only watch it if you have someone to heckle it with. It’s so far fetched. But not in the way that the Christmas Prince movies are or even my personal favorite, A Knight Before Christmas. This one is one of those movies that tries to take itself seriously by presenting all the events as plausible. And sure, there’s no magic, no old crone, no made up kingdom where a horseback riding king rescues an ob caught in a snowbank when his queen is in labor and stops to tell the wolves, “Not today.” But all those things seem far more likely than the events of A Christmas Wedding Planner. Just saying.
Aside from Christmas movies… I finished Fuller House. The show has been very hit or miss for me, but I absolutely love the mid season 5 finale. It was adorable and outlandish but in the best possible way.
We are also watching the Harry Potter movies for the first time. We just finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which I thought was so much more fun than the first Harry Potter movie. I like them so far but it’s not on the same level for me as the Marvel movies.
Eating
Instant Pot buffalo cauliflower. I shared this recipe this week and honestly it is the recipe we make most often in the Instant Pot. It may be the recipe we make the most often out of any other recipe. We eat it at least 3 times a week because it is so good. Also good? A fantastic dip recipe I have coming up on Friday.
I’ve been on a fish kick lately too. We made hot honey salmon from How Sweet Eats over the weekend. It was fantastic! Sweet and spicy and so full of flavor. Plus it only had a 5 minute prep. Perfect for dinner on a busy night!
Reading
I just finished I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella, the author of the Shopaholic books. The book had funny bits, but it felt like it took too long for the main character to reach her emotional climax and start standing up for herself. I spent 2/3s of the book really frustrated by her.
Starting either Christmas Shopaholic next or Bringing Down the Duke. What are you reading now? I’m looking for something after I finish those two books. Looking for well written mind candy, nothing heavy. Still can’t handle it.
Running
Half marathon goals! They are still coming along. I am following a very loose training schedule and have been trying to add to my long run each week. I set out for a goal to run 5 miles by the end of January. Well, I ran just shy of that on Monday! Feeling pretty good about that! I’m increasing that 5 mile goal to 6 before the end of the month and feeling like I may actually be able to finish the half come the end of April! THIS IS THE YEAR!
Writing
Obviously, I write this blog, but towards the end of last year, I had a few personal essays accepted on other websites about our loss. My first one is up on Today’s Parent. I’m talking about how hard it was to bond with my son after losing his brother through all the grief and the intense postpartum depression I experienced. I’m going to keep talking about these things. I don’t want there to be a stigma around stillbirth or ppd, and if sharing my story helps someone then at least I put something good out there. Interested? I’d love it if you went to go give it a read!
That’s it for me this week! What are you up to? Leave me a comment and let me know!
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