Reading – I actually haven’t read another book since my last “Currently” post. If you have any good book recommendations, comment below!
Planning – A Christmassy Cousin day. My sister has two little boys herself, and they just moved closer this year (yay!), so we decided to start a family tradition of getting all the boys together and having a day full of Christmas spirit and top it off with a sleepover. On the agenda is playing outside, hand-crafted Christmas gifts, making gingerbread houses, driving around and looking at Christmas lights, and watching Polar Express while having popcorn and hot cocoa. I am crossing my fingers to fit some naps in there because otherwise things could turn ugly. When my 4-year old nephew heard the schedule he said “that sounds like my best day ever!”. That right there makes it all worth it!
Watching – I mentioned in my last “Currently” post that I had recorded ‘This Is Us’ but had yet to watch it. Well, now I’m a committed weekly viewer. However, I can’t decide if I am a diehard fan yet. The cliffhangers keep me coming back for more, but I don’t necessarily jump in excitement on Tuesday nights knowing it is a new episode. But the characters are definitely growing on me.
Baking – Hip Hugger Bars. Although, I’m not sure anyone else in the world calls them that, so I referred to them on the blog as Oatmeal Fudge Bars. I baked them for a Relay for Life Bake Sale, so thankfully I didn’t eat too many and let them go straight to my hips. But I did sneak one little bar because I had to make sure they were bake sale worthy! (they were….and it was very hard to stop after just one bar).
Drinking – Twinings Winter Spice Tea. I love all the seasonal coffee creamer that comes out this time of year, but sometimes my coffee ends up being not-so-healthy with all the cream and sugar that goes in. I like tea but sometimes get stuck in my coffee routine and forget about it. I just bought some of the Winter Spice tea and am really enjoying it!
Loving – The Holiday Season. All the decorations are up and I just love how cozy my house feels. I’ve been trying to take full advantage of everything Christmas and have already knocked off quite a few things from my Holiday Bucket List.
Hating – Winter driving. Give me all the white fluffy snow, but is there some way to keep the roads cleared off and dry? This time of year all of my plans end with an asterisk “weather permitting”.
Anticipating – A new workout routine. Here in Minnesota we are in full-on winter, and according to next week’s forecast the arctic air has arrived too. One day next week the HIGH temperature is going to be -2 degrees. I’m just not dedicated enough to run outside in that cold weather, so I’m hoping to start squeezing in workouts at the gym during my lunch break.
Dreading – Organizing a few spaces in my house. I’m letting it slide through the new year, but there are a few closets that are well over-due for an overhaul. I was just talking to my mother-in-law about how I’m really good at thinking of ways to organize things, but I’m really bad at maintaining. Maybe that will be my New Years resolution, to organize AND maintain a few areas of my house. For example I have spent time getting a closet perfectly organized and then 6 months down the road things are falling on my head when I open the door. I can hear my mom’s voice right now, “if you take something out, put it back where it belongs right away”. She is a smart lady, because that is where my organization gets derailed; I get too lazy to put one thing away and it snowballs from there. Ok, enough of my organization rant. If I come up with any tips that work for me I’ll put it on the blog.
Feeling – Bittersweet. My college friend who lives an hour away is in the process of moving to Boise, ID. Her husband got a job promotion, so I’m happy for them and their new adventure. But it is sad that our impromptu lunch dates won’t happen anymore. But the beauty of social media and email is it helps friends stay in touch.
Celebrating – Tate’s 3rd Birthday! We had all of our family at our house last weekend to celebrate with a Thomas The Train party, and I went a little Pinterest happy and built a food train.
The birthday party was a success, and it is always fun having both sides of the family together. It is so hard to believe it was three years ago I became a Mom. Although, some days it feels like it has been longer than that. It really is crazy to think of all the development that happens in a three-year span. They go from tiny, helpless babies to walking-talking-sometimes sassy-little humans. I love the little man that Tate is turning into.
Listening – Christmas Music. All. Day. Long. I have a speaker dock on my kitchen counter so right now my ‘N Sync Holiday Pandora station is always on. If you don’t have the ‘N Sync Holiday station created in Pandora, open a new tab in your browser right now and create it. You won’t regret it.
Losing – Energy. This time of year it is hard to keep my energy levels up. It is dark when I leave for work in the morning, and dark when I get home. The first thing I do when I get home in the evenings is jump right into sweats, and once the boys are in bed the couch calls my name. We are quickly approaching the shortest day of the year on December 21. It won’t be a drastic difference after that date, but I’m looking forward to slowly seeing a little extra sunlight each day. For me, sunlight and energy go hand in hand.
Improving – My nightly routine with the boys. TJ’s basketball season is in full swing, so the evening routine with the boys is up to me. And preparation is key. By the time I get them home from daycare they are hungry, tired, cranky, and did I say hungry? Cooking a meal with them crying and hanging on my legs might be doable, but is not ideal. So right now I’ve been in the routine of heating up yesterday’s supper for them to eat right away, and then I cook a new meal while they are sitting nice at the table eating. It causes so much less stress and tears to just be able to get supper on the table quickly, plus it is way more fun to cook when you have happy, fed kids.
Thanks for [currently] reading, I hope you have a great weekend!