White Christmas

Woke up to this. . .

View of our backyard from the three-season room.

Our backyard is a winter wonderland!

More snow is predicted tomorrow with temperatures remaining in the 30s. That means a white Christmas! And this is how we feel about that. . .

Jonah, my 7-year-old grandson, in his backyard.

Not New Year Resolutions

To me new year resolutions are the introduction of new and improved habits. With that in mind, what I'm planning to start the first week of the new year are not resolutions. Instead, they'll be a welcome return of good habits established in the old year.

Since Thanksgiving I've been indulging in sugary treats daily. It's been fun, but I'm beginning to feel overdosed. Yet, even though I'm not getting the same pleasure from a piece of candy or cookie, I can't seem to stop. My goal is to rid the house of all sweet treats by the end of next week.

Lately I've also not been deligent about my daily water intake. I'm still drinking more than I did a year ago, just not as much as I was last summer and early fall. My goal is to start drinking an additional glass of water every time I feel the need for a sugary treat after all the candy and cookies are out of the house.

I'm also looking forward to getting back to a low-carb high-protein diet, which I started last fall. That means I somehow need to get motivated again to cook more vegetables and prepare a bigger variety of proteins. Within the next couple of weeks, my goal is to clean out the refrigerator and pantry; pull favorite recipes that fit our diet; check my inventory for ingredients; and then shop for what I need. Hopefully all of that will motivate me to get back to consistently preparing healthier meals.

In mid January hubby and I, along with my daughter's family, will be visiting my son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter in New Jersey. My goal is to be well back to eating healthier and staying hydrated by the time we board the plane.

Now that I've written it all down, I know I can do it. If nothing else, I love a good plan :)

Favorite Holiday Event

On Sunday hubby and I did the 2017 Holiday Parlor Tour, my favorite holiday event in Lafayette Square. It was a beautiful day. And it was the largest crowd we've experienced in the eight years we've been going. But we always get there at the start, so we didn't have too long a wait for any of the homes.

I posted some images on FaceBook. Just click these links and enjoy!

Part 1 and Part 2

Making the Holidays Fun Again

For the last few years, I've felt indifferent about the holidays. I think a big part of it was that the grandsons are no longer small children. So this year I decided to change things up with the hope of making the holidays fun again.

The first step was doing something different for Thanksgiving. In the last post, you can read about our holiday weekend in Branson with my daughter's family. It was so much fun and really helped get me out of my holiday funk.

Since then, I've been busy making some changes to my holiday decorations; doing a new Advent calendar with my youngest grandson; and enjoying new-to-me holiday foods and drinks. All of wish are definitely making this year's holiday season a lot more fun!

Our new family of deer replace a small
snowman that used to sit on our porch.

Our table-top tree full of owl ornaments
got a new tree skirt, which is a tthrow
we've had for years.

The mantel decor is completely different
from previous years all due to the precious
deer canvas I found at Pier 1. Although
the trees, stocking holders, and stockings
where all part of the old decor, too. 

My Jim Shore Santas used to just sit on that
white linen towel. This year I added
the limited-edition framed triple-matted
Santa print I scored at a garage sale years ago
and a sled I found at Pier 1.

This display case still holds my Jim Shore
nativity scene as well as my Lego Holiday Village sets.
(This year's set is the train station, which is on the bottom
center shelf.) But this year I added lights to each shelf
and a white faux fur throw to the chair.

After much research, I finally found
an affordable Advent calendar, made
more affordable as a Cyber Monday
Target special, that didn't include candy.

Each day is a different 3D cardboard
holiday image. This tree was Day 1.

Here are just a few holiday items
I got at Trader Joe's yesterday. Between
yesterday afternoon and this morning,
I've tried all of them and am very
happy with my haul. 

After seeing stroopwafels on YouTube
for several years, I finally bought them.
I heated my first stroopwafel over my
peppermint tea as it steeped. I had to use
my cake tester because my mug was
so large. You don't want the stroopwafel
to fall into the drink. It was delicious!