Friday Favorites: First Week of the New Year

 We had a pretty rainy and cold week so we mostly stuck close to home.  I managed to get all the communal areas of the house clean (no bedrooms!) and started wrapping birthday gifts and making birthday cards for all the birthdays we have to celebrate this month.  Best of all we celebrated Ian and his high school graduation.  


We had a graduation party for Ian Friday night. We enjoyed lasagna, a delicious cake Alec made, and time with our family.  





Saturday my husband and I worked on putting the first coat of urethane on our countertop-- as of writing this post we now have a good 5 coats and are almost ready to install it!




Sunday was warm and drizzly but my husband and I decided to spend our afternoon hiking anyway.  We hiked for just over 2 hours all around Buck Hill and tried a new trail.  It felt great to get out and get moving after all the junky eating of the past week. 





Evan and I played hooky from school on Tuesday and went shopping; I had some returns to make and we wanted to check out Barnes and Noble, Yankee Candle, The Paper Store, and have lunch at Panera.  It was so cold and we were done our errands well before lunch so we decided to get Panera to Go on our way home.  It was delicious! 

In preparation for his apprentice black belt, Alec has begun helping teach at one of the kid's classes.  I am loving watching him interact and help the younger kids learn their forms. 


It wasn't raining and had "warmed up" into the 30's on Thursday so Evan and I tackled his schoolwork quickly and headed out on a hike before lunch.  It was definitely brisk but felt so good to get out and get moving.  We made it just over an hour.  






Linking up with: On the Edge, 






Comments

  1. That cake looks amazing! Congrats to your new grad! You are so good about getting out to hike in the winter!

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    1. I try but it can be a real struggle to motivate myself when it's cold out.

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  2. Looks like a nice week. Congrats on graduation!

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  3. Yay Ian! And happy new year to you all!

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    1. Thank you! Happy New Year to you and your family as well, Andrea!

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  4. The cake looks delicious and I cannot wait to see your finished counters!
    www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com

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  5. You had such a fabulous and productive first week! Loving your nature pictures, how nice that you decided to go on a hike despite the weather!
    And congrats on your son's graduation!!!

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    Replies
    1. We always have to weigh our hiking options with future weather forecasts since it never seems to be nice hiking weather in winter.. but we have learned nice enough is good enough.

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  6. I still can't get over how beautiful that countertop is. And you have a graduate now! Congrats. Looks like a good first week into the new year.

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  7. Oh, that countertop is gorgeous! I can't wait to see it installed. And we LOVE Panera but rarely get it.

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    1. We love Panera but rarely think to eat it either; we had a few gift cards from Christmas and I thought this would be a great chance to use them.

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  8. The cake is amazing, the countertop is beautiful and the images of nature are stunning plus a graduate. All in all a great start to your first week of the New Year.

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  9. That cake and that countertop!! Both amazing,
    XOOX
    jodie
    www.jtouchofstyle.com

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  10. That cake is amazing. Congrats Ian!
    Can't wait to see the counter installed.

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  11. That countertop is so impressive! have a wonderful weekend!

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  12. Congratulations on the graduation and that countertop looks so good! Looking forward to seeing pictures of it installed. How exciting!

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  13. Congratulations to Ian! What gorgeous places you have to hike!

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  14. We hiked also today in the rain! Just needed it. Happy weekend.

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    Replies
    1. Sometimes you really just do. We're hoping to get out snowshoeing at some point today.

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  15. Congrats to Ian! And that foggy lake pic is magical. Happy New Year!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! I am finding that I really enjoy taking photos in the fog.

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  16. Happy graduation! Your countertop looks amazing. Your family has amazing skills.
    Blessings, Dawn

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  17. Fantastic photos. The graduation party sounds like fun. I can't wait to see your countertop in place. It is beautiful. x

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  18. Thanks for the virtual coffee. Best wish for 2022.

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  19. Congrats to Ian on his graduation! Well done with your hiking and the countertop. Thank you for linking up with #weekendcoffeeshare.

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  20. That cake looks amazing. I love peanut butter cups. Your countertop is stunning! I love it.

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    Replies
    1. I love peanut butter cups too! My oldest son always requests some sort of peanut butter/ chocolate dessert.

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  21. Congrats to the graduate and to the cake baker! That countertop is going to look amazing once it's in place - and a labour of love indeed with all those coatings!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! It's so nice having our own cake baker to make whatever we request.

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  22. The cake is beautiful! Congrats to the graduate!

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  23. What a lovely week to start off the year. Love your countertop, it's amazing!
    Also, congrats to Ian on his graduation! :)

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  24. Congrats to your son for graduating! That countertop is beautiful! As always, love your hike pics! Hope you had a great weekend!

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