Favorites & Highlights from December; One Sentence a Day

 We had a lovely, if cold, December. Our Christmas was very quiet and low-key and despite my reluctance to celebrate this year we had lots of fun with family.... but I'm already starting to petition for a trip away for next Christmas.  

1. So thankful for some great books from the library. Gym, spent my day doing laundry, working on my painting, and reading. 10,169 steps.  

2. So thankful the snow in the forecast was just rain today! Evan and I headed to Nichol's for a shadow day in the rain, it was fun and informative, then I spent my afternoon running errands. 7,802 steps. 

another library pick up!

 3. So thankful I talked myself into going for a walk after lunch that turned into a mini hike. Gym, then I spent my morning in the kitchen cooking up so many things; it was beautiful out so I squeezed in a walk after lunch and then worked on the blog until dinner. 10,521 steps.  

homemade granola bars

whole wheat everything bagels

vegetable crustless quiche

4. Thankful this year's perm wasn't nearly as bad as last year's (last year I had some sort of rash/reaction all down my neck afterwards). Early morning perm appointment, then school with Evan and a lovely cold hike before spending the afternoon blogging and reading. 8,169 steps. 

 

5. So thankful to get to see Alec today; even if it is only for a quick overnight visit. Gym, school with Evan, then Alec showed up late in the morning to drop off a load of stuff (mainly plants) then headed back out so I had the house to myself for much of the day. 8,318 steps.  

6. So thankful for a wonderful date night; even if the food wasn't that good the company sure was. Grocery shopping, said goodbye to Alec, Christmas shopping with my husband and ended the day with a wonderful date night out.  6,129 steps.

it snowed but not enough to accumulate anywhere else than the ice

 

a beautiful new restaurant we picked for date night; so pretty inside and out!

too bad the food looked so much better than it tasted.

7. Thankful for a nice warm fire in the wood stove. A quiet Sunday at home doing yoga, hiking, watching movies and relaxing. 5,068 steps. 

8. Thankful to get everything wrapped (that I have in my possession anyway). Gym, school with Evan, housework, reading, blogging,... another quiet day at home. 6,555 steps. 

my wrapping set up allows me to watch Christmas movies while wrapping. 

9. Thankful for great books that suck me right in. Yoga, Evan was done school by the time I got home so I worked on cleaning the house then read my book(s) most of the afternoon since I ended up with the house to myself again when Evan took the car to his friend's house for the afternoon. 5,779 steps. 

Protein packed yogurt bowl with protein powder and almond butter mixed in

10. Thankful Alec made it home safely from college for winter break. Gym, school with Evan, then Evan headed to work and I finished cleaning the house before Alec arrived home for winter break. 10,383 steps.  

11. So thankful the stores had everything I needed. I spent the morning exercising, chatting with Alec and then I headed out to finish up my Christmas shopping. 6,558 steps. 

 12. Thankful all went so well at the hospital; even if was a very long day. A quiet morning blogging while waiting to take my husband to the hospital for a minor surgical procedure (he had an errant piece of metal in his neck for a few years that he's finally decided to have removed!). A paltry 2,970 steps after sitting for 5 hours at the hospital.

 

 13. Thankful for a fun afternoon playing games. Grocery shopping and food prep in the morning then spent my afternoon wrapping gifts and ended my night playing Triominoes with the two older boys and my mother in law. 7,206 steps. 

vegetable and Koren beef "bowl" over riced cauliflower

14. So thankful that Alec (and his friends) was/were safe at home with the shooting at Brown University just 2 blocks away from JWU. We woke to snow and text messages from families checking in on Alec. Then my husband and I hit up Kohl's and Lowe's and spent my afternoon reading. 5,064 steps. 

 

15. So thankful I finally finished this painting- I had been so unmotivated to work on it! Gym, school with Evan, I worked out at home with weights and then worked on my painting, made a salad, read my book by the wood stove, and learned Evan got accepted to one last college. 9,856 steps. 

 

16. So thankful to have realized I lost 2.4 pounds in 2 weeks (down 5 pounds since I rejoined WW). Yoga, then I whipped up a batch of Christmas crack, watched a movie, read my book, and blogged. 2,943 steps. 

17. So thankful for my heated lap blanket today. Gym, then I spent the day mostly reading, and ended my night playing Triominoes with Alec and my mother in law. 8,106 steps.  

I stayed in my gym clothes all day

18. Thankful all the boys happily went voting with us. I slept in and spent another lazy day at home reading, went for a walk in the afternoon, and then we all went to vote on our town's proposal to add another tax. 6,035 steps.  

 

19. So thankful we didn't lose power! Gym, then my brother stopped by to visit with his 2 oldest sons, it was a super windy and rainy day (there 5,000+ outages by noon!), then ended the night at my husband's corporate Christmas party. 7,081 steps by the time we left for dinner. 

 

20. So thankful the power was only off for an hour or so! Grocery shopping, lazed around the house reading my book most of the day then my brother stopped by and we invited him to stay for dinner... only we lost power at 5; 1/2 way through cooking, luckily we were able to finish cooking everything on the grill. 7,327 steps. 

 21. Thankful for a lovely Christmas celebration with the in laws. Christmas brunch from 10-2 at the in-law's house was a lot of fun then I spent my afternoon finishing up my last Christmas book. A pathetic 2,059 steps. 

my breakfast/lunch minus the pile of fruit I ate too

one of my gifts was this handmade centerpiece 

22. So thankful that just a few days before Christmas I didn't have much of a to do list at all. Gym, home to cook/bake with Alec for a bit, then worked on the blog and relaxed. 6,782 steps. 

 23. So thankful to hear my brother and a few of his kids will be coming for Christmas Eve. Yoga, cleaned the house, then relaxed and read my book. 3,609 steps.  

 24. So thankful for a wonderful and relaxing Christmas eve. Gym, cleaned the house, put dinner together in the crock pot, one last quick trip to the grocery store and then waited around for our guests to arrive around 5. A lovely Christmas eve with my brother and a couple of his kids. 7,729 steps.  

25. So thankful for a wonderful Christmas day with the family! We started with amazing almond croissants and ended with a delicious dinner my mother in law cooked for us then played lots of card games. 

My mom sent us quite the assortment of Oreo treats!

wearing my new sweater, scarf, and shoes 

26. So thankful that with lots of help Evan finally got his "new" computer up and running! Spent the day running back and forth to Best Buy for computer parts, making Xmas returns, and trying to get Evan's computer to run. 5,401 steps. 

 27. So thankful we didn't get nearly as much snow as was forecasted. Woke to snow so while Ian headed out plowing my husband and I went to get groceries then spent the day doing laundry, cleaning, reading, and resting.  5,367 steps. 

 

tofu and shrimp stir fry over cauliflower rice

28. So thankful none of us had to go anywhere in the single digit temperatures. I spent much of my day crafting cards and playing with the new products I received so a measly 2,702 steps. 

printing items on my letterpress system

29. So thankful Alec was more than happy to make his own birthday cheesecake. Gym, then home to put a salad in the crock pot before spending most of my day on the couch reading & blogging. 5,712 steps.

30. So very thankful my husband cleaned the house while I was at yoga. Yoga, made 2 batches of homemade bread, a card for Alec and got ready to celebrate his 20th birthday with the grandparents. 

31. So thankful for the guys help in taking down all the Christmas decorations. We took down all the Christmas decorations and I spent much of my day blogging and reading (with some weight lifting and yoga thrown in). 4,646 steps.  

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