I have always collected Christmas ornaments, since I was born my Mom has given me a Christmas ornament every year (well now she gets my kids one 😂). I continued the same tradition with my kids. I still have the ornament my Mom got for my first Christmas, and they go on the tree right next to my kids First Christmas Ornament.
It's so fun picking out their ornament each year based on their personal interests and things they have accomplished that year. Also finding a memorable souvenir when you travel is often challenging but I love collecting ornaments from places we go. Then each year as we decorate the tree we tell stories about each of the ornaments.
It has been a special tradition to carry on that's not centered around food, and decorating the tree is one of my favorite moments of the Holiday season. Our Christmas tree has no specific theme or color scheme, it's just full of memories.
This year it was fun to pull out the new ornaments we had found in Spain and Portugal etc during our travels earlier this year and remembering what an amazing experience that whole trip was.
What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Livestream Monday evening at 5pm pst/8pm est
Yesterday we surprised the kids and brought home a puppy!! They have been begging for one for years and we felt like the time was right to bring one home.
Meet Angus 🐕 He's a Golden Retriever/King Charles Cavalier Spaniel mix. He's 11 weeks old and currently weighs about 8 pounds, he should be around 35 pounds fully grown. I know it will be an adjustment for a while as he gets potty trained etc but we are so excited. 😂 Wish us luck! 🤪
Cheese is good! I ate a block of chipotle oven baked cheese with lunch yesterday and it was divine. I love it, but know that it halts any progress I'm making, and will even trigger eating in excess to where I'll gain weight. It's sad but I have accepted it. If I eat it in small quantities with a meal, it's ok, but I really have to work to keep it in check.
What's your favorite cheese? How do you incorporate it? Do you see negative results when eating it?
Happy Sunday! Sharing a video today from our week, one of the highlights. This was Wednesday evening church, normally they have a more casual prayer meeting where someone plays the guitar, but they were doing some construction in the fellowship hall so they had their prayer meeting in the sanctuary. No one was there to play the piano so my my Grandma did it, she's been playing the piano in church for probably 80 years.
For context, she's 88, she had a really bad fall 5 years ago now and hit her head and ended up with a lot setbacks, similar to having a stroke. She has a lot of dementia like symptoms also (I am sure related to her Type 2 diabetes), she really can't read music anymore, and she has trouble seeing well, and she needs to wear hearing aids to hear but hates wearing them, so on this night she didn't want to wear them. My 93 (almost 94) year old grandpa takes care of both of them on their farm. Anyway, on this night she sat down on the piano and led worship as people called ...
Happy Saturday!! Can you believe it is officially August!! I feel like August and September are really good months to just dive in and set some really good goals, that way you can build some momentum and be feeling confident going into the holidays.
Based on how things went in July, what adjustments are you making for Aug? What is your non-negotiable for the month?
Wow I can't believe it's the last day of the month already, I have totally slacked on our normal end of month recap!! Let's focus on both things today:
1. What's been the best thing to happen in July?
2 Where did you get stuck this month?
Thankfully I am checking out of the hotel today and going back home (I've been home daily but working and sleeping at the hotel). They think the floors and walls are dried out enough, we just need them to put the walls and toilet back in etc. Should take a few days because of drywall drying etc. But we leave for WV Wednesday of next week so it might all happen after we get back.
Answer those reflection questions in the comments, and I hope you have a wonderful day!
Now that it is fall sports season I am usually walking during cross country practice. Really helps me get a break from family for a minute. Our dog was silently judging my grilling skills. I have been really consistent with doing light weights in the morning. I am thankful for the rain we should get tomorrow. I could use a slow day in my sewing room.
