Hello Monday ~ Christmas 2024 Recap

 Happy Monday!  If you're like me, I need a reminder of what day it is!  Today I am sharing a recap of Christmas Eve/Day 2024.  Lots of photos below!!

Christmas Eve was great to spend the day at home.  We left late afternoon to go to a Christmas Eve service.

It was a beautiful service and I loved the candles.  It meant so much to me to see the light and the hope it represents and to be surrounded by my family and friends. 

We left the service and went to my sister's house and joined in with her family's Christmas celebration.  We all ate breakfast food together and opened a few gifts.

Here we are with my parents. My sister and her crew all wear Christmas pajamas so I had changed into comfy clothes after the Christmas Eve service.

Afterwards, we went to my friend's house and we had fun hanging out and had some sips.

I prepared homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning.  This was before baking and icing.

Christmas looked a little different as all gifts were wrapped and left in our new chairs. 

Me and my girls on Christmas Day....

Here are the gifts I received....I love them all!

I went to my cousin's house for a late brunch and the table was set so pretty.

Brook went out of town for the evening with her boyfriend and family.  Isabella and I went to my niece's house to pick up the dog we are dog sitting this week.  I was able to see this sweet crew and what Santa brought them.

We then went back over to my friend's house to play games and do karaoke.  It was such a fun Christmas night.

Since then, we have been dogsitting this cute little guy.

I enjoyed this chocolate orange I purchased when Jennifer and I went to Target the day after Christmas.

Yum!

Friday night, I built a fire outside and it was fun to sit out there with my girls and have a sip of my favorite wine, a Huckleberry Moscato. 

Friday and Saturday, Isabella and I did a little shopping and we all worked on cleaning out areas this weekend.  I de-Christmatized the house and tried to organize that.  Now I need a week without a holiday!  

I am so enjoying my break and thankful for a good Christmas and that it is behind me.  Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts during this holdiay.

I will be back tomorrow with a look back at 2024.

Friday Favorites ~ December 27, 2024

 Good morning friends!  I hope you are having a great holiday week.  Here are a few favorites of the week.  I will do more of a Christmas recap next week.

Monday evening, my oldest daughter got home and I loved having both girls in the house with me.  This is definitely my top favorite of the week! I made Christmas pasta, mixed with pesto and some cheese bread.  The girls had Hawaiian rolls with their pasta.

I bought this pasta at Aldi it was in Christmas shapes.  The cheesey bread below is actually tortillas with cream cheese and cheddar cheese baked in the air fryer.

We played a long game of Uno and had a lot of laughs.

This was the tree Monday night with all the gifts under it.

Another favorite was this purchase off Facebook Marketplace.  I purchased this beautiful, brand new storage bench.  A fun thing about this is a friend had this listed, so it was fun to buy something from a friend.  She delivered it to me Christmas Eve.  I am happy to start purchasing some new pieces of furniture.

This wine was in the gift from my friend Heidi and I enjoyed it this week.  This came from Trader Joe's.

A HUGE favorite of mine this week has just been being lazy.  I have enjoyed that so much. I have loved not having to get out of bed early.  I have been catching up on much needed rest.  Not working has honestly been wonderful.  I will do a little bit of work on my computer next week, but I am loving this time off, especially in the mornings.  

Yesterday, I stayed home most of the day and planned to organize and clean.  I did a few things, but honestly, I laid down in my bed in the afternoon and just rested.  It was wonderful.  I finally got dressed around 4:30pm and joined Jennifer and her boys for dinner.  I stayed and visited with Jennifer a bit and then we went to Target for some after Christmas sales.  

Maybe today I will get a little more of my organizing and cleaning done.  But if not, hey, it is the holidays, right?

Hope you had a great week! And to my Jewish friends, Happy Hannakuh!

Hello Monday ~ December 23, 2024

 Happy Christmas week!  I am sharing just a few things from the weekend, as it was really a slow one for me, but that was just what I needed!

I worked all day Friday and was mentally and physically exhausted by the afternoon.  I went to an early dinner with my parents, then came home and went to bed early.

Saturday, I stayed in my pajamas all day!  It felt so good to rest and not work.  I watched 2 Hallmark movies and worked this Christmas Vacation puzzle.  I also started Virgin River. 

This is another puzzle I worked this month.

My only outing Saturday was to get in the car with Brook and a friend and we judged our neighborhood's Christmas decorating contest.  We chose this house as the winner!

Sunday, I went to church then spent the day at home.  I watched another Hallmark movie and more Virgin River.  While relaxing Sunday, it was so nice to receive something pleasant at my door!

My best friend sent me flowers, a bottle of wine, candle, sleepytime tea and Jingle Jangle, all from Trader Joe's.  These were a happy for me after a few hard weeks I have had and to help me this Christmas week.

I am wishing you all a Merry, Merry Christmas!  

Friday Favorites ~ December 20, 2024

 Happy Friday before Christmas friends!

This is another picture of my tree, but with the multi-colored lights.  At night, I keep the lights on white, but I like seeing the colors too.

Tuesday night, I went to a light event called Starry Nights.  It is a drive through light event, but they have one night you can walk or bike. I was invited by a new friend I met this fall and we met and also another friend joined us.  It was nice to go walk outside and see the lights.

I subbed this week one day for an elementary Spanish class. I loved all of these sayings!

Wednesday, I tried a new restaurant called Hummus Republic.  Have you heard of this?  It is like a Cava and the food was so good.

After lunch, we went to a Pompeii exhibit.

It was really interesting to see artifacts that were found in the ruins of Pompeii.

Do you know the story of Pompeii, Italy? 

Mt. Vesuvius erupted and buried the town.  It had been 700 years prior since this volcano had erupted.  This happened in August 79 AD.  The city wasn't excavated and discovered again unti the 1740's.

The exhibit is at an exhibition hall, which is on the grounds of Graceland.  We stood in front of a screen and took this picture.  This is me with my daughter and her boyfriend.

We took pictures by several screens :).

Thursday, I had a long day at work with our annual toy drive and dinner at the children's hospital.  It is truly one of the most rewarding nights of my job.

I hope you have a good weekend as you prepare for Christmas next week. 

I will plan to blog at some point during the break, but just not sure when.

With that being said, I do want to wish you all a Merry Christmas in case I miss any communication with you before next week. May your days be Merry & Bright!