The Weekly

The Weekly is a Friday, Sunday... or maybe just about any day, round up. The Weekly is a processing and a record. It is a mix up of currently and around here with a look at the past and the future. 

Loving: life. I get stressed out frequently by so many things, simple and not so simple, but when I take a step back and look at how far I've come and what's happened in the last year, I feel better. I am changing, slowly but surely, into the person I want to be, I have an amazing guy at my side who adores me, I have a family who loves me through and through, I have a job that gives me an insane Christmas bonus after being there three weeks... I have a car that works, a roof over my head, a steady paycheck, I don't have to work on the weekend anymore... I could go on. But basically, life is good. Even when I wonder if it's not.

Challenged by: Gratitude and worry. Gratitude will probably always be a challenge. It's so easy to forget to be grateful for the small things, it's so easy to forget to be grateful when my stomach is doing weird things, or I'm irritated because I haven't had alone time. But everything that's been around me, and the food that has gone into my stomach (even if it isn't digesting as I want it to) are blessings. Huge blessings. And gratitude is important. So next week I'm going to answer this with something new, but this week again... gratitude.

Learning: how to share my life. It seems like a slightly strange thing to say. But I've been single most of my life, and now I have this incredible person that I'm sharing my life with and it's a learning process. Sometimes it's so easy, and other times I have to unlearn old habits. Totally worth it, every step of the way, and definitely a learning process. If I'm getting repetitive in this too, I apologize, but gratitude and sharing are big things for me right now.

Adventures: My man met both families this weekend. Totally champ through it all. Not that my families are really hard to meet. They are both quite welcoming and loving. They are also hilarious... apple doesn't fall far from the tree ;) so, I think it went well for all involved. I sure had a good time.

We went to La Jolla Cove and looked at some fat, lazy seals sunbathe, walked along the cove, also killed time before our friends had their baby. We saw The Book Thief and it was a gorgeous (and definitely sad) movie... what else? I worked on my blanket some more, we got delicious bbq last night... oh, and slept a whole bunch. Lots of sleep happened this four day weekend.

Reading: Divergent and falling in love with it again. 

Cooking:  chocolate chip cookies (still trying to find a perfect recipe), cinnamon chips (like chocolate chips but cinnamon, because cinnamon chips are hard to find), brownies and marshmallows dipped in caramel and then chocolate. The last one was a bust, didn't melt the chocolate right and the caramel dipped marshmallows stuck to the foil so it became messy real fast. Oh well... can't win every recipe.

Oh yes, and the slow cooker oatmeal came out pretty good. 

Working on: Slowing down mentally. I had a great weekend but at times I would get stressed thinking that I should be doing something. That I had four days and what do I have to show for it. And then I would make myself sit for a second, and think of all the things that did happen during those days and how I don't have to always be getting things done. Phew... definitely a work in progress. Going to have to make my week nights less about baking and cooking and fit more of my other projects in. No such thing as a perfect balance but I'm working on making life just a little richer. 

Celebrating/Moment of gratitude: Holding baby J today. Brand new babies are a thing of wonder. Well, humans... scratch that... everything on this earth can be a thing of wonder if we let it... but babies, it's easy to feel their importance, it's hard not to be floored with awe when in their presence. 

Random thought: I'm sure I had one this week... no, I'm positive I did... but I can't remember it. So, I'm going to remember to write one down for next week.

Emotionally: tuckered out but positive 

Lovely Links:

I am honored to be listed on this reading list

I'm so glad that I'm not the only one starting to think about my plans for the new year

Bought these silicone baking mats, love them!

xoxo