A last post for 2020!

Can you believe it? This is the last post for 2020 and my oh my, what a year it's been.  It's held both heartache and joy, happy tears and hard ones, and surprising plot twists like making it a whole year in grad school with a 4.0! I've been the librarian at two schools this year and I definitely didn't see that coming.   We, like many people this year, learned to explore outside our own back door even more than ever.   There was always light this year, there was always Jesus.  I can't even put into words quite yet how I feel about 2020, but I can make those two facts plain.  

For now though, let's look at the last few days of 2020 and what's made it good.  :) Let's start with YOU being here! Thank-you! I'll apologize yet again for being the WORST at responding to comments.  (lol, you know it's true)

The girls had fun with a bubble machine for like a day, before they accidentally left it in the driveway.  

I light at least one candle every single evening in the winter.

The tree is down already, but it sure was pretty to have up!

I've been picking my camera up some and that feels nice.  Although being a busy working mama, I'll often just use my phone to document little things that make me happy. 

Did you see the Christmas star? The first picture was from far away and the second shows the "star" really was Jupiter and Saturn! So cool!

Due to some not fun circumstances, we found ourselves having our own little Christmas this year. So the girls and I decided to make the best of it and go all in with making our own Christmas treats. It was fun! :) 

We had a wonderful Christmas! Brett and I both noticed it was our most relaxed, easy going yet.  The kids opened things more slowly, were very appreciative, and just took the day in stride a lot differently than years past.  I think this means they're getting older! 

All the time at home while on winter break has given me so much quality time with the girls! We love to play games together, although I'm doing good to beat this one at Connect Four. :)

Trying to soak in the rest before next semester and teaching over 500 students, while also going back to grad school.  I have one year left and just four classes until I graduate! WHOOOOOO!!!

Sweet Brett had a birthday! We ate Mexican take-out from our local restaurant and Anna made homemade brownies all by herself for him. She did wonderful! 

The rest of these are phone snaps! I have an iPhone 6 by the way.  Old, I know.

The skies this time of year are just absolutely dreamy.   I always, always say we get the most colorful, beautiful skies in the winter when everything else feels colorless.  What a good God. 

An outfit I liked. 

You all know how cheap I am when it comes to clothes. I like the thrill of finding a bargain and I stand by the fact that it doesn't have to cost a lot to look nice. However, I have tried my first pair of Madewell jeans and asked for another pair for Christmas.  I am in love! 

Now that I've had a bit of margin in my schedule I've tried to remember what it's like to eat healthy things I like.  I treated myself to a few things at Whole Foods because the truth is I just don't have a lot of time during the week to do a ton of food prep.  I'm all about healthy and convenient! However, in this picture one of these things is not like the other.  Hint: those plant-based burgers are a huge no.  

Everything else pictured-delicious!

I made these to go along with our Christmas treats and they were really good! One of these with a cup of coffee....bliss.

Apparently I like to dress in a lot of black and white in the winter? 

This jean jacket came from Wal-Mart! I'm really liking their clothes lately.

Homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas Eve!

Made some art over the break.  Typically once I get started it's hard for me to want to do anything else.  Just like reading! 

We made sugar cookies and decorated them! My absolute favorite treat. We always did this when we were kids growing up too so that makes it an extra special activity.

Ok, so this is a screenshot from @kirastokesfit on IG but I did buy a bag of these and they are good! They are expensive, but remember what I said about sometimes going for convenient and healthy? The girls even like them a lot! They freaked out when they found out they are made from egg whites. (haha!! They don't like eggs)

I have been spending some time over the break catching up on things I was desperately needing to do (like clean out my closet big time) and also prepping some things to set myself up for success next semester.  I have worked so hard all week on getting the freezer filled up with meals so that I can easily warm up some frittata in the mornings or have something to heat up for dinner a night or two a week. I plan to designate one day a month for freezer meals. 

Do you do this? Or do you have any super quick, healthy meal ideas for me?

Took the kids to Chick-fil-a this week and I was very proud of myself for getting the grilled chicken wrap with this dressing and a water, instead of my favorite #1 meal. It's the small things y'all! 

I thrifted these shoes and skirt this week! 

I mean seriously! These made my heart race in a good way and as I've shared on Instagram, made Brett say "ok, wow".  I laughed so hard! 

I left a few pretty winter things up, like this tree! I added pink fabric underneath and took the red and green ornaments off. I think I'll leave it up until February or so! 

Also, a very delicious breakfast: kale, two fried eggs, half an avocado and a bit of chili oil.

The girls and I did some exploring in Bentonville this week! This new Once Upon a Time books was a lot smaller than the one in Tontitown we're used to, but also very charming.

My grandparents mailed me this bulb and it has been so fun to watch it grow!

Part of my food prep was making two huge pans of frittata, which is my favorite thing to quickly warm up and eat on the way to work. 

This season might be a challenge balancing things but I'm living the dream you all. Sometimes I have to stop the flow of productivity, to do lists, and yes-sometimes stress, and remind myself that it wasn't that long ago I was a stay-at-home mom and then an elementary aide.  To go from not working for years to now being a librarian and in grad school....it truly feels like a dream and I think it's good to stop and recognize it.  

I won't get too deep and philosophical on you tonight because I'm tired from a full day of being in the kitchen!  Tomorrow, we celebrate! I get to see my grandparents which is like the best thing EVER and then tomorrow night we're going to eat and snack, play games, reflect on the GOOD from last year, dream about the future, and ring in the new year with a dance party, hopefully. :) 

How about you? 

Do you pick goals or a word for the year? 

I've picked a phrase, or rather it's chosen me. I'll share more soon. 

Maybe you'll want to start a blog this year?! 

I hope you ring in the rosy this year.