Weekending - December 18, 2020

Ahhh, we just made it through the last weekend before Christmas!  I have to admit if this were a normal year I probably would have been running around trying to get a million last-minute things done.  But inside this year it was quite peaceful.  Here's a rewind ~

Even though this happened before the weekend, last week I got to Zoom with a few of my college sorority sisters and it was so fun!  We have been chatting on Zoom since the pandemic started.  This is definitely one positive thing that has come out of this rather dismal period in my life.  We each had a festive holiday cocktail and shared the recipes. 

My cocktail was The Grinch.  This concoction is made by combining 1-1/2 ounces of Midori liqueur, 1 ounce of clear rum, and 5 ounces of lemon-lime soda (I used diet 7-Up).  Mix together and pop a cherry on top.  

This year I decided to forgo our typical picture Christmas card and actually make the cards myself.  I settled on an extremely easy pattern and Eric even helped some.  The pieces of the card had been on the kitchen table for far too long!  This weekend the project finally was completed and the cards are officially in the mail.  

Sparkey continued to hide from Eric last week.  Here are some of his shenanigans ~

This time of year is filled with special surprises and I've gotten a few that have truly warmed my heart.  My friend Donna sent me a beautiful blessing bell.  It's now on my work bag and a daily reminder that someone is watching over me.  I love it!

While we were watching the football game on Sunday, I got a text from my friend Lauren saying she had left something on my porch.  It was a wonderful jar of stovetop potpourri!  Such an awesome surprise!

Our kitchen turned into a chocolate factory for a bit this weekend.  I whipped up a few batches of chocolate covered peanuts and packaged them for gift giving.  The super-easy recipe can be found HERE.

Saturday night we filled up our mugs with hot chocolate and drove to the Way of Lights display at Our Lady of the Snows.  Pictures just can't do it justice.    The trail of lights takes you through the journey to Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus.  It was the perfect reminder of the reason for the season.

Sunday was extremely relaxing.  We watched football and Eric enjoyed a new beer.  He loved it!  If you're looking for a new one to try, the Shiner Candied Pecan is one he would recommend.

I churned out a loaf of sourdough.  I think I've finally got the timing down so it can rise overnight and I can bake in the morning.  This has been a process to get the timing down!  Anyone else going through this struggle?  For me, it's such a sense of accomplishment when the loaf is finished and we cut into it.  

And that is a wrap on our weekend!  This week will be filled with wrapping presents and doing a bit of holiday baking.  Our neighborhood Secret Santa is in the final week so I'm putting together our Zoom call for the reveals.  Sparkey will be doing a couple special things this week for Eric.  Fun times ahead!  Hope you enjoy your week and pop back in here to see the posts I'll be sharing.