Our Christmas lights are officially up!! So thankful for this coming time of year when I can go into a store or restaurant and hear songs about Jesus saving us from our sin! Oh, what a gift it is to live in such a time and place where we can celebrate the birth of Christ, the very Light of the World! 🙂
A sweet gym member made me this delicious lemon curd! In a world where it seems we are having to separate from each other more and more, she loved me and shared her home with me through a simple gift. I want to be more like her.
So I painted ornaments this weekend… 😀
I had several very old, scratched plastic ornaments (and a couple new silver ones) that just needed a little bit of acrylic paint to feel new again:
Just a little bit of effort, and they magically transformed into these lovelies:
The color pattern was inspired by this felt garland from World Market:
I used bamboo skewers to hold the ornament while I painted them, then placed them in a faux potted plant to dry. It took several hours to paint them all by hand, but I was quite happy with the end result! 🙂
Is it too early for bottle brush trees? 😀 It’s only November 12, but I’m ready to deck the halls! 😀
I found all of these at Target this year if you’re looking for some too. 😀
With fall arriving, it’s officially chili season here (in Texas we have to wait until we’re not sweating!).
My favorite recipe is actually mostly a kit: Wick Fowler’s Texas Style 2-Alarm Chili Kit. I’ve tried making my own more than once and have never found a result I like as much as the final result of the packaged spices.
Instead of following the box recipe, I use two kits with 3 lbs. of ground turkey. I add most of the called for water (two big cans full, 28 oz.) along with two 28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes and plenty of salt. I leave out the tomato sauce and the red pepper entirely.
It’s a modified version but it feeds a crowd and we all like it!
Let me know if you try it!
Without a doubt, fall is my favorite season. Cool crisp air, birthdays, sweaters, Thanksgiving… so many good things happen from September-December. 😀 This year I have a new one to add to the mix: Pumpkin Spice creamer. I have officially jumped on the PS bandwagon with the rest of the world. 😀 This is the version I love: the unsweetened almond milk Pumpkin Spice creamer from Silk:
If you ever spot this healthy version at the store, stock up! It’s delicious! 🙂
After more than a week of making the bed, I’m happy to report it’s starting to become part of my day!!
I call making the bed a tiny discipline. I believe that tiny disciplines are a little different than atomic habits, as James Clear would call them. The term tiny disciplines is more directed toward developing an internal character quality than an external habit. Making the bed each day is a tiny step in the direction of developing internal orderliness. Or at least in my mind it is, anyway. 🙂
I’m making progress!
2020 US voting is done! Thanks to new technology, it was simpler and faster to vote this year. 😀
I voted on Election Day yesterday, and more than 24 hours later we still do not have a winner. It’s the first time (ever?) that I can remember a candidate not being chosen by the next morning. 2020 has been quite the unexpected year for most of us, and it looks like the election is not an exception! 🙂 However unexpected, we know God is in control, and we are trusting in Him that whatever happens is for the good of those who believe in Jesus (Romans 8:28).
This weekend we had the chance to get away for a night to celebrate my birthday. I visited my very favorite store, Anthropologie and had THE best time! We perused the aisles for some time as I decided how to use my birthday coupon. 😀
We also did something we’ve never done: we ordered room service at the Sheraton. We actually bought salads to eat but mine was kind of terrible so we ordered from the hotel and were delightfully surprised. The food was hot and fresh, and very tasty.
Food was the theme of the weekend; when we went to lunch on Sunday morning, we were so happy to find an Indian buffet at Spice Creations in Allen (my favorite!). I loved the tandoori chicken, the goat masala, and the pakoras.
The fresh fruit was the perfect ending to our meal. I am already looking forward to going back again!
Birthday weekends are the best. 😀
“If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day,”… “It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task, and another, and another. And by the end of the day that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed.”
Retired U.S. Navy Admiral Seal William H. McCraven
Life has been crazy lately, and I haven’t even used my planner in several days because I am floating from one task to the next. I have made the bed several times out of necessity, so I’m feeling like what the admiral said is true! I do feel more accomplished with my bed made!! Therefore, my goal this week, if God allows, will be to make the bed every day. I just love the feeling a made bed provides! 😀