Happy New Year! I hope you ended 2013 on a high note and are looking forward to the possibilities that the new year brings for 2014. We had a busy but good December filled with holiday prep, lots of snow, and gatherings with family and friends.
For the first time in quite a few years, we actually had plans on New Year’s Eve. Two of my co-workers got married in a festive and beautiful celebration. Carter had a fun night staying with Grandma and Grandpa and one of his cousins.
It was fun to put on fancy duds, dance to a great band and ring in the new year. The wedding and reception were held at the Embassy Club in downtown Des Moines. It’s on the 34th floor of one of the buildings in the middle of the city which gave us an amazing view downtown and the state capitol building.
Our Christmas was good. We had family in town so we ate, drank and were merry for nearly a week straight. We had a nice Christmas morning at home with just our family of three. Carter got quite a few Legos, so he was in heaven.
We’ve had several snow falls already this year. It’s also been pretty cold, but luckily there have been a few days where it was nice enough to be outside to play in the snow. Our weather is so strange here, it could be -5 one day and then two days later it’s in the 50’s. Unfortunately we don’t have many of the 50 degree days in the winter, but even getting a few help get us through!
In terms of projects, I was pretty busy this month. I haven’t posted on all of them yet since many were for gifts and I was finishing them all the way through the very end! Truth be told, I still have a few to finish this week. Why do I do this every year!?
The holidays bring a lot of excuses for making party food and baking. I made the Almond Creme Cookies twice during December, the 2nd time at the request of my family. Todd’s favorite cookies are chocolate peanut butter stars, so I made a batch of those and proceeded to eat about 12 of them myself.
I made the Best Ever Ranch Snack Mix for a work snack day. And, it just wouldn’t be the holidays if I didn’t make a few batches of Chex Mix.
The Upcycled Sweater Pillow was the third of three projects I made out of the same sweater. I like that the pillow is more seasonal and not just for holiday decor.
December was also filled with Elf on the Shelf. Many of you must be as lazy busy as we are when it comes to your elf because my 2-Minute Elf on the Shelf Ideas post got re-pinned quite a few times.
I made some quick last minute Christmas cards using Picmonkey’s Free collage feature after I ran out of the original ones I ordered.
Sometimes Homemade turned 1 year old this last week. Check out the most popular posts from the last year.
I’m looking forward to a productive new year. I don’t generally make new year’s resolutions, but I do try to take advantage of the “re-start”. I’m looking forward to getting back into regular exercise and stressing less about the small stuff. Work will be very busy in the new year, so being mindful of trying to take it all in stride and control only what I can is something I can’t remind myself of too often (easier said than done, but I will try!). I also want to try to see more of the people in my life that mean the most to me.
Wishing all of you a happy and healthy new year!
