Every January always comes with a set of struggles and this year was no different! The month was difficult, long, and cold. I am so happy to see it go!
I am considering some ideas to ease the dreariness of future Januaries. One idea consists of a calendar change, making Christmas in January to give it some fun. Another idea is a hibernation period, where everyone gets the month off of everything and we live off our food storage and take naps all day. Of course, moving to Hawaii would also be an excellent idea!
Of course, not all days are bad even though all days were cold. Here is a quick recap on some of the happy memories this January had to offer!
New Year's is always fun for us, and this year we celebrated on New Year's Day. Crab used to be on the menu, but now that we are a family of poor school teachers, we decided to get a little creative. And it was actually our most fun menu yet! We called it "Hors d'oeuvre Night" and each of us had something to add to the tasty appetizer spread. We hardly made a dent in all the food we prepared!
Bailey had been watching fancy food videos and was super excited to create his first charcuterie board. It was delicious!
The first day of the year also came with a wonderful addition to our extended family! My cousin's cute wife gave birth to the sweetest little girl. We all love her so much!
I've been working at Luminaria and it has been fun but very busy. I work with the best people, though, so it has been a fun season at work!
One day I got into my car to go to work. Bailey had taken it the day before. Lately he's had this strange idea that a fancy glass Ikea bottle is an excellent water bottle to carry around! I tried to convince him that it is not the most convenient of ideas he's had. I think he finally learned his lesson when I sent him a picture of what happened to his "water bottle" when he left it in our cold car overnight... I had him clean it up right away, but we are still finding glass shards from it!
My grandparent decided to host a Mochi Day. We used to have a mochi day every year, but have not for the past few years. It was a glorious day indeed! I freaking love mochi! It was so fun to spend the afternoon with our family, and so exciting to see Warden try one of our favorite treats. He liked it!
Speaking of Warden, he just keeps growing and growing! I love being his aunt and watching him explore and discover the world. He makes me so happy!
Even though Luminaria is over, I am still technically employed at Thanksgiving Point and am excited to start working at the gardens again when they open in the spring! I don't work much during this in between time, but there are a few events here and there. One of the events I worked was the train show, and my friend Alicia and I got told THIRTY-SIX dad jokes from the old guys running the thing! Impressive!
Warden and my family came to visit me during my shift and I got to walk around a little bit with them. It was actually pretty cool!
Are you a fan of Wal-Mart? I am always pleasantly surprised by their clothing section. I came across this beret and had to purchase. I feel like I can't pull off most hats but am feeling pretty good about this look! Single ladies, here is a tip. Find yourself a husband who will photograph you when you want "beret pictures", or any other sort of pictures when your outfit is lookin' good. Bailey is such a talented and nice guy!
Of course, the biggest thing in my life right now is student teaching. It is certainly an entertaining gig! Junior High kids are hilarious and only sometimes smelly. My cooperating teacher is so kind and helpful. He is a professional colored pencil artist, which is funny because I've never used colored pencils in my life! Well, maybe when I was 5 but never for "actual art". He was so nice and gave me my own set of Prismacolors to keep and a reference to copy for practice. Colored pencils are actually pretty fun! I enjoyed drawing and coloring this Genie.
That's about it for this month. Bring on February!
