Month: December 2021

Friday Five Things 12/17

~ kofriedery ~ Leave a comment

“Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.” – Martha Graham

Firstly, sorry that last week’s post published late! I wrote it and scheduled it for last Friday but must have hit something wrong in the publishing process. And second, this will be my last Friday Five Things of 2021 as I take the next two weeks off from having deadlines! I hope you and your friends/family/pets/whoever take some time to quiet your lives and enjoy each other. We’ll see you in the new year and probably start talking about 2022 goals (I can hardly believe it!)

  1. Feeding giraffes. This week Tyler and I took my parents to the zoo for the annual Zoo Lights and an up close encounter with some giraffes! It was so cool to feed them and get to see them in such close proximity. We couldn’t touch or pet them, so I don’t know what they feel like. But the thing that struck me the most was how HUGE their heads are! They don’t look that big in proportion to their bodies, but man, when they bend down for a piece of lettuce it’s pretty crazy!
  2. New favorite salmon recipe. I tried this salmon recipe last week and loved it so much that I put it back on the menu for dinner this week! It looks and tastes so fancy, but it was literally the easiest way to cook the salmon and sooooo yummy (I think that can at least partially be attributed to the butter!) I served it with some roasted veggies and mashed potatoes, but I think it would be good over some buttered pasta or rice as well. Enjoy!
  3. Tyler’s birthday! It was Tyler’s birthday earlier this week and I just felt so grateful that a) we were together on his actual birthday this years which didn’t happen last year or maybe also the year before, and b) we didn’t have anything that we “had” to do that day so we just got to do fun celebratory things that he wanted to do! It was a fun, fun day and I am so thankful to have him in my life!
  4. Ghostbusters: Afterlife. One of the fun things we did was go see the new Ghostbusters movie in the theater. I found it really enjoyable and very entertaining! Without ruining anything, they definitely bring in elements from the original movies and sometimes they hit really well and other times I felt that they missed the mark a little. But all in all, I’d recommend! Definitely not a theater must-see, so I think you can wait until it’s streamable if you want.
  5. Little to no damage after wind storm. This week we had one day with super high winds in our area with gusts up to 80 mph! It was pretty crazy! Amazingly enough we had very little to no damage from it, even though our fence already struggles to stay upright on a good day. I lost a few bows from my Christmas decorations and our chimney topper thingy ended up in the middle of our backyard. I’ve seen a few trees down as I’ve driven around the past few days and our neighbors had some fallen branches. So I definitely count ourselves as lucky!

Friday Five Things 12/10

~ kofriedery ~ Leave a comment

“Peace requires us to surrender our illusions of control.” – Jack Kornfield

This time of year is for joyful celebration as well as thoughtful reflection for me. In January I’ll be sharing some of my intentions and goals for 2022, but for now I’m thinking about this year, how well some things went, and also how much didn’t go to plan. The great thing though is that I came into this year with a mindset of letting go of control and acknowledging that sometimes the universe throws curveballs. So instead of feeling defeated about my missed goals, I feel peaceful knowing that I did what I could do and the rest was out of my control. This perspective lets me continue to focus on the present moment and the little things that bring me joy.

  1. Tiny Christmas tree. With two cats in the house I never feel comfortable with a traditional Christmas tree setup. In previous years we’ve put ornaments on a tall faux birch tree (similar to this one). But this year I wanted something real and green in the house. So we went to Home Depot and picked out the tiniest potted Colorado Blue Spruce. It is too small for ornaments but I found a skinny strand of twinkle lights for it and it have been bringing me such joy. We also got a real greenery wreath from the Boy Scout who lives down the street and have that hanging in our living room. Now, I already have a lot of green in the space with my usual houseplants, but the decidedly wintery addition of spruce and fir needles is festive and fun for the season.
  2. Finishing Christmas shopping! Just this week I bought all the last items on my list! Feels great to have shopping finished early this year, especially because I’ll need to ship a bunch of stuff and earlier is better for that. I still have a couple gift cards to order and crafts to finish, but all of the physical things have been purchased and are just waiting to be wrapped and shipped.
  3. Bright light therapy. My doctor recommended that I try bright light therapy this winter to help combat my mild seasonal affective disorder. It involves sitting by a very bright LED light for 30 minutes every morning when I first get up and I started it last week. So far I love it! I sit for 30 minutes every morning while I journal or read emails or do some other sedentary activity. I feel like it’s helping a lot with resetting my sleep/wake cycle to the point that I’m waking up without an alarm and falling asleep faster than usual. I’ve also had a noticeable improvement in my motivation during the day. I have read that there can be negative side effects (I haven’t experienced any) so this isn’t a recommendation to go out and buy a lamp, but maybe if you have trouble during the winter months it is worth talking to your doctor about it. I wish I had started this a few years ago!
  4. Paint-by-number. One of the things I’ve been doing during my 30 minute light sessions is a paint-by-number. When I’m sitting with the light I have to have my eyes open, so meditating during that time isn’t an option. But I wanted to find an activity that would help me focus my mind since I’m already sitting there. I found a botanical paint-by-number kit at Target the other day (this one) and I’ve been working on it for 20-30 minutes every morning. It’s actually been a great alternative to meditation for me because I can block out distracting thoughts and just focus on what is in front of me. Highly recommend!
  5. Being able to throw together an unplanned dinner. For the past year or so I’ve been meal planning all our dinners. This has helped a ton with keeping our grocery bill under budget and cutting down on waste. I use this template each week. By the way, I LOVE her planners also. I use the weekly page, but she has monthly and daily version in digital or print that are just fabulous. Anyway, I had planned for a meal of chicken fajitas to make enough for two nights and I just didn’t buy enough chicken for that. We had leftover peppers, onions, cheese and tortillas though. And I had a sweet potato I hadn’t used last week and a can of black beans in the pantry. So I made sweet potato and black bean enchiladas for night two! It felt like such a success that I could pull something together to use up leftovers without needing to purchase anything extra for the week. (FYI – I used this recipe as a guide, but catered to what I had available.)

Friday Five Things 12/3

~ kofriedery ~ Leave a comment

“Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having in spirit, become a child again at Christmas time.” – Laura Ingalls Wilder

Let this be your reminder to allow yourself to grow tender and childlike this season. In the midst of to-do lists full of shopping, baking and cleaning, as well as calendars full of events and obligations, let go of the expectations and look around in wonder at the magic of the season. Someone was recently talking about how the holidays seemed more magical as a child and I think it’s because when you are a child, people create the magic for you. As adults we often are the magic makers. So don’t forget to make a little magic for yourself!

  1. Thanksgiving in Alabama. We just got back from spending 5 days in Alabama with my husband’s family and it was a week FULL of hustle and bustle. We celebrated my brother-in-law’s birthday with a team scavenger hunt around the town, had Thanksgiving on the front lawn with 28 people, opened Christmas presents with my nieces and nephews, and watched Alabama pull out a close win over Auburn in the Iron Bowl! It was full of fun and laughter and love.
  2. Three days in New Orleans. After all that intense family time, Tyler and I drove a few hours west to stay in New Orleans for a few days. We had a short list of things we wanted to do, but no real agenda or itinerary. It was so refreshing to just have time to relax and explore. We ate beignets, poboys, gumbo, oysters, cafe au laits, crawfish, and shrimp. We walked along the river, through the French Quarter, around an old cemetery, and down Magazine street. I got some great ideas and inspiration for my book as well!
  3. Christmas decorations. Some of the big mansions on St. Charles had put up their big fancy Christmas decorations and lights when we were there and it was so fun to drive past them all. And before we left for the week, I set up a few inside decorations so we could come home to a festive house! Just this morning I put up our outside decorations and I’m really happy with how it turned out this year. Taking time to make magic for us and our neighbors!
  4. Promised Land Eggnog. Guys, this is my favorite eggnog I’ve found so far. They were out of stock when I went to the store last week so I bought a generic brand and it just wasn’t as good! Now, I very rarely drink just a straight glass of eggnog anymore but around this time of year I start using as a creamer in my evening cup of decaf coffee to make it a real seasonal treat. Promised Land delivers on this front! So… when I went to the store yesterday and they had it in stock I bought it even though I already had a mostly full carton of the other brand in my fridge. Because this season is too short to drink inferior eggnog! (But don’t worry, I won’t waste it. I already found a good cookie recipe to use up the rest.)
  5. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah – No November book report this week because I legit only finished one book this month. I didn’t get into anything enough to finish before my library loans were up, so I have a few half finished books that I’ll finish when they’re available to borrow again. That being said, I did finish this book and it was so good and so heartbreaking. Set during the Depression, a woman makes her way to California with her two children and has to find a way to scrape out a living for them. It is such a real picture of what life was like for people who left their homes and farms during that time and how California was not the great salvation they were promised. I would recommend this book over Grapes of Wrath any day to someone who wanted to read about this time period. I mean, I love Steinbeck but I felt more connected with these characters and their emotions felt so real and raw. Hannah wrote another book I absolutely loved (The Nightingale) so now I feel like I need to read through her whole bibliography! 5/5 stars, highly recommend if you are mentally and emotionally well enough to handle the hard stuff.