The NOT Top Ten 2020 Edition Here's a collection of things that happened at our house in this year that made us laugh so hard we cried or cry so hard we laughed. |
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Hooray snow! The first real storm of the season brought along with it, all the emotions... We jumped for joy, had all the cozy feels, then cried when two-thirds of our cherished deck tree was brought down by the weight of this heavy, wet snow. |
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Yikes. You know it's not a winning recipe when even the dog turns his nose up at it. In the end, the Salted Caramel Heath Bar Blizzard turned out to be incredible, but first round efforts were not received with enthusiasm. |
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The treehouse. This was my husband's pet project shortly after 'safer at home' was initiated. The kids asked for a treehouse and let's just say his vision was more than anyone else had in mind. The end result is spectacular - windows, flower-boxes, deck-seating and the best view on the property. And the kids have spent less time in it than he spent planning it. Occasionally our husky-lab mix Kenna likes to watch the birds at tree-level or the girls swing from the hammocks hanging underneath, plus it looks pretty cute with Christmas lights, so it wasn't a total non-starter. |
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I have never wanted a recipe to work more than I wanted these Coconut Flour Chocolate Chip cookies to happen. These are three different batches I tried, and NONE of them were suitable for sharing. My takeaway is that there are some foods that just cannot transform into something 'macro friendly.' As a self-proclaimed cookie snob, I won't be attempting this again anytime soon! |
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The day Max broke my ipad. You can see my filming set up when I had the home gym in the basement. It was unimpressive but it worked. Until the cat crawled under the stool, the doorbell rang, the dogs went wild and he kicked the ipad 2 feet into the air like a kangaroo, about 3 seconds before this photo was taken. There may have been talk of re-homing him after this incident. |
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This was my first attempt at the Chicken Taco Lasagna Bake from the beginning of the year. It took me a few more tries to figure it out, and I am SO glad I kept at it. Despite its horrific genesis, the recipe as it stands in the recipe book is one of my family's favorites! |
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COVID haircuts. We all needed them. Some of us had childhood flashbacks from the days our moms cut our hair. Meanwhile, Tess was unfazed and actually rather proud. |
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WHY do some of the best-tasting foods photograph so horribly? I am looking at you soups, milkshakes and MUG CAKES! One of my most popular treats ever is the Cocoa Bar in a Jar Mug Cake and I was DETERMINED to update photos to reflect just how amazing it tastes. Mission not-even-close to accomplished, though I did manage some slight upgrades which I used as the cover photo for this! |
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You know distance learning is not going well when your first-grader misspells her last name. Filed with the rest of 2020 academic regression in the recycling bin. We'll work on that, and a few other things in 2021. |
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Don't mix cottage cheese, strawberries and chocolate together in an attempt to make a trendy smoothie bowl. Just don't. |
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We are one of the lucky and privileged families. Losing a year of special celebrations and making memories with our extended family were some of the most painful emotions we endured. We sang and blew kisses and 'sent hugs' to people we should have been embracing. But so many others endured far worse in this pandemic-clouded, socially-criminal, environmentally-devastating, political firestorm that was 2020. |
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We are just getting started. Welcome 2021. Our greatest challenges are our greatest opportunities. I vow not to squander them. My word for 2021: OUTLAST. I will outlast the discomfort that comes with change. What is your word for 2021? Please reply and share it with me! |
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