A New Year

We’re already over a week into the New Year and I still can’t even believe Christmas and NYE have come and gone. It felt like a whirlwind with the football season ending, Eric was off recruiting and I was finishing up gift wrapping and prepping for our big road trip to CA. We drove from our home in Moscow, ID to Portland for a night, to Fresno for 10 days, then to our Aunt and Uncle’s cabin in McCall, ID for the New Year and then back home again. This was the first week back to normal life and it felt great to be home. This is my little corner in our kitchen and it has kept me going this week. After a very busy vacation I needed a caffeine fix to get me through the work week, loads of unpacking, then helping Eric repack for a coaching convention and just getting back to our normal life routine.

Looking back on our road trip and Christmas vacation we had a blast! I am sad it is all over. We both got to spend some good quality time with our families and friends in Fresno. It seemed like every plan I had was to meet someone for a meal. I truly believe some of the nest of times are done around the table.

Here are a few random pictures from our trip, I didn’t plan on sharing these, but then I figured why not!

We had a dessert cook-off with Eric’s family the night we celebrated Christmas. Eric and my brother-in-law won, basically hands down, for making these “Harvested Reindeer Poops, they are two very special guys. The kids got a kick out of them, the adults on the other hand were slightly afraid to eat them.. they were a little too realistic, but so so hilarious!I got to spend lots of time with my good friend Sammy. We had a lot of fun painting these ornaments at her house. I can’t wait to put mine on the tree for years to come! One night before Christmas we took our nieces and nephews to this winter wonderland, there were tons of lights to walk around and fair rides. We spent 5 hours running around like kids with them, it was a blast! Here we are with the kid crew. Back in Fresno I picked up these cute little holiday macaroons at a boba tea shop. I am obsessed with Boba tea and we don’t have any places around here that serve it. I am excited to try to make it at home and see what I can come up with. Some of my favorite parts of our trip was spending time with my parents. Here’s my dad in his front yard after we went for a walk one morning. He did the zero-scape landscaping in his yard this year due to the CA drought. He did it all himself and he thinks his yard is very “abstract”.…and here’s my mom and her sweet pup Sprout. One of our favorite things to do is take the dogs for a walk, I’m glad we found time to do it this trip. Spending time with my parents is one thing I miss most about living in Fresno. After 10 family, friend, food, and fun-filled days in Fresno, we headed back to Idaho to stay at our Aunt and Uncle’s cabin. We had a few friends come spend the New Year with us there, and it was a blast. Also, it was the most gorgeous New Years day to go skiing. There was so much snow, it was like being in a different world. At the cabin I made these cinnamon rolls from Sally’s Baking Addiction blog, this was the second time I have made her recipe and they were delicious. This was taken before I slathered them in cream cheese frosting. I love this recipe because the rolls refrigerate overnight so you can sleep in and pop them in the oven in the morning.

After our long trip it feels great to be home. I am excited to see what this new year has in store for us! I am looking forward to sharing many more recipes, food adventures and tid-bits from our life this year.

This year will be about the feast of life, love, and enjoying the bounty of all good things big and small.