Catching Up & Taking a Breath

I don't know about you, but the past month and a half have been so busy for us! Between making Christmas gifts (I'll have to do some posts on what I made - I'm proud of myself :)), traveling to see our family, packing, moving, and unpacking, I feel like I'm just now taking a breath! Oh yeah, and my mom's, dad's, and my birthdays in the last few weeks! Ha! So much fun stuff (and I love celebrating birthdays!), but still busy stuff. A busy schedule can be hard on my body, but thankfully I've been doing alright lately. My headaches have been better lately which is a huge blessing. 

Here's a glimpse of some of the things I put together for Christmas gifts:

I used this blog to get the idea of how to make these wreaths. Such helpful tips! 

Here is the blog I used for this idea. It has the recipe, and printables to print the label, and a little card with directions for your recipient to bake them. Such an easy and sweet gift. 

I absolutely love this printable from my friend Rachel's shop, The Burlap Bungalow (she has so many cute prints!).

We're getting more organized and even got some things hung on the walls with our extra day off this week which makes this place feel much more like home. I'm getting back into my routine of having a smoothie each morning on my way to work (with my Ninja I got last year for my birthday... apparently kitchen appliances are my birthday gift preference-ha!) and now I can have easy delicious coffee at home with my Keurig. 

I'm researching new flavors to order and am SO excited! Over 250 options and I just read on their website, "Additionally, all coffee and tea K-Cup® packs are egg, dairy and gluten-free. " (source). Great news for me! Let me know if you have any favorite flavors, I'm excited to try new ones!

I can say though, now that this cutie sleeps on our bed, it's harder getting out of bed in the mornings. I heart puppy cuddles. He seems as annoyed as me when the alarm keeps going off! Once I get going, I'm ok, but getting going in the morning is rough (remember this post? It's still tough). I thank the Lord every day for Nick - he lifts me up every day and faces my pain and fatigue with me. I have to pace myself and operate slower than he'd ideally like to (like resting in between errands to regain energy for example), and he thankfully has so much grace and understanding. 

 For my birthday lunch last Sunday, we went to Pei Wei which is an easy place for me to get a tasty gluten and dairy free meal. Gluten Free Pei Wei Spicy (I get it mild) is the ticket. 

This was last Sunday too, running errands with my "It's my birthday" pin. My dad wore it for his birthday and wanted me to continue the tradition - Nick is next!:)

My sunset view from earlier this week. So peaceful. 

Also, here's some Ranger entertainment for your viewing pleasure:) 

If you can't see it for some reason, you can find it here on my youtube page. 

I'll have to show more of our decor as we get settled. We're off to enjoy the rest of the weekend - I hope yours is great!

Today's Pinspiration:

There are so many things in life we can stay on the fence about - let's see where we can take some small steps in this new year. Our journey is filled with lots of little steps - let's take it one step at a time and we'll be on our way before we know it! 

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