{ Forced hiatus }

Hello friends, it's been a while since I've sat down and actually put together a post.  I love chatting with you all, I love updating my blog and sharing my life with you.

But sometimes, life has other plans, and we are forced to take a small hiatus.

Truthfully, I haven't been very active either here, or Instagram. 

The sickness took hold of our house and made it's rounds.  I would love to say that we are all completely back to normal, but we are not.  I don't think we've ever had a cold last this long, for the most part it is gone, but we are left with this sinus, congestion kinda thing that is lingering and holding on for dear life.

I have had no energy or motivation for anything at all.  I am not a person that likes sitting around doing nothing, but that is exactly what I've done the past week and a half. 

The homemaking has been the minimum of minimum needed for our daily lives.  Basically, laundry, cooking and doing dishes.  My house is desperately needing a good deep clean.  I've disinfected everywhere, tidied up, but not really cleaned like I usually do, and it's driving me completely insane.

The only thing we've all been enjoying, is home cooked comfort food.  I've made plenty of soups and soups, bread and lunches that remind the kids, and I, of their childhood.  They're grown, they fix their own lunches and breakfast, but since we've all been sick, I've been using that as an excuse to love on them and pamper them as if they were still little.

Things like fish sticks and homemade macaroni and cheese have been a hit, along with tuna salad, grilled cheese sandwiches and even chicken nuggets.  Isn't it funny how when you're unwell, all you really want is comfort and especially food that takes you back in time.  It's not like it makes you better physically, but I think that mentally it helps, it's like going back to a safe place where your parents would take care of you and all responsibility feel on their shoulders and not yours.

This past weekend, we made huge progress on the greenhouse.  It is about 90% done now, but unfortunately we've had to take a break because of the rain we've been having, and also during the week Curt works and so we really only have the weekends to do what is needed.

I can't wait to show you all how it is looking.  It is already covered, just needs a few more touch ups here and there, and then I can finally start planting and growing.

In the meantime, I have been fighting this lack of energy and motivation, but I can tell you that today was the first day I woke up feeling more like myself.

I've already gone and fueled my car, picked up milk and eggs, got the dishes going and the kitchen clean, and a load of laundry in the washer as well.

Goodness, I miss being productive, it's been absolutely awful for me just laying around in bed.  I'm pretty sick of it, to be frank.

Anyway, just wanted to come in real quick and say hi, let you all know that I'm still around, just haven't been well, and really really REALLY hope that next week I'll be back to daily blogging.  I know I said I would this week, but I did not anticipate still being so poorly.

I hope you've all been doing well.

I'll see you soon.
xoxoxo

{ So cold, and needing to trust in the Lord..... }

The temperatures have dropped so much here lately.  We woke up to 20 degrees, and I know those of you in areas that are used to this and much much lower, are probably rolling your eyes and possibly calling me a whiny baby.  That's ok.....I fully admit that I'm whiny at times.

I opened the door for Marley this morning and a blast of icy wind smacked me right in the face, it actually made me lose my breath for a second.  So cold!!!

It doesn't exactly incite visions of wanting to get out there and get busy, more like images of taking your behind right on back to your warm comfy bed.

{ Makes me feel like I'm in Idaho }

When we lived in Idaho, both when I first moved to the States, and then when Curt retired in 2013, snow and winter storms were nothing out of the ordinary.  We knew to expect it during the winter months, and we knew how to deal with them.

Since moving to Texas, snow has been a rare occurrence, and I can even go as far as telling you that since being here since 2015, it has snowed twice, and neither time were anything to write home about.  It was that snow that seems to be melting before it even touches the ground.

Earlier this week we started getting winter alerts on our weather apps.  I paid it no notice.

They said Wednesday night it would start coming down and would persist through Friday.  Still I ignored it.

{ A simple Christmas }

:::: Have you ever heard the saying "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"?

It is actually one of my favorite quotes, so much so that I've mentioned it quite a few times here on the blog.

I'm a huge believer in using what is already on hand and not spending money on unnecessary things, and with Christmas literally around the corner, I've decided that one thing I am not going to spend money on, is wrapping paper.  Why?   Well because I have a few small pieces left from last year, and I've also got brown wrapping paper, which I used for my Thanksgiving Table.

{ Wintery Day }

Folks, it was cold here today, like chill to the bones cold.

I knew it before I even walked out of my bedroom.  The feel of the cold tiled floors in the bathroom and the foggy and condensed windows told me all I needed to know.

{ Slow day - Working on blog to book }

I'm slowly, and I mean very slowly starting to turn the corner with this cold.  Just letting my body dictate how fast or slow I move, and how much I do.

Shooing away that anxiety

I have to start by thanking every single one of you, who left a comment, offered words of advice, let me know I wasn't going through this alone, and gave me hope that there IS an end in sight.  Actually a very easy end in sight, if only my anxiety and brain would cooperate.

But I'm trying very and I mean VERY hard to beat this negative way of thinking and to get back to the happy, go lucky, go with the flow and whatever happens happens, Sandra.

So again, thank you, you all made me feel so much better.

I do think, and actually have suspected for a while that I may be in Perimenopause.  Many of the symptoms are things I'm dealing with, I just didn't know that anxiety, and this crazy paranoia was one of them.  Good grief.

Anyway, I thought I would share with you a little of my day before going to sleep.  I need to do it quite quickly as I'm drinking some hot milk with whiskey to knock out whatever is lingering around my son and I.  He has a sore throat and sore body/weakness, I don't have a sore throat but around 10am it hit me out of nowhere and my body is really achy.  I started meds right away and felt great for 5 hours but it came back again, so I've taken more cold meds and now I'm doing my grandpa's trusty hot milk and whiskey.  I'll be sweating like a pig here in a few but it will be worth it......only thing is, I've been having night sweats for about a month, so yeah didn't need more LOL

I've finished a few devotionals on my Bible app and picked up a few more.  It has been amazing to start feeling that shift in my way of thinking and the closeness to God.  There's something beautiful about the moment you start letting go.  I'm nowhere near where I want to be, but definitely moving in the right direction.  Every day is a struggle with my mind.

{ My Saturday }

Hi everyone, I sure hope your Saturday has been a good one :)

I was all ready to do a grocery haul for you, because I had to get groceries this morning, but then before I could get it all out and pictures taken, we had already put away some of the stuff.  I thought about taking it all out again but, no, that would have just been silly to do.  I guess the grocery haul will have to wait until 2 weeks from today when I go back out.

I can tell you that I spent $270 and that was because I had to get a few things that we were completely out of, so items that I don't usually need to get every grocery trip.  It also included a $5 tip for the young man that took them out for me at the Commissary.

Which brings up a question for me, do you always tip them, and how much do you usually tip them?  I try to tip every single time, but there have been a few times in the past where I really didn't have extra money, what I had was for food and then I felt absolutely awful not giving something.  So I try to give at least a dollar, but it makes me feel so guilty.  Anyone else feel that way?

So anyway, went out this morning in 7 degree weather.  I'm not even joking, thanks Texas.  I thought my cold days were behind me in Idaho but I guess not.

We even had snow yesterday.

It snowed on and off all day, nothing stuck really, so for someone who is used to Idaho snow, this made me chuckle, but nonetheless I guess it was snow right?

The temperatures dropped significantly so when I headed out for groceries this morning it was 7 degrees.  I did not want to leave the house, but didn't much have a choice.

I guess seeing the trees and fence like this didn't help either  Hahah

But anyway, I got my shopping done, came home and put it all away, which seems to take about as long as going out and getting it.  It's definitely not one of my favorite chores of being a homemaker.  I like the grocery store part, just not the unpacking.

This afternoon we took Marley for his very first walk. It felt good to be out there in the crisp air, it wasn't as cold and we want to get him used to walking on a leash and being out and about.

Living in the country does have it's perks either, you get to enjoy nature in all it's glory.

We have a few Cardinals in our trees and I just love them, they are so beautiful.

Marley loved his walk. He was a bit apprehensive at first and kept jumping at Curt and I to pick him up. He was even intimidated by the horses next door but after a few minutes, he got into it and loved being outside. I think we need to make this a part of his routine especially since he is such a big boy and needs more exercise than our pugs ever did.

Back home, I got right into fixing dinner which was a very simple but filling meal. Layered Nacho Dinner. As I explained in my menu post yesterday, this can be eaten over tortilla chips as nachos, or with soft flour tortillas which is what we did tonight.

It tastes amazing, it is filling, it is quick and I don't think anyone in the family will complain. I also have quite a bit leftover which will be great for mid week lunches.

If you want to try for your own family, go on over to my blog and check out the Layered Nacho Dinner post.

I wanted to also show you my list of books to read or that I'm currently reading.  I've been getting this overwhelming need to go to the library and I may have to bite the bullet and go tomorrow.  I'll see how I'm feeling.

But for the moment these are on my shelf.

And speaking of shelves, I just have to show you what my son gave me for Christmas. He sure knows his mama :)

How beautiful are these glasses?  Oh my goodness, I was in utter shock when I opened my gift and saw these.  Being the huge Jane Austen fan that I am, these couldn't have been a better choice for me.  Just gorgeous!!!

Well friends, I'm going to end this post, I still want to go watch a few vlogs, see if there's anything on TV, share the post over on the Facebook page and try to relax the rest of the night.

I have tons of laundry to get through tomorrow as well as wanting to give the hard floors in the house a real good sweep and mopping.

I'm hoping it's not as cold when I wake up though, let's pray for that right???

I'm freezing....and no I haven't lost my mind...and no

I'm not in Idaho or Michigan or Alaska. I'm still here in Arizona, where it's supposed to be really hot all the time? You know the place? The one where there's 365 days of heat?

Well you know the huge storm that is sweeping across the States? It decided to dump tons of torrential rain in our area, the whole week it's been a constant dripping of water and high winds, which actually killed one of my reindeer, I'm so annoyed.
But anyway, the rain stopped yesterday but it they skies were like a silent movie, clouds came and went constantly, grey ones, big fluffy white ones, dark black ones and then blue clear skies, then back to the same, rinse and repeat but no rain.

This morning though I stepped outside to take the kids to school and had ice on the top of my car....ICE, yes I.C.E. ICE, maybe if I say it over and over it will sink in that what I saw was real.....and not just the ice but you could see your breath in the air and my thick coat didn't help keep me warm, I was literally chilled to the bone.

Today is the kid's last day before the Winter Break and I couldn't be happier, I think at this time of the year we all need a good break, a time to relax and not have to rush and not worry about schedules and school stuff, just sit around the house and read, watch movies, eat cookies and wait in anticipation for Christmas.

The school always does something on this last day....Jasmine's fourth grade classroom are having a Game Day, they took in their favorite board games and after they take their spelling test, that is what they will be doing until school let's out early. Nicholas is having a pajama/movie day, they got to wear their pj's and will be watching The Polar Express in the library, he was so excited, but kept reminding me that he had to wear tennis shoes and NOT slippers. LOL

*sigh* I really can't wait until school let's out today.

In the meantime, I need to make a run to the library to return my books and maybe pick up some more. Oh who am I kidding, I know I'll be back with a bunch more to read. I'm very weak when it comes to the library, it just has that effect on me.

Anyway, I need to head on out. Before I do though, I can't go into details but I would like to ask you all for prayers for Curt and the issue that is going on at work right now. Please pray for it be resolved soon and for everything to be ok. Sorry I can't say more, it's the whole military thing you know....I could tell you but then I would have to kill you LOL

I hope you're all staying warm, those out there getting hit hard by the snow and storms, please stay safe and be careful out there on the roads.

Hugs and Blessings to all!