Merry Christmas

We had a lovely Christmas this year.

Low key and exactly what we needed. Maybe it's just what I needed. 

I did some baking.

Did a little shopping.

Drove around and saw Christmas lights.

Leading up to Christmas was a little weird, though.

I think maybe it was because it fell on a Sunday this year.

So, like, we completed a full week before having a holiday.

My work is awesome and closed up shop pretty early - like 11:30am, if I recall on Friday.

The day before was my company holiday party so that was pretty low-key as well and a few hours was spent at a "playhouse restaurant" that had arcade games and food/drink. 

It was a super cool venue and on a Thursday afternoon, it was virtually empty. 

After a few hours hanging with my coworkers, I headed back in time to get the girls off the bus. 

The girls ended up having a snow day Friday because of the extremely cold temperatures and high winds.

It went from 40 degrees and raining on Thursday to 1 degree on Friday.

That meant everything froze. 

Lots of people lost power. I'm super grateful we did not. 

We lost power for all of 3 seconds but then it came back on and stayed on. 

We had no concrete plans for Friday or Saturday, so we enjoyed the downtime. 

Steve was off o work on Saturday, Christmas Eve, so we each took a kid and did some last-minute shopping. 

So, so cold. 

I made a big breakfast for Christmas Eve morning. Nothing makes me happier than cooking a big breakfast on a day when I have zero obligations. 

Ava's favorite: breakfast potatoes

Homemade sausage gravy

So good!

The girls were antsy with excitement all day.

After shopping, we put Christmas movies on, jammies on, and were grazing on snacks the rest of the day.

It was glorious.

We had to set an alarm to wake up since the girls were insistent on staying up to catch Santa in action.

He was so proud to get his own gift

The sweatshirt Mila got for her.

pure chaos 💗

The most popular gift this year! A hoverboard!

She loved her new wiener blanket!

New squishmellows!

Reading a card from Aunt Lili

meanwhile...

We spent the morning being lazy, cleaning up a bit, and letting the girls play with their new stuff. I never wanted to rush the kids out of the house right after opening a bunch of new gifts and toys! 

We headed to my mom's after lunchtime so we could do presents and dinner at her house. The girls wanted to dive in immediately, but I made them wait - I had to at least get the roast in! 

Christmas #2. In their glory. Just look at their faces! 💖

She was a little overwhelmed but did great overall. 

Ava's turn on the hoverboard and I'm shocked at how quickly they picked up on it! 

My office was also closed on Monday the 26th, and I enjoyed a PTO day Tuesday.

I imagine the rest of the week will be very quiet - many folks I know are taking the whole week off. 

My office is closed half-day on Friday the 30th and then closed on Monday again for New Year's.

I'm going to enjoy the quiet for as long as I can.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Christmas Cookies

It's that time of year! 

I've enjoyed baking and decorating cookies at my mom's house since she's been home. 

Saltine cracker bark

I joke that they all look like Ugly Sweaters

My sister makes the royal icing and I make the sugar cookie dough for the cutouts.

And both are delicious!

We spent the entire day with my mom and sister baking cookies and doing all things holiday.

It was such a nice day!

We have less than a week, people! 

RIP

Social media is fucking fake ass shit.

The sudden, sad death of Stephen "tWitch" Boss has left so many people reeling. 

Wondering what happened.

He seemed happy.

Always smiling.

All his videos show him happily dancing with his beautiful wife, and three children in their beautiful home.

I've been a fan of his since 2008 when he came in second place on So You Think You Can Dance. 

I was obsessed with that show and LOVED him on it. 

I've followed him on his social channels since then.

Watching as he and his wife welcomed their children.

Dancing into our lives and bringing smiles to our faces.

And then.

On December 13, 2022, just 3 days after celebrating their 9th wedding anniversary, Stephen Boss was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. 

What the actual fuck. 

Obviously, I didn't know this man.

But from the appearances, he seemed happy.

He had it all. 

He made it big. 

But this just goes to show. 

You can seemingly have it all.

And yet, have nothing.

Or feel like you have nothing.

I cannot even start to imagine how he must have felt. That there was no hope left and this was the only thing left. 

What's frustrating me the most right now though, is the fact that the news outlets keep referring to him as "Ellen's DJ" - UM HELLO. He joined the Ellen show in 2014. 

He had a career before that. 

Sure, maybe his gig on Ellen and the fact that he eventually became an Executive Producer on the show gained him popularity later on, but he definitely had a following and fanbase prior to Ellen.

So the headlines "Ellen's DJ sidekick" - wut? 

He wasn't even a real DJ for fuck's sake (not from what I've read online). He was a dancer, dance instructor, entertainer, producer, and actor, among others. 

And he played music and danced on Ellen's show as an EXECUTIVE PRODUCER. 

So there you have it, folks.

Social media, the news. 

It's all fucking fake.

Stephen seemed happy on his social platforms and everyone is in shock that he took his own life. 

And the fucking news media can't even give him the credit he deserves in his own right. 

He was so much more than "Ellen's Sidekick DJ."

RIP Stephen 'tWitch' Boss.

Quick Fitness Update

I decided I wasn't going to post any real fitness updates until it's time for the Summer Cut. 

It's really because there's not much to post about these days. 

I'm keeping up with my workouts.

I'm eating a shit ton of food, so that has to stop. 

And it's not even good food. It's crap.

Sugar.

I never gave up sugar before, but I definitely didn't eat as much as I am now.

Pop Tarts? A recent fave. 

Chocolate? All the chocolate, please. 

More than 1 coffee a day? Sure!

Starbucks? Ok! 

CHRISTMAS COOKIES?????

😩

So, it's time to get this under control.

My weight has ballooned up to 121.8lbs. 

Whoops. 

That's a solid 6.5lbs of weight gain since summer. 

Eesh. 

Now, is some of that muscle gain? Probably.

But most of it is fat and/or water weight.

I'm not going to track my foods, but I'm being SUPER mindful of what I eat and drink. This is obviously not a good trajectory for me. A lot of it was emotional eating as well, and I want to pivot that effort to something more productive. 

Triceps are looking a bit bigger

I've been consistently doing legs 1-2 times per week. I see a difference. 

The first place I gain is my mid-section. It's also the last part to lose weight. 

So....that's where we're at, peeps. We're technically at week 131, which is 100% insane to me still. I still cannot believe I've made this lifestyle change and have maintained it for this long. Now I can't imagine my life NOT lifting weights!