{Advent Activities + Free Download}

I did not grow up with an Advent Tradition in my home. So a few years ago, when our dear friends the Kaetzel's invited us over to light an Advent candle, read Scripture, and sing songs together, I knew I wanted to start a tradition of our own. I loved the idea of being more intentional with focusing on the birth of Jesus, and also focusing on family during the busy holiday season.

To My Husbuddy

Paul,
Thank you for celebrating Valentines with me because you know I love it! There are so many reasons I love you. I thought this Valentines I would list 100 reasons why I love you. That way you never have to ask me "why?"!

Happy 5th Valentines to my love!!

I love your smile.

I love your disciplined nature, where would I be without it?

I love snuggling with you.

I love your ethic of hard work.

I love that you provide so well for us.

I love how silly you can be.

I love that you are compassionate.

I love the way you surprise me with little gifts that show you pay attention to me.

I love the way you respect me.

I love how you protect me.

I love your intelligent mind.

I love that you always keep your cool.

I love spending time with just you.

I love how you encourage me.

I love how you challenge me to be a better person.

I love your sense of humor.

I love that I get to grow old with you.

I love our nicknames for each other.

I love when you tell me how much you love me.

I love you because you never use words to hurt or tear down.

I love that you’re my best friend.

I love your heart for God and your desire to grow in your Faith.

I love how patient you are with me.

I love snuggling with you.

I love holding your hand.

I love that you are a prayer warrior.

I love that you celebrate Valentines Day with me because you know I like it.

I love your desire to travel.

I love that you have taken me to Paris! My dream!

I love that you forgive me.

I love that you’re always willing to try harder.

I love your body.

I love falling asleep with you at night.

I love that you are dependable.

I love how you make me a priority.

I love your generosity.

I love that all of your clothes come from tech conferences.

I love the sound of your deep voice.

I love your steadfastness.

I love the sweet notes/emails you write me.

I love that I am still learning new things about you.

I love how you make up your own words to songs. Jazz Sundays are my favorite.

I love your dimples.

I love your corny, old man jokes.

I love that you worry about me.

I love how you take control in stressful situations.

I love your Faith in the Lord, it is strong and beautiful.

I love how you remind me to be hopeful during tough times.

I love when you speak Persian to me.

I love how I can trust you completely.

I love taking walks with you and talking about our future.

I love how you’re just as weird as me.

I love your good ideas.

I love how you get excited about getting new t-shirts at work conferences.

I love when you beat box.

I love how sweet and patient you are with the kiddos in our life. I look forward to you being a father one day.

I love how unbelievably patient you are with me.

I love how when you’re focused on reading a book you’ll start to mouth the words as you read.

I love how you pray over me.

I love that you’re such a softy.

I love traveling with you.

I love how you love me unconditionally.

I love that we argue about who loves the other the most (I do).

I love how you buy me the sappiest cards because you know I’ll tear up.

I love how you use analogies to make things make sense!

I love that you’re an open book with me.

I love when you play the guitar for me. Or just sing songs you’ve made up for me.

I love that you love to learn. How does electricity work again?

I love your grey hairs. They make you look so distinguished.

I love how excited you get (we get) about seeing cute dogs.

I love that you introduce me to music I probably wouldn’t have found or that I thought I would enjoy.

I love that you write reminders on your hand.

I love that you tell me you love me every chance that you get.

I love how you let me experiment in the kitchen. You never mind trying my creations.

I love that you handle the finances. You’re so good at it J

I love that when we’re walking you offer me a wing. I do love chicken!

I love when you paint.

I love that you always tell the truth. Even if it isn’t always easy to hear.

I love that you still think deep down you’re a teenager.

I love visiting you at work. You’re so serious!

I love that we’re both honest about the difficulties and the joys of marriage.

I love that you are my personal space heater.

I love how excited you get about treats.

I love when you kiss my forehead.

I love being your wife.

I love that we’re both so stubborn. It makes life interesting.

I love that you were my first boyfriend.

I love how occasionally you let me stare into your eyes.

I love that you still have the certificate of appreciation I gave to you ages ago.

I love that you’re willing to train me at the gym, even though I probably swear at you several times a week.

I love listening to you sing at church.

I love your willingness to love me spontaneously (in a very planned way).

I love how affectionate you are with me.

I love watching you dance.

I love dreaming about our next adventures together.

I love when we hear the “Ho Hey” Lumineers song you grab my hand and sing the chorus to me.

I love your willingness to try new things.

I love when we accomplish things together. Team O!

I love how you hold me and comfort me when I’m sad.

I Love that I get to spend the rest of my life with YOU!

 

 

 

Halfway Point

During the holidays it is so easy to get lax with clean eating. Treats and sweets abound! Self-control does not. In early December, Paul and I decided that we wouldn’t be hard on ourselves if we strayed during the holidays. We knew that come January we were going to batten down the hatches (what?) and commit to 30 days of squeaky clean eating. I probably had more chocolates, truffles, and ice cream then I should have. It just happened.

On January 2^nd we began the Whole30 program, which you can read about here. Basically, I call it Paleo+. Practically for us, it means no sugar (real, fake, refined, unrefined), no alcohol, and no dairy. And the icing on the cake (why do I torment myself) is you also can’t paleo-fy junk food. Which is a shame, because I can make a damn good fudge candy with dates and cocoa powder.  Oh and the icing on the icing is that you can’t go crazy on fruit while on the Whole30. Sugar is sugar people.

Here is a nice visual that Paul found of the Paleo train of thought.  The Whole30 tightens up any grey areas.

  

Paleo Diet Flowchart infographic

I’ve gone without sugar before. But during that time I was eating lots of ‘sugar-free’ products that were filled with chemicals.  And even though it was so hard getting of the sugar, I also rewarded myself with something that basically replaced the sugar. I wasn’t working on food problems I was just substituting my issues. When I hit a period of depression, sugar rushed back into my life (pun intended).

These 30 days are not just about hitting the reset button on my body. They are also to help make me more aware of what I turn to in moments of ______ (fill in the emotion). Why do I need wine at the end of a tough day? Why do I want sugar at around 2 or 3 every afternoon? Why do I need to snack when bored?

I probably won’t find all of my answers in 30 days but it sure is easier to think about them when you’re not turning to food.

I found this great timeline that spells out the phases of the Whole30 and if my predictions are right, tomorrow is going to be a great day! Seriously though, the first week for me was hell. It was probably hell for Paul too since he had to deal with me. Week two has been easier. And week three hasn’t started out too shabby.

Check out the Whole30 website. This might be up your alley. And my motto is that you can do anything if only for 30 days! We plan to do this at least once or twice again this year.

Happy New Year!

We rang in another year on the Oregon Coast with our dear friends the Kaetzel's! It was a fun weekend of eating, sleeping, reading, playing with the boys (3, 5, 8), playing when the boys went to sleep, and enjoying nature! Here a few snapshots I took of the weekend! I look at these and smile, good memories were made.

Our Family Photo! This was after throwing lots of ball with Charlie on the beach. It's her happy face!

Speaking of happy faces. Paul and Jack on the beach. Look at those smiles!

 I always love being near the water.

 Throwing the ball with Charlie is always fun.

These photos were some of my favorites. Jack liked asking me to take his photo with Charlie. Then I would show him the photo and he'd ask for another! I have quite a few!

All in all, it was hard to come home!

Wrapping up Advent

Where did the rest of December go?  I have no excuse for not blogging about the rest of our advent season, other than the fact that I was enjoying quality time with my husband. We had a week and a half off together and it was delightful!

So here is a list of our final Advent activities. Some of them we didn’t make it to, and we were okay with that! The moral of the story is that we were connecting during the chaos of the holidays and remembering the reason for the season. I think we earned an A+.

Day 16: Scripture Reading & Candle Lighting

Day 17: Create/Buy an ornament that symbolizes 2012 (I had a great idea, but wasn’t able to find the supplies to pull it off)

Day 18: Make Snowflakes and write what we’re thankful for.

Day 19: Enjoy Hot Cocoa & Marshmallows. I even made us Paleo Marshmallows to enjoy. And boy did we!

Day 20: Dance to our favorite Christmas song.

Day 21: Go Ice Skating (What a blast! We had never done this together!)

Day 22: Stocking Stuffer Challenge (1 store, a set amount of time and money. GO!)

Day 23: Scripture Reading & Candle Lighting ( We did this with our dear friends the Kaetzel’s!)

Day 24: Attend Christmas Eve Service at church (This was really nice and we even had some friends join us!)

Day 25: Celebrate Jesus’ birth