Hey friend!

I hope the holiday season is treating you well. So far, we've had one Christmas gathering with some of Cameron's family, and we'll have another one in a few days with my family. The kids got to see their first ballet (The Nutcracker) with the local dance company.

When I was growing up, I remember loving this time of year. The lights, the family get-togethers, the food, the presents, staying up late, the excitement of Christmas morning. Now that I'm older, I feel like I'm on the other side of that, just watching my kids enjoy all of that. One of my love languages is gift giving, so I really enjoy buying and giving gifts to people. But as an introvert, being around people fully drains me. So this time of year pulls me in two totally different directions - I love the gifting and the lights and the magic, but I am so extra tired!

How are you handling things this time of year?

A gentle reminder❤️

For this last email of the year, I'm going to use Marker Universe's December colors of the month. They are Hot Cocoa (70423E), Latte (DDC3A1), Mocha (A84F48), and Espresso (A5342B).

This resonated with me

I do my best in every area, but honestly, I am not great at much. And this reminded me that that's okay. We aren't supposed to be good at everything!

A few recipes to try

I've got 3 for you today. I'll start with the fastest one:

Christmas Crack - From what I have seen, the word "crack" is used because it has a snap to it AND also because it involves crackers. But yes, it can also be used because you can't stop eating it. That reminds me of a scene from The Office during which Pam says "their breadsticks are like crack" and Ryan replies "I love when people say 'like crack' when they've obviously never done crack" and Pam says "ok what should I say then?" And Ryan says "I don't know, something from your world. Breadsticks are like scrapbooking." And Pam says "Yea you're right. I'm a middle class fraud."

Here's how you make them (there are so many ways I've seen, but this is what we did):

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Spread some salty crackers on a foil-lined baking sheet.
• In a small sauce pan, bring 1 cup of butter plus 1 cup of brown sugar to a boil. Let it simmer for 3 minutes.
• Pour it on top of the crackers.
• Stick it in the oven for 7 minutes.
• Once it comes out, top it with chocolate chips. We actually did a mixture of semi sweet chips, white chocolate, and Ghirardelli peppermint chocolate squares that we chopped up. Let it melt a bit then spread that around. Add dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, almond slivers, sunflower seeds, whatever you would like.
• Stick it in the fridge until hardened: I think it took about 30 minutes.

Gingerbread cookies.
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I won't share the full recipe here, but here's a link to it from my online baking bestie (who doesn't know who I am), Sally from Sally's Baking Addiction. You have to chill that dough! Otherwise they will spread. I usually skip right on past recipes that require chilling. But for cut-out cookies, it's almost always necessary.

We also made her easy royal icing that does not need egg whites or meringue powder.

These cookies are insanely good and were still soft and delicious a few days after we made them!

Chicken with mushroom "gravy" (it's more like a thin sauce!)

I made this up on a whim last week and have made it 3 times since. I'm not a fan of mushrooms on their own. I typically cook them down so small, so soft, until you can no longer tell it's a mushroom.

This is a super yummy main dish you can try out! If you do, you'll have to let me know if you like it. (I've been roasting broccoli to have with it.)

1. Cut some chicken breasts into tenders or even nugget-sized.
2. In a bowl, toss the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic, paprika, dried herbs, and a few spoonfuls of almond flour (or regular flour).
3. Heat some butter or oil to medium-high. This is pan-frying, not deep-frying. Once the butter's hot, place your chicken in there in a single layer. You're going to cook it 4 minutes per side.
4. While the chicken cooks, chop up some mushrooms. Once chopped, I have about 1.5 cups. You can slice them instead if you really like chomping on mushrooms.
5. Once all your chicken is cooked and moved to a plate or bowl, add a half stick of butter to the same pan. Once the butter melts, add the mushrooms, along with a little more salt and pepper.
6. Scrape up the cooked bits on the bottom and saute the mushrooms until they're as soft as you like them.
7. Add a good bit of cream or milk. Bring that to a boil then reduce it to simmer. It won't really thicken or anything unless you add a touch of flour or cornstarch. I just let it cook while my sides are cooking.
8. Once the sides are done, I put some chicken (and broccoli) on my plate and spoon some of the mushroom "gravy" on top of everything. Yum!

Looking back at 2021

I found my New Year's Resolutions for 2021. I always make a big list for myself, often in categories, and when I look back, I see that I accomplished a lot of what I intended!

This year? JUST ONE😂 Here are a few things I said I would do but did not do:

• Get active 30 min per day
• Drink more water
• Create a regular bedtime routine
• Weekly movie night
• Read Bible daily
• Meal plan weekly
• Try 1 new vegetable per month
• Text friends more

You know what, though? I had a baby, continued homeschooling, cooked a ton and tried many new recipes, and got a lot better at crossword puzzles.

Next newsletter, I'll share a new list and maybe include some practical steps for accomplishing those things. I try not to get caught up in wins and losses but focus more on the growth that did happen. Just because I didn't drink more water consistently, I've been a lot better than I was in the past. I'm not where I'd like to be, but I'm getting there! And that counts for something. :)

Random thoughts

This email is a little shorter than usual. We went out of town, to Waco TX, for a few days and had a lovely time. But with that and with the holidays, we've really been taking it easy with school. There aren't any super interesting crafts or activities to share, no amazing stories.

We've been watching a good many movies lately, as a family. We have been building with Legos, coloring, and playing with our new toys (from last week's get-together). It's been mostly uneventful around our house.

Can I share a silly little thing that I'm almost embarrassed to say? It's been weighing on me, and I need to work through it! Whenever I was posting on Instagram all the time, I was getting over a hundred messages each day. Many of them were "You're the best!" and "You're such a good mom!" and "So inspiring!" and "Wow, creative!" and so on. You get the gist.

Now that I'm off, I'm getting zero positive feedback on anything. My kids aren't going to come up to me and say "You're such a good mom!" Or when we do an activity that I came up with, they don't tell me how inspiring and creative I am. Cameron is good at telling me that my cooking is good most meals.

I've been so conditioned to receiving external praise that, without it, I've been pretty down on myself. "I'm not a good mom. I'm not creative. I'm not interesting. I'm just boring." From the little time I spent in therapy a few years ago, I know that negative self-talk doesn't go away on its own. You need to replace it with positive self-talk. So that's what I am working on these days!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Whatever you are celebrating this time of year, I hope you are able to safely enjoy your family, rest, and at least a sliver of peace. I'll be back in full swing when we pick back up with homeschooling and a routine.

For now, take it easy out there!
Much love,
Bethany

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