And then the holidays happened

No matter how hard we try to make the holiday season last, it always just speeds on by, leaving us with fat bellies, yards of tangled Christmas lights, and a completely combustable tree. 

I don't think I even took a photo at Thanksgiving, sadly. A couple days later I ran my one-and-only half-marathon of 2015 and then boarded a plane for Asia. I think that chunk of time away from the sights and sounds of the season in our home and our city put a tiny damper on my holiday spirit.

But it reignited the moment I got off the plane and walked back into our house. This was our first year of hosting Christmas dinner, something I've looked forward to my entire adult life (I am my mom's daughter, after all). We also hosted our niece Hazel for her first official sleepover, which was quite a highlight to our holidays.  

Then we packed up the car, loaded the dog, and headed north to see the Lagreids in the winter wonderland of Spokane.

 Can't seem to find the original on this...at our realtor's annual Christmas tree u-cut. I die every time I look at this.

 I was not about to let another year pass without an extra-large tree. Success.

 Getting festive.

 No lights too close to the bottom. Thanks, pets.

 Found this in the sea of photos...must have been a good day!

 Spreading Christmas cheer at work...

 Sara must have really prepped Audrey because this photo is perfection.

 Annual Christmas Eve with the whole Klar crew.

Naturally blurry attempt at getting a shot of everyone in their Christmas cracker crowns.

 Auds and Auggie in their Christmas jams.

 Christmas morning run attire.

 And then we got to host Hazel's first sleepover, which she asked to be a tradition.

 Picking up the fixin's for s'mores.

 Helping Uncle Taylor make a fire.

 Indoor s'mores.

 Her first!

 Hazel's choice for breakfast...cold cereal?!

 In love with the animals. I told her she could take the cat home with her.

 On to Spokane for New Year's!

 This is how they do New Year's Eve in Spokompton...partying it up in an extra-large garage.

 Cheers to the best friends...and to another year of Bethell-Lagreid bonding.

 Snowshoeing from their front door!

And what would a seven-hour drive home be without a pub crawl in the Columbia Gorge on the way?!

Happy 2016!

The hiatus is over

((Taps mic.)) This thing on?

My, oh my…how long it’s been.

The last nine months of work have been crazy. To be fair, it’s more like the last six. I’ve had to put aside a lot of the things that make me happy or fulfill my passions, simply to keep my head above water. I sort of tabled time spent writing, which I’ve sorely missed.

I can’t do that anymore. I love keeping track of memories and capturing the little things that I want to remember forever. So, I’m back. Hopefully more consistently.

I just read this quote in an article about a pro basketball player-turned personal trainer: Sometimes we need to walk away from the things that are right to really understand them.

In my opinion, I walked away from my true self. Sort of as a challenge, a risk I was willing to take. I knew I might flounder, but I hoped I’d succeed and open door I didn’t even know was there. I ended up overworking myself, alongside a super challenging time health-wise for me, too.

But all of this is in the past, and I'm really feeling back to my old self. It's time to make and save moments to write and reflect. 

So how about a quick recap of last summer's Benz Birthday Weekend Cooking Challenge?

The theme for 2015 was: Fusion Food Carts, and there were no disappointments. Team Heit kicked things off with a Californian-Hawaiian plate lunch, followed by the DeVries doing an Asian-Mexican fusion, “Samurai Sombreros,” and then it was our turn, the “Umami Tsunami,” a non-specified Asian fusion. None of us knew what the other teams would be creating, so as always, it was surprising and fun, and there were no duplicate items on the menus.

We also took a trip out to Elk Lake for picnicking and paddleboarding, which ended up being quite the highlight of the long weekend. We’re adding this to our annual to-do for next year (which isn’t so far away now that it’s almost May).

The BBWCC is our family’s Christmas. Since we can’t all get together in December, it’s so nice to have all of us in one place at one time, celebrating another year of life in our favorite place over food.

The photos are in no order at all...and probably terrible quality because I'm no photographer. Clearly.