Scenes from this Winter

Most of you probably know that I grew up in Minnesota, which you would think would make me a bit more tolerant to the cold than I am.  Instead I would say that my growing up years in Minnesota might have made me a little more jaded against the cold than I otherwise would be and I strongly prefer to be hot over cold (except when I'm sleeping, but that's a story for another day. haha)  It's not that I hate winter, because I don't.   It's just that I happen to like winters with a little more variety to them than just cold and snowy...like Utah's tend to be.  I am grateful that it does not get near as cold here in Utah, as it does in Minnesota, but it's not the ups and the downs in the temps like in Virginia, that gives you  plenty of mild days mixed in with the cold.   

Enough complaining from me!  I'm trying hard  to focus on the positive, so here is a glimpse of some of the lovely scenes from our winter this year:  

This photo was taken on the way home from the dentist a couple weeks ago.  It had nary snowed a drop when I walked in for my cleaning and looked like this when I walked out.   It was long, white-knuckled trip back home and I was grateful that there was little traffic. 

 

I found this cute scene from BYU campus in our camera roll after a recent snowstorm, which means it was taken by Emma or Adam. The beard made me laugh!  😂

Here's an icy sight that caught my eye recently when I was taking my Mom to visit with her sister...

Glen and I came across this sunrise on one of our morning walks recently!  😍

And here's another one from another morning hike...  I love Utah sunrises!

Even the Alabamans got a good snowfall this year and enjoyed getting out and  playing in it!

Adam recently got out into the canyon with his friends and had a snowy adventure of his own...

As I sit here typing up this blogpost (on Feb 13th) with this view out my window...

I am drawn to this postcard I recently received in the mail that reminds me that winter is a great time to slow down and prioritize self-care...

Which I'm pretty sure means staying in my sweats as often as possible, right?!  

Have a lovely week!  Stay warm, my friends!  💗

Valentine's Day and a Bit of Randomness

 The older I've gotten, the less I like social media.   I always have had a bit of a love-hate relationship with it, but the pendulum is swinging far more towards the hate side lately.   As long as I have missionaries who use it as their main communication tool, I will stay on it, but I've been trying to keep it more at arm's length lately.   It's partially because of how easily it can morph into a time-suck, but also mostly because I just don't feel all that fulfilled looking at it.  The politics on there drives me bonkers and I think that both my Instagram and Facebook feeds are filled with the same 30 or so people who post frequently and a whole bunch of stuff they throw into my algorithm to suck me in.  

Blah, blah, blah...I could go on and on. 

But  I can't really remember why I started pontificating on social media in the first place. I guess it's where my brain went when I sat down to write and I just did, but I can't quite think of the direction I was going with it. Perhaps it's to remind myself why I like blogging so much.   And I do.   After nearly 18 years of it, I still find that it's a far more satisfying outlet to me than Facebook or Instagram ever could be.  I really, really enjoy the opportunity to share photos and stories together and it's a record of our very average lives.  And that's the way I like it. 

Yeah, that must be why I started talking about social media...so I could say  Blogs > Facebook...and it's not even close.

And now onto the main purpose for this blogpost today...

Today, I am sharing about our Valentine's Day.    We are pretty low-key when it comes to holidays around here and this one's no different, but deserves to be remembered anyway, so here I am.  

First off, I was very excited to find these raspberries at the store the week of V-day!  I really, really love raspberries.  Like if I run out of fresh raspberries, I always have some in my freezer that I pull out and enjoy almost as much.  I literally eat them almost every day  (unless I'm traveling and don't have access) and so seeing this heart-shaped container at the store made me unreasonably happy.  How much cuter can you get than my favorite food in a heart shaped container?!  

And what's a  holiday without me sending a few seasonal postcards to my favorite peeps?! These postcards were designed and printed by my postcard friends, Kelly and Alison, and I thought they were stinking adorable! 

OH, and I guess this Valentine's Day wasn't quite as boring as usual.   We actually had a date with friends and went to a dinner/dance at Thanksgiving Point.  

I say "with friends", but I should clarify that they are actually my sister, Kristina's, friends, not mine.  We have become friends with the C family (who invited us), but it was the first time we'd met the other two couples, who had all recently moved to Utah from California.   They both instantly knew I was related to Kristina (since our Crain genes run strong), but it was more of a get-to-know you activity for us. 

 

Luckily, they are delightful and I would say that we are now beginning to be friends with them as well.  I didn't take photos of the food, but the food was all delicious and gluten free (for me).  

It was a bit crowded and the live band was WAY too loud for my taste...

But it was a fun night with some great conversations, yummy food, and dancing with my Hunny!   All in all, a fun way to spend V-day!

And in the spirit of the randomness of this post, I'll finish off with a recent meal I made.  It wasn't ON Valentine's Day, but it was close to Valentine's Day and it took me all afternoon to make, so it was definitely a LABOR OF LOVE.  That counts, right?!

It was Mediterranean Bowls, with roasted cauliflower, marinated chicken, pickled onions, kalamata olives, fresh cucumbers, toasted garbanzo beans, feta cheese, sundried tomatoes, and HOMEMADE hummus.   I was particularly proud of the hummus, which I made from dried beans and some gourmet tahini.  It was all epically delicious and I made sure that Glen knew how much to appreciate it.  😁  

You want some now too, right?   I'm on it!   Just call me when you come to town and make an official request and we will enjoy it together! 

Thanks for reading through my randomness today!  Hope you have a lovely week!  💗

Sweet Home Alabama Love

I've recently returned home from visiting some of my favorite people in the universe!   

Right now they happen to live in Alabama, but they'll be moving to Rhode Island this summer for G's hem-onc fellowship, which will mean my regular easterly treks will take a northward turn later this year.   

This trip was filled with "Princess Lucie" stories which Lucie  requests several times a day and has a whole host of stipulations she wants included--like bad guys, a mean witch who messes up her room, Rapunzel, Flynn Ryder, and a giant cake.   I'll be honest, my stories were getting pretty ridiculous there at the end, but she didn't seem to mind too much.  😂 As mentioned in my previous post, this trip also included little Ollie's first birthday, so that was a fun thing to be a part of!     Both Lucie and Oliver are sweetie pies and I loved the chance I had to love on them while I was there.  

Another fun part of this trip, included visiting a collegiate track meet that UAB was hosting and my nephew, Andrew, was participating in as a shot-put thrower.  He attends the University of Louisiana-Monroe and this was his first time competing collegiately and his first time competing indoors.  He didn't end up performing as well as he'd hoped, but he performed solidly in the middle of the pack, so not bad at all for his first time!   Afterward, we took him out for lunch at T-Bones, a taste of Philadelphia right there in Birmingham!    It was his first time meeting Lucie and Oliver and the first time I'd seen him in about a year. 

I truly enjoy my visits with the B crew and I'm already looking forward to my next visit coming up in May...most likely my last visit to Alabama in quite a while! 

💗 Have a lovely Valentine's Day! 💗




 

A Sweet Little Birthday Boy!

This past week marks  ONE YEAR since our little grandson, Oliver Glen, was born and I couldn't be more thrilled to be here in Alabama celebrating with him and his family in person!  

I know I may be biased, but I kid you not when I say that this babe is as sweet as sweet comes!    Not only is he a little mister smarty pants, but he's also got a sociable and easy-going personality.  

When he was a newborn I thought he looked like our side of the family, but the older he gets, the more I realize how much he  looks like his Dad!   That's Garrett on the left and Oliver on the right.   I swear they look like twins born 30-years apart...

Oliver says, "uh oh,” waves, claps, stacks blocks,  and roars like a dinosaur on command.   He loves playing ball and pushing around his little walker toy.   He's an efficient crawler who seems right on the verge of walking and I'm constantly surprised at his attention span, especially for things like playing catch and playing jumpy jump (me helping him jump up and down on my lap).   He certainly enjoyed his little "smash cake" for his birthday, but did not devour it like Lucie had...

I am so grateful for our little Ollie boy and only wish they lived closer...

So I could get more of his squishy snuggles {and time with his family}!

Have a great week!