Christmasy weekending

Listening to 50% christmas music, 50% the new Vanessa Carlton album. We discovered it by accident when I jokingly put on A Thousand Miles, but the new album is ethereal and sparse and so good.

Making old-fashioned orange cloves. They were easy and surprisingly satisfying and to make (make a bunch of holes with a toothpick, then push in the whole cloves) and the pop of citrus is perfect for wintertime.

Smelling a peppermint soy candle and the clove-y oranges, of course. Yum.

Reading the December issue of Real Simple and A Light in the Window by Jan Karon.

Watching Christmas movies à la: Christmas with the Kranks, Serendipity, The Holiday, and White Christmas

Eating fancy dark chocolate we got in a gift swap and leftovers. I love meal-planning, but making the right amount of food for the two of us is a bit of a work-in-progress

Running (figuratively) to the post office and running (literally) outside, trying to get back into the habit of exercise.

Snacking on white chocolate peppermint kettle corn (yum!)

Piecing together a Lord of the Rings puzzle. It's 1000 pieces and all of them are covering the entire kitchen table, and we even have the extra leaf in(!)

Dating at the movie theater for the new Star Wars movie. Oh, we loved it so much! I never knew I could find a little robot so endearing (don't worry, that's not a spoiler)

Preparing my heart with the She Reads Truth study and a personal study of Hebrews. I never knew how much Hebrews highlighted the significance and specialness of Jesus. It's the perfect pre-Christmas read.