A Christmas Post & Update On Life at the Whalen’s
How on earth is it two days until Christmas? When the heck did I blink? I had so many plans for this month and blogging and . . .
None of them happened! (Facepalm)
I was feeling super guilty about it until just the past few days. And then I realized, I do this because I love it and if I needed a break for December, well then I needed a break!
And I know you guys get it, I really do, but I also hate to disappoint. Honestly, I felt like I disappointed a lot this December. Our family was so busy working on selling our house and snagging our new one that Christmas sort of slipped through our fingers. I didn’t make my traditional cinnamon bread for friends and neighbors, and honestly felt a little selfish. Normally I like to help contribute to someone else’s Christmas in some way and it didn’t happen this year.
With everything that’s going on and the changes our family is going through right now, I’ve realized I need to give myself grace. Lots of it. Believe me, there’s a lot of mistakes to make when selling and buying a new home. I was told it wasn’t a easy process but I wasn’t prepared for the emotional stress buying a home was, especially during the holidays. Boy we planned that out perfectly. lol!
Another little disappointing moment, I had a whole blog series planned for December on getting ready to crush goals in the new year, and promptly after I published that post our whole family came down with a yucky upper respiratory bug and we were out, for literally the whole month. Tyrion’s developed into bronchitis, and basically our home was a quarantine zone you didn’t want to come near. And I started it! I never get sick but the late nights spent cleaning and painting until 1am to get our house ready to sell caught up with me. Thankfully besides some lingering coughing we are all so much better now and ready to spend Christmas at my parents house with all our family.
Instead of getting down on myself for everything I didn’t get done this December, I decided to share the memories we did make this month in spite of everything!
December & Christmas Highlights
1. Crossfit
I didn’t make it into CrossFit Spokane near as much as I wanted to, but when I did go the workouts didn’t disappoint.
Plus, they just got a ton of new equipment in that I can’t wait to try!
2. Frost Fest
Though I could hardly talk, I put on my big girl panties and went to No-Li’s (a local brewery) Frost Fest on December 9th. It’s an annual party where they release their limited edition beer flavors and it was a blast! (Though I could hardly taste the beer, which kinda worked in my favor because there wasn’t one I didn’t like! lol)
3. Cute babies in matching PJ’s
Tyrion and Evelyn have been adorable multiple nights in their matching flannel plaid jammies.
Travis puts them to bed each night and reads them one of their many Christmas stories I bring out with the decorations every year. This years new hit was Little Blue Truck’s Christmas.
4. The plague
Not exactly a highlight, but we spent our fair amount of time being sick. Tyrion had it the worst but had several furry friends to keep him company.
5. Packing
We packed, and packed some more. First for staging our house and now for the official move. We sure have an abundance of friends and family that have offered to help, which I truly appreciate. We kicked off the packing fun with a pizza party and many a box packed with my mom and siblings a few short days ago.
6. Wrapping and chocolate
I do enjoy a good gift wrapping session, and mine have often included a lovely glass of wine or some of my favorite chocolate bars.
Trust me, this chocolate is the best. I’ve taste tested a lot to be able to tell you this with confidence. 😉
7. Crafting
We’ve done several Christmas crafts, having fun and also teaching our babies what the true meaning of Christmas is.
8. Baking
What are the holidays without some serious baking? I’ve done my fair share, but hope to do way more next year!!! These are mini apple pies. I had one today, it was amazing. Apple and Chocolate pies are my fav!
9. Christmas light adventure
Christmas light hunting with the family. We hit up to our local Wake Up Call, got some hot cocoas and ciders, and drove around together looking for epic christmas light displays. We found a few!
10. Family
Getting to spend the holidays with this guy right here. It’s super busy this time of year in his line of work, so I haven’t been able to see him as much as I’d like. But, when we do we’re talking and dreaming about the memories we’re going to make in our new house, and the kind of life we want to live there. Can’t wait to spend the next several decades in our new home together watching our little family grow up. They’re going to be the best years yet.
Merry Christmas from our little family to yours. May the next few days be filled with precious memories you’ll cherish for a lifetime. 
