Food, Fun, Fondue, Friends, & Family

 So 2020 "wrapped" up the year on a great note, even if it was the most unusual year we've ever had! We got to open gifts at home and while we were eating breakfast, it started to snow. It only lasted a few minutes, but it was a beautiful reminder of the simple joys in life that sometimes get overlooked when we are too busy worrying about possessions, positions, and prestige. Our true Peace comes from the the most precious gift of all...Christ! 

Our family kicked off the New Year by going to eat at a new restaurant in downtown Rock Hill called Kounter that was part of the Friendship Nine sit-in many years ago. And then Edward arranged for our entire family to watch a Lip Sync Battle where we sent in video submissions of ourselves in advance and we watched them together and had a live online vote. Amanda was the reigning champion this year, but Maggie was second with her rendition of "It's The End of the World As We Know It." It was truly one of my highlights of the year!  I also  had a great time as always setting my new goals for the year and this year I created a Vision Board. I pick one word each year to focus on as my theme for the year and this year that word is DISCIPLE. I'm praying that the Holy Spirit will make me a closer follower of Christ and that in turn, I'll be able to help point others to Him as well. One of my goals is to limit the amount of time I scroll Facebook in the evenings, so I took on a project his year of creating a miniature coffeehouse to keep me busy. 

Over our Christmas break since we didn't travel to Indiana this year, we cashed in one of our surprise "experience gifts" that we gave the kids this year and took them to Great Wolf Lodge for the first time. They absolutely LOVED riding the water slides like the Tornado. 

Despite the COVID-19 restrictions, Riley was able to make progress with his Pack by earning his Arrow of Light and bridging over to Scouts. And after two camping trips (one in March and one in April), he ranked up to Scout. He was pretty excited to camp for two nights without his dad or mom hanging around. And he had a pretty good time working on his merit badges for Pets, Digital Electronics, and Electricity. We're proud of his hard work and support his enthusiasm.

Maggie got to have some one on one dates with Mom during a few of these camping trips. And she also got to spend some time with a few of her friends as well (Zoe and Isla know how to make her smile for sure!). 

One of my goals this year to is to try a new recipe each month that is somewhat gourmet-ish. Mostly to try and learn new recipes and because Riley and Chris both really appreciate flavorful new dishes. The first dish pictured is Tex Mex meatballs that Chris made. He has been finding all kinds of great recipes for us to try and he knocks it out of the park 9 times out of 10! I made a fancy cobb salad, some cornish hens, and my traditional fondue course for Valentine's so far. I'm not nearly as natural at it as Chris, but I'll keep trying. And my favorite way to cook is to have good sous chefs by my side and make it a true team effort. The food always taste better when I don't have to do all the cooking myself! :) And one of my favorite times to put together food is when I'm planning snacks for a QCP playdate! This year, I had a make-your-own-trail mix bar and we read some verses and did a quick object lesson about God's love before we began. I am so grateful that God gave us both taste buds and our sense of smell (two symptoms that were lost for many people while they had COVID). I know that food is such a fun activity to gather around and enjoy with others. I doubt that I will ever be a great cook, but I pray that my family gets filled in other ways by the best Cook of all!  "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6)

For Valentine's Day, our sweet friends, Alexa and Roger set up a Scavenger Hunt around town for Chris and I to solve together. We took the kids with us on the adventure and got to share in the excitement of unlocking clues, sharing what we love about each other, and remembering why we got married. It was such a selfless act of love and a reminder to do that for each other as well. 

Having good friends is so important. I am so lucky to be blessed with so many. This group of gals from college (CSTALCK...our acronym using the first letter of each of our names) brings me a lot of joy. On the day that I was able to get my 2nd vaccine shot, I was able to head to Columbia for a quick weekend trip with some of my faves! We enjoy trying new activities and this time we went to a wine and food tasting at a local bakery. The food was mediocre, but the fellowship was on point! I always learn new things from our time together. This time, Sara led us in discovering our Enneagrams. It's so nice to be able to have a group of gals to just kick back and relax with, no matter what our Enneagram number or animal (from sloth to lion). :) 

We are also extremely lucky to have our QCP friends still in our lives! The kids and the grown-ups LOVE getting together for all kinds of events, playdates, fundraisers, and random nights. 

Okay, I'm losing my momentum for blogging and am just going to photo dump these last bits of glimpses from our lives these past few months of FUN. As you can tell, we have had an awesome time (from snow tubing in February and recovering from sore bums at Hawksnest to checking out Savannah, GA over Spring Break in April and everything in between): 

I LOVED hosting the IF Conference at my house this year with Stephanie, Kim, Alexa, Kyra, and Brandy. We laughed, cried, and learned! 

Having date nights once a month with my main squeeze is also one of my yearly goals. We missed January, but we managed to go to Sweet Tea Cafe in February, Happy Hour in March right before I hosted IF, and Kounter and Ay Papi in April. 

I always enjoy Spirit Days when the kids dress up at school. 

My "SWEET" girls!! 

 Papa loves to launch rockets with Riley! 

So, I'll end with one of my favorite toasts my friend Jess taught me.

"There are big ships and small ships

And ships that sail the sea...

But the best ships are friendships

And may they ever be." 

Looking back over these pictures brings me joy because I realize that life is really all about relationships! The food, fun, and festivities would be nothing if we didn't love and care about the people were were spending our time with. Invest each day in the things (or people) that matter most! And don't forget to invite God into those relationships as well. Then you'll really have something to CHEERS about!