Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Life Is Beautiful

This is a life update post, but before I get to that, I wanted to share with you something that I posted on Facebook last week.  It’s an observation that I’ve made about blogging, scrapbooking, and documenting life in general.

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I want to share with you what I believe is a side-effect of documenting life:  living a more full life and showing up.  I truly believe that without my blog (and all the life projects + crafty projects on there), my life would be much more boring and less full. I have made myself do more new things and sought out experiences because of blogging. The same is true for scrapbooking, Project Life, Project 365, New 52, Month In Reviews, Year In Reviews, etc. All of these efforts at life documenting has actually made me "be there" in life, and increased my life satisfaction because of it. It has enriched my life. This is a truly astounding side-effect!  :-)

There are times when I’m busy and tired and I don’t feel like blogging, or I’m discouraged by blogging because people don’t seem to respond to my posts.  That is when I need to remember how much I’ve enjoyed looking at my life the last few years on my blog.  It really makes me so happy that I’ve documented the big and small parts of life. 

So what’s been going on the last few weeks?

We had some rare November rains in San Diego.  One evening before going out to dinner, we saw a complete rainbow over our neighborhood.  So fantastic! (iPhone panoramic photo)
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Todd and I went to Blue Ribbon Pizza for dinner on 11/23.  Todd has declared that this is his favorite pizza in all of San Diego now.
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We shared the pizza and a salad, because of course you need a little vegetable too!  (Even if there’s bacon in it.)
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On Sunday 11/24 I decided to try to make some added-sugar-free & gluten-free banana pancakes.  I followed this recipe that I found on Pinterest.  The texture was a little weird, but it tasted ok, albeit somewhat too eggy.  You can’t tell me that this is a replacement for the fluffy floury pancakes though!
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On Monday 11/25 we had dinner with Dejah & Roby at Sea & Smoke.  It was Todd and my first time there, but they’ve been before. 
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Todd had the Braised Lamb Shoulder.
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I had the Maine Diver Scallops.
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Dejah had Thin Sliced Grassfed Carpaccio.
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And Roby had the Pork Belly.
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It had been a while since we got together with Dejah & Roby for dinner.  We had fun chatting and of course enjoying the food.
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I went to Target before work on Wed 11/27, and had my first Starbucks Peppermint Mocha of the season!  From after Black Friday to New Years, I only dare go to Target first thing in the morning when they open.  Otherwise I can’t find parking there.
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On 11/30 Todd and I shared our first hot chocolate of the season!  If you don’t know about our hot chocolate dates, you can read about it here.
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On Wed 11/27, Todd and I went and checked out a new restaurant in our neighborhood called Catch.  I had Pesto Sauteed Scallop Salad.
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Todd had the 007 sushi roll.
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It was pretty good.  Since it’s in our neighborhood, I’m sure we’ll be back again.

Things are starting to look festive around here.
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On Sat 11/30 Ohio State beat the rival Wolverines 42-41.  Michigan went for a 2-point conversion at the end of the game for the win, but did not get it!  So close!
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We had Bongiornos pizza while watching the game, which made it even more perfect!
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Sadly, yesterday 12/7 they lost to Michigan State in the Big 10 Championship Game, which means the Buckeyes don’t get to go to the BCS National Championship Game.  So close, yet so far!  Between last year and this year, they won 24 games straight.  It’s been a great run and I have no complaints, only great memories!
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I bought some printables from Geralyn Sy’s shoppe In A Creative Bubble.  I love her design aesthetics and colors.  Today I printed the Holly Jolly Cut-outs on Epson Ultra Premium Presentation Paper Matte, and cut them out by hand.  Can’t wait to use them for holiday scrapbooking and Project Life! 
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And that’s right, no life update is complete without some fresh Noodle cuteness.

Belly-up on Todd’s lap, lol.
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Hugging Todd. 
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One morning I found him in a sunny spot under the bed.
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Under a blanket on the recliner the Friday after Thanksgiving.
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Life really is wonderful.  I’ve got lots of good posts planned the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned!  :-)

7 comments:

  1. Awe i agree blogging really does capture your memories and that is what i love most about it. It's like a virtual scrapbook. That pizza looks delicious by the way!

    http://lilixoana.com

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  2. Happy Holidays! For the past 5 years I have made a "December Daily" type book, and it is always so much work... but this year my kids (ages 10 and 8) pulled all the books out and spent a long time looking through them and commenting on all of the things we did. It's such a great memory for everyone, I'm glad I took the time to make them!

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  3. Please know that you add sunshine to my life through your blog posts. I love looking at your and Todd's life (oh, can't forget little Noodle's life) through your journaling and beautiful photos. Hope your December is is a great one.

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    1. Thanks June, for the thoughtful words!

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  4. That noodle is awfully darn cute, with his parents close behind. =)

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  5. I love your blog Christine. I'm really glad that you resumed posting. One of my favorite things about the blog is learning about all the SD restaurants. :)

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  6. I have the same response to blogging/project life/december daily...especially project life/december daily. I have gotten us out of the house to do more because of it + I enjoy the season + my city a lot more. Otherwise I would put off doing those things forever because I really am a homebody...I enjoy being home, so getting the momentum to go out is sometimes difficult. But I always love that I did it after the fact!

    Your food looks so delicious, sushi + scallops are a few of my favorites :) This past weekend my school lost the Pac 12 championship game in an utterly crushing defeat which was disappointing for us as well. Although ASU had one of their best seasons in my life, they weren't as high in the rankings as Ohio State. We would've gotten to go to the Rose Bowl though which would've been nice. Oh well, there's always next year right?

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