Happy Friday!!

Made it to the end of the week!!! 2 and a half days of freedom!!
This is what my Friday looks like:

MMmmm red wine.... and I deserve it because I just finished a 30 minute run and a 45 minute "Power Barbell" class!
Now to drink wine and eat frozen pizza (kinda a Friday ritual)...

On the agenda for this weekend:
- Aleksy and I are going to go to the movies tonight... redeem some of our Christmas gift cards. We are thinking either the silverlining playbook or the new one... something 41?
- Tomorrow after a skype date to talk about our Chile plans with Alejandra and Bartolo, we go to Stoney Creek to celebrate Andzelika's 27th birthday! Yay drinks and cake!
- Sunday volleyball... and grocery shopping... and I actually like grocery shopping, and looking at the food I have in my fridge and cupboards... I'm a weirdo like that...

Happy weekend!

Homemade Christmas Gifts

Its a bit of a late post for Christmas, but I wanted to note what I make as Christmas gifts over the years for everyone, so I can keep track, and if I run out of ideas, I will reuse the idea that is from many years ago!
I have a lot of people in my family, and Aleksy has many in his, so we find it financially affordable, yet thoughtful to make our gifts for our favorite people each year. Two years ago we did homemade Baileys, last year we did themed gift baskets.... and this year:

Homemade Chai Tea jars:

We bought the jars and tea diffusers from Ikea, the ribbon and decorations from the Dollar store, and made the tea from spices and loose tea purchased from the bulk store.

So in this concoction is loose leaf black tea, cinnamon sticks, black and red peppercorns, fennel seeds, cloves, cardamom, candied ginger, and I added a bit star anise...

To have the spices release their scents, I toasted them all in the oven for about 10 minutes (minus the candied ginger)... then the tea was ready to be placed into jars!

So it was a pretty simple recipe, and very delicious...

Only one thing....

It took hours to cut the cardamom seeds to get to the spice that is within the shell! And that is about 3 hours with 2 of us both splitting the pods...
But those little tiny black balls that are in the cardamom pod are very aromatic and contributed to the teas amazing smell!












Also, as usual I did some Christmas baking to provide to family in tins, and to bring to holiday gatherings on platters. I did all my baking in one day this year due to limited baking time. We moved into our house on December 8th, and the following week we had a lot of plans with people coming over to see the new house so I wasn't able t bake until the 23rd. And I actually baked from 10am to 1am!

What was in the line-up this year?

The traditional Christmas sugar cookies with sprinkles (a family tradition that I can't go a year without!), ginger snaps (by popular request), shortbread cookies, chocolate covered peanut butter balls (my favorite), chocolate peanut butter crisp bars, krispie peanut butter balls, (sensing a peanut butter trend? We love our peanut butter!) candy cane brownies, and my first time trying nanaimo bars (which turned out fantastic and minty! the secret to the filling is peppermint extra and vanilla pudding)... My freezer is now empty with all the leftover going promptly into my tummy.... Mmmmm baked goods.... my favorite evening snack!

Starting off 2013 right!

2013 has to be a great year, since it came in with such a bang... Aleksy and I are engaged as of New Years eve at 10:30pm!

During our first party with lots of friends and family, Aleksy got down on one knee... It took 7 years and 4 months, and it has happened!! He opted out of the midnight proposal since the champagne had already been flowing for some time and to ensure sobriety!

With this excitement comes a busy 2013 filled with wedding planning. Our plan is to be married in August 2014: August because its our anniversary month, and 2014 because it will give us some time to be able to plan (and pay for...) the wedding we want.

Goals I have set out for 2013 include:

1) Planning and paying for some of our wedding adventures

2) Incorporating more yoga, stretching, and resistance training into my work-out routine. I tend to become stuck in the cardio room and never want to leave and I'd like to do more strength training, bu I'm not a fan of doing this with weights... I prefer to use my own boy weight.

3) Blogging more... I have really fallen off this bandwagon, but each time I log on I'm reminded of great it is to be able to have many of my experiences and events documented here.

4) This goal is the "carry-on" from 2012's resolutions... these are continuous lifestyle choices that I would like to continue to make: eating fresh not processed foods. Aleksy and I buy frozen pizza, and that is the extent to which we eat pre-made foods, and I'd like to keep it that way! Also, to "continue" using my after work time productively... not becoming a couch potato Mon-Fri.

2013 Exciting Adventures:

Chile!! We have been taking Spanish lessons and we are heading to Chile in Feb-March for our friends' wedding and to explore the south region of Chile. Super excited for this! Crazy that this is in only 3 weeks...

May 2013: Florida with the family! Can't wait to spend some quality time with family members including my niece and nephew!