Winter Holidaze, 2022

OMG WE ARE ALMOST DONE BLOGGING 2022 YOU GUYS. I am ready. So much 2023 to catch up on, I’m ready to put 2022 to bed.

So! The holidays! I feel like the kids are growing out of more and more traditions every year and the holiday season is so short and I’m usually so busy dealing with (1) work madness (November is crazy) and (2) prepping for the Kansas trip that I don’t really prepare for new Christmas holiday traditions. This year I really need to prioritize that. In 2022, we kinda fell into some new things and that’s okay.

First up: the holiday markets. For us adults, we can get some shopping done. For the kids, they get yummy food and drinks. So it’s a win-win. We went to New Glarus first.

Their market was super cute.

(Can’t go to New Glarus without stopping in the Polish pottery shop.)

My favorite thing about night markets is night photography with all the twinkly lights and wreaths and other festive things.

Had a post-shopping dinner at Sugar River Pizza. Solid stuff, guys. Not sure why it took us so long to check out one of their locations, but now we know it’s worth a stop!

We did a lot of baking and made lots of hot chocolates in 2022. What follows are a few random shots of things from home over the holiday season.

So: we had a really, really cold December. We got a taste of it in Chicago, and by Christmas Eve – we were dealing with high winds and dangerously low temps (think: -50F to -60F with windchill). School was cancelled ahead of the holiday. All events were cancelled. Everyone was told to get their shopping done early and tuck in. They were bracing for the electricity to go out, yuck. So we got our candles ready and lots of firewood, and covered our big windows and doors with quilts (that, my friends, was a first). When I peeked behind the quilt, I’d find iced-over windows and knobs.

Thankfully: never lost power! It was a very quiet holiday for us, we just stayed in and took our time enjoying the day. Also my house was kinda messy because meh, who was going to notice.

I put out an assortment of cookies for breakfast. Best idea ever, why have I never done this before.

It was nice to be all warm and cozy inside because outside was not pleasant looking, yo.

And that’s all I gots! I kinda failed on the photo front, admittedly, I’ll have to work on that next time. Enjoy the end of 2022, friends. So much goodness to catch up on for 2023.