Cold Breezes and Baking...just a hanging in there kind of day....

 Hello Beautiful Friends! I am feeling that gray blah winter season hard, today! It's cold, but luckily, I like cold to a point. I love a good cold breeze on my face. It helps me feel alive in the midst of these bleak kinds of days. 

I had to get out today. WELL....I truly told myself ...GET UP GIRL!! YOU HAVE TO! 😆

Today, I had to go to the courthouse to renew one of our kiddo's car tags. He wasn't able to go before closing. I love this old courthouse. It is 167 years old!!!!

After I took care of that I was planning to go straight back home but, on my way back I remembered a neighborhood that has their own arboretum and a trail in the woods. They are pretty open about people walking it.  At first, I felt anxious about stopping but I said to myself..."Chrissy, you have hiked 10 miles in a forest by yourself! You can do this. It is a small path and has houses nearby.!"

So, after a good pep talk, I stopped on my way home. I AM SO GLAD I DID! I needed that sun, to hear the birds just a singing and chatting. I needed to feel that cold breeze on my face. I needed to see a little hope of spring coming as I seen a small patch of a green which meant daffodils are preparing to bring us hope of spring soon. 

 I always keep hiking and outdoor gear in my car. I have been known to stop on my way back from anywhere and do a little trekking. I have a nice tote I keep in my car that has gear, weather appropriate items and shoes. 

          Signs of Daffodils!!! I love finding life in the middle of dead of winter. It brings me hope!

I always smile when I am walking in winter and see some green life! It is such a wonderful reminder of new seasons and fresh hope!

It was definitely bare looking other than that little patch of green. But nonetheless it was still refreshing. As the name of my blog, I truly do try to embrace each season and prepare for the best I can for the next. Because LIFE REALLY IS ONE SEASON TO THE NEXT!

After that, I came home did some house chores, read my devotional (which I finished) and relaxed because to be honest I am just not feeling the best. I am trying though. My stomach has been a little off too!

Our churches little girl's tea party that I was to host tomorrow was cancelled due to girls being sick and we have very cold temps tomorrow and it would be 1 degree during the event. I didn't want little girls to get out in that. 

I decided to still whip up some banana bread. It has been so long since I have made some. I have tried several different recipes but since I tried this one about 7 years ago, I stick with it. It is our favorite. It is out Vol 1 Magnolia Table Cookbook. Also, she has the best pimento cheese recipe!

I just love pictures of people baking and things all set out for baking!!! I always am drawn to those pictures. It just speaks cozy to me! :) 

Now, it the bread is currently baking, I am reading blogs and working on this post. I am smelling such divine sweet gloriousness of banana bread....my heart feels peaceful and cozy! I have piano music going in the background, low light, and the cutest glass with mushrooms on it filled with a fizzy beverage!

I will say that no matter what my low MOOD is telling me...... I am choosing JOY. PEACE. I am choosing to be grateful! How grateful I am to be able to sit here in a heated home, enjoy a walk, be able to pay our car tag, bake a yummy bread for the family, and read all your awesome blogs for encouragement and smiles. 

With Love,

Chrissy T

I am blessed! 

January 2026 Monthly Musings

 After I visited one of my favorite blogs I read (Slices of Life) I loved the link up she did, so I am jumping on board with Monthly Musings with Patty! Go check it out!!!! How fun!!!!! I needed this to break up my memory posting!!! 😁

1. Describe your winter so far in one word

                      

                                                                         Gray! 

2. What winter activities have you never tried but want to?

As an avid hiker I would love to try snowshoeing! I also want to try cold plunging! Yes.....I am insane. Our gym just put a cold plunge in and I want to try it but....... I am working the nerve!!!

3. Favorite winter beverage...

I love a good ole classic hot chocolate. I also love an eggnog milk shake with cinnamon, 

4. Least favorite winter chore?

Since, I do not live in the north anymore that requires winter chores I have to say I really do not have a chore here in the south that bothers me. 

5. Soup or chili? Share a recipe if you would like.

Hands down.....SOUP! I love soup! We have soup every single Monday in our home starting in fall until the end of winter. We have rich food a lot on the weekends and starting our week off with a big pot of soup to enjoy for dinner and then lunch the next few days is my favorite thing to cook this time of year. I try A LOT of soup recipes every week. We recently tried this Cheeseburger Soup! FANTASTIC!

It is from Insanely Good Recipes....click here. 

6. Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, both, neither?

Uhhhh... I love it all!!!!!!!! 

I love a good Chocolate Lava Cake!!!!!

7. Share your Galentine's or Valentine's plans

We used to do a family dinner with Italian food at home, a dessert and I would give each person some candy. My husband and I really do not do much. We may swap some candy or something. When the kids were all at home we made it super special. I think this year we will not do much because they each have their own plans. But I will cook lasagna and who can come will. BUT I am trying to convince my poor hubby to go to a Valentine's tea party with me. He is not thrilled or convinced. LOL!

NOW....my brain is swirling with ideas after this question! LOL!

8. Do you dress festive for Valentine's Day?

I have at times in the past dressed festive and I usually will wear the colors like pink or something. I don't do red because I am red headed. :) 

9. Do you make any sweet treats or Valentine's Day?

Usually, I make lava cake, but I will make something different this year. I am undecided. 

10. What is your love language?

Act of Service!!! Actually, I knew that, but it has been a while, and things change as you age so I took a free test here to double check!!!

I had so much fun doing this!!! It has been a while since I have participated in a link up!!! Go check out both of the blogs above!!! 

With Love, 

Chrissy T

So many treasures of memories.........

Hello Beautiful Friends. I know you are probably bored looking at all my memories of the past months. But if anything, at least I am saving them for me. I am going to try to wrap up over the next few days of our Nov-Dec 2025 memories and start posting FRESH CURRENT THINGS!!! I PROMISE!!!! Since, I was out of commission from blogging from October I want to post these sweet moments I treasure.  

Please HANG ON with ME!!!!! 

 This is our Mitzy. She is a lab German pointer and oh she is a sweet, smart and at times can be a hyper mess. She is absolutely brutal to walk but try to regularly.  In November in the deep south it is still warm and lots of rain. Lots of our November we are still taking daily walks. Unfortunately, I felt unwell most of the Fall and didn't get to enjoy a lot of our beautiful fall days as normal. But the moments I got I treasure. 

November means Christmas prep. I always freshen up my dried oranges for my decor. I love using natural things IF I CAN. I cannot a lot of the times, but I love the pops of dried oranges among my decorations. It has become a tradition. 

I usually never ever.... ever and I truly mean EVER decorate before Thanksgiving. This year I had to due to schedule conflicts and traveling. I truly enjoyed it and it felt cozy. I needed this extra light and hope during my "unwell" season. 

We went to Arkansas to visit my mom and sister for Thanksgiving. Almost all of our kids were able to come minus our youngest son. Hannah (our daughter) was able to bring her future "hopefully" husband, Clayton. He is the guy in the hat, then it is our daughter, and two of the best nephews on the planet and then me. 

Our annual family bonfire. We had such a good time and told silly dad jokes for a while!! We roasted marshmallows and had lots of laughs. I love this tradition we do at Thanksgiving. 

After our bonfire we load up and head to Christmas Lights on the Square. Here all the boys/guys in the family decided to be silly!!!

Before our Thanksgiving meal my family (my husband and kids) always do a hike. We went to a beautiful place in Bella Vista, AR and it had a beautiful waterfall. We were surprised at how many people were out hiking on Thanksgiving. It was quiet neat to see. I love when families enjoy outdoors. 

This is Clayton and Hannah. This was his first time to my mom's area. My mom lives in the beautiful Ozark Mountain area. 

I love this picture of Hannah! Her hair is beautiful!!! :) I can say that she is my baby girl. LOL!

The Hubs and I! He is always suckered into hiking. It isn't something he jumps at but he always loves when he goes. 

Hannah and Clayton decided to climb to the top of the falls and I decided to climb down into them. My husband stood and watched. HAHAHA!!!! Not his thing. 

This is the view after I climbed down into the area and got up close! It was slippery and chilly. But I love every minute of sitting and exploring a waterfall. It is my jam!!! I love the mist of it hitting my face, the sound of a fall is so invigorating and relaxing at the same time, and I always find myself being reminded the AWE of our Creator. 

Every year we get matching fall shirts to wear for Thanksgiving Day!! We are going 15 years strong. 

From left to righ...my sis, my mom, myself, and our daughter, Hannah. 

After our yummy meal and some rest time all the girls of the family do an ornament sway for the upcoming Christmas. I love this!!! We have been doing this for over 12 years. 

Here are so more of our Christmas light exploring!!!! 

This is my mom and I!!! :) 

It was a beautiful time!!! Before we left for home the next day we hit a state park to hike and ate delish gourmet burgers and then hit the long road home. I will share that tomorrow!!

Until then.....

Thanks for hanging in here with me as I post important treasures of memories to me. 

With Love,

Chrissy T

Facing Fears at Oak Mountain State Park (Alabama)

Well, I am still catching up on posting my memories. LOL!!! Soooo, I am an avid hiker, and it is a big part of my life. Unfortunately, lately, it has slowed down a bit. But back in November I worked the nerve to go solo hiking at Oak Mountain State Park in a neighboring state, Sweet Home Alabama. 

I have had this place on my bucket list for 2025 to hike and I was determined I would. So, close to the end of the year I DID! I was a little nervous hiking solo a new place so far off, but I did it and I was so glad I did. It was a good place to work up the courage AGAIN for solo hiking. 

Again, I could have not asked for a more perfect day!! I hiked a total of 7 in half miles this day. I hiked half the mountain and then the bottom around a beautiful lake. 

Why? Why do I keep hiking? Many reasons. One- it has been a wonderful help for my mind and emotions. I will spare you the details but it is a help.

Second, it has helped me learn to push myself and do hard things. Face some fears and also makes me more appreciative of this beautiful world we live in. 

After a scary incident a year ago, solo hiking has been very hard for me. I used to hike all the time by myself, but one traumatic situation has caused me to have a lot of fear. I had a hiking buddy, but she can no longer go as often. I enjoying hiking a lot as time allows and so that means either, I let fear and lack of a hiking partner stop me or a face it my fear and be prepared and trek on out. 

I am learning more about being prepared and tools to help protect me. Here above the pink thing is mace and I have a visible and easy reachable knife if you will look close you can see it. 

Thirdly, I like to hike for the views, nature, and to feel the sun, breeze, even rain on my face. It is refreshing and really lifts my moods. I learn a lot on the trails. I really do. A lot about nature, being quiet, learning to build endurance, and so much more.

Little chipmunks were scurrying all over the trails this day. I kept hearing rustling all day along the trail and finally realized what it was as they kept poking their heads out and running real quick across the trails. 

I did have to share some of the trails with mountain bikers. It was fine and most were respectful. But some scared me to death when they whirl past me on a ridge. Trail etiquette is important. I wish all knew it. 

I packed a picnic to save on money. I honestly just love a good hike and picnic. I ate a yummy turkey sandwich, chips, and some cookies. Some of my favorite hiking snacks because that is a MUST (haha!) when I am hiking are gummy bears, jerky sticks, crackers, pretzels, and granola bars. I miss a good trail mix but my allergy to nuts prevents that now. 

Thank you for tagging along with me as I share these special moments and share about a hobby of mine!!!

Oh, I also love to hike for the movement and activity for my body. It has been super helpful for me in my health!!!

I hope you all have a blessed day!!!

With Love, 

Chrissy T

Tuesday Tea Talk ~ Celtic Tea Party

Hello Beautiful Friends!!! As you know I missed a lot of blogging from October 8th until recently. I am playing catch up on some of my memory making. I love to post my memories here! If anyone knows me, I am a sucker for a good tea party. I actually host one every two months for the pre-teens in our church. 

A friend of mine and I love to find unique teas to attend. This one was so beautiful, and we had the best time. This past October we attended a Celtic Tea under a tent. This was our second year in a row attending and it was so much better and nicer than the past year. The food, tea, decor, the temperature, and environment. It was so lovely. I loved the table set up because we were able to connect and have conversations with strangers and make new friends that have the same interest in teas like we do. 

They had a harpist and it was so whimsical!!!! There were also a few more events going on around the Tea Tent so there was quite a lot of different Celtic Sounds!!

The food this year was good. BUT THE TEA!!!!! My favorite was the Vanilla Rose (Oolong Tea) tea. It was so delightful and light. I loved it. 

 

This table runner was absolutely beautiful. It was like a tapestry; it was so bright and beautiful. I wish the picture could do it justice. 

You can see that rich blue under the plates, and it was absolutely beautiful. 

This was the teacup that was at my place setting. I enjoyed the scones the most. The sandwiches were okay. I also loved the lemon curd! It was so yummy. 

The scones were a chocolate chip. I never had that before. They were good. Different but good. I personally would have not called them a traditional scone. 

 My friend Jen is on the right in the blue. We got little trinkets this year to remember the tea. We got a tea strainer and a fan. That was super neat. 

I can't wait to share with you the Christmas Tea we attended next Tuesday! We visited a mini mansion built in 1830 called The Martha Vick House. Make sure to pop by next Tuesday for that. PLUS...... I am hosting a Tea this coming Saturday for the Pre-Teens at our home. 

Do you enjoy Tea? To be honest, I am not a huge tea fan, but I love the foods, environment and some Oolong Teas as well as fruity teas. I do not care for herbal teas due to some allergies I have. :) 

I hope you have the best Tuesday!!! Grab you a cup of tea or a warm drink! Tell me what you may have!!!

I may have some English Breakfast Tea today with a piece of chocolate cake. 

With Love, 

Chrissy T