Warming Up to Christmas

It was really chilly in Sacramento today making me cold to the core. Bundled with my blankie (yes, I’ve had my blanket since 3rd grade and will never part with it), I decided to watch the Pioneer Woman, my cooking idol and inspiration. She was making enchiladas and instantly I knew what tonight’s dinner was going to be.

I made my own enchiladas with Spanish rice. Nice thing about enchiladas is how you can throw a lot of your favorite in there and it will still be tasty. I might try some olives next time or use green enchilada salsa.

It warmed me up and was the perfect cozy dinner.

Then, we spent time going over all the books Vanessa purchased at her school book fair this week. We are a big advocate of reading so we were okay with spending a little more. Take a look at her eclectic choices.

We ended the night watching Christmas Vacation, one of my dad’s favorite Christmas movies. It was really nice watching a Christmas classic with our tree lit up, hearing Vanessa laugh, wrapped in a blanket.

 

I’m starting to warm up to Christmas. It was never my favorite holiday and was always stressful, but my perspective changed when I decided to let the little things go and enjoy my time with my family.

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Giving Back

My daughter continues to amaze me. She works hard, loves God and has a giving heart.  And I’m so grateful we have the opportunity to give back to so many other amazing kids and to let them know there are others that love them too.

Today we went to Shriners Children’s Hospital in Sacramento to deliver Girl Scout cookies that the little miss worked hard to donate. The person there to receive the cookies was so lovely. She told us how excited kids are to get the cookies every year and how the little miss should be so proud of herself.

Can’t deny the smile on her face!

 

We made another stop today. We delivered 18 birthday bags to the Children’s Receiving Home of Sacramento. Our birthday bags included cake mix, icing, balloons, stickers, crayons, toys. etc.

The receiving home can house up to 80 children, and provides many programs and activities for the children during their stay. We hope these birthday bags will bring joy to each child, and we look forward to more volunteer opportunities here.

California’s Gold

Things have been busy and I knew I needed to steal a little time to get away. So after we picked up the little one from her amazing VBS, we headed to the foothills to Coloma.

It’s a town famous for James Marshall finding gold along the river in 1848, and Troublemaker (infamous to Sacramento river rafters). Boasting a population of 529, there is a lot of charm packed into this micro-town. It includes a blacksmith, a post office, a handful of  places to grab food and listen to live music.

After parking, our first destination was the farm-to-fork restaurant, Argonaut Cafe. Our sandwiches were filling and the cookies sweet and warm. It was the perfect place to fuel before we headed for the Monument Trail.

I’m a huge Yelper, and here is a picture of us in the back room of the cafe.

 

The Monument Trail leads you to the old jail, the catholic church from 18oos, the cemetery with gravestone markers going back to the time of the Gold Rush (I’m creepy like that), James Marshall’s cabin, and the monument erected in his honor in 1890.

Along the trail, we were greeted with this lovely little sign:

 

We definitely kept our eyes out on this quiet trail. We didn’t see any other hikers, so we decided to sing John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt with the thought it would keep unwanted meetings from occurring.

After the hike, we crossed the Coloma bridge (my family is silly), built in 1915, to grab an ice cream at the Coloma Resort, the place I camped every year as a kid. 

After putting our feet in the river to cool down, it was time to come home. It was a quick trip but enjoyable and full of history. Check out Coloma and lose yourself for a little while.