The Last Day Of 2018 Was Quite Spectacular

My urge to bake homemade gourmet cupcakes today took me by surprise. In addition to all of the baking I did in December, I also baked a ton of homemade dog treats for our kids over the weekend. And, I made my homemade pretzel bites this afternoon to bring over to a neighbor friend's house that we'll be visiting for New Year's Eve munchies and drinks.

If I Could Sum Up 2018 In A Single Sentence, It Would Be...

The other day I posted a blog column about what Lisa and I won't be doing in 2019. You can read that here. A friend of mine sent me an email to let me know she read that particular blog column. She's the same friend that asked me a while ago, "If you could sum up 2018 in a single sentence, what would it be?"

Wanting To Do Something Is The First Step Of Many...

I'm not a fan of selfies. In fact, my profile picture on Facebook was taken the year we adopted Lobo. That was almost 4 years ago.

We Had A Really Great Christmas

It's the day after Christmas. After having 4 days off, Lisa went back to work. I sat at the table drinking coffee. With our kids. Well, they weren't exactly sitting at the table with me. Coco was on the sofa. Sophie was on our bed curled up in her favorite Sherpa blanket. Lobo was on the kitchen doggy bed. Willa was on the reclining chair in the living room with one of the new Christmas blankets.

We Wish You A Bodacious Merry Christmas!

We want to wish everyone a very Bodacious Merry Christmas from our home to yours! 

Our Christmas Baskets, Platters, Bags, And Tins Always Bring Back Memories

Yesterday, Lisa and I spent about 12 hours in the kitchen. It was the big and final Christmas Day Baking. After a good night's sleep, some strong Columbian Coffee, and spending time with our kids, we began the process of putting together platters, bags, tins, and our annual Christmas Baskets for our neighbor friends who have become family.

What Happened In Our Kitchen Today Was A Labor Of Love

I baked a lot of cookies this month, but today was the official Big Christmas Baking Day. It was the first year in many that it fell on the weekend and Lisa was home. She finally got to witness how much work and love goes into baking all of the Christmas cookies and confections for gifts, platters, bags, and tins.

16 Things I Won't Be Doing In 2019

Earlier today, I worked on some handmade gifts that we're giving as Christmas presents. That involved several hours of crocheting. I sat at the table with my big wicker basket of yarn. The kids were napping. No music. Very quiet. Those are the moments when my brain spins like a hamster wheel.

We Are One Week Away From Christmas Eve...

This year, we're spreading lots of Bodacious Holiday Love and Cheer. I spent most of this morning and afternoon baking cookies and confections to be delivered tomorrow. And, we had a couple more packages to ship. 

More Homemade Cookies Baked For The Annual Santa Run

Our local fire department does a Santa Run every December. It's a mini parade of firetrucks and emergency response vehicles complete with lights and sirens. At the very end, is Santa in his sleigh. They start at noon and it runs through about 9 p.m. They collect non-perishable food and other items for Project P.I.N. It's one of our favorite moments during the month of December.

We Have Spread A Lot Of Bodacious Holiday Love And Cheer So Far And We're Not Done Yet

This is the first Christmas season in 4 years that we haven't provided Holiday Bodacious Biscuit Love. You can read about that here and here. This year, we decided to focus on spreading lots of Bodacious Holiday Love and Cheer. I also wanted to spend the month of December getting organized and tackling some desk work that I've been wanting to get done but haven't had the time to do so. And, I wanted to bake lots and lots of Christmas treats without being weighed down by the extreme hustle and bustle of baking Holiday Biscuit Love up until the last minute.

I Get Asked This Question A Lot During The Holiday Season

After an incredible birthday weekend, life has resumed back to its normal sense of...I don't know, chaos? Let's just say that I got up this morning and realized I had less than 2 weeks to get a ton of gifts finished, complete our month of spreading Bodacious Holiday Love and Cheer, and schedule in about 4 days of baking.

Turning 45 Was Actually Kind Of Great

It's been a few days since I've written a blog column. Four to be exact. No, I wasn't sick. Nothing terrible happened. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I had a birthday weekend. For real. Aside from Saturday, my actual birthday, I didn't plan a thing.

After A Long Hiatus, I'm Crocheting Again

When I was a kid, we always spent Christmas Eve with my Dad's side of the family. All of the siblings took turns hosting Christmas Eve at their home. Earlier in the day, before the festivities, we visited my Great-Grandmother D. She was a very independent woman who lived on her own into her early 90's. She had a heavy Canadian accent and spoke broken English. 

A Different Kind Of Busy

This is the first year since 2014 that we're not baking Holiday Bodacious Biscuit Love. Over the past month, I've received countless emails and private messages from people who have ordered in the past. I feel guilty letting them down, however, as quoted from a previous blog column, "I'm taking the month of December. To do. Make. Create. Bake. Give. Work. Learn. Grow. Reflect. Focus. Spread some love. Make changes. Stand my ground. Be ready for 2019."

15 Things That I've Learned So Far In My 40's

In a few short days, I'll be hitting the midway point between 40 and 50. Yep. The big 45. I'll no Despite the jokes, it doesn't bother me at all. As I've told the people I keep in contact with, my 40's have been quite awesome for so many reasons...

Talk To And Listen To Your Elders. Trust Me.

My dear friend Bill passed away earlier this year. I have no shame in admitting that he was my sound voice. The wise man who read all of my stuff. Offered feedback. Questioned my decisions over the past decade. Applauded most of my decisions. Wanted to know the details of the stuff I always saved for those rainy days. But, most of all, every now and then, he'd always ask, "What was your intention for posting this or that...?"

When A Little Project Turns Into A Huge Project And The Stuff You Learn While Tackling That Project

One of the things on my December-List-Of-Things-To-Do was to clean out the closet in our bedroom and the one in the Bodacious DIY Dog Mom Project Workshop. This is something I've wanted to do since May of this year when we tackled Our Big Bodacious Painting Project. During that week, we switched rooms. Our Bodacious Biscuit Love room became our bedroom. Our old bedroom was transformed into the Bodacious DIY Dog Mom Project Workshop.

This Just Because Gift Rendered Me Speechless

Lisa and I are a bit unconventional when it comes to gift giving. We don't exchange gifts for Christmas or buy each other gifts for special occasions. Instead, throughout the year, we give each other "just because" gifts. This year, Lisa decided to make and give a "just because" gift a week before my Birthday.