Bells Will Be Ringing...

My first attempt at homemade caramel corn.

I know in one of my more recent posts, I said how it was a goal to blog more...and I haven't. The holidays have kept me so busy! I've been baking so much! This year, I've decided to put together treat boxes for my friends. So, I made caramel corn and cashew and pecan turtles the other night. Also, I made angel food candy for the first time, which was more like a chemistry experiment. It was delicious fun, though.

I think that...partially, I'm attempting to stay busy so I don't have moments of...static air. I don't want to sit around thinking too much. I loved him. He didn't love me. I did what had to be done. I wish I had a box for him. A box of him...of us...that could contain everything I don't want to see or think about...so that I won't be going steady on some idle Tuesday and suddenly be blind-sided by the slightest detail because...I saw X, Y, or Z. A box I could uncover behind closed doors in quiet hours on my time. I'm sure none of this makes sense. I get it.

The first tree I've ever decorated alone!

Presents are wrapped and the tree has been trimmed. The house is decorated...we most certainly will have a white Christmas. I'm pretty sure everything on my mental checklist has been crossed-off!

I'm planning Christmas dinners and brunches...and am ecstatic to be cooking. I think that one of the reasons I love cooking so much is because the world just...goes away. The noise of everything just...dissipates. I get to take all these seemingly separate pieces and find a way to marry them...to create something delicious. For me, cooking is love. It's my joy.

I hope this holiday season, you find your joy.

A road near my home. Isn't the snow pretty?