Happy holidays! I hope you all hard a great time with family and friends over the past few days. Today I’ll be sharing a recap of my Christmas, from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day.
I started off Christmas Eve by heading to the gym. It felt very good to be active and get moving because I knew that the next few days would involved a whole lot of sitting, visiting, and eating!
I spent 35 minutes on the elliptical doing some steady state cardio and then finished my workout with a cool down on the track. It was nice to have my workout done in 45 minutes. I was in and out of the gym pretty quick.
Christmas Eve dinner was spent at friend’s of our family. We always spend time with them over the Christmas holidays at some point. It was great to see them. The food they served was so delicious – from the turkey to the stuffing to the cheesecake – it was all amazing. Needless to say, I left their house absolutely stuffed. They sent us home with a ton of leftovers (turkey, stuffing, an entire tourtiere, and cake).
We were all given reindeer antlers to wear while we were there, so I took a selfie with my brother to show them off. We each brought a gift for the gift exchange. It was one of those with rules, so it took nearly two hours before we were all done and everyone had their gifts. It’s always fun to see what people want and are willing to trade for. I ended up with a Harry Potter 3D puzzle.
I spent Christmas morning at home with my dad and brother. It felt really good to be able to sleep in after being out late the night before. My dad requested French toast for brunch, so that’s what I made along with mimosas. It was a delicious combination.
Santa was very good to us! We opened gifts after brunch. We all made out great. I got some LED candles and a wireless speaker for the yoga classes I’ll be teaching in January (if you’re local to Calgary you can check out my teaching schedule here).
My brother got my dad an air fryer, so that afternoon the two of them were testing it out with french fries. I’m looking forward to trying potatoes and veggies in it.
Do you have an air fryer? What’s your favorite thing to make in it? I’d love it if you’d share your favorite recipes for it in the comments below.
For dinner on Christmas my dad made his Christmas lasagna. It takes him a lot of time and effort every Christmas (we’re talking hours) to make it, but it’s always so good. It’s a huge lasagna, so we always have tons of leftovers. This year was no exception – we’ve already gotten two meals out of it for 3 and 4 people and there’s still tons left in the fridge.
I made my way to the gym on Boxing Day to get a quick workout in. It felt really good to be able to sweat and move.
The gym was actually busier than I thought it would be which was a nice surprise. I know it’s going to be really busy over the next weeks, and while resolution-ers get a bad rap in January and February, I’m so glad that people are at least trying to be more active. I’d much rather have a busy gym than have no one there. After 35 minutes on the elliptical I did my cool down on the track to bring down my heart rate. I was in and out of the gym in just under an hour.
My boyfriend came over with his dog Winston for dinner on Boxing Day. Winston doesn’t have a yard of his own, so we took him into our fenced backyard to run around. He had a blast being able to have free reign of the hard and run around getting his zoomies out. He even found a couple sticks that he spent some time chewing on. He loves playing in the snow so he had a ton of fun.
For dinner we started off with some appetizers of Italian cold cuts, cheese, and crackers. Since we had so much food already, I just re-heated some leftovers for entrees (tourtiere, lasagna, and meatballs). All the food just as delicious as the first time around.
I definitely missed my mom this Christmas. Since she died so close to Christmas last year I think I was still in shock that she was gone when my dad, brother and I went through the motions of Christmas. The grief was so raw last year, and this year it felt different – very real and almost disbelief that it’s been a year already without her. If Christmas is a tough time of year for you, know that you’re not alone and I’m sending good thoughts out to you.