erica danielle

  Merry Christmas! I have started this post a few different times. How do I sum up a year that has been so full? and has also gone so fast that I actually can't believe it's over?!  We started the year in Michigan, spent a snow-less winter in Hudson, did all of our favorite things over the summer, 4/5 of us started school in the fall and now we end 2024 staying warm and cozy in our Christmas-decorated home trying to slow down time. Lucy age 11 is almost as tall as me. she is the kindest human you will ever meet. She loves everything. She especially loves reading, playing, making up plays and girl dates with mom. I love spending time with this gift of a child. She makes my world a better place and I can't believe she's mine. Olle age 9 is all sports all the time. You will rarely see him without a football, wearing something pertaining to football, talking about football or asking to have a friend over to play football. He loves our family so much. He loves traditions and...

Olle rounded up a bunch of boys from the hood after school and put together a flag football game. I don’t know how their little fingers don’t freeze! I think it was 10 degrees outside this day.  I made this African Peanut Stew when Bryce and Raine visited and it was SO good and so easy! Will definitely be making again.  The whole fam decorated cookies on Saturday afternoon and as a mom, who lives for this kind of stuff my heart was FULL.  I also took everything out of all my drawers and vacuumed out the crumbs. It was rewarding and also slightly unnecessary during a Saturday in December when I had about a million other things I should have been doing! Saturday morning pancakes hit different with the gingerbread spatula  Sigge had a field trip to Willow River Tree Farm and got to be in a group with his best pal Olen. I’m not sure why his teacher put these 2 rascals together. But he said it was 2 thumbs up! I sit in my car and collect myself before work most days. If t...

The last month of 2024? there is no way this is happening. This year absolutely FLEW by and the fact that it is already the 3rd makes me feel like December will be the fastest month of all.  In what felt like a long/short (time is weird) break, we packed a lot in. Sten and I got away for our anniversary, we headed to Chippewa Falls for Thanksgiving with family, we got all our Christmas stuff set up, we hosted Bryce and Raine, got to see Great Grandma Kay, took in an IMAX and watched a couple Christmas movies... phew! My goal for December:  Enjoy each day and the people I get to spend it with.  This means- getting outside, drinking water, cooking food we love, reading Christmas books, dancing to Christmas songs, not letting the un-important things get me down and moving my body each day.  T-minus 19 days until this lady is 100!  the most freezing cold light up the night DT turkey trot in many layers Starbucks on the way to thanksgiving with a gift card from a stu...

 Year 16! What a dream of a 24 hour getaway. We 🤍 the North Loop. We ate the yummiest food, drank the tastiest wine, walked almost 20,000 steps and sat in the rooftop hot tub/ sauna for hours. It was seriously the best and now it’s over and I’m sad 😭. But I’ll be re-living these memories for a super long time.  xo. edc.  These photos needed to be in color. 😍

 Mon-Fri felt like a longgggg week! I came home last night and the kids were playing with friends from the neighborhood and sten and I had the BEST happy hour chats while heating up leftovers and it was exactly what I wanted my Friday night to look like. It was restorative, fun, and the bright spot in my week. Thankful for Sten. Who makes the most ordinary things feel special.  xo.edc. 

Over the weekend our speaker talked about finding ways to be thankful for the hard things of your day. For instance. Think about the worst part of the last 12-24 hours and then search for the nugget of gratitude within that moment. I’ve been trying it and it is not as easy as saying: I’m thankful for Sten. But I do think something happens when you find gratitude in the yuck, in the messy. It re-writes the story in a way that’s helpful for me.  My humanity coming into play in relationships: thankful that my heart cares so much and that God created me this way My class being rowdy and hearing my name 3,000x a day: I have little people that look up to me and think I’m the best.  Not waking up for my run like I planned: I gave my body a break and have the coziest bed with fresh sheets to sleep in.  What a mind shift it is. Try it!  Today is Thursday and after work I am going to see The Best Christmas Pageant Ever with my mom, sister and kids. I can’t wait.  xo.edc....

  Even tho it was such a short trip, this has been the highlight of November so far. Chicago. Dancing with Sten. Being with friends I miss.  Thankful for this memory. xo.edc.