Day One Hundred Nineteen: Udemy

Udemy had a huge Black Friday sale, and I decided to purchase some classes for the betterment of myself and my kids. Clay has been doing a kid-friendly watercolor class, which he absolutely loves and which has been saving this art teacher's sanity the last couple of weeks. Today, I started a Spanish course, not for a kid or for school, but just for me, which felt like a treat. Based on these two classes, I could definitely see us utilizing Udemy for more classes in the future.

Day One Hundred Eighteen: Norwex

I've been hearing about Norwex cleaning products for a while and have been curious, but I hadn't tried them until today. At the Mom's Night Out I went to last night, we had a little gift exchange, and I ended up with a bag of Norwex products. So far, I am most excited with the window cloth. My mirrors look great, and I was impressed with how streak-free my granite counter tops and glass stove top were after a wipe down with the cloth. And I love that the whole idea is to remove as many chemicals from your home as possible.

My bag of goodies included a window cloth, a dusting mitt, a scrubby dish towel,
hand sanitizer, hand wash, and wrinkle releaser.

Day One Hundred Seventeen: Mom's Night Out

Tonight was the first time I have been able to join in on a Mom's Night Out with our new CC campus. Since we only go to the afternoon class, and since there are two of those, there were several moms that I didn't know very well, and it was nice to get to spend some time visiting with them. This is a truly wonderful group of ladies, and I'm thankful to be in community with them!

*Not my photo

Day One Hundred Sixteen: Sipping Rum

I like rum-based cocktails, and that's usually the way I think of enjoying rum, but tonight we got to try a higher quality "sipping" rum, and it was really nice.

Day One Hundred Fifteen: New Twists on Old Favorites

I was in a cooking mood today, and, no, that's not my First. 🙂  I actually love to cook when I have the time. Today I whipped up some family favorites, but with a couple of the dishes I strayed from my usual recipes for something a little different.

My family loves Brussels sprouts, and I make them often--always caramelized with lemon juice squeezed on just before serving. But I found a recipe that added avocado, bacon, caramelized onions, and balsamic vinegar, and I knew instantly that my family wouldn't mind veering from the norm. Everyone loved the dish, and it may actually become our new go-to Brussels sprouts dish.

Photo credit: https://heatherchristo.com/2017/10/30/brussels-sprouts-with-bacon-red-onion-and-avocado/

Amped up Brussels Sprouts

I also make homemade hummus from time to time. Jeff and I prefer the homemade version, but the kids like the flavors available in the store-bought versions. So, I attempted a flavored one this time by incorporating caramelized onions in a balsamic reduction. (Can you figure out today's secret ingredients?!) We haven't tried it yet, but everyone seemed happy with the smell produced by the onions while they were cooking, so I suspect it will be a hit.

*Photo credit: https://www.camelliabrand.com/recipes/balsamic-caramelized-onion-hummus/

Caramelized Onion Hummus

Day One Hundred Fourteen: Escape Room

We've been wanting to try an escape room for a while, and tonight we finally got our chance. We had given Ruth tickets for her half-birthday to be used tonight while the boys had other engagements. The room we were in was designed for eight people, but no one else booked this particular room, so we had it all to ourselves. We had so much fun trying to solve the puzzles, but unfortunately we couldn't solve all of them in our allotted hour. We are already looking forward to our next escape room experience.

Afterwards, we had another first experience at Flower Mound's new ice cream sandwich shop. And, we are already looking forward to our next experience with that as well!

The pre-game meeting

I'm not quite sure how they came up with the name. 😉

Coconut chocolate chip cookie/salted caramel ice cream sandwich from Pokey O's

Day One Hundred Thirteen: Mulberry Street Cantina

Jeff and I were able to sneak away for a date tonight, and we ended up in Denton after dropping Weston off at a Boy Scout campout. We had dinner at Milpa, which was a new place for us, but I felt like I couldn't do ANOTHER Mexican food restaurant as a First, so I'm not focusing on that.

After dinner, we headed over to Mulberry Street Cantina. We aren't usual patrons of actual bars, but this one had excellent reviews, and it seemed like a fun thing to do. And, it was definitely a fun place that drew in all kinds of people, including Santa Claus, which could have been a First in and of itself, since I've never run into Santa in a bar before. But, the real First for the day is that I ordered a Kahlua "neat." Previously, I've only ever had Kahlua in coffee. It was delicious!

Mulberry Street Cantina

Santa walks into a bar...

Kahlua "Neat"