Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 3: A Cheery Holiday Special
74 Plays5 months ago
A timely, thoughtful, entertaining conversation about the holidays. Helena and Anne-Marie discuss traditions, swap recipes, and reflect on childhood vs. adulthood around the holidays.
Double Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies
1 10oz package mint chocolate chips
1 1/4 c AP flour
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 c butter softened
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 white sugar
1/2 t vanilla
1 egg
1/2 c chopped nuts (optional)
Melt over hot water (or microwave in short bursts) 3/4 c chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Remove from heat and cool to room temp. In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a large bowl combine butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and vanilla; beat until creamy. Add melted chocolate chips and egg; beat well. Gradually blend in flour mixture. Stir in remaining chocolate chips and nuts (if using). Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes @ 375F; let cool slightly before removing from cookie sheet.
*For best results, refrigerate batter ~1 hour before baking.
Pizzelles (according to Anne-Marie's grandmother)
7 c AP flour
4 sticks Fleischmann's margarine
2 oz Anissette
1 T vanilla
3 1/2 c sugar
1 dozen jumbo eggs
1 oz whiskey
Beat eggs (use electric mixer); add sugar and liquid, continuing to beat. Add flour a little at a time. You will need to experiment to know how much to pour into pizzelle iron.
*For best results, use Fleischmann's margarine and jumbo eggs. A pizzelle iron is required for this recipe. Yield: 12 dozen cookies.
Thanksgiving Dinner in a Slow Cooker: IG @lorafied
Live Christmas Tree Needle Preservation Tip: IG @brunchwithbabs
Advent Blocks: IG @goodkind.co
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction & Theme
00:00:00
Speaker
Okay, let's pray. God, thank you for friendship and thank you for this day and thank you for making this possible. We smack dab in the middle of the holidays and thank you for just making the time to be together as best friends and talk about our experiences at the holidays. Let every meditation of our heart and every word of our mouth be pleasing and glorifying to you and in your sight.
00:00:23
Speaker
We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Hey, friends. Hello. Welcome to a special holiday edition of Twists and Turns podcast, Confession of Lifelong BFFs.
00:00:37
Speaker
We are two BFFs for over 20 years. We have seen it all and we have lived it all alongside each other despite distance and very different backgrounds and life paths.
00:00:49
Speaker
This story in this podcast is part victory lap and it's part witness We know where all the bodies are buried in each other's lives. And while our lives look really beaver cleaver now, especially in a holiday episode, that is nowhere near how it started for either of us.
Faith, Friendship & Holiday Focus
00:01:05
Speaker
We are grateful believers in Jesus Christ. We are students of the word. We are best friends for two decades that are bearing witness to one another's lives and to God's goodness in our lives. And we are not theologians. We are not apologetics. We are not politicians. And we are not looking for a fight.
00:01:22
Speaker
So if you are, you picked the wrong ho ho ho podcast. Wow. So. Although speaking of holidays, that's typically when there are some decent family beefs, but that's not what we're here for.
00:01:37
Speaker
yeah We might be talking about that today. We're not trying to start another one, certainly. That's not the goal. Right. But this is a special episode. That's a holiday chat. We kind of went back and forth about doing this because we got other things to talk about, but we're going to do it because we're here and it's the holidays. And we do see this is another conversation worth having. I want to say special shout out to my dear friend, who is also now your friend, Helena, by association, Regina, who I spoke sweet word and was like, hey, this is a conversation worth having as we all get lost in the busyness of the holidays. And so we're going to do it.
Holiday Traditions & Treats
00:02:12
Speaker
So in this episode, we are just going to talk about our holiday experiences.
00:02:16
Speaker
what we experienced in childhood, what we have brought forward to adulthood, what the holidays mean to us, and what this year is going to look like for us. And then just some general holiday thoughts. So expect a whole lot of nostalgia. We are going to be talking about our views on Santa Claus. So while we are not looking for a fight, apparently we might have one. I don't know. Disclaimer to the little ears in the room. We're going to be, you know, I, I have a relationship with Santa Claus and I'm going to be discussing that.
00:02:49
Speaker
So yeah, no trigger warnings on this one necessarily, unless Santa is triggering for you. And while this is a totally clean podcast, you may want to shield as Helena said, your children's years from conversations that we may be having that may or may not affect their perception of Christmas. Yes. Before we get into it, I would just like to share that I am drinking tea out of my brand new twists and turns coffee mug because I don't drink coffee. And I am also, oh do you have one? Oh, would you like one?
00:03:22
Speaker
Oh, look at that. I think a Christmas elf must have dropped this off. Wow. What a lucky gal you are.
00:03:33
Speaker
am also totally in the spirit of this holiday chat. i made some of my very favorite cookies that my mom made my entire life. And so I am eating double chocolate mint chip cookies that I made from my mother's recipe from my childhood right now. And they are so good. oh i As I was getting ready for this, I was like, oh, we're sharing this recipe in the notes.
Thanksgiving Memories & Gratitude
00:03:58
Speaker
So you can look in the comments of this episode and you will find the recipe for these double chocolate mint chip cookies. They are the best. Okay. This was completely not even planned, but I actually have some of my cookies that I decorated with my kids, like literally sitting right next to me. So I could share. Are you to get them? I could share. Yeah, they're literally right Absolutely. You do it. I'm going to take a bite of my double chocolate mint chip cookies.
00:04:23
Speaker
So I didn't necessarily grow up. decorating Christmas cookies consistently with this royal icing. But as an adult, I really have enjoyed baking.
00:04:36
Speaker
She's a very gifted baker. I really enjoy it. And so for the weekend, just made some cookies with my kids. And it was actually really fun because they're a little bit older. So I was showing them how to do some of these different techniques. So we did like really pretty Christmas fruits.
00:04:53
Speaker
Oh, it's beautiful. And i did, this is one of mine. I did a little Christmas tree. Ooh, that's really good. Your piping is on point. Yes. And then I actually looked this one up on how to do this one, but I was actually really excited about that. h Yeah.
00:05:12
Speaker
So that's. Do you use a toothpick? It's actually a tool that came with a set, but you can use a toothpick. It's essentially the same thing. Yeah. but just Just so you're not alone, I'll i'll eat a ah cookie with you.
00:05:26
Speaker
Yeah, thank you. And and i am not drinking tea. i am a coffee all the way gal. We're actually, i feel like we're going to have the caffeine conversation today.
00:05:37
Speaker
When we talk about our motherhood journeys, because, and i you don't know this, but I actually was fortunate to give a lesson last night to a group of ladies. And I talked about the story of motherhood for me and the role that you played in that, like once I became a mother. And so coffee came up for reasons. Yes.
00:05:57
Speaker
I think know what you're saying. Surely you do. Surely you do. Okay. Well, now that we have all of our holiday treats, Let's get into it. It's funny, the timing of actually doing this because we've skipped over Thanksgiving and I'm not okay with that.
00:06:13
Speaker
So there's a reason that we skipped over. There's a reason we plan to do this pre Thanksgiving and our schedules just did not align. And so we plan to do this in advance of the holidays and kind of release it as we were going into the holidays. We're still ahead of Christmas. We're still ahead of when Helena and I will get to do a podcast together in person, which is great. But I hate skipping over Thanksgiving because Thanksgiving is my favorite. And i have some pretty strong feelings about this. You can't monetize contentment.
00:06:41
Speaker
You can't monetize gratitude. So Thanksgiving is just like, there's nothing to sell. there i mean, turkey, essentially. But there's just not a lot that you can really market to being content with what you already have. So it's not as commercialized.
00:06:57
Speaker
But it is absolutely my favorite holiday for so many reasons. I love all the food. Most importantly, I love that it is a day of just whatever rest looks like for you. For my husband and I, we did a turkey trot, which doesn't feel restful to some people, but we really enjoyed waking up in the morning and going doing that. Yes, we did not do that. it was we were like We were in a very cold place. We were visiting family. It was freezing And it was wonderful, but that's restful for us. And then we were we stayed in ah an Airbnb that was like a barn that was converted into like a house. And it was a huge house. We had like four families in there, kids running around everywhere.
00:07:41
Speaker
and I was like, I said to my husband as we were leaving, like, if you would have told 2005 Anne-Marie that she would be totally at peace and content and joyful with that much noise, particularly about children,
00:07:55
Speaker
she would have not believed you. Like, I don't think you would believe that. No, and not only that, but just as you were saying that, I was like, I think that
Christmas Cards & Family Photos
00:08:05
Speaker
still gives me a little bit of anxiety to think about.
00:08:08
Speaker
to think about. But I also know that when my kids are with their cousins, for example, and they're running around and playing that type of yes noise brings my heart joy.
00:08:21
Speaker
But just like, was yeah, it was like that it'no it was general kids just being obnoxious. I'm like, ah, but yes, I understand what you're saying. It was family. It was like my kid and their cousins. And it was just like,
00:08:35
Speaker
beautiful chaos. It was so lovely. And I really enjoyed it. The other thing I want to share, and I shared it with our greater friend group, is the greatest holiday hat of this century, probably, as it relates to Thanksgiving. It's wild. entire Yeah. and And it worked. like It wasn't like just a whatever.
00:08:54
Speaker
You can make an entire Thanksgiving meal in your crock pot. And I did it. And was so good. And everything was hot at the same time. And you can find like, i don't even remember the name of the influencer that I saw it from. And i and it wasn't even, i do some social media for ladies boutique. And so it wasn't even my social media that it popped up on. It popped on someone else's as I was like posting whatever. And I was like, what is this? And I kind of leaned in and it was like, this is the greatest creation ever. So it's like you do your mirepoix on the bottom. Did you speak English just now?
00:09:28
Speaker
No, I didn't. That's French. Celery. It's the Holy Trinity. Celery, onions, and carrots. You never heard mirepoix before? That's like the base of so many different things. I have heard of carrots and celery and onions.
00:09:40
Speaker
yeah Have you heard them referred to as the Holy Trinity? ah No, I have a different definition of the Holy Trinity in my mind, madam. Sure, we all do, but in cooking.
00:09:52
Speaker
Anyway, you layer that at the bottom with like some stuffing. They call for cornbread stuffing. I didn't do cornbread stuffing for that one. So you put that at the bottom. I think next you put like, I just did, they said like three pound turkey breast if you wanted to do that, but I just got big drumsticks and I put those in the center. Even better. it was good. It was really, really good.
00:10:12
Speaker
And then I, layer on top of that of cream of chicken soup. I think it called for one can. I used two, would recommend two. And then on either side of the drumsticks or the turkey,
00:10:24
Speaker
You do your green beans. And if you want to do potatoes, you can do your potatoes. I made my mashed potatoes separately. This called for canned potatoes. I am 100% against that. And I will fight you about that if you want to. I mean, I agree to disagree, but like you won't change my mind. That's my point. So I just doubled up on the green beans.
00:10:42
Speaker
And then you do just like butter on top of that. And you set it in the crop. Oh, I think there's another layer somewhere in there of stuffing. o I thought the stuffing went under the birds.
00:10:53
Speaker
It does, but then I think there's more. There's two different layers. I, mirepoix stuffing, anyway, you cover that and you cook it for eight hours. And then it is just like the perfect, tender, flavorful Thanksgiving meal. You kind of get with the green beans on top of the cream of chicken, you get like the green bean casserole effect. And then at the bottom, like the stuffing has soaked in all the juices. You just mix all of that up and all. And then I added some extra stuffing into it to just make it more dense and hearty.
00:11:25
Speaker
And it really was like, all I had to do was stir in the dry stuffing with the mixture that was already there. And it just was the perfect texture. And it was amazing. And it was like really cheap too. It was very inexpensive. If you are having a small gathering, highly recommend that fun little hack. So we've talked about Thanksgiving and why it's important and why I think everybody forgets about it. Do you have any thoughts you'd like to share on Thanksgiving? um You shared one in the notes about decorating.
00:11:50
Speaker
Oh, I do feel very strongly. I think this aligns with your stance, right? Like give Thanksgiving her moment. Like don't hop over it to start decorating for Christmas. I just feel like it doesn't feel like Thanksgiving if you have Christmas place settings or anything like that. So I feel like the day after Thanksgiving, fair game.
00:12:12
Speaker
even Even that evening, right? If you're home and you've hosted and the night's kind of winding down and you want to start, like that's very different. But I just feel like the the day doesn't feel the same if you've already jumped ahead. There was one thing that I bought and it was very inexpensive, but it was really meaningful. One year i found, it was like
Holiday Baking & Childhood Memories
00:12:36
Speaker
a cardboard tree And it had fall leaves that were like little pieces of construction paper. There were all different colors. I'm sure there's many out there that's like a thankful tree.
00:12:49
Speaker
And so you would write what you were thankful for on these leaves. And then the tree happened to have like four sides to it. So there was four of us in our family. So we all took one. It's not nothing where you can go and do something. There's ways that you could do that.
00:13:04
Speaker
with other things around your house, just to kind of be intentional around highlighting things that you're thankful for. And somebody gave me a tip and I just, you made me think about it and I actually really want to do it this year. And this would be the time to start it. They used, I think it was like a jar or something. And throughout the entire year, if something happened in their day that was significant and they were really grateful, they would write it down.
00:13:31
Speaker
And then on Thanksgiving, they would open that and read what they wrote throughout the entire year, which I think is really cool. The concept of the intentionality around the gratitude, it helps, I think, especially for younger kids, it helps them kind of reflect and look for those moments to be grateful for. So when it comes to Thanksgiving, I'm giving you an amen, but then also like intentionality of the gratitude piece is really great.
00:14:02
Speaker
Cool. Yeah. As soon as you said the day after Thanksgiving is fair game, I immediately remembered that we owe a story to our audience and to each other because we need to compare notes. We texted about this briefly, but we really need to get into it.
00:14:14
Speaker
The day after Thanksgiving is the day that Helena's Christmas card arrives. One of our friends, she said it best this year. And I like, it has to be repeated. Like I texted, our group with a picture of Helena's family's Christmas card, like up on my little display where all the Christmas cards is.
00:14:32
Speaker
And I said, and still undefeated heavyweight champion of Christmas cards. And our friend said it arrived December 1st, like an advent calendar. Like the beginning of an advent calendar. Yep.
00:14:45
Speaker
That was pretty good. But do you want to, do you want to tell the story about your Christmas card this year? tell us about it. Listen, listen. I did mention I love a good Christmas card.
00:14:58
Speaker
that you do My intention wasn't for it to be what it is today. i selfishly like to take the opportunity of the holidays and sending out a Christmas card to get professional family photos done. I love to be able to look back at our family and say, here was a day where everybody looked beautiful and cute and we just can frame it. It just kind of turned into this get it out ASAP because we used to travel for Thanksgiving. I used to say like, well, I got to get them out because as soon as ah we get back in town, it's like, I'm not going to get it done in time. So that's how it kind of started for me. And then it turned into this expectation that everybody would have. One year I didn't get them out as early and people were literally texting my husband saying, I did not get your card.
00:15:51
Speaker
If it's not in my mailbox by Black Friday, like something's not right. Like you guys are checking to make sure you're okay. And I genuinely didn't believe that people were paying attention that closely. Yeah, this year i was really happy with our card. It was beautiful and i was excited about it. Were you excited? you about it?
00:16:15
Speaker
Yes. The nightmare has come true this year where... I would always proofread and then have my husband proofread. had him read it this year.
00:16:28
Speaker
he was like, good to go. i was like, sweet. We're going to order it. First typo, 12 years. It like physically pained me. Not to be too extreme, but I was literally like, what, why, how, why did I do that?
00:16:43
Speaker
Why me, Lord? Why? think it was a lesson that God was like, I'm going to humble you say, it's like perfection is not the goal. Good old chat GPT helped me fix that. And I literally cut and paste a correction 160 Christmas cards.
00:17:05
Speaker
christmas cards I did. Like, yeah, I knew that was coming ahead of time because she told me like, oh, my gosh, there's a she's like, I got it out a little late this year because there was a typo. And she's like, you have to tell me if it looks janky. And I was like, yeah, obviously. And so like the the amount of delight in not in your discomfort, but generally just in like the this is hilarious. and We're gonna be talking about this for years. The bloop. Yeah.
00:17:34
Speaker
So there's like a pattern on the back of the card. And so she got it to match the pattern background. It looks like one of those old school ransom notes where like. Yeah, that's a good way to. Like the magazine cutouts. Yeah.
00:17:51
Speaker
perfectly over what I assume said exited and not excited. Is that the situation? It was a completely different word because I forgot to add a word that would have made the sentence make sense. So that's what happened. So I just changed it. So what I said to her was like, Helena, like, yes, I noticed it. But if you hadn't said anything to me, i would have spent one millisecond thinking about it and never thought about it again.
00:18:16
Speaker
Yeah, she's like, okay, that's fine. That's fine. That's fine. I was very proud of myself this year. i was like, coming into the last conversation we had, I said, like, I need to get on this. We did something a little different this year. i just was trying to be considerate of people who were grieving.
00:18:32
Speaker
um you know, their family looking different this year for Christmas. i was like, I don't want to do a family photo. By the way, like I love our family photos that we do every year, except that it's the same thing every year where the entirety of the family besides me is like,
00:18:48
Speaker
oh, why do I have to wear this? And I'm like, so I literally have to give them a pep talk every year in October. Hey, I know it's hot. And I
Christmas Tree & Gift Traditions
00:18:56
Speaker
know that we're wearing winter clothes. And I know that we're outside in a forest somewhere. And I know that it's dusk. So the sun is directly in your eyes. I get it.
00:19:06
Speaker
And you know what? The sooner you stop complaining, the sooner this is going to be done. And if you keep complaining, you're going to see some stuff you don't want to see. Like, I'm usually pretty calm, but let's get through this. I don't ask y'all for very much. Let's get this done. And then they all go, okay. but And they're beautiful pictures. i've I've loved every single one of our professional pictures that we've gotten taken. But that is what it looks like for us every year. You've told me some some stories about some of your family pictures. so I know that similar situations from time time. One of your best pictures was but right after. a less than ideal conversation. but yeah. Yeah. Yeah. ah So, do you know, you know, like, as I was thinking about, like, what's this Christmas card going to look like this year, i just had the thought that the year went by so fast. There were so many things that happened. We did lots of
00:19:52
Speaker
really cool traveling that was super exciting. And we didn't get to see a lot of people. We didn't get to catch up with as many people as we would have liked to. So I was like, let's do a video. So I like recorded a video, my husband and I kind of sat together and it was just like a recap of the year. This was very challenging year for us. Like it was full and it was beautiful and it was freaking hard. ah And so to look back on it and be like, God's faithful and he's good. and We're so thankful for all of these things I thought was really sweet.
00:20:20
Speaker
And so I just did like a little QR code on the back of the Christmas card that sent you a link to where you could view this video. And that way it was like, ah we're probably not going to get to see all y'all in person, but at least you can feel like we got to have a catch up conversation. It was really, really well done. Thank you. Well, sort of and because Helena, i had already received and and I got that out on Black Friday or maybe that Saturday.
00:20:45
Speaker
which I got a mailed out on December 1st. I was shocked. Because i they like I addressed them and my husband sealed the envelopes. like That was kind of sweet, actually. We sat at the table together and like I stamped them and whatever, and then he sealed them. And then, so they were out and I was like, felt good about that. Then Helena and her family's card shows up. I say, you know, hey, yes, I noticed. Your friend called you out, which I thought was hilarious. because i was like, nobody's going to say anything, Helena. And then she sends me a screenshot of this text from her friend who's like, did you literally copy and paste something? Yeah.
00:21:18
Speaker
I was like, they noticed, but of all people, it was like one that we could laugh together. So it was fun. Yes. ah Yes. Which I'm sure is why they said it, but yeah. Yeah. That was hilarious. So then I get all of my cards out and I'm like, feel good about this. I'm no Helena, but this is an improvement for scatterbrainy and Marie. I ordered however many, and I had three leftover, which I was like, wow, I didn't know ah we knew that many people. That's cool. So I picked one up and I was looking at it and I noticed that.
00:21:47
Speaker
I also had a typo in mine and there weren't very many words on mine. And it was the same thing. It was like, y'all know what I meant. Just scan the QR code. We'll tell you all the things. But yeah, I think I was so intrigued by the QR code that I didn't, I didn't even notice it. So that is, i had no QR code.
00:22:05
Speaker
I just have pictures of my children. Just, you know. I'm totally going to steal that. I think I'll make sure give credit where credit's due, but that was, keith that was, you don't need to do that. It's not an original idea. It's maybe in our circle, but it's certainly not an original idea. you So that is the update on the Christmas cards. Helena is still undefeated.
00:22:25
Speaker
We both had had a typo this year and you know what? It's okay. It's all good. The purpose of the Christmas card is to remind people that like, hey, we see you and we love you. And we just, you know, if we can't be together, we still just want to remind you, like, here's our here's what it looks like in our house this year. Now we're going to, I guess, talk about Christmas.
00:22:47
Speaker
We're in We're in Christmas. do it. Yeah, we're fully in the throes of Christmas season. We're festive. Helena's got her festive earrings. I've got my candy cane shirt on. Trying. They're already burning my ears.
00:22:58
Speaker
I was like, hey, I'd love it if we could dress festive today. and as soon as she popped up on the screen, I was like, you know that the earrings are going to be covered up by your earphones, right? And she's like, oh, dang it. They're real cute, though. I think we have very different experiences of the holidays as children. Yeah. So tell me about...
00:23:17
Speaker
I'm just, I have a picture in my mind of what yours might've looked like, but like when you think of the holidays from childhood, just like, you know, words, smells, sights, what do you think of?
00:23:32
Speaker
Um, we spent most Christmases, if not all of them that I can recall, like from eight years old and younger, we were in Pittsburgh visiting family and mainly my grandma. So I remember being at her house. I just remember just this little tiny Christmas tree that she would put up every year. And I remember wondering like why she wouldn't put up like a bigger one.
00:23:59
Speaker
It was just, she was like not recognizing as a child that she's probably tired and didn't want to. But yeah, I just remember growing up being able to like experience a actual white Christmas and cold and that being something that was not foreign to me, getting to make a snowman and being grab the sled and go down the hill and like that kind of thing. We had a station wagon. So this was... yeah you did, ninety s Oh, yeah. So it was like...
00:24:35
Speaker
We should have probably still been by today's standards in some kind of booster seat or something, but they would put all the luggage on the roof and put us in the car and my sister and I would hold the back seat down. So we would just lay, we would like sleep, like we were camping out or something in the back seat. Yeah, that's not legal. Yeah.
00:24:59
Speaker
I don't know if it was then. it's certainly not now. But that was normal, like to just pile in the station wagon and we would drive and go to Pittsburgh. So we would do mass.
00:25:11
Speaker
I do remember one Christmas, at least, where we did midnight mass. And I vividly remember because my mom had put us in a skirt with tights. It was so cold. And I remember the wind hitting.
00:25:27
Speaker
hitting me when we got out of the car and thinking, why would you not pour more clothes on me? I'm freezing. It's snowing. and then just being in this church at midnight mass and laying down on the pew because I'm tired.
00:25:42
Speaker
From like younger childhood, I do. That's what I remember most about Christmas is just seeing things Family and friends. What are the food things that you remember? I don't know why that comes to... I mean, that's just holidays. You're just eating. Yeah. A traditional Italian Christmas Eve is seafood. How did I know that? Yeah. if Because we didn't typically do that because like as kids, we wouldn't eat it. So I don't think that they went out of their way to you know spend the time or money to do that kind of thing. But that is more of...
Advent Traditions & Spiritual Reflection
00:26:18
Speaker
the traditional thing, which I kind of like because then if you're going to have like a crazy Christmas dinner, then at least you didn't have two crazy meals. But And ah that, and I like seafood now. I think you can also relate to like, there was always cookies and pitzels. My grandma would sit, my mom would make her a big bowl of batter and she would just sit there with the pitzel iron and just just do those at the dining room table. In your pitzel recipe, can you tell me what's in it? Obviously like you need anise extract. That's an important ingredient.
00:26:54
Speaker
ah See, if it was in there though, I wouldn't eat it. So they started leaving it out fur for us. And that's the only time I started eating pizzelles is when they would leave out the anise because I don't care for that flavor.
00:27:06
Speaker
That was like a, like i you need that. Like to me, it was like, it's not a pizzelle if you don't have some anise in there. But apparently, so I just found my grandmother's, who is German, by the way, my grandmother was not Italian. My grandfather was Italian. And so she must've gotten this from her in-laws. I just found her a recipe.
00:27:24
Speaker
And there were two things that she said that I was like, huh? So Fleischmann's or something, it starts with an F margarine. Maybe it's not Fleischmann's cause that's yeast, but maybe it's the same thing. So there's like a specific kind of margarine that was like, if you don't have this, it's not real and whiskey.
00:27:41
Speaker
Oh,
00:27:44
Speaker
I don't do that. I'm interested to try it this year and see like what difference is, but like, I i don't do that. Yeah. I mean, I would just assume because of the temperature, like it just gets like cooked out like the alcohol and you're just left with the flavor, but I don't care for whiskey either.
00:28:01
Speaker
I don't either, but that's because it tastes like lighter fluid when you're drinking it straight, but like, or, or if it's whatever, but I would be curious to know like what it does to the like how it complements the other flavors. By the way, we're talking pizzellas like anybody knows what we're talking about. So like the only reason I know about this is because my mom's side is super Italian, which we've talked about before. One, before you started talking, I don't know that I realized that it was a holiday thing to do pizzellas. I just thought we did it at the holidays. The other thing is we grew up calling them pizzellas.
00:28:30
Speaker
Oh, were American. And I think that was one of the things you corrected early on in our friendship. You're like, it sells. Oh, really? Yes. Cause we were talking, I was like, Oh, pizza is me too. And you were like, it sells.
00:28:42
Speaker
See my family though. I feel like sometimes they would call them pizza. And I'm like, I don't know if they were trying to be funny or if that was like a real pronunciation that they were. pronunciation that we're trying to make stick. I have no idea. For anyone who doesn't know, they look like snowflakes. You make them on sort of like a waffle iron. So they're these thin, just like light kind of buttery. Oh, they're so good. And they look like snowflakes. Well, and they also, too, like if you have seen people make fresh waffle cones, yeah they're basically like a waffle cone that you don't turn into a cone. The thing about them, too, is because they have this pretty like snowflake pattern, if you want to make the perfect pizzele,
00:29:26
Speaker
You have to be very strategic in the placement of the batter in the iron. And you have to be strategic about the ratio because otherwise you just get this big old mess. And then you I always like break off the excess and then just eat the crumbs because it still tastes delicious. My aunt got me Pitzel iron last year because we made them at her house. Actually, there was one, it was the first year that we got married. I want to say we went to visit my aunt and she was like excited to make Pitzels for John because it was, you know, something he wasn't used to.
00:30:00
Speaker
We were eating them and he was like, I think he was like trying to be polite because he was like, oh yeah, those are great. And I was like, i think something's off with these pazzelles. They don't taste right. They don't taste right. And like, lo and behold, it was like, we're all kind of like, what is that smell? Like somehow there was some kind of like fish oil,
00:30:23
Speaker
That got into the recipe or she mistakenly grabbed the wrong oil. was so terrible. So like we like would have the greatest laugh about that. Like be like, are these good pit cells or these fish oil pit cells?
00:30:38
Speaker
did he So does he like them now that he's had a proper pizzo? I think he'll eat them. But I will say also it comes down to the consistency for him because he didn't grow up with any type of cookie that wasn't like oatmeal, chocolate chip, or peanut butter. Like those are sugar. Like those are cookies. I found this one biscotti recipe that I really got good at and liked. And he was just like,
00:31:06
Speaker
trying to be a good sport. And I was like, do you hate these? Like, do you not like cookies? And he doesn't, it just apparently comes down to, he doesn't like anything crispy. He doesn't want a crispy cookie. Your biscottis are not crispy. They are like, there's a little crunch, but the, oh my gosh, like that breaks my heart that he doesn't appreciate the. He'll eat it, but it's like,
00:31:28
Speaker
He's so vanilla when it comes to cookies. He really is. My mom would bake around the holidays. Like that's when she would bake. It was not abnormal that our dining room table would just be covered in huge Tupperware containers. And then... If you needed to bring something to an event that you were invited to, or you just were going to see somebody and it was around the holidays, you made them a plate of cookies and she would wrap it up and, you know, get the the festive paper. And you just, it was like your hostess gift. It's funny that you're mentioning that though, because my mom is also, i mean, she looks very Italian too. And I was explaining to my husband when I made these, my mom was,
00:32:11
Speaker
would our entire kitchen table would be covered in cookies. And like, she was pretty anti sugar in our house. So we were not allowed to eat a lot of sugar.
00:32:22
Speaker
so the cookies always disappeared. And I never knew where they went to because like, we would get a couple of them. But I'm wondering now that you're saying that if that was like she grew up seeing because that's what she would do too, is just like give away cookies.
00:32:34
Speaker
yeah And then we would have a few. She made snickerdoodles, which I still love, but she would put like a green cherry. She would put like one that was green and one that was red in the middle. And i hated that. So I would eat like literally nibble all around the berries in the middle yeah and not eat that part. And she would make Pitzels. Her sister would also make Pitzels. And we would we would road trip there, which was a long drive. We were all belted in because rule followers. And we also had like a big, whatever, eight passenger van or whatever it was. It was kind of a creepy looking tan van. It's like, it's the same van in Home Alone that the burglars used.
00:33:11
Speaker
That van, that Dodge Ram van, except it was tan. And it was like an extended cab. That was our van. That wasn't the one you had in high school. No, that one was even creepier. But that's we would drive those to Chicago. we had family in Chicago. That was a long drive, but we always look forward to it. Like it was always something that we really enjoyed. And we would kind of alternate with that part of the family. It's like every other year we would go there and then they would come to us. So it was like 22 hours. And I remember my friends, my parents stopping once at a rest stop.
00:33:43
Speaker
to nap. Like we would basically drive straight through and we did not have like activities in the car. We didn't have any TV to watch. Like, I think I had a Walkman at some point, like a, Oh yeah. That's a big deal. That was a big deal.
00:33:57
Speaker
Yeah. But then the batteries would run out like a 22 hour drive. Like, oh my gosh. Food
Motherhood & Meaningful Traditions
00:34:02
Speaker
wise. I'm trying to think of like, I don't remember Christmas dinner at all. I don't remember any traditional foods that we ate or anything like that. We were, you know,
00:34:12
Speaker
My mom was not, I don't think like who's super into, and nor am i ah super into like ham. So it's not like we had like a Christmas ham. That wasn't it. So when you were like, oh, you know, just the traditional dinner. I'm like, what's that? I don't actually. Yeah, I think it was ham because you had just had a turkey for Thanksgiving.
00:34:29
Speaker
Oh, oh, this needs to be said. Christmas decorating in my house. And I, at the time I was like, you're nutty mom. And now I'm like, I kind of want to do this. Every year i remember.
00:34:43
Speaker
From like middle elementary on, my mom would put Celine Dion Christmas in the CD player, blast it. through the house and she would decorate the whole house in her very traditional tartan, you know, like Christmas stuff. There were not any like nutcrackers or Santa Claus's around the house, but it was all just like red and green and like holly. And I did it actually. No, I put it on, like I started playing this Lain D on Christmas album. What was I doing? I think when I was addressing Christmas cards or something this year. Just out of habit, just out of like nostalgia. Yeah.
00:35:16
Speaker
Yes. Pun intended. It's all coming back to me now. And <unk>ch it and it I, I really enjoy that. Like I cherish that memory. It was one of the one of the times that really stood out to me of like, I could tell my mom was just really enjoying herself. Like she wasn't like, y'all leave me alone and get out of my way. She was just like, I'm doing this. She never invited us in to do it either, but she wasn't like, get out of the house. She was just like,
00:35:45
Speaker
This is what I'm doing right now. This is happening. Yeah. Yeah. the The house felt like there was just joy in it. Our Christmas tree, we had the the multicolored like chunky lights. You know what i'm talking about?
00:35:57
Speaker
i think so. We would put on the tree, just, you know, red and blue and yellow and orange. And i think people use them mostly for exterior now, but we use those for our tree inside. And I remember every year them taking all the strips of lights out and like testing them.
00:36:13
Speaker
So it was like if the string of lights went out because a fuse went out or something, or you had to figure out like which light bulb these are things kids don't appreciate. You don't know. like It took us forever to decorate that tree, kids. like You don't even understand what LED means and how it has made your life better. We had to wait for so long for them to like unscrew all the different light bulbs to figure out like which one was making the whole strand not work.
00:36:39
Speaker
And then like was it a light bulb? Was it a fuse? We have to figure it out. And then they'd have to like get them all together. and I'm like, Now I'm like, why didn't we just buy new lights?
00:36:49
Speaker
Yeah. Like we literally had those lights my entire childhood. Wow. And they lasted? Girl, you know my mom. Yes. Wow. That's impressive.
00:37:00
Speaker
yeah Is it? Or we wasted a bunch of time when we could have been decorating the tree. You know what I heard this year? This is a fun practical tip. This sweet woman, her name is Babs on social media and she's adorable. And she gave the best piece of advice So for a real tree, the first time you water it, you crush up one baby aspirin and you put it in a pitcher of hot water.
00:37:23
Speaker
And that's how you water the tree. And that keeps the pine needles from falling off. What? She said she learned that at a tree farm like years ago, and she's done it every year. And she's like a grandmother. So I tried it because we have a real tree this year.
00:37:36
Speaker
I need to learn if this is actually how to make these trees last because I have purchased, like, I guess the marketing got the best of me. And I was like, oh, this is like, you know, like miracle grow for your Christmas tree to keep it alive longer. and i I straight up killed that thing. So, i mean, it was already dead. I killed it till it was dead. Like it was prematurely falling apart. So yeah I would love to those. That's a fun tip.
00:38:04
Speaker
This is something that my mom nailed and I thought it was just super cute. Every year, so i let it was myself and my two brothers, um and every year we would get an ornament for each one of us. So for every year for Christmas,
New Year's Reflections & Resolutions
00:38:18
Speaker
like when we were decorating our Christmas tree, we would get to put up our own ornaments. And like, we always knew like these are ours, whatever. And then once we all like grew up and got out of the house,
00:38:30
Speaker
She then got three little trees, like three artificial trees, and she put each of our ornaments on their own respective tree. So now in her house, like each of us have our own tree and it's like special to her and it's cute to us. And like, a sweet little tradition, like one to carry forward. So that's a really, really sweet tradition. I really liked that. I told John, as I was making putting up our ornaments, that is my favorite part of decorating the Christmas tree, looking at our ornaments, because we've done that since we got married.
00:39:09
Speaker
I have, you know, an ornament from, our engagement. i have an ornament from our first Christmas. We just have made a point if we go anywhere, any time year, we say, we have we scout out where to find an ornament.
00:39:24
Speaker
So we literally have ornaments from the past 12 years of where we've been And looking forward to next year, we have some international travel.
00:39:36
Speaker
He made the comment like, oh we're going to have... ornaments from here and here and here next year. It's going to be even more. And like, to your point, when we first got married, like we didn't have anything, like we had no ornaments. And so it was literally anything that I can find at Target or you know, Walmart or whatever.
00:39:58
Speaker
And now it's it's full of our family. It's full of... And that piece is really fun to look at and and just think that it's only going to be more full?
00:40:11
Speaker
Yeah. um Fuller. figure When you were a kid or growing up, I'm thrilled to talk about this because y'all are really going to get to see how weird Anne-Marie is. Are there...
00:40:24
Speaker
gifts that you remember that were really special growing up or that you were really excited about, like whatever it might've been. I think I remember more of like the disappointments. I, you know, I take that back. There was one year i got a VHS tape of a live tour. You're just going to laugh. And this is going to be more insight into my weirdness. It was a Hanson live from Albertane.
00:40:54
Speaker
tour. That was last year, by the way, that she got that. Who am I kidding? And I watched that thing over and over and over again. i was so excited. i was just, they were some of my favorite guys.
00:41:11
Speaker
but i I still enjoy their music. When I was pregnant, I went with Helena to a Hanson concert and got COVID. That's love. I also went to a Hanson concert when I was pregnant.
00:41:32
Speaker
I flew across the country pregnant to go to a Hanson concert with Helena. And by the way, yeah she indulged me. i like right before she got married, like I love Citizen Cope. Like Big L love Citizen Cope. And it was like, they're going to be, you know, nearby. Let's go do a road trip. And she was like, I'm down. So, yeah. So to make you feel a little better, this one year, my brothers asked my parents for a Nintendo 64. When, and like the year that Nintendo 64 came out, I think.
00:42:02
Speaker
And I think my parents were like, what are we going to do? Because like, we we we're not getting a Nintendo 64. That's not happening. But that year, i asked for a typewriter. And my parents were like, yes.
00:42:16
Speaker
Because like, I think my dad was still attached to like an office supply chain of some kind because he used to own like an office supply store. And so I think he still like had some ins and like, by the way, typewriters. So it was like- He probably got it for free. like And it was a great typewriter. like So I got a typewriter and my brother's got a Nintendo 64. I think they got to take my budget and just put over, shift it over toward my- Just shifted. They were like, great.
Intentional Holidays & Gratitude
00:42:44
Speaker
We're just going everybody gets what they want.
00:42:47
Speaker
Yes. And I was thrilled. And I typed on that thing constantly for years and years and years. like That's why you were such a faster typer than me. You you really- Maybe, but I loved the click of the keys. I loved the way that sounded and the way it felt, but I was, I am also, and certainly have always been a writer.
00:43:09
Speaker
Yeah. Created a whole series like of novels. I had a main character. She like went to, her name was Maria. Where are these novels?
00:43:21
Speaker
That's a good question. but Maybe my mom has them. I'm not sure. oh my gosh. we need di Yes, she was. She was. Yes. Do you still have the typewriter? No, the typewriter is gone.
00:43:33
Speaker
um it was cool. It had like a digital display so I could type it out first and see it on the digital display and then kind of hit print. And then I could watch the typewriter, like type it. It had the whiteout so I could like delete stuff. And it was, it was. pretty cool, like, you know, for third grade. And then I i mean, I kept it for a long time. But that was like, that was a really special one.
00:43:55
Speaker
This is going to come up probably in the next conversation we have, which I'm so equal parts looking forward to and not at all looking forward to the the family of origin stuff for me, like we were hyper Christian, which I think is so interesting, because Advent was never part of the discussion.
00:44:14
Speaker
What about you? Like, was there, did you even have Advent calendars? Like I had no concept of what Advent even was. Except in Home Alone, Home Alone 2, whenever they do like the open the doors, like I recognize that that was a calendar counting down for Christmas. Yeah. But I did not understand Advent at all.
00:44:33
Speaker
So that was um something that I feel like I ah saw for the first time in tv in like movies as well, like the opening thing. And i saw that or it registered more as like a countdown, more as more than like Advent to me, because for me growing up, Advent meant going through the different stages of like the Advent wreath.
00:45:03
Speaker
Was this the Catholic tradition? Oh, I mean, i think there's other denominations that may still use the Advent wreath. We do at our church, we do Advent candles. There's four candles. yes So there was, I'm just now starting to understand that. so Okay. Yeah. So there was the Advent wreath and they would have one on the altar at church. So you could, based on the week you knew, cause the candle was lit. And I'm still learning about that. Like I don't, So we we lit the second one this last Sunday.
00:45:33
Speaker
but like when we lit the first one, our pastor was explaining like, this is this is the commencement of Advent season. like we are celebrating the Messiah is coming. Like this, you know, and this is the beginning of that season. And I was like, cool.
00:45:46
Speaker
I like that. Like, yeah, but I'm not as much as we were Christians and as much as we were, you know, in your face about it during the holiday season, there was very little conversation about the promised Messiah.
00:46:01
Speaker
like celebrating what that meant. And that's become a very different experience for me as an adult. So like really in the last few years, because i' never understood it and and nobody's really explained it to me. And I've not really asked the questions out loud. And I'm like, okay, I understand.
00:46:18
Speaker
Like we have an advent calendar at home, honestly, because I want it somewhere. I was like, this is cute. But I started to really, as an adult, understand the more that I become a student of the word and the more that I, that it becomes real. And I realized the place that society was in at the time that Jesus came and just seeing the hopelessness and the helplessness and the centuries long expectation of the one that would come and break the curse, you know, like all these generations that died waiting for the promised Messiah, you know, in Genesis, God died.
00:46:55
Speaker
says, like, I'm going to redeem what has been lost through the curse, like through the fall in the garden. and then you go all through the Old Testament and you see that they are constantly looking to who is going to be the one.
00:47:11
Speaker
And then you get to, and you like, oh my gosh, if you start to read through like Judges, the end of Judges is a full on dumpster fire. yeah It is the worst thing you've ever read. Like it is there is all kinds of things that I can't even repeat to keep it like a, you know, clean podcast. Like there's so much in there.
00:47:34
Speaker
That's just horrific. And you get to the end of it and it's like, I'm like, why, why is this happening? Why is this happening? And like the last sentence of it is basically like in those days, there were no judges, there were no prophets, there were no Kings. Everyone did what they thought was right in their own eyes.
00:47:50
Speaker
And then you go right into Ruth and like, you know, the story of Ruth and Ruth really, if you get into Ruth, like, yes, she was faithful to her mother-in-law and that's great. But she was married. Her husband that died was part of the lineage through the promise seed, the promise lineage. The story of Ruth is really carrying the seed of the promise through...
00:48:11
Speaker
a really awful time in the time of judges and her being a single woman and going out in the fields and trying to glean wheat and stuff. She was very vulnerable in a very violent, dangerous, immoral time. Like there's so much more to it than just like she got, she found her Boaz and whatever. Like, it's not that like she carried the seed forward through very unlikely circumstances.
00:48:37
Speaker
And then you get to the place at which Jesus is born, the purpose in my mind, like as you really get into Advent and you really understand the place that humanity was when this very humble, totally unlikely circumstance happened, like a baby, an infant was born to a virgin. Like there's just so many things about that, that now as an adult, like It's a cute story that there were sheep and donkeys all around him. And he was laid in straw. And, you know, Mary was like, how can this be? if there were shepherds and whatever. But like, then you think about even like the Magi, the wise men, these were not necessarily followers of Yahweh either, but they saw the signs and were like, something important is happening. So even that they came from their distant lands and their distant gods,
00:49:30
Speaker
to come and like pay homage to something that had happened that was very clear that it happened. Like they're seeing these signs in the sky. Like it's as an adult, the Advent has just become a really special time for me to remember if he said it, he's going to do it.
00:49:49
Speaker
And not in the way that I expect. Someone said once, and I so appreciate it because it's so true. Like God is never late, but he's very rarely early. And like, it's such a perfect picture of that in the coming of Jesus. Like he was right on time, but not a moment sooner. And he did exactly what he said he was going to do in spectacular fashion.
00:50:12
Speaker
So as a believer, like recognizing that is is beautiful. And I'm so thankful for Advent season. And that's something that like really wasn't talked about in the Christmas programs of my youth.
00:50:26
Speaker
That as an adult, I... so appreciate about this season that makes it so much more than just the commercialized ah blow up Santa on a tractor or whatever in the front yard. you know like it's it's It is the remembrance that not only is God faithful, like he is very specifically and intentionally paying attention right now and throughout all of history.
00:50:52
Speaker
like Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. Well, I mean, i think to pick up where you just left off, the intentionality of it, you can't deny. i think that gives us even more, almost more of like just the responsibility to honor the holiday in that way.
00:51:12
Speaker
Right. Where it's not a matter of obligation. It's not a matter of this is what you ought to do. My hope is it's part of my child, my children's testimony. You know, for our family, we are fortunate enough to have a close friend of ours who has created part of our tradition. And um he wrote a small book as The Advent blocks is what they're called. When we first got them, our girls were little, and i read them the Advent book. It basically starts at the beginning of the Bible and walks you through you know all the way to the birth of Jesus I was learning as I'm reading this story to my kids, all of these things that as a Christian, you kind of look at Old Testament and think these don't pertain to me. This was Jewish law. This is Jewish tradition. While we kind of look at these stories and these parts of the Bible as not pertaining to us, once you kind of, once that clicks and you understand like, no, this, you're in, like if you're in this family, you're in.
00:52:24
Speaker
And it's like, all of this is, is part of the story that you need to be paying attention to. As you were talking, we're going to talk a lot about motherhood, but like my motherhood journey was very delayed compared to Helena. so Selena got started a lot earlier. And so I really grieved that in the times that your kids were being born. But now one of the things two years ago that Helena sent for my youngest was it is the story of Christmas And it is read out loud by her daughters to my kids. And so every year we get to read that and they're just a little bit further ahead than mine.
00:53:01
Speaker
and so they're getting to share with with my child, like what they have learned. And my child is getting to listen to that from your daughters. And like, how sweet is that, that and And my child looks forward to that.
00:53:18
Speaker
Like when that book comes out, in my lap, reading it and listening to your daughters, like reading it out loud. So it's just a sweet thing to look forward to i forgot I forgot we did that. Yes. oh That was money well spent for sure on Christmas stuff. We'll talk briefly about Santa Claus. We're not trying to butcher anything here. like I will say my child is just now starting to have an awareness of Santa. So we were walking around like an old historic part of town.
00:53:49
Speaker
And there was a man dressed as Santa Claus because it was like ah it was like the kickoff of the holidays or whatever. And he saw small child outside and thought, I'm going to be really sweet and I'm going to come out and say hi. My kid was not interested. i was going to I'm not for or against just fundamentally like I don't necessarily have like a strong feeling one way or another about Santa being incorporated or not incorporated but we have not emphasized it as a as a concept like I'm Buddy the Elf in other ways but I'm not like Santa but I'm also not like no I know for myself as a child I was very aware that it was a cover your kids ears that it was a fictional just premise thing that was just like a you know
00:54:39
Speaker
Um, and I, and, and I said to my mom in like early elementary, like, I know Santa's not real. And she was like, what, what, how do you know that? I'm like, it's, I don't, I mean, the tooth fairy is also not real. Like that's, I don't know how you're getting the quarter under my pillow, but I know it's you that's doing it. Yes. I know you have some strong feelings.
00:54:57
Speaker
I mean, i just, it it wasn't ever something that we were on different pages about. So I feel like when we had our first daughter, like I was like, we're not doing, so are we doing Santa? No, we're not doing Santa. It's cool. And we were like, yep.
00:55:15
Speaker
And I think it also depends on your community. So a lot of their friends when they were really little also did not do Santa Claus. So it wasn't anything that we had to like tiptoe around because nobody was talking about Santa Claus. Like it was certainly something that was still a conversation piece because they were wanting to understand why is this guy here? Like what's his purpose? Like that kind of thing. So it was an opportunity for us to explain like how that tradition started. Like we explained to it by way of saying like, this was a man, his name was St. Nicholas. This is, i got him a book and we would read the book. And it was like, this is a tradition that some families like to continue and they do it this way. And this is the way that they celebrate
00:56:08
Speaker
the holiday. And they're like, that's just not the way we're deciding to do our holiday. Just don't ruin it for them. ah But then my kids would just be like, well, you tell me that this isn't real, but my friend said their elf did this. And you know, this person wrote Santa Claus and they got a response.
00:56:27
Speaker
Riddle me that, you know, That happened to me, by the way, I wrote Santa letter and he wrote me one back and it looked very official. Right. So I think there was yet one year that happened to me as well, but it's like, they are definitely, they're siding with their friends for sure. But I think my kid is like me.
00:56:45
Speaker
Cause even when I got that letter from Santa, I was like, how did my parents do this? Like I was very aware. i was like, does my dad have a printer that could do this? Like I don't, you know, and I was impressed. I was pumped and I was like, this person clearly knows me. is this my dad? Like, you know, I, but I didn't immediately think it's Santa. He wrote me back. And I just observing my own child, I'm guessing that they're going to be similar. And like, how'd you do that?
00:57:09
Speaker
Yeah. You know, but I still think they'll enjoy it. I want to talk about new year's primarily because, this fun little note came across my desk from a friend of mine.
00:57:20
Speaker
And it says regarding new years, I remember a few times as a kid, My mom getting a pot and metal spoon and walking down the street of our neighborhood, banging the pot while screaming Happy New Year at midnight and encouraging us to join her.
00:57:37
Speaker
Looking back, I think what my friend meant to write was mortified, but she wrote, I'm modified that we do this. The year of typos. I need you to tell me more about this.
00:57:50
Speaker
Yeah, girl. Like, can envision it from the stories of your mom and, like, from having met her. Like, I can picture it. But, like... yeah Did you join her? There was a year. And oh, now that we're kind of reminiscing. I do remember maybe she got this from a time when we were in Pittsburgh with some of her friends. Cause we used to go to one family's house every year. And I feel like I vaguely remember cause I was young doing the same thing. Okay.
00:58:21
Speaker
Yeah. She didn't make this up on her own. She was like, no, this, this was like, yeah, this was encouraged by others. We all did it. Like we were all going down the street and banging. And as a kid, like I remember thinking, this seems very rude.
00:58:39
Speaker
Like this, I had, like, I just remember thinking like, it's not like our neighbors are out and they're like, yeah, happy new years. They were like, their houses were dark because they were asleep.
00:58:53
Speaker
And it was midnight because it was midnight and here we are likely waking them. Nothing was ever the same. We never did the same thing. We were never home.
00:59:04
Speaker
We were always at a church event. Um, one time it was at a bowling alley, probably the same bowling alley that we would have gone to together many years later. Okay. Um, And I remember like, you know, streamers. But you wouldn't be there at midnight.
00:59:19
Speaker
Yes, ma'am. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. Oh, yeah. We were up at midnight. And we did. Like, we went cosmic bowling. That was fun. enjoyed that. That's cool. That's fun. I don't have any consistent memories of New Year's. Like, I remember as either late high school or right out of high school, like, meeting a family who did, like, the black-eyed peas and the, you know, like, the superstition. Cabbage.
00:59:42
Speaker
Yeah, it's like you want money and good fortune and whatever. And I was like, it's a thing. And I know and now I understand like people do that, but that was definitely not a part of my whatever. But I will say for myself as an adult, one thing, 2019, I remember in 2020, like January one, and I remember everyone being like, good riddance, 2019. See you later. You're awful.
01:00:09
Speaker
And so obviously we know what happened. 2020 was like, hold my beer. so We get through 2020. And I remember in like New Year's 2021, remember everyone being like, oh, so glad that's over. And I remember like having gained some wisdom from 2020 and being like, don't.
01:00:30
Speaker
Say that, like be thankful for what you have and be aware that you have no idea what's coming. Right. Yeah. And 2021 was worse in some ways. Like it was so hard because it was like, we lost so much time in productivity in those several months that everybody was on lockdown.
01:00:51
Speaker
Everything still had to get done. So I felt like 2021 was like squeezing juice out of a turnip. Like it was awful and just hard, hard, hard. um So that's the first thing is like the whole farewell to the, you know, crappy previous year, like it's be thankful. and And number two, like I tend to get like a sense for a theme for what's coming.
01:01:13
Speaker
So, you know, like one year it was the previous year, like the year my dad passed away, um which has, it's been 10 years now, but like when he passed away, i got poured into so much that year. Like there were so many people who were so intentional and generous in just being present and being like, we're here for you, like whatever. And then it was like the next year came around, or maybe it was because he passed away in the middle of the year, but like, whatever it was, the turn of the the next year, it was like the sense that came to my mind was like, your turn.
01:01:46
Speaker
And not like I have to, it's not like a tit for tat thing, but it was like, it's your turn. Like you've been poured into not just to be poured into. and now you get the opportunity. Like you're not in the same place that you were in. And now it's your turn to look around and pour out. Just get a sense for things like that of like, this year is going to be a year of growth or whatever. And not, I'm not like manifesting that.
01:02:13
Speaker
It's just a sense that I get. I like that a lot more than the, I'm going to lose 20 pounds or not be angry anymore. you know, there's, there's merit to those things. um But for me, it's just been like an evaluation of like, what, what was good about this past year? What am I thankful for? What did I learn?
01:02:35
Speaker
Yeah. And like, now that there is this societal reset, how can I take that opportunity into, you know, this coming year? how do I want that to look different?
01:02:48
Speaker
I think that's just a healthier, more productive way that's less pitfalls. Like there's grace in it. there's ah There's a fundamental understanding that I'm not in control. Like there's there's very few things that I'm in control of and just kind of surrendering to the one that is remembering all the ways that he has always, always, always provided for me. And just trusting that whatever comes, like he is, he's going to provide in the following year. So things you want to take away from holiday, like as an adult, now that you are just more self-aware as a human being, now that you have life and experience under your belt, like what are things that you think? The ages that my kids are I'm really appreciating the opportunity to soak in the moments during this season because they still get excited to do things. you know i hope that they can one day have ah a conversation with a friend or each other and just say we have they have memories life.
01:03:54
Speaker
a family that was intentional to make them aware of why we were celebrating and like that be what is the, at the front of their memory. And it's like just this time of year where, like I said, like, I just hope that they can look back and say, not only was Christmas growing up a sweet, happy time,
01:04:20
Speaker
but helped to build my understanding of who Christ is For me, it's just been like the the things that I know are leaving an impression on the minds that are still developing in my household are the moments like when my mom would put the Celine Dion Christmas album on and just delight in what she was doing.
01:04:45
Speaker
And just having an awareness of that, that like the best thing I can do in the role that I'm in as a wife and a mother as the one that's responsible for managing a lot of the nuts and bolts of the holidays is to delight in it.
01:05:01
Speaker
Like to just remember that like it actually doesn't matter that there's a typo on my Christmas card. And it doesn't matter whether it gets there before Helena's or after New Year's. Like it it really doesn't matter. And the things that do matter, like not not losing sight of them because I'm stressed about things not going just so. And just like getting up a little earlier in the morning so that I can slow the game down for the rest of the day. And just having my time with the Lord and saying, like, I'm stressed about this today. I'm stressed about this today. I'm stressed about this today. And I'm surrendering this to you. Like, I know that you have the outcome so that, like, my kids can appreciate the wonder of the season rather than me being, like, a tyrant walking around, you know, in a Santa hat. like Right. Yeah.
01:05:56
Speaker
That's a good place to say farewell on this one. um i do want to say in closing, as we always do, this podcast is our love letter to God. So if it benefits, inspires, or otherwise blesses you, we give all glory to him. And we are so glad that you're along for the next Twister turn.
01:06:13
Speaker
If you loved our podcast, the very best compliment you can give us is to share it with a friend, like it, tell us what you love about it. Send us an email at twistsandturnspodcasts at gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you. We'd love to hear your feedback. This one was a little bit different. We took a little break from laying the foundation of the story that we're telling just to talk about you know something that we think is worth talking about, which was holiday traditions. And we hope that you've taken away that Don't lose the spirit of of what it means. Not just keep Christ in Christmas. Yes, of course.
01:06:48
Speaker
um But also enjoy it. Enjoy it. Whatever it looks like for you, whether you are alone, whether you are surrounded by people and you wish you were alone, whatever the case is, like enjoy it.
01:07:00
Speaker
Just embrace it for what it is um and find the delight in it. um Coming up next, probably, we're we're going to have and a conversation that I don't want to have.
01:07:11
Speaker
ah The next conversation is probably going to be um just me talking about just foundationally my perspective of keep the world, I guess.
01:07:23
Speaker
um just my upbringing and some things that really, really shaped my worldview that we think are important for you to know as I'm commenting on things. It's helpful for you to understand the perspective that I'm coming from. And it's helpful to have the backstory and the context of that ah before we move any further. In the same way that we thought, like, we want you to know about what Helena has experienced lately and kind of the space that she's in and and the value that she has of her life because of nearly losing it so that those words hold more weight. This is kind of that conversation foundationally for me.
01:08:01
Speaker
I'm super nervous about it to be totally transparent. I've shed tears about it. I am, I've asked for lots of prayer and would love prayer. If you're hearing the sound of my voice, my hope is that it encourages um and paints a realistic picture of who Jesus is and gives a contrast of who he is not. because I think there's a lot of people like my story is unique, but it is not an original story. Like you, it's just not the longer I live, the more I recognize how prevalent what I experienced is. It's different flavors of the same thing for a lot of people. And so we're going to talk about that.
01:08:42
Speaker
I'm going to share some of my story very vulnerably with you. And we're probably going to do that in person. We'll see. Helena is going to be with me. In a couple of weeks and we're super excited about it. There's a Christmas party you're probably going with me too that you don't know about yet. so but um All right, let's do it. Yeah. um I'll have a plate of cookies.
01:09:04
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. well Maybe we'll make some more together. Patzels. Patzels. Patzels. With and without whiskey. And anise. And, oh, sorry, without anise. Those aren't patzels. Those are just snowflake cookies, but we'll bring them. It'll be fine. Thank you.
01:09:22
Speaker
Thanks for tuning in, friends. We're super thankful that you're along on the journey with us and we will see you next time. See you next time. Merry Christmas.