cozy christmas.

This was our first christmas without family, but Ashley and Byron ended up coming over and it was such a lovely day.

And guess what – we all decided on a Tex-Mex taco theme for lunch and it was soooo good!! When tacos are involved, what can go wrong?!

Ashley is vegan, so it’s also a lot of fun to adjust recipes to be conscious of that. That way she can enjoy everything with all of us instead of having a totally separate meal!

Check out our taco bar below… it was so yummy.

Homemade vegan tex-mex taco bar for lunch!

I made panko fried portobello mushrooms, green Mexican rice, stewed black beans, and chipotle sauce. Ashley brought a smokey queso and guacamole – ALL of this was vegan!! We were craving the ‘Independent‘ taco from Torchy’s Tacos… so we were definitely inspired by that. There was also some ground beef, too haha (michael hates mushrooms).

Byron left early because of work, but the rest of us got cozy and watched Home Alone. Such a great christmas movie!

What’s christmas without a cozy fire?!

This is Ashley! Halfway through the movie… this sunset happened. So we went out to our deck to enjoy it because look at all of those soft colors!

Making tea and coffee in our kitchen.. with an amazing sunset.

 

Christmas Eve

I opened one gift for my birthday! I got a meat grinder hahah, I love kitchen gadgets so much. You can see we got Ashley a stocking, but Byron got one too! We just didn’t have it up yet. 😊

Us with our tree. 💙

 

Peacock Lane, Portland

This street is known for their ‘extravagant’ christmas lights on the homes, so we took a stroll through before dinner. It was okay… because there was SO many people!!! You could easily bump shoulder to shoulder with people around you, it was nuts.

An old VW with a santa and snoopy in someone’s driveway. So cute!

Fa-La-La-La-LLAMA!

Just walking around – it started drizzling a little on us.

Good ol’ Mr Grinch.

Despite missing our families, christmas this year was beautiful.

Christmas is a tonic for our souls. It moves us to think of others rather than of ourselves. It directs our thoughts to giving. B.C. Forbes

We usually don’t get each other gifts for the holidays because we have to get gifts for our family, but this year was different! It was actually so much fun to sneak around and get each other gifts and fill the stockings this year!

His gifts:

• Lanikai Ukulele
• Eno’s Tandem Hammock thing
• Estwing Camper’s Axe
• Black Diamond Headlamp

Her gifts:

• KitchenAid Meat Grinder attachment
• Outdoor Cast Iron Propane Stove
• Two Woks
• Soo many kitchen utensils
• Whetstone knife sharpening stone