December: Things That Are Getting Me Through

1.) Chai Tea Dupe

I love chai tea but can't drink it obviously. But I created a dupe that I can make that fills the hole that chai tea left in my life 30 years ago. I love this tea with a cinnamon vanilla creamer. It gets the job done!

2.) Peppermint Scented Everything

I love the smell of peppermint! It is the smell of Christmas to me. Tyler bought 6 bottles of the Mrs. Meyers Peppermint Cleaning spray. That stuff is AMAZING! I also had peppermint Scentsy style wax melts going and several peppermint scented candles. I am still on the hunt for the *perfect* peppermint candle. Don't waste your time on the Mrs. Meyer one. It DOESN'T smell at all like peppermint. It is awful. How does their cleaning spray smell so delicious and their candles are garbage?

3.) Heavenly Caramels or Homemade Caramels

I love caramels. Plain caramels...no chocolate on them. I have tried making them and all of my attempts have been failures. So I am EXTREMELY grateful when kind friends gift them to me at Christmas. My friend Arianne dropped off some fabulous homemade caramels and I ate them in one sitting and didn't share them with anyone. Yikes. Tyler and I randomly found some good ones...the Heavenly brand...but finding them around here is difficult. For instance we found some in the LDS bookstore in town and we found some in TJ Maxx but nowhere else. We will obviously have to buy them online to get our fix. The sea salt caramels are especially good!!

4.) Christmas Decor

I've talked about it in previous posts. I needed all the cheeriness I could get. Christmas lights, trees, decorations, decor, music, smells... you name it... it all worked together to lift my mood this holiday season. I'm going to put up the Valentine's Day decor early this year too.

5.) Pudding in the Instant Pot

This is life changing. Our family loves a good cooked pudding...tapioca, rice... you name it and we like it. But we HATE standing over a stove slowly cooking it for hours and then invariably it would scorch. It is always such a hassle. BUT... we have now cooked pudding twice in the instant pot and it turned out perfectly. LIFE CHANGING!