January Recap: Our Adventures & Reflections “Out of the Kitchen”

Welcome back to another installment of “Out of the Kitchen,” where we pull back the curtain on our daily lives, share personal updates, and give you a candid glimpse into what fills our days beyond the recipes. January was a month of new beginnings, challenges, and significant personal growth, and we’re excited to share every moment with you.

We kicked off the New Year embracing a classic pastime: cribbage. Ryan took the lead in teaching me the ropes, and while I’m still very much a novice, he generously complimented my progress. I, however, suspect a healthy dose of beginner’s luck was on my side, dealing me some exceptionally good hands! It was a wonderful, relaxed way to transition into 2025, filled with friendly competition and laughter. On a slightly less glamorous note, the second image in this pair serves as a humorous reminder that not all my culinary creations are picture-perfect. While I strive for appealing aesthetics on the blog, the reality of everyday cooking often involves less artful plating, and that’s perfectly fine!

A significant portion of January was dedicated to a deliciously demanding project: developing healthier brownie recipes. It might sound like a dream job, but trust me, taste-testing batch after batch of brownies – even healthy ones – is surprisingly arduous work! Each attempt involved meticulous adjustments, experimenting with different ingredients and ratios to achieve that perfect fudgy texture without compromising on health benefits. The goal was to create a treat that satisfies cravings without the guilt. When I later polled you all about the idea, the overwhelming enthusiasm confirmed that many of you are just as excited about these healthier brownies as I am. Stay tuned for the refined recipe!

Our neighborhood continues to offer delightful surprises, like the sight of those magnificent wild turkeys, freely wandering the streets as if they own the place! It’s always a unique experience to see such wild beauty so close to home. In stark contrast to the outdoor wanderers, the second photo captures a moment of pure domestic bliss: those precious cat snuggles. Our furry friend provides endless comfort and warmth, reminding us of the simple joys found right within our home. These moments of quiet affection are truly invaluable.

This particular shot (the one on the right in the image above) represents a true feat of solo food photography. Achieving it was an exercise in patience and contortion! Notice how both of my hands are perfectly framed in the picture? This wasn’t magic, but rather a strategic setup involving pointing the camera at my hands, meticulously monitoring the shot on the camera’s screen to my left, all while holding the remote control firmly between my teeth to trigger the shutter. It’s in moments like these that I often wish for an extra pair of hands to assist, yet there’s a certain satisfaction in the ingenuity required to capture the perfect blog-worthy image single-handedly.

And speaking of the behind-the-scenes reality, this image perfectly illustrates what our kitchen typically looks like on a shooting day. Or, dare I say, sometimes even worse! The creative process for developing recipes and capturing beautiful food photography is inherently messy. Flour dusts every surface, bowls pile up, and ingredients are scattered in various stages of preparation. It’s a chaotic but necessary part of bringing delicious content to life. While the final blog posts feature pristine, appealing dishes, this is the often-unseen reality that precedes them. It’s a constant reminder of the effort and passion poured into every recipe we share.

Seeking a moment of tranquility amidst the creative hustle, we ventured out for a beautiful winter walk through a local city forest. The hush of a snow-covered landscape is truly breathtaking. It’s incredibly challenging to convey the profound quietness and crisp stillness of a winter forest through a photograph alone; it’s an experience that truly envelops all senses. As we walked, an intriguing idea sparked: imagine taking a photograph from this exact spot, at the same time, over the course of an entire year. It would be a fascinating visual diary, capturing the dramatic transformations of nature through each season, from the stark beauty of winter to the vibrant life of spring and summer.

These two images offer another peek into the “out of the kitchen” aspects of blogging – specifically, the setup for our video shoots. Producing engaging video content involves careful staging, lighting, and camera work, often in spaces that double as living areas. A persistent challenge has been keeping the carpet beneath our shooting area clean from inevitable food bits and spills. I’ve been meaning to invest in a protective mat or a more practical flooring solution to safeguard against the frequent culinary accidents. It’s a small but significant detail that impacts the efficiency and longevity of our creative workspace.

January blessed us with some truly stunning winter sunsets. The way the vibrant colors of the sky reflect off the pristine white snow on the ground creates a magical, almost otherworldly glow that I cherish. It’s a constant reminder of the simple beauty that surrounds us, even in the colder months. Shifting gears to something a bit more amusing, the second photo captures a menu item we encountered while dining out that struck me as incredibly ironic: a “salad filled baguette.” It prompted a humorous discussion at our table – doesn’t that inherently contradict the very essence of a light, crisp salad? Sometimes culinary concepts lead to delightful paradoxes!

Here’s our beloved Salsa, in what can only be described as his absolute favorite spot: nestled comfortably on his soft blanket, right next to his trusty scratch board, in front of the warm glow of the fire, with a favorite toy within paw’s reach. It’s a testament to the simple, luxurious life of a pampered house cat! The second photo reveals a quote I carefully arranged on our felt board. It quickly became a significant mantra for the month, and you’ll soon understand why it resonated so deeply with a particular project I embarked upon.

Huge props to Ryan this month! He bravely tackled the task of learning how to change the oil on both of our cars – a skill that saves us money and adds to our self-sufficiency. I must say, he looked pretty impressive and accomplished while doing it! This embrace of new practical skills is something I deeply admire. The second photo, however, offers a much more typical and relatable glimpse into our weekend reality. It’s a comforting scene: the fire crackling, inevitable piles of laundry awaiting attention, and Ryan, completely exhausted, comfortably asleep on the couch long before 9 PM. It’s these authentic moments that truly define our downtime together.

Our neighborhood continues to surprise us with its wildlife. If you look closely at the first photo, you’ll spot a deer casually strolling down the sidewalk across the street! While we frequently see deer in our area, they usually stick to the yards and natural spaces, making this urban promenade quite the unusual sight. It’s these unexpected moments that remind us of the blend of nature and suburban life here. On a culinary note, the second photo celebrates a fantastic discovery: a local Mexican restaurant that offers a robust selection of delicious gluten-free options. Finding a reliable and tasty spot that caters to dietary needs is always a win, and we’ve quickly become obsessed!

This month, I decided to embark on a significant DIY adventure: adding beautiful shiplap to our fireplace wall! This is precisely where the quote I shared earlier on the felt board truly comes into play. I won’t lie, the prospect of tackling this project initially filled me with apprehension. My experience with power tools was minimal, my woodworking knowledge was limited, and my measuring skills, let’s just say, aren’t my strongest suit. However, instead of allowing fear to paralyze me, I made a conscious decision to challenge myself, to prove that I was capable of learning and mastering these new skills. I headed to Home Depot, carefully selected all the wood I needed, had it expertly cut to size, and then loaded it into my car—all by myself. It was an incredibly empowering experience. Too often, I find myself defaulting to relying on Ryan, sometimes subconsciously believing I can’t manage certain tasks simply because I’m a woman, or assuming he’s inherently more experienced because he’s a man. But the truth, a powerful and liberating truth, is this: anyone, regardless of gender, can absolutely learn how to use power tools and tackle home improvement projects. This project became a personal mission to dismantle those internal biases.

The shiplap installation is well underway! While I’ve definitely leaned on Ryan for his precision with measurements (a skill I’m still developing!), and he’s been instrumental in helping me with the heavier lifting and initial board placement, I’ve been diligently working to handle the majority of the tasks myself. This has included borrowing various tools from friends, carefully cutting the wood to fit each section, and confidently using the nail gun. We’re currently about halfway through the process, and there’s still plenty to do: finishing the sides of the fireplace, meticulously applying putty to fill nail holes, caulking the seams for a smooth finish, priming the entire surface, and finally, painting it to match our aesthetic. I’m approaching this project with patience; there’s no rush to complete it, and I anticipate it might take another month or so to reach its full completion. The anticipation is building, and I genuinely hope we absolutely love the transformation once it’s all done!

Opening Up: Reflections on Marriage, Life Transitions, and Personal Growth

Before diving into my January goals, I want to briefly touch on something more personal. I never quite got around to sharing our “out of the kitchen” post for December, and there’s a good reason for that.

The tail end of December proved to be a particularly challenging period for Ryan and me in our marriage. We found ourselves not being as intentional about carving out quality time together, and it felt like arguments were becoming more frequent than moments of harmonious connection. Navigating a difficult season in your marriage is tough, but it’s even harder when you don’t have a strong support system of solid friendships or immediate family surrounding you. We’ve been actively working on cultivating those friendships here in our current city, where we’ve now lived for eight months. I am incredibly grateful, thanking the Lord, that He has truly helped us to feel a sense of home and belonging here. Our transition to Michigan, in retrospect, has been remarkably smoother than our previous move to Illinois, which brings immense relief.

For those of you who might be new to our journey and unfamiliar with our story, Ryan and I embarked on a whirlwind summer after college. We graduated, got married, and then promptly moved from Minnesota to Illinois, all within the span of a few months. Our move to Illinois was driven by Ryan’s pursuit of his Ph.D., a monumental academic undertaking.

Graduate school spanned five intense years, which also happened to coincide with our first five years of marriage. This critical period is where many patterns and habits, both constructive and detrimental, can become deeply ingrained. We were simply overjoyed and incredibly relieved when Ryan finally graduated, so much so that I don’t think we fully anticipated or adequately planned for how this new chapter of life would fundamentally impact our marital dynamic. In hindsight, because his schooling was so demanding and all-consuming, I believe we mistakenly assumed that anything post-grad school would feel comparatively easy. We were mistaken.

The reality was that grad school placed immense constraints on our marriage. During the most intense phases, it often felt like we were merely trying to survive, to just “get by.” This translated into countless late nights for Ryan at the lab, and a significant amount of time spent at home alone for me – which, ironically, is precisely how this blog initially came into being as a creative outlet. During those years, we considered it a triumph if we could manage to see each other for a mere 45 minutes in the evenings. Consequently, we fell into a pattern of pursuing activities separately, simply because that was the harsh reality dictated by our life circumstances.

Now, with Ryan having transitioned into a full-time job, the demands, while still significant, are no longer quite as intense as his academic career. This shift has presented us with a wonderful opportunity to spend more quality time together. Initially, we thought this would be an instant boon to our relationship. However, we’ve slowly realized that it also comes with its own unique set of challenges. We are actively having to “un-do” some of those deeply ingrained patterns and habits that were established and reinforced over those five years. It truly feels like we are learning how to be married again, navigating this entirely new season of life with fresh eyes and a renewed commitment to intentional connection.

Something I personally struggle with, and I imagine many of you might relate, is the tendency to believe that other couples don’t experience disagreements or face complex issues to work through, unlike us. To combat these isolating thoughts, I’ve found immense comfort and strength in two key areas: rooting myself deeply in my faith in Jesus, and finding solidarity when other couples bravely share their own struggles and vulnerabilities. It is incredibly helpful and normalizing to realize that we are not alone in facing these challenges, and that experiencing hard seasons in marriage is, in fact, quite normal. At least, I certainly think so – do you also go through challenging periods in your marriage?

Switching topics slightly, I had set four specific goals for the month of January. I’m experimenting with a new approach to goal setting, embracing monthly goals after being introduced to Lara Casey’s “PowerSheets” by my friend Steph, who is a strong advocate for this method of intentional planning. My January goals were: to engage with God’s word daily, to put my clothes away each day (thereby avoiding the dreaded “pile on the floor”), to get to the gym four days a week, and to consistently use my PowerSheets daily.

I am genuinely proud to report that I did exceptionally well with two of those goals. Spending dedicated time with Jesus each morning has now become something I genuinely crave; it’s a spiritual anchor that grounds my day. Similarly, the habit of putting my clothes away immediately has, almost miraculously, become a natural part of my routine. It’s rewarding to see these consistent efforts translate into tangible, positive changes.

Unfortunately, my other two goals weren’t as successful. Typically, maintaining a consistent gym routine isn’t an issue for me. However, this month, I unexpectedly came down with costochondritis, which is essentially intense rib pain exacerbated by persistent coughing. I’ve been trying to give my body the necessary time off to heal, as I’ve found that the more I push myself at the gym, the more the pain stubbornly returns. My impatience in this healing process has been a real test. The fourth goal – to use my PowerSheets daily – frankly, was a significant failure. I think I only managed to glance at them on two days out of the entire month. However, despite the setbacks, I must give myself credit for having clearly articulated these goals at the beginning of January and, crucially, for remembering what they were and succeeding in some of them! It’s all part of the learning process.

I have yet to formulate my goals for February, primarily because I confess a strong dislike for the entire process of goal planning. It often feels daunting and restrictive. Perhaps my strategy for the upcoming month will involve setting a few smaller, more manageable micro-goals. My hope is that by achieving these small wins, I can gradually begin to cultivate a more positive relationship with goal planning itself.

Anyways – amidst all the ups and downs, the projects and reflections, I am profoundly thankful for you, my readers. Thank you for taking the time to read what’s been on my heart, for caring about my journey, and for being such a supportive community. It truly means the world to me. I would absolutely love to have the privilege of praying for you, no matter what you might be going through. Please don’t hesitate to send me an email at [email protected].

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For more behind-the-scenes glimpses into our life and creative work, explore our previous “Out of the Kitchen” posts.