Author: Allie Zottola

Currently: December 2019

Well, here we are in the last month of 2019. Whew! What a year. Here’s what’s currently going on in my life.

Mom with baby in carrier

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links, so if you purchase something, I might earn a little coffee money at no extra cost to you 🙂

Currently looking forward to This holiday season with Sadie and Jimmy ❤

Current drink Coffee. My throat is still sore from being sick over Thanksgiving, so warm coffee in the morning is especially lovely. I also had apple cider recently and it hit the spot!

Current fun We’re still going strong with taking a walk as a family each night when Jimmy gets home from work and we love this routine! It’s a great way to unwind after the work day and catch up without distractions. It’s also adorable to see Mavis all bundled up in a sweater.

Cocker spaniel in sweater

Current excitement I think Jimmy is going to take a few days off work soon so we can have a staycation and I’m so pumped. We’re thinking of bringing Sadie to Pittsburgh’s science center because there’s a holiday train display we think she would enjoy seeing.

Current blessing Having work I enjoy, a flexible schedule, and contributing to my family’s business. Do I know everything about the real estate industry? Absolutely not. Do I relish learning about it every day? Yes!

Current excitement My sourdough starter is alive! I’ve become mildly obsessed with growing and babying it. I even gave it a name–Lyle. Jimmy thinks its funny when I’m like “Oh, it’s time to feed Lyle! He’s really growing fast!” I can’t wait to bake my first loaf of sourdough 🙂

Sourdough starter in a mason jar

Current books Working my way through Exodus and also reading the story of Jesus’ birth in Matthew and Luke. I just finished this cooking-esque memoir, am almost finished with this one about a pastry chef, and this one will be next. I guess I’m on a roll (<– haha, get it?) with the baking and cooking memoirs!

Current craving A day with my sister. She’s absolutely rocking her nursing career, but it keeps her busy. I’m hoping we can get together soon!

Currently baking Challah, challah, and more challah. Loving every second of it. It’s a lot of fun to experiment with different braid shapes, flavoring methods, and rising times. I just had an order for onion challah and got great feedback on it. I’ll have to post some recipes soon!

Loaves of challah bread with onion

Current indulgence Changing into my pjs as soon as it gets dark at night, which is like 5:00 pm. It’s just so cozy!

Current thought I feel like Mavis has been sad and lonely since Lola passed away. It’s the worst at night. Sometimes she just howl-cries and it sounds downright sorrowful. When Lola died, I told myself I wouldn’t get another dog because it’s too hard on everyone when they die. Plus, our little 900-square-foot house is filled to the brim with a dog, overly rambunctious cat, two adults, and a toddler (plus all her stuff… so much stuff), and yet I can’t stop thinking about getting another dog.

But what if the dog and Mavis don’t get along? What if it’s too much? I’m great at asking what-if questions. I know the only way to find out is to just go for it. Or should I not rock the boat with our family dynamics? Am I crazy? Yep.

Cocker spaniel

Current project Still slowly working on our kitchen. Like really, really slowly. But hey, slow and steady wins the race, right? I’m loving all the trips to Lowes (minus the spending money part, lol). Sadie is a big fan of the kids carts!

Lowes kids car cart

Tell me something current in your life!

Our Thanksgiving 2019

Hi! I hope everyone who celebrated had a lovely Thanksgiving! Ours was a bit different this year… we were all a bit sick, but it was no less special, memorable, and fun!

Challah bread

I spent the day before Thanksgiving fulfilling challah orders and even managed to bake one for us to bring to Thanksgiving dinner at my parents’ house! I made two loaves of cinnamon raisin, one loaf of cheddar jalapeño, and one with sun-dried tomato and feta. Man do I love baking.

Sadie had been sick earlier in the week with a fever, and then Jimmy and I caught a cold mid-week, and Sadie woke up with it on Thanksgiving. We visited my in-laws and Sadie had a ball running all around their house.

Toddler and grandma on Thanksgiving

Her little outfit says “thankful for today” and it was given to us from our friends from church Miss Laura and Mr. Dave at Sadie’s baby shower and I’ve literally been dreaming of her wearing it since that day in July 2018!

It was as adorable on her as I thought it would be!

Baby girl with thanksgiving outfit

Sadie played her little heart out and then we drove across Pittsburgh to my parents’ house and she took a turn for the worse with her cold. She had a runny nose in the morning, but by the evening she was pitiful and the most sick I’ve seen her since stomach flu 2k19 hit our house in February.

She was sneezing and coughing and crying and lethargic and it was so, so pitiful. I knew she didn’t feel good when she fell asleep on my mom’s chest on the couch. She usually climbs all over couches and doesn’t ever sit still. Poor girl.

Baby sleeping on grandma

We all enjoyed a delicious turkey dinner compliments of my parents. Afterwards we all just hung out and tried to keep Sadie girl comfortable. My parents had the same cold, so we were all sick together. It was kinda nice not having to worry about passing on our germs, lol!

Sadie had a fitful night of sleep and woke up feeling about the same on Friday so we laid low for the day. Our big Black Friday purchase was a humidifier because we called Sadie’s pediatrician and they recommended one to help with her cough.

Our Thanksgiving was great, though. We were blessed enough to all wake up with a roof over our heads, families to visit, a God who loves us, and a meal on the table. What more could we want!

Tell me about your Thanksgiving!