Happy Hour Friday: 4H’s

One of a Couple of Happy Hour’s Will had waiting for me last week =)

It’s Happy Hour Friday! Today I want to talk to you about something very important, 4H’s. No not head, hands, heart, and health (although I bet I can tie those in). I want to talk to you about:

~Happy Hour (that’s 2 H’s in one)
~Hobbies
~Homemade Pizza

Hang with me. I promise to bring them all together at the end.

1) First of all, this is a pretty good Happy Hour Friday. Aren’t they all? But today is wonderful because Will and I are headed to Nashville for this long weekend to visit Will’s older brother, his wife, and their 3 daughters. That means there will be 5 girls, 3 girl dogs, and 2 men in the house…. John and Will are going to need to stick together. Bro solidarity.

The other exciting thing that I am super pumped for…. I get to see my good friend Vicky! The last time I saw her was 4 months ago at her wedding =)I have known Vicky longer than any other friend I have. She isn’t from Nashville, but just so happens that she will be there. Guess it’s fate that we are friends. We’ve seen each other through a lot, and she has made a lasting impact on me. For instance, thanks to Vicky I was prepared for Will’s love of grey and all things in muted tones. Thanks to Vicky I have become more like Christ. Thanks to Vicky I have courage to go after my dreams. Thanks to Vicky I know what it is to share a deep friendship with someone. I could say simaliar things about many other people in life, but I have to give her credit because she has been doing those things since I was in the 8^th grade. Her friendship has been foundational and constant.

at her wedding =)
best picture ever don’t you think?

Needless to say, I am really looking forward to this weekend.

2) Hobbies. I have them. I think. This blog is a hobby. Exercising and baking are hobbies of mine. A hobby that I have recently developed that needs to be curbed is candy crush. I jokingly told Will the other day that I was going to write a blog post all about how infuriating that game is. Lol. Hobbies are a good thing. A lot of time I make my hobbies into mandatory things that strip them of their diverting nature. Take baking, I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself to bake this or that or to keep some baked good in the house for Will. But that isn’t necessary. So last night, I decided to take some zucchini and over ripe bananas that we had sitting around and make zucchini banana bread. I tried something new. Experimented a little. I made a loaf for Hubster and gluten free loaf for myself. You know what, it was fun! I made some tasty bread that looked great too. And it was relaxing. I had music on. It was just Izzy and I, and we had a good time. Were there other things I could have done? Yes. But doing the dishes and cleaning the house seemed like much less of a big deal after taking 30 min-hour to do something that I enjoy first. And too make things even better the house started smelling soooo good while I was cleaning because of the bread in the oven.

The Bottom one is Chocolate Chip Zucchini Banana Bread. The Top one is my concoction: GF Strawberry Oat Zucchini Banana Bread!

3) Homemade Pizza. Will and I have been really busy lately. Barely married a year and we are already too busy to really enjoy one another sometimes. We kept this past Wednesday evening free to spend at home together. It was pizza night. I did something a little crazy and made a pizza crust out of shredded zucchini for myself, and you know what, it was great! I will write a post about it. Because you should try it out too. Making pizza at home is a good bit of work, but it’s a lot of fun to create your own mouthwatering, beautiful collage of toppings.

My Zucchini Pizza

Will’s Pizza

Now here is where it all comes together. Life has the tendency to get filled up with things. Not even bad things, a lot of times our plates are over filled with really good things. Some nights you just need to learn to say no to something good so that you can enjoy a homemade pizza with your family. Some nights you just need readjust your perspective – keep hobbies as hobbies. Don’t add them to your stressful list of responsibilities. Instead, let them refresh you. Will and I are always going, but the hour that we take here and there to stop and enjoy what we are doing really helps. I know if you are busy you’re probably thinking that you don’t have that kind of time, and neither did I. But those two intentional pauses in the week have made this a Happy Friday rather than just a drag to the end of the work week.

This week’s lesson is one that I have to relearn on about a monthly basis. I swear. Figure out what your hobbies and homemade pizza moments are, take advantage of them. Create intentional pauses and have a Happy Hour type of Friday!