361 Days to Go

Well the wonderful day that has been so longed for has come and gone. The family has gathered, presents have been given, the feasts have been eaten, the carols have been sung…the sun has set on Christmas 2013. 

I have been putting off writing for fear of embracing the reality that the season is really coming to a close. A little case of denial I suppose. For two days after Christmas I didn’t change anything about my Christmasy routine. I didn’t have to work. I drank coffee, had family time, watched Christmas movies, and listened to Christmas music. 

But somewhere deep inside is the knowledge of the impending reality. Christmas is over. The time of eating cookies and eggnog is ending. The New Year is coming. A time to make plans, dreams, goals. A time to shake off the past year and think of how to better oneself. 

It is just a little reminder of how quickly the time goes by. You spend so much time looking forward to something, and by the time that day comes… it is suddenly a memory. 

Herein lies the beauty of anticipation. Look forward to something, yes, but in the meantime enjoy every single day. Man, I enjoyed every day of this blessed season.

 

And so Christmas has come and gone, but deep down inside I carry a little twinge of excitement at those things I have to look forward to. Not the least of these being the knowledge that Christmas is only three hundred and sixty one days away.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a wonderful day filled with love, laughter, and family. Jesus is the reason!
Merry Christmas!

The Wonderful Eve

Charlie Brown: Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?

Linus Replied: "And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you this day is born in the City of Bethlehem, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men'".

Merry Christmas Eve!!!

Confessions of a Christmas Hobo

My little sister coined the term "Christmas Hobo", and it gave me a little piece of inspiration. Only two days to Christmas and I am having to fight the feelings of sadness that the wonderful season is almost gone. A little wrong, I know.

On another note... here are some activities that make up the (seasonal) life of a Christmas hobo. 

1. I bought six boxes of maple cookies last week. I have almost gone through them all.... and I don't share.

2. I promised that I would not let my gym days wain to a measly two or three days a week... and I only made it in three times last week (and that is only because I had to work :)). Every night I went to bed I told myself, "I will go work out in the morning." and every morning I said, "nope, going to have 'Merry Christmas Coffee'" at the parents.

3. I went three full days without washing my hair. I am not even sure how much I brushed it. Every morning I would pop a Santa hat on and call it good.

4. I will not go into detail, for fear of shocking people, but the state of my happy Christmas house... oh my. The dishes, the clothes, the laundry.... it is a wee bit out of control.

5. I have not really been eating proper meals. I have been on an eggnog and cookie diet.

6. I spent one whole day last week in stretchy pants. I don't mean leggings with cute boots, and a shirt that goes below your booty like its supposed to. No.... I mean yoga pants, a frumpy shirt, Uggs (not that I am dissing uggs, I love those babies) and, of course, a Santa hat. And I went shopping, and to Starbucks, and the post office....

7. Tonight will be our forth Christmas party in a row (three consecutive nights, yes, we doubled up once). And at every party I ate and drank, ate and drank. From eggnog to mulled wine. It was splendid.

8. I always make my bed. I love having a nice, neatly made bed. Last week I went fiIve days straight without making my bed.... and I was okay with it.

So there you have it. A Christmas hobo. And you know.... I don't regret any of it. It has been a truly wonderful Christmas season. Even if I am a little softer than usual, my house is messy, my hair is unkempt... I have not missed out on a single opportunity of enjoying the season. 

A Challenge for You

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend filled with Christmas cheer :) I am not meaning to get too ahead of myself, but I just want to post a little preview of what is coming in January.

I am going to be hosting a blog challenge! (sounds of applause and excitement). Sometimes you just want to write, you know. And you don’t feel inspired or you aren’t sure what to write about, so you put it off in the hopes that a brilliant idea will come knocking at your door. And then the inevitable happens…. You don’t! Am I alone in my principles here?

Well, enough with that, I will be posting a list of blog prompts, topics, and ideas for the month of January. Just simple, fun, stuff.

This challenge will commence the Monday after New Years and we will blog Monday through Friday for the whole month of January. Woohoo. I will post again as we get closer to the day. Hope you can join in the fun!

- Monday January 6^th Your personal “home for the holidays recap”, complete with your own traditions you love. 

- Tuesday January 7^th Share something that inspires you, a photo, a quote, a scripture. Anything.

- Wednesday January 8^th Jot down some of your goals for the coming year.

- Thursday January 9^th Share a photo that speaks a resounding, “you”. Don’t just take a picture of yourself. Get creative.

- Friday January 10^th Name your top three favorite literary heroes. What do you love about them?

- Monday January 13^th Rant about something that drives you crazy.

- Tuesday January 14^th Post a quote you love (or don’t love) and respond to it.

- Wednesday January 15^th Write a “day in the life” post.  

- Thursday January 16^th Share one of your favorite recipes.

- Friday January 17^th What is one of your favorite memories?

- Monday January 20^th Review a book or movie you have recently read/seen.

- Tuesday January 21^st  Share some lyrics in a song that speak to you. You know the kind that give you the shivers up your spine and make you wish you had written it.

- Wednesday January 22^nd  Create a story out of pictures, almost like a comic book.

- Thursday January 23^rd  Share one of your weaknesses, addictions, or vices.

- Friday January 24^th Creative writing! Jot down a very short bit of fiction beginning with, “The night was replaying in her mind like an irritating pop song….”

- Monday January 27^th Share some great advice that you have been given.

- Tuesday January 28^th What are the most important elements that impacted you to make you who you are today? People, decisions, etc.

- Wednesday January 29^th Fill in the blanks for your title, “My Love Affair With _______” and write about it.

- Thursday January 30^th React to the term “success”.

- Friday January 31^th Imagine life without the internet. What would it look like in your world?

Merry Christmas with Five on Friday

Only five days till Christmas! I have bitter sweet feelings at this point. I want time to slow down, and yet I can’t wait for everyone to open my gifts. Cory has been wishing Christmas upon us for days because he is so excited to give me my presents. Love this season of celebration and giving. So much fun. 

Anyway, today is going to be the last of my Christmas-y Five on Friday List… sad face. Christmasy things I have been up to or loving this week.

1.       Gingerbread house making. My parents and younger sister host a gingerbread (though actually we use graham crackers) house making party every year. This was the tenth annual or something. It has gotten more and more competitive the older we get. They even sent out invitations with rules and guidelines this year. It was so much fun. My sister blew us all out of the ball park with her gingerbread sleeping beauty castle. It was incredible.

2.       Blogathon! I am going to be hosting the New Years Blogathon! I am very excited about this. Ever feel like you want to write and yet you aren’t sure what to write about? Every week you are waiting for those brilliant things to occur so that you can write a brilliant blog post about it. To kick off the New Year, I thought I would kick off with my consistency in writing and host a link up. I will give a list of topics and their dates starting the Monday after New Years. It is just going to be fun and easy. Great way to make new blogging friends. I would love you to participate :) View the list of topics here. Hope you can join in the fun!

3.       Baking. I had my little nieces come and help me with Christmas baking this week. They are very good at licking the bowls and spatula clean. We made all sorts of Christmas yummies to put in the tins I will be giving to my neighbors, friends, and family. My husband was saddened by the fact that I wasn’t making him a tin, so I added his name to the list as well. 

 4.     Watch this Video (displayed below as well). I stole this from my sister’s blog, Admissions of a Superhero. But you HAVE to watch it. This is the cutest most poignantly Christmasy thing ever. My niece was only four in this video quoting the whole of the true Christmas story straight from the Bible.

5.       And finally, Cory and I have been making it a point to sit by the tree (oftentimes in my Christmas socks!) and just talk for a few minutes in the evenings or before work in the morning. It is important to take a little time to think about the wonder of what Christ did for us, and to reflect on the blessings he has given us. What a wonderful life!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you have a wonderful time filled with all of the magic of the season. 

Cheers to a New Year Continued

Because last week’s link-up was so much fun, I am going to participate in “Cheers to a New Year” again today. The months pass away so quickly, sometimes it is good to just sit and think about what events exactly swallowed up all of that time.

This week’s time frame is July, August, and September. So here we go, a little reminiscing about my year. 

July:

Cory was working on a job in Tahoe with two of my brothers-in law. So my two sisters and their FIVE children piled up in a couple cars to drive 10 (but what took 12) hours to visit them. We camped for two weeks. It was quite an experience. Tahoe was beautiful! The guys were working crazy hours. Sometimes they did not get back to camp until midnight. So after the kids were asleep, us girls would wrap ourselves in blankets and play cards by the lantern light. Additionally… all three of us became completely dependent on Starbucks AT LEAST once a day, we had s’mores nights, and made secret donut runs. We claimed we needed these things to cope with our situation, but I really was having a blast “roughing” it. 

August:

Cory got home and continued working like crazy. My grandma, who has a beautiful beach house, left town for a few weeks and invited my family to stay while she was away. And so, when Cory could get a little time off, we spent four nights at the beach. It was beautiful. Additionally, with the waning of summer, we were able to end our Disney drought and take a family trip to the happiest place on earth.

 September:

This was a crazy month. So busy. Cory left for Tahoe again. I went off to Vegas with my family, and there I celebrated by 26^th birthday. Crazy. I always feel like I am 22 or something. But alas, I suppose I really must be getting older. The weekend after we got home from Vegas, my sisters and I made the trek to Tahoe once more. This time we behaved ourselves a little better. I ran every day, and we did not make donut runs… still had the coffee though. The boys were not working as crazy of hours, so we got to spend a lot more time with them. After church one Sunday, Cory and I went to Virginia City, walked around and had dinner. What a charming place!

Well, that was actually a pretty exciting chunk of my year as well. We were really all over the place this year it seems. And it was so much fun. What a wonderful, though sometimes challenging, adventure is this life we lead!