Category: Happy Holidays

happy thanksgiving

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 It is time for my annual list of very present things that I am grateful for this year.  This year, I tried to make gratefulness more of a weekly practice than a yearly exercise I have  compiled a lengthy list. Here are a few of the highlights.

  1. My Family. The Hubs, the Buddy Man, the Mother-in-Law, the parents, the sister and her family, the grandparents, all of the fam.
  2. My Friends. You know who you are.
  3. Anne Bogel. Being on the What Should I Read Next podcast and then ultimately becoming a part of her team are two dreams I didn’t dare to dream.
  4. My Home. After KonMari(ng) my home, I am grateful for and love it more than ever.
  5. The Modern Mrs. Darcy Inaugural Book Club Retreat. It’s awesome meeting people who have the same passions as I do.
  6. Lady Smith and Snail on the Wall books. Partnering with her has fulfilled so many dreams this year.
  7. Travel to places including Daytona Beach, FL for a personal writing retreat and my family’s first every vacay at the beach. Another dream come true.
  8. Books, books, and more books. Always books.
  9. Stepping outside of my comfort zone and doing things with fear. Wonderful things happened this year.
  10. And as for the not-so-wonderful things, what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.

And as always, I leave you with my favorite quote for this time of year.

Given the amount of unjust suffering and unhappiness in the world, I am deeply grateful for, sometimes even perplexed by, how much misery I have been spared.” -Dennis Prager

Happy Thanksgiving!

Merry Christmas!

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This is the first year that the Buddy Man has known that Christmas is coming. From the day we went to get the Fraser Fir to the appearance of Grandmommy and Granddaddy, he has marked every occurrence with great anticipation, waiting for the big event: the opening of the presents.

On the one hand, he has done well. We have told him that he could look and not touch and I have yet to catch him shaking any presents to see what’s inside. But on the other, every day he awoke and it was not THE day, we could see the frustration and disappointment building in his little soul. His powers of obedience began to wane. He just wanted it to be Christmas!

I got to thinking about the things that I anticipate in my life. I had a great number of them growing into adulthood (driving, first boyfriend, engagement and marriage, first home, etc.), but now, I don’t find myself looking forward to many things. And when things that I do look forward to don’t happen as I want, if at all, my soul begins to wane as well. I don’t like it.

Anticipation breeds faith; faith adds hope; and with hope, there is love and life. The Buddy will move on from Christmas to the next big event on his 4-year-old calendar. I intend to begin looking forward again to the things in my day-to-day existence with faith, hope, and love.

Merry Christmas! enjoy life…