In some crazy twist of timing, Jamie’s first Christmas and his 3mo milestone fell on nearly the same day! And what a day it was.
This year, we were blessed to be able to get all of our immediate family together for Christmas for the first time in several years, so my sister flew in from Denver, and my parents and grandma drove in from WI to spend the week with us. Since I was behind on things around here, for soooo many reasons, we even got to decorate the tree together, which John and I had gotten up, but not decorated yet!
Christmas is easily my favorite holiday. I love winter, I love snow, and frosty temperatures, and wearing cozy clothes that hide the fact that I’ve been enjoying far too many Christmas treats for too many years. I love that we celebrate the birth of Jesus. I love making gifts for family and friends, or picking out just the perfect thing to bless them. I love decorating the tree, and then sitting in my living room in the dark with only the tree lights and the woodstove providing light. And I love baking my grandpa’s dinner rolls and coffee cake. My earliest memory is of eating ice cream off the floor at Christmas with my grandpa, because I was helping him scoop ice cream when I was too short to even see over the counter. Before I was old enough, he taught my mom how to make his mom’s recipe for dinner rolls and coffee cake, and bless her for paying attention and writing is down, because he went Home when I was 4, and no one else was carrying on the tradition. But my mom made them every year, and when we were old enough, she taught my sister and I. Now, 23 years after his last Christmas here on earth, we still enjoy his dinner rolls at Thanksgiving, and dinner rolls and coffee cake at Christmas. I miss him, his smile, his terrible jokes and his wonderful stories, but every year at Christmas I get to feel like a little part of him is still here with me.
This year, it was almost 70° here on Christmas Day, which I was NOT a fan of. We had 6” of snow the week before Christmas, and it all melted. So. No white Christmas for us, although I’m still holding out hope for a decent winter anyway. But Christmas is still Christmas, even without snow. My mom loves Christmas, and has a heart of gold and generosity, so she blessed our socks off with gifts this year, as well as my sister and her boyfriend. By far, my favorite gift was the VitaMix that she gave us. Stay tuned for recipes involving that – from baby food to coffee to smoothies to who-knows-what. It does everything. She also gave us a beautiful collage picture frame that says “Family” so I guess it’s time to print some pictures or something and find a place to hang it. Anyone any good at decorating?? Because I am decidedly NOT.
We went to our last Christmas party of the year tonight, so I guess it’s time to switch into the New Years mindset. I’m so ready for 2019 to be over. We’ve had one heck of a year around here. But I’m not altogether sure I’m ready for 2020 yet. So many people are inspired by the new year, and ready with a word, or a phrase, or a list of resolutions. I feel a lot of pressure going into a new year. Pressure to do things better – make better choices, be a better person, get more done, be more things to more people. In 2020, I want to focus. I want to focus on the things that are important. My son. My husband. Building my business so that my family can exist in financial freedom. It seems simple, and I pray that I can keep it simple, because it will be hard. But it doesn’t have to be complicated. And it definitely doesn’t have to suck!
So let’s go into 2020 intentionally, but without the pressure. Because the year is going to come and go one way or the other, and I for one want to enjoy it along the way.
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