Happy New Year!

So, I took a blogging break in December, and just enjoyed my favorite time of the year (even if half of it felt like spring time at the coast!). Christmas was wonderful, as always.  We were so happy to be able to go home for two weeks this year, and spend some much needed time with our family.  We miss them so much, and weekend trips just aren't enough time with them.  I also got to see some wonderful friends that I don't get to see enough either, including my long, long time friend, Mandi.  We are both military, and are hardly ever back home at the same time, but we finally timed it right, and had a wonderful time catching up, I can't believe we've been friends for 23 years!  Where does the time go?  Christmas Eve was mostly spent with Jason's dad, which was nice since we don't get to see him much, and then an early dinner with that side of the family, after which we made a bee-line to the cabin to eat (again!) with my side of the family and play "Dirty Santa" and open our traditional Christmas Eve PJ's.  My mom declared Christmas Day to be PJ's only day, which was so nice to just be comfortable and lounge all day, gifts were opened after stockings and our yummy Parker House coffee cake breakfast, and Christmas lunch was started and cooked as we felt like it, no set time for lunch, just a slow paced, relaxing day.  We also got to stay through New Year's Day this year, which we haven't done in years.  And we all made it to midnight after playing board games and watching Christmas movies to watch the ball drop together.  We all miss our loved ones that are no longer with us on earth, especially at Christmas time when you really feel the loss of their presence, but can you imagine the Christmas they had?!  Even though they aren't here any more physically, their love and our memories remain.  Grandaddy, Aunt Mel, Uncle Skip, Grandma Jordan, and sweet baby Landon, how we miss you here, but we can't wait to spend Christmas in Heaven with you.

2011 was a tough year, as have been the past several years.  But our family always pulls together and makes it through.  Life is not easy, it isn't promised to be, but how blessed we are to have a God that promises to always be there for us.  As 2012 is in full swing now (I'm still in denial that it's been almost 12 years since I graduated AND that I am almost 27 again for the 4th time which is a milestone and kinda tough for me to think about), I am praying that it will be a good year, a year of blessings, recovery, health and a year for big decisions.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, but it is possible to be nervous and excited at the same time.  I have faith that God holds our lives in His hands and wants good things for us, and even though the past few years have been trying, I hold the hope that this year will be a wonderful one.

I don't typically do New Year's resolutions, but just things I want to improve on or change.  As the new year kinda signifies a new start, it always feels like a good jump start for things like that.  I want to read my Bible more and have a stronger prayer life, I want to do devotions with J, I want to make eating healthy and exercising a way of life and not just something I feel I need to do to lose weight or satisfy a doctor, I want to find an exercise I actually enjoy (fat chance, lol), I want to learn how to cook new dishes and rekindle my love for cooking, I want to paint our mudroom and kitchen, just to name a few.  I have other things I am hopeful for in the coming year, but they are things that aren't totally in my control, and for those things we are trusting and praying!

To wrap up, I thought I'd share some holiday photos!