DECEMBER FAVES

 

I love everything about December... all the house decorating,  outdoor lights (we actually put those up in November and turned them on Dec 1st).....all the hustle and bustle of wrapping gifts, doing projects with the prek-ers at school and cooking more "comfort foods".  It's also a month full of birthdays for me:  two nephews, a sister, daughter, cousin, college friend, high school friend, 3 church friends and my grandmother (although she is gone from this earth now) plus mine was yesterday!  December is also special to me as it is CHRISTmas.......and as a Believer it is so important to remember the reason for this holiday season.  One of the things I enjoy doing is reflecting back on my week and finding FIVE things to be grateful for......and then I link up with other bloggers who do the same at Susanne's blog.  Here's the link if you'd like to jump in. Being intentional about gratitude is important all the time but most especially I think during the holiday season.

FIVE FAVES

Courtney has been putting up our tree since she was 18.....
....so...10 years!

tea time!

• CHRISTMAS TREE!  Courtney, our oldest girl, came over Saturday afternoon to put up the tree.  She has it all color coded (the plugs) and LOVES fanning out the branches to make everything look as authentic as possible.  It's the artist in her, I'm sure.  She always does a great job.  Because her own ornaments are on her own tree in her apartment, she had "tea time" with me, and then left to go on her own errands for the day.  Claire came home from work and she and I decorated the tree with the ornaments. I'm thankful for the help as my husband doesn't care if we have a tree or not...he said if he was single, he wouldn't bother with one!

CHRISTMAS  TREE 2021
in the living room

• DECORATING DONE!  After church on Sunday, I was able to get the rest of the house decorated.  I have some type of nativity in every room of the house except Claire's room, our bedroom, and the  upstairs bathroom.  I'm thankful for the time I had to do one of the things I love most in December. These photos are just a few of my fave areas where there is a touch of Christmas.

dining room armoire 
nativity is from the 1960s and was always in my mom and dad's living room

kitchen corner shelf and Xmas mugs
the Nativity is in the lantern and it "snows" when you turn on the light
the tin holds holiday cookie cutters and the tile is one from a stamp that Claire made in preschool; the red candle on the bottom shelf smells like cinnamon

Stockings hand in the living room off the stair railing 
and the bookcase holds the wooden Nativity and a poinsettia Dave bought for me
the spot of light is a cardinal glass "candle" which is actually electric

• COFFEE DATE!   Tuesday after work, I met my spiritual mentor and very best friend/soul sister Monica at our local Starbucks for coffee. We ended up chatting about the things of God, our marriages, and our vision as women in the church for over 2 hours!  I finally had to break up the conversation by saying I had to get home to cook dinner...... we could have sat there until they closed! She also surprised me with a small birthday gift....you guessed...a gift card for Starbucks. Does she know me or what??!! I'm so thankful we have been friends for about 26 years.

image courtesy of St*rbucks

• BIRTHDAY WISHES!  I was floored at all the birthday messages I received via social media.  I had gone on to retrieve a photo from Facebook and saw I had over 65 msgs as of 6 pm.  WOW.   That's definitely a fun thing to read through...all those messages.....and I received a lovely card from my work colleagues as well as a pretty card  and Christmas Blend Starbucks coffee from my ballerina girl. My husband bought me a cute card and gold hoop earrings from one of my fave department stores. I was surprised as I didn't expect them at all!  He also made a yummy veggie pizza for my birthday dinner and we plan on going out to breakfast on Saturday as I actually LOVE going out for breakfast and we rarely do. I'm thankful for all the love i felt from family and friends.

• Fresh Air!  Wednesday after work it was a brisk, getting dark afternoon (snow was predicted and did fall a little bit over night) but my body and mind were craving some good fresh air after being in the classroom all day and then dashing home to do some chores around the house.  I bundled up and put my sneakers on and hit the pavement.  I only went a mile but it was a great 15 min of a fast paced walk in the crisp, cold air....just what I needed before cooking dinner.  I'm thankful I get out of work early enough to be able to have some daylight  left to power walk outdoors.

that wraps up this first full week of December.  I hope that whatever you have planned for the weekend, that you take a moment to find things to be grateful for and to reflect on the real reason for this Christmas season.

Peace to you!