Farewell...and Hello

Happy New Year!!!

As 2018 winds down, may you take time to reflect on all the goodness, twists and turns of the past year.  The good memories will reside in your heart because you'll remember how you felt in those moments.  All the twists and turns, and even the complete down times are all lessons to be learned from...for continual growth and insight into our frail and complicated lives.  The twists and turns keep us on our toes and shed insight into how prepared we are, how good/bad we react to situations, and how much we still need to learn.  Reaching rock bottom of a situation or in our lives helps us shed away what we absolutely don't need in our lives.  It rids us of the toxicity that has enveloped our lives.  And, hopefully it sheds a light on better days.  

Hope!  We all need hope in our lives...in good times and bad times.  Don't ever lose hope!

It's a cold dreary day here which is perfect for hunkering down and reflecting on the past year...and seeking hope for a brand new year.  Reflection is a good growth tool to use to help propel you to a better you.  It helps you to truthfully and sometimes painfully see why you made some of the decisions you made in the past and look at the results of those decisions with crystal-clear colored glasses.  It shows us where we need to improve areas of our lives and what we've accomplished, too.  It shows us how strong we are or not, how vulnerable we are or not, and how compassionate we are or not.  Seeing who we truly are when seeing our reflection "in the mirror" is an important part of our life journeys.  

Each new year is another year to start over...to start anew, to begin again.  It's a time to hope for our futures with excitement and anticipation.  A new year is a clean slate.  It's an opportunity to make your life what you wish and hope it to be!  So, take time to reflect today and tomorrow...and then, begin anew!

Cheers to 2018 and blessings for a new year full of love, laughter, good health and more compassion for one another around the world!!!

Merry Christmas to All!!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!! Enjoy time with family and friends making new memories and cherishing the time you have together.  In the midst of all the gift giving, Christmas cookies and holiday treats take time to remember the true meaning of the day.  Celebrate!  Remember.  Be grateful!

May Christmas blessings fill your house with love, laughter, joy, grace and gratitude!!  Merry Christmas!!! 🎅🎄⛄🎁

One More Week...

There's only 1 more week...until Christmas!  It's here!  Already?!  Yes, it's quickly approaching, so I hope you have all your shopping done and are planning your Christmas feast.  Are your Christmas cookies and other goodies all baked and ready to be consumed...or devoured in some cases?  Do you have all the ingredients for those special cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning?  What pies, cakes, candies, and other sweet treats are still left on the to-do list?  It's a special time of year, but a busy time of year that needs a bit of planning to get it all done.  And, you only have 1 more week to get it all done!  No pressure.

As you check off everything that is left on your to-do list, I hope you are enjoying (at least a little bit) each of your Christmas activities/tasks.  I hope you take in those special moments and cherish making new memories with your family and friends this holiday season!  It's still a magical time of year, no matter all the craziness going on in the world today.  So, just remember the reason for the season and believe in the goodness of your fellow man.  

I'm wishing you a productive, enjoyable, fun-filled and joyful week leading up to Jesus' birth.  May blessings of this magical season warm your hearts, lift up your spirits with hope, and surround you with love!!  Cheers to you and yours this holiday season!

Jolly Holidays!

Has it been a jolly holiday season for you so far?  If not, I hope it becomes one soon!  Some of us are immediate holly jolly little elves buzzing around as soon as Thanksgiving is over...or maybe even before Thanksgiving is over.  Others of us pace ourselves and slowly get into the holiday spirit as December rolls along.  And then there's those of us that have the grinch or scrooge mentality...on varying levels.  Where is your holiday meter set?

I'm definitely in the middle...slowly ramping up my holiday spirit as more and more festivities come up on the calendar.  Tree lightings, holiday craft fairs, Santa visits, parties, holiday shows and cartoons from our childhoods.  They all lead up to Christmas Eve service and dinner, and then Christmas morning of presents and stockings, followed by dinner with the entire family...at least in my family.  All the traditions that families hold dear are proudly embraced during the holiday season.  They make us feel young again, remembering all the holidays and traditions of our youth, and make us want to instill some of those traditions with our own families.  It's about the traditions and legacies of families passed down to one another from generation to generation.  That's what Christmas reminds us of each year.

So, whether you're fully enjoying the jolliness of the season or you're struggling to get through the holidays without a loved one for the first time or the twentieth time, may you feel the spirit and magic that the Christmas season brings...for those that believe!  Cheers to the jolliest season of all!

May blessings of the Christmas season fill you up this week and warm your heart!!

'Tis The Season

It's that holly jolly time of year!  Do you feel it?  Do you see it?  It's all around...everywhere you go!  Yes, the holiday season is in full force and there's no stopping it now!  I hope you are fully caffeinated and ready to go!

My Christmas cards are in the mail...December 1st, as always!  The tree is up and the house is as decorated as it's going to get this year.  A few more presents to buy, but otherwise I'm ready for this holiday season.  To kick it off, the latest Grinch movie today with all my nieces and nephews thanks to my mom.  She organized getting all the kiddos together to enjoy a fun holiday movie.  As I was watching the movie, I thought "wouldn't it be fun to live in Wooville?"  All the decorations were delightful!  It just all looks so simple and colorful on screen, doesn't it?

I hope the "merry" spirit of the season is invading your household...along with delicious baked goods (cookies, cookies and more cookies), festive decorations, joyful music, what the true reason for the season is and a heart full of giving.  Cheers to a bright and glorious holiday season!!

Blessings to you this first full week of December!

Shopping Frenzy!

Thanksgiving is barely over when the shopping frenzy begins!  It's that time of year again!  Let the shopping begin...proceed!  I'm sure many of you have already started your Christmas shopping...maybe on Thanksgiving Day, definitely on Black Friday, and probably some more on Small Business Saturday.  Next up...Cyber Monday!  The (seemingly) never-ending shopping marathon for many as the Christmas season kicks off.

Do you love the chaos of shopping on Thanksgiving night or first thing on Black Friday?  Or do you prefer to sit quietly in your pj's sipping the adult beverage of your choice while shopping online?  I've always done a little of both, but I think I'm finally done with going out Thanksgiving evening.  I dislike the rude behavior displayed by some just to grab a product off the shelf and would rather avoid the crowds of people shoving one another around.  It's just not a pleasant experience.

So, I'm halfway done with my Christmas shopping and almost done with my Christmas cards.  But, my cards will definitely be done and ready to be mailed out on December 1st!  It's just tradition (for me).

Yes, the holiday frenzy is definitely in full blast and it doesn't look to let up until the new year.  Sigh.  Are you all ready?  Are you enjoying it?  Hang in there if you're not.  And, try to find those moments that reflect the true spirit of the season.  Slow down, take a minute and enjoy those special moments!

May blessings fill up your holiday season with heart-warming new memories, special friends, family gatherings, and cheerful surprises!! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving this week!!  I hope you enjoy your time off to rest, catch up with family and friends, and of course...to eat!  And then...shop!  I'm not sure the holiday means as much as it once was...when we slowed down a bit more to really engage with and relate to our families, instead of rushing around trying to get to place to place with our heads in our phones.  Now, Christmas is more of the focus than Thanksgiving and it's not even Thanksgiving yet!  The city Christmas tree where I live was up even before Halloween!

What happened to enjoying one holiday at a time?  What happened to enjoying the season as it comes instead of rushing ahead?  Everything is just so sped up now and everyone's in a rush to get ahead of the game, get a jump on things before someone else or get the "prize" before everyone else.  We're missing the joy of each season...of each holiday.  We don't slow down to just breathe and take it all in.  We just keep looking ahead and ahead and even beyond that.  Sigh.

I hope you slow down enough to just take a moment to enjoy your surroundings...filled with loved ones, and maybe even the ones you don't, all the laughter, stories being told, new games played, songs being sung, kids playing, football being cheered or jeered, and yes, all the delectable food to be consumed!  Enjoy it all. Take in the moment...or a few.  Enjoy the day...with waistbands expanded.

And, then rush to the stores for all those Black Friday deals if you must. ;-)

Blessings to you and yours this Thanksgiving!  May blessings fill your days with love and laughter!!  Cheers!!!