Santa

Alex and I took Lucy to see Santa. She was so excited, she couldn't get her hands out fists for the picture, haha! It was a very fun night. To say we are excited for Christmas in 3 days is a major understatement! Happy Christmas everybody, I hope that you all get to spend time with loved ones, and remember the greatest joy of Christmas is giving LOVE!

Christmas excitement

Christmas is almost here. I love all the little things I get to share with my daughter during the holiday season. Everyday Lucy and I put an X thru her Christmas tree countdown, which is taped to her bedroom door. She then reminds me that she hasn't opened her Advent calendar chocolate yet, she always offers me a bite - she is so sweet. A few of my other favorite things we do are:

singing Christmas songs in the car everyday to and from work/school

reading A Charlie Brown Christmas before bed each night

decorating our house together

watching a Christmas movie together after dinner

writing, and re-writing her letter to Santa (her mind changes everyday)

We have so much fun!!

These are some of the winter pictures we took at Snowbird.

Fridays

I love Fridays because they always go by so fast at work. Lucy loves Fridays because I pick her up early, and we get to paint nails and watch movies after school :) Last weekend, we went to Disney on Ice, it was really cool. We love our weekends!! I am sooo looking forward to Thanksgiving next week. Even though my family is far away and I won't get to see them, I feel very blessed to feel so welcome and accepted by Alex's family. They feel like my family already. Thanksgiving is such a great holiday, because I love the food, family time and the football.
Today I am grateful for my good people skills. We just finished another week long seminar, and I feel I established a few really good relationships with the clients who came to class. They are excited to start working with my team, and very enthusiastic about graduating the class!

Post-Op.

I am back to work today after a five day break with Lucy. She had surgery on Wednesday; tubes in ears and adenoids out. Hopefully this will prevent sickness this winter, and for the rest of her life. Surgery went well, she had a hard time coming out of the anesthesia but she is making a speedy recovery. I have such a strong and brave little girl, and I am so proud of her.

I love the weather right now - it's not bitter freezing, but there is that November chill and the windows inside are a little frosty :) I am very excited for Thanksgiving, it is one of my favorite times of the year! Good food, good family and friends, what could be better?

Disneyland Trip

I am grateful for the opportunity I had to take my family to Disneyland. Lucy had the time of her life, and I was overjoyed to see her beautiful smile and giggling cuteness for 5 days straight. I am very lucky to have found such an amazing man to spend my life with, and experience these joys everyday. Alex is so good to me, and I am very thankful for everything he does.

wood pile vs. central heat

Today I am grateful for central heat. I have admiration for the generations before me who had to chop wood in a forest & stock pile for months in order to keep warm all winter. Where would I find the time to do that? I am thankful that even though it's snowing on Oct. 6 (which I am not thrilled about) at least I can stay warm and cozy

writing to exhale

To write is to exhale your inner-most feelings. You have to trust yourself, let your brain take control and stimulate your fingers, allow them to work independently and release the thoughts which are bound in your head. As we evolve our writing follows suit. Perhaps I'm a little rusty but I'll just see what my brain spits out.