Goodbye 2014..............

Here we are...the last five hours of 2014.  It is brutally cold outside and I am actually glad to be parked inside with nothing on my schedule.  It has been a tough day.  Yes, the last day of the year started out on a low note.  I served at a funeral mass today for a 15 year old girl that committed suicide.  Sadie was from a strong Catholic family, an altar server, and on track to be confirmed in three months.  A beautiful mom, strong dad, two sisters and a brother, and a hole in their family that will last forever.  I saw pain in their face that I hope to never see again.  They have no answers, no real clues, only the loss of their oldest daughter at 3:00 on Christmas Day.  I do not know how you get through that.  It was not the way I intended to end the year.....but, it was not the way they intended to end their year either.  I only hope that they felt the support of a church full of friends that lifted them up in prayers.  That is all that will help them right now.

On a less sad note, it is fun to sit here and look back on the past year.  Other than the fact that we were minus Tim for almost all of 2014, it was awesome.  At the top of the awesome list was of course  FRANCE!

I still think back in amazement at the pictures and have to remind myself that I really was there.  Yes, I walked around France with my husband and some people that are now forever friends.  We have a bond...memories of a trip that was just incredible in every sense of the word.  How do you get any better than that?

Well, better than that just might be spending so much time with my grandkids.  We missed Tim but I was so glad to have the opportunity to be close enough to "help"! Oh, how I love those precious girls and the hugs they bring along with them.  

What is ahead for 2015?  I cannot see anything on the horizon but good.  With my family close and the opportunity to see them at will, that is the highlight of every week.  Friends....always.  The old, the new,  I treasure all of them.  They are such and important part of my life.  Church family...they have given me a new direction and purpose.  I have a peace that is all new.  

Another trip...oh my yes!  I believe I will.  July will bring a trip to the Holy Land with another group of wonderful friends.  It is another part of a dream that I did not know I had.  I never created a bucket list because I really never knew what I wanted to do.  That is a great plan...just fill it in as you go!

Grateful, yes, for so many blessings.  I just finished reading an article about the healthy benefits of gratitude.....so that is my plan for the new year.  I will be grateful and healthy.  I will end each day journaling what has been good in my day.  I really don't think I will have any trouble finding something!

Goodbye 2014 

and Goodbye Blog.

Both have served me well, but it a page that closes.  That is how life is.

So many great things on the horizon!

Hanging On......

I am sitting here wrapped in a blanket because it is about 35 degrees outside, going through Christmas pics once again.

I just don't want to let go of the season quite yet.  It seems no one else does either.  

Usually I am tearing down signs of the holiday on the 25th, anxious to clean and move on...but not this year.

I want to look at the tree and remember how much fun I had this past month.  

As I drove to do some shopping today, I noticed that my favorite radio station is still playing Christmas tunes through Sunday...how nice is that?  It is the Christmas that keeps on giving!

 Some fun moments to look back on.....

cookie decorating where eating the sprinkles was much more fun than eating the cookies!

 And introducing Heather to the fine art of gingerbread house decorating.

 With Pinterest as our guide, we attacked the task like professional bakers...

some of us much more professional than others!

 And the winner is....

This cozy log cabin complete with a fire in the front yard and a picket fence.

Actually the winner is ME, because all I have had is fun.  

For just one more day I will enjoy Christmas tunes and the lights on the tree.  

On Monday I will attack the mess and smile because it is all just a sign of a good holiday!

Merry Christmas Again.......

The great part of this Christmas of course, is having Tim out of Africa...

and celebrating over and over again!

It is Christmas Eve and no one in the family complained as I handed out Christmas pj's.  

I am not sure where it all began but as far back as I can remember matching pajamas were just part of Christmas.  I gratefully have daughter in laws who are willing to play along with the tradition and not complain if they have to wear skin tight elf suits!

It is one of those perfect years when the kids are at that great age.

I guess kids are always the perfect age...but it is the time when Santa is still real and it does not matter what is in the package, it is still fun!

Sara found a surprise inside her umbrella...it was raining $20 bills....

that is my kind of umbrella.

The best part of Christmas....HUGS!

The best part of everyday!!!!

It has been such a good Christmas.  It is the kind you want to hold onto forever and just push replay often.

Things are good.  

Having Tim back is a huge part of that, but everyone just seems content.  That is all you can hope for as we wrap up another year much too quickly.

I am winding down my blog posts too.  Just a few more left in this year.  I have decided once again...only this time REALLY to give up my blog.  I am finding other things to fill my time and after about six years, I think I have said all that needs to be said.  I have enjoyed it and as I look back over the volumes of printed books that hold so much of our lives I am very glad I continued this long.

A few more pictures to leave on a new page and then my official goodbye.

With 2015 just a few days away, I can say with certainty...

it has been a very good year!

The Day Before the Day.....

It is Tuesday.  Christmas Eve is tomorrow.  I am sitting in bed with my computer on my lap, cook books and pens at my side,  I have a warm feeling...because my electric blanket is on high!

It feels good.  I am determined to sit here until I finish my coffee and eat my yogurt.  That has not been the case for weeks.  I have grabbed both items and carried them from room to room as I completed a task...or better yet, ate them in the car. 

The rush has not been indicative of my season.  In my memory this December  has been the best yet.  Almost all presents were ordered from my computer and I DID NOT miss the crowded stores.  That does not say Christmas to me.  I have overdecorated and loved every minute of plugging in all the lights in my house and feeling the glow in every room.  

I have shared time with so many friends at Christmas brunches, lunches, dinners, and Bunko parties.  I have gone to multiple Christmas programs and listening to the childlike voices sing "I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" and "Happy Birthday Jesus" and realized that those are the moments that are the ones I love the most.

I have done the normal...baked, wrapped, cleaned, sorted, and searched for that missing paper I know I bought.  

I have prayed, that in the midst of all of this that I would remind myself daily that it is Advent, a time for preparation....for the arrival of Jesus on Christmas day.

So a few more recipes to locate and I have to drag myself out of this warm bed and move on, but this moment of "pause" has been nice.  Much need and very healing.  My mind is reset to enjoy the two days ahead.  I do not want to miss a minute of the joy and wonder that we all witness on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

We just have to be present in the moment to see what is in front of our eyes.

Christmas Shubzda Style........

"Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays"....so true!

Sunday we celebrated with the family like it used to be before Tim got shipped off to Africa and the Bergesons made that two year move to California.

It felt right again and even though we were still missing three family members, we were almost whole again.

The Bergesons...minus three and a half!

The McCauley girls

Pam and Family...almost another!

The Shubzdas

Our favorite part...the white elephant gift exchange.  

The director of the festivities this year was Brooklynn, who has a large dose of Gramma in her!

She commanded the evening and did not miss a beat.  She not only let us know who's turn it was...also selected everyones package.  What a pro...well taught young lady by the original director of events!

Styrofoam snow...the best part of the day!

After I finished laughing I realized I would be finding pellets long after the day was over....like maybe until the Easter bunny arrived.

Our keeper of the beer...a girl after her daddy's heart!

Finley's favortite...a bigger than her size Barbie.

Oh, she is such a girl!

One more year in the books and another fun family day.

Next year when we gather we will have two new babies join the bunch...that we know of!

What that means is more giggles, more hugs, and more treasured memories.

This is my favorite time of the year and as the 25th of December approaches I am sad.  This has been an amazing Christmas season as I have I have been blessed with so many meaningful things to enjoy. I have loved every minute of everyday because even though it has been hectic, I have taken the time to remember that amid the chaos is the true meaning of the season.

I am truly thankful of all of the gifts of this past year.  Hopefully next year will bring as much joy and as many unexpected surprises as 2014 has.

Have I mentioned this before...I love my family!

The Big Run......

This is a disclaimer.....neither of the photos below are people I know.  

These bodies belong to random people along the Dallas Marathon route and I could not resist a photograph.  One has to have to a great deal of confidence to run past thousands of people dressed in a wine barrel or a speedo.....

So, on to the point of the post.

Tim ran a marathon...well, a half marathon.  Thirteen miles!  What an accomplishment!

We went to cheer him on as he crossed the finish line on a grey and misty day in downtown Dallas.

Sometimes in the midst of waiting and watching over 20,000 people run by you get a little bored.

You have to find creative ways to entertain yourself!

Until...finally....there he comes.  Still smiling and still running!

It was a proud mama moment watching him complete this task.  It was the same feeling I get when I watch the family participate in Carry the Load.  It is a goal set and achieved.  

Kids learn from this.

Daddy got lots of hugs from his girls and a medal to show he finished.  

I got pleasure in once again watching one of my kids go beyond what is manageable in the course of the day.  My children never cease to amaze me.  They drive themselves to do things beyond what is necessary.

It was once again another perfect moment in a Christmas season that has been full of surprises for me.  I think it comes for making yourself more present and more aware of what is going on.  My life of living in a blur has slowed as I take advantage of a moment.  What a difference it makes.

I am so proud of my family.

Christmas Buddies........

Another successful Christmas Bunko and another great gift to bring home.

I am in a segment of my life when I have decided to say "NO" to anything I do not 100% feel like doing.  This afternoon as I thought about changing clothes, picking up the mess on the floor in my sewing room, and getting dinner for Sara, I thought how easy it would be to just stay home.  What a mistake that would have been.  I need my friends and there is nothing like a competitive gift exchange, laughter, and hugs to know that getting up and getting out was the right decision.  

I love you friends....and Sharon, I am very sorry about that blanket!

December 1 and DONE!!!!......

I truly think that this is the first time in my life that I have completed Christmas decorations by December 1st.  Granted I started mid-November, but I had a goal in mind.  I was determined to approach the season differently this year...without the hysteria of last minute anything.

Half the fun of the season is the anticipation.   Winnie the Pooh (one of my all time favorites) once said something like "One of the things I like most is eating honey, but it is the moment before you begin that is really the best".  Perfectly stated! Anticipation is everything!

I had help with Christmas prep this year!  That is not always the case.  I think it stems from the fact that I found two additional members to add to our penguin family and that just brought my husband to a place of total commitment!  Oh the joy of a yard full of inflatables....

My joy...unpacking and remembering.  I have had thoughts recently that it would be nice if the holiday decorations were disposable....once and done.  Each year there would be a sweep of Hobby Lobby and it would be all new.  Hence, no crawling up on the attic and bringing down box after box of the same old stuff.  But then I come across the carefully wrapped angel (bone china my mom always reminded me) that hung on my parents tree the year I was born.  Sixty six years ago and nary a chip...that did not come from Hobby Lobby.

There is the bear that hung on our tree the year Matt was born...a gift from my mom's neighbor...another irreplaceable treasure.

My precious first grandchild's first Christmas....a most special year to be sure!!!

And my beautiful Nativity, why would I want to replace this?
Disposable Christmas....not such a great idea after all.  It is those carefully wrapped treasures that we unpack each year.... the reminders, the sense of tradition, and the memories. They are what make this once each year event special.
It is taking time to remember that it is not only the ornaments and Santas that bring so much joy, but the thought that one small baby came and forever changed the world.

This year I am ready to enjoy in a more focused and content manner the anticipation of this most glorious day.  No my shopping is not done, but with the help of Amazon.com it will be!

And while the packages are be shipped I am going to live a little like Winnie the Poo....because it is in the awareness of what lies ahead that we find the most joy.

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart".
Helen Keller