TToT – Between the Holidays
So here we are.
It’s the end of a year once again and the beginning of a new one waits just ahead. I have been feeling rather reflective the last couple of weeks, even amidst the busy-ness of the holidays. Here between the Christmas and New Year holidays seems a good time to do that.
![20141223_195821[1]](http://www.themeaningofme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/20141223_1958211-e1419382976300.jpg)
The Fab Hub observed this morning that our holidays have gone very smoothly this year. Our various gatherings and festivities were relatively stress-free and enjoyable. Aside from Kidzilla having a fairly typical six year old holiday meltdown and me having one over whether or not the presents were wrapped just so(which was really probably about me being stressed about making the whole holiday “just so,” there was no drama, no angst, no trouble. So a smooth and stress-free holiday definitely tops the list.
We were able to spend our holidays surrounded by family and friends. We celebrated in warm homes with enough food to share. I am always aware that we are so very blessed in so many ways, even on days when it might feel a bit otherwise. But during the holidays when there is so much abundance, that awareness is never greater. I am grateful that our family has enough. I am thankful that our Daughter knows that Christmas is not merely about getting presents. She understands what is really important. I need to remember that more readily when she’s having a typical kid moment.
I have said this many times over the last months, but I’m saying it again because it’s just so huge – I am grateful that my Husband has a new job. I am grateful that he enjoys his job and that he is appreciated for what he does. I am grateful that so many things have fallen into place in such a manner that I was able to leave my former job, a place that had become toxic to our lives in so many ways, and strike out in a new direction. I am grateful for the support and encouragement of the Hub as I’ve started down this new path. I am very thankful for the encouragement and support of our families. This was a bold choice that affects our little family in many ways, but as the saying goes, “it takes a village” and we are so very blessed to have people around us to help us along the way in this journey.
I am thankful for my first few clients! It is certainly a good feeling to see things start to fill up the calendar so that I can help in the income department. I am very grateful that I have the ability to make my own schedule and make my work fit around my life, not the other way around.
I am so very thankful for the opportunity this new version of life has provided where our Daughter is concerned. I am certain that being available to be involved in various aspects of Kidzilla’s school life is a great thing and I know that she is happy. I am thankful for the great changes that this will bring for our family and for those benefits we have already seen.
I am always thankful for my Fab Hub. (And he always suggests I should include that in my lists.) We agreed to skip holiday gifts to one another this year, but he completely surprised me with one, anyway. No, I’m not grateful that he got me a thing – I mean, it’s really nice but that’s not what I really cared about. But I am thankful for how much thought he put into it and for the very symbolic meaning behind it. Even after eleven years married and nearly fifteen years together, he still manages to surprise me and render me speechless every now and then – and that’s not easy!
On a much more trivial note, I am really thankful for Pinterest’s new feature – just discovered it ten seconds ago. You can now select and move or copy pins to other boards without having to go back and delete the original ones. This is AWESOME. I have been waiting for Pinterest to figure out this was a good idea for months. So yay.
That’s it for me…no snappy new photos today because I have a Husband waiting to spend some just-us time together. I’ll get around to read everyone and answer comments as soon as I can, probably Monday. This weekend is our anniversary so we’ll be out celebrating a bit!
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Sounds like you had a nice holiday. This time of the year is a reflective one. It looks like lots of good and positive things going into the new year. Enjoy!
We had a wonderful holiday, Val! And there is much new and good and exciting to look forward to as the new year begins!
I’m glad you enjoyed your holidays, Lisa! Hubby managed to totally surprise me as well. I saw the tiny-little envelope arrive but didn’t have a clue what it was until I opened it (my very OWN D&D dice). Encouragement is so important in a relationship, along with communication. I am so happy that the two of you are supporting each other so wonderfully. Enjoy your “you-two-time” 🙂
Your own D&D dice is awesome! I never thought in a million years I would own a set…and now I have several. Can’t say we’ve used them much lately, though. Hope you have fun continuing to play!
So many great thankfuls and so much to look forward to in the coming year!!!
I am very much looking forward to a great year!
Happy anniversary!
Thanks, Kristi!
Happy Anniversary! Hope you had loads of fun celebrating. At church on Sunday, a couple was celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. Can you imagine how hard it is to find a present that would still surprise your spouse after that many years?!?! I have a really hard time doing it now after 20 years.
Sixty years is a long time…I can’t even imagine!
Oh, Happy Anniversary! We will celebrate our 30th on Jan. 5th! So glad you and I both chose such quality men!
And Happy Anniversary to you, too May! We definitely did!
YAY for your anniversary. I hope it was a really good one. I’m glad Fab Hub can still render you speechless with surprise 🙂
Now then – I discovered the Pintrest thing TODAY and didn’t know that it was NEW! I thought it was a regular feature I’d just never copped onto, but now I feel quite excited 🙂
Your colourful candles are BEAUTIFUL, and yaknow what else is? That we’ve been able to see such wonderful progress and WATCH the bits of your life falling into place over the year. It’s been a joy.
Isn’t that Pinterest thing quite fun? I’ve spent more time than I should re-arranging things on my boards. BUT since I use it so much for recipes and such, it is definitely worth the effort.
Thanks for that, Lizzi – this has been an unbelievable year full of so much change in so many ways. I really do feel like all three of us have changed and progressed in many ways. Here’s to even greater joy ahead!
LOVE the Christmas tree next to the Chanukah menorah! Happy Anniversary as well!
It looks pretty cool, doesn’t it? That’s how we roll here!
Love your Christmas tree! Love the Hanukkah candles! And your list of thankfuls makes me smile!
Your family and husby all sound wonderful. And my husby and I do something similar with regard to gifts. No big things, but what we DO get has to be handmade (by us or someone else), recycled, thrift, fair trade or otherwise beneficial to the local community.
And new job stuff where you’re appreciated and enjoy it? Priceless. 🙂
Yes, they are pretty wonderful! I love your gift guidelines – what fun you must have picking something out!
I love the blending of your faiths with the menorah and the Christmas tree together. You two work out that whole interfaith thing pretty darn well! I also love the bird ornament perched at the top left of the tree (it is an ornament, isn’t it?!). I nearly had a 6 year old meltdown at one point in the preparation of all things Christmas, so, yeah, I get it!
I’m happy that Fab Hub got a new job that he loves, especially because it makes YOU a happier person when you got to quit your job and stay home with Kid and try your hand at something else. Funny how everything falls in place sometimes, isn’t it? Truly happy for you all.
Funny, MY husband thinks he should be included in my TToT every week, too!
Happy anniversary to you and the Fab Hub! Enjoy your weekend!
Thanks, Dyanne. It is important to us that our different beliefs never be a division in our family, only something that unites. We talked it through at great length before we got married and from the wedding ceremony itself, we wanted that message sent – unity, not division. We have carried that through in all of our decisions about how to handle the differences and make it work. We have seen so many marriages and families argue and split up over religious differences and we decided that would never be us. Your compliment really means a lot. Not to toot our own horn here, but we have often had people comment on how we handle and incorporate things. It makes us feel good to know that we’re doing it well.
Now, about that bird…I think it’s awful! There are actually two sitting there, but I don’t think you can see one of them. They are indeed ornaments – they sort of twist on to the branches. Zilla swiped them from my Mom’s tree. The only reason I have not forbid them, besides the fact that my Daughter loves them, is that they remind me of a set of white doves that worked the same way that my Grandparents had on their tree. So yeah, it works. Kind of like having them sitting in the tree watching us.
Things do fall into place just as they should – that has become ever more clear to me through all of this. Each step of the way, each little thing that happened, all adds up to us being able to do exactly what we are doing right now.
Happy new year to all of you! LOVED the pictogram video, by the way – hysterical! I had to watch it later after my comment because my computer was being stupid.
Happy anniversary! Looks like 2014 was good to you. It was good to me, in part because our paths crossed.
I probably would not have said all of the year was good, depending on what point I was asked. But yes, overall the year has turned out to be a good one in many ways. So glad our paths have crossed, too!
It was a year for career changes in your household and mine. The appreciation for a job that brought stability back is worth mentioning all the time.
Have a wonderful anniversary celebration, and congratulations on your first clients!
You are so right, Tammy. I know I will be glad of these changes for a long time to come!