My favorite part of preparing for the holidays....

Over the years it has been my "job" to make the Grandma cookies for my family, including my siblings and my Dad. I enjoy the tradition of making them, and love to share them with my family. I love the memories that come flooding back when I make them.

In years past, this has been a harried, busy process that had to be done around our crazy lifestyle. Some years I had "helpers", some years I did them in a rush early in the morning or late at night so that I could get them finished and not have them all eaten before Christmas day.

This year, I have baked almost every day for the entire month of December. Every night, I pour a glass of wine and get to my task. I have made it a point to do it slowly, and enjoy it. I have made it my purpose to enjoy the process, and have turned it into a grown up activity that relaxes me and helps me feel great about the season.

Holidays

Decorating a new house for the holidays....

I am finally in a place where I own a home I can decorate, and I can afford to do it! This year we did a few small things before the holidays, and will continue to add to our decorations for years to come. A simple mantle. I would LOVE to get poinsettia's and other decorations for the tile in front of the fireplace, but I am Rocky would LOVE to eat and ruin them.

The beginning of the ever after

One of the things that marks the begining of this phase in our lives, is the move to West Michigan, and the purchase of our first real house. This has sparked many of my feelings about starting a new phase of life.

Hold on tight, and reach as far as you can.

I find myself starting a blog, after years and years of blogging about homeschooling and raising my young sons. I started those blogs to share what our homeschool life looked like, and to have a place to recount our daily activities. At this point in my life, I find myself starting a blog to help me sort out this new part of my life.



My sons are rapidly approaching adulthood, and I find myself simultaneously holding on with every fiber of my being to the past, and reaching as far as I can into the life that I want for our future. I spend hours looking at photos, and reminiscing about the really great times I have had raising my boys, and yet I spend just as much time daydreaming and planning for retirement, and couples vacations, and the journey that lies ahead for my husband and I.

It's an odd phase of life, almost like limbo, that we are in and I am hoping my blog will help me sort through the emotions, experiences, and thoughts that go with this phase.