Soaking It In

Tonight, for the first time, Christmas spirit has finally saturated my soul. It might have to do with the fact that I was given the first gift of the season today by my amazing Uncle Chris and Aunt Natalie and beautiful Abigail. :) Actually, I was given two! (They're pretty generous folks :)). The first gift was the leather storage bench I've been wanting for months now (it looks almost exactly like this). The second was this adorable shoot-me-now owl speaker. I kid you not... it's so. cute.

And let me just say, I wish y'all could have seen how beautifully it was wrapped - beautiful wrapping paper, big bow, handmade gift tag, the works. It completely fed my soul. In fact, I'm so in love with the tag that I added it to my door decor (which currently consists of a sprig of mistletoe, jingle bells, and a giant sleigh bell. :) Every time I've walked past, it's warmed my heart.

But anyway, Christmas spirit saturation... it might also have something to do with the fact that I have a week off due to having off Christmas Eve and the day after (because as much as I love Christmas morning at our house, I adore our informal tradition the day after of staying in PJ's, making a big breakfast, and spending time together).

My energy level is going back up - finally! I thought I was never going to feel like myself again after struggling with this cold/cough/virus for what... three weeks? And just in time for finishing all those last Christmas gifts. :)

I spent tonight working on refinishing my thrift-store-steal wooden kitchenette that will be going to my cousin Zoe. It came with dings and chips and the most awful hand-painted petunias on it. After a good cleaning, being completely disassembled, sanded, puttied, and repainted (light pink, dark pink, and grey) it's looking like a whole new toy! I can't wait til tomorrow - the doors and knobs get one last coat of paint, then I can reassemble everything, wrap it - sort of (lol I'm thinking ribbon, gift tag, and big red bow) - and cart it off to Chris' (where we celebrate Christmas) to await the big reveal. :)

I also made a Christmas gift that turned out entirely too small, made a new one that required that stitches be taken out multiple times, and broke a needle on the sewing machine. I'm honestly not sure which I hate more, sewing or painting...

I'm starting to think about the New Year and some of the resolutions I'll be making. I want to go back to running and eating well, I want to be more intentional about "feeding" my relationships (especially with my sibs), I want to work on developing some one-on-one ministry opportunities God has brought to my mind. I want to work on living mindfully in the moment, remembering that life is the here and now, not the someday. I want to work on being more organized and on putting my laundry away as soon as it's done (hah!). :) As you can see, it's a miscellaneous mix.

These last two weeks of the year are always a special time of pondering. When I think about all the blessings that God has brought into my life, particularly in the last few years, I'm overwhelmed. :)