Did you have a nice near years? We had one of the best, in part because we took some time off and had a good old staycation.
We did fun things on the cheap and just enjoyed our slower pace. I even spent some time off the computer which really buoyed my soul. We also did a few things we’ve been meaning to get to around the house. Like paint this accent wall in our bedroom.
Didn’t it turn out nice? The color is “rapture blue.” I love it. It’s kind of a teal blue, really light and goes so well with the rest of our stuff.
Our dog was extremely happy to have us lounging. She jumps right in when we pull out the afghans and quilts.
One of the days we were off we met my sister and her hubs and daughter for a long lunch.
I didn’t find out until my 40s that I had a sister, so actually getting to know her and become friends is one of the biggest blessings ever! Things have always been so easy between us. We have the same sense of humor, get along really well, and share a very strong faith. We live several hours away from each other so we don’t get to see each other as much as we’d like, although we do talk quite a bit on a regular basis. Meeting her was such a God-thing. I’m grateful for her, and super love my niece (what an amazing young woman!) and super love her hubs, too. Her hubs and mine really click. They’re both talkers.
New Year’s eve we continued our moviethon tradition, this time by watching an entire miniseries: Pride and Prejudice. We weren’t expecting to watch the whole series, but once we got into it we were surprised to find that we really liked it. I don’t know why I’ve been avoiding it all these years. It was so good. We were especially interested in it because our New Year’s Day tradition is to watch Bridget Jones’ Diary, and the Mark Darcy character is based in part on Mr. Darcy in P&P.
That might not be “fun” to some people, but we love it! Our moviethon tradition started way back when we were dating and didn’t want to drive on amateur night. That first New Year’s I was working (of course!) and my soon-to-be hubs made us dinner. This year we got a small steak and lobster at our local grocery store and I made a special cherry cake (old family recipe) and that was our night. We loved it.
Our new (as of last year) New Year’s Day tradition is to take out all the gratitude (love) notes we write to each other throughout the year and read them aloud. I can’t tell you how much this warms my heart. The notes are so funny and sweet. Sometimes we write about things we did, we thank each other for the smallest of things just to show that we noticed, we say again and again how much we love each other. Sometimes I laugh so hard at the things my husband writes (he always throws a couple in there meant to make me laugh or blush) and sometimes I cry with joy at the realization that God is at the heart of our relationship.
Writing notes of gratitude is an easy practice once you get into it, but it’s also a challenge. When you’re feeling unlovable yourself it can be really heartwarming to see that your spouse loves and appreciates you regardless of how negatively you’re looking at yourself. When you’re mad at your spouse, it’s a good practice to still see the things to be grateful for. It helps remind me of how God looks at us. (So when my husband is being annoying I think, wait, how does God see him right now? God sees him as His creation, His child, a good man who loves Him.)
We made Bloody Mary’s and read our notes. Then later we watched our movie and hung out, and it was just a really nice way to bring in 2015.
