Merry First Day of Winter!

It is the official first day of winter, and in preparing for celebration, we were blessed with a few inches of beautiful snow, here in NE Kansas! While it is predicted to be another very dry winter in this neck of the woods, we will eat snow icecream, search for interesting tracks in untraveled forest, and shovel our driveway with the rest of them, even if just for one day. 

image source

This year, we will not be traveling over the Christmas holiday, and we will not be moving. We will in fact, be staying right here in our cozy home. This is the 3rd Christmas I have ever spent away from my family (my parents and siblings), and I will miss the comforts, traditions, and the quality conversation to be had with my talkative clan. Originally, we were going to have just moved to Northern VA at this time; then, we were going to be in San Diego. Next, we were going to be driving to San Diego just after Christmas, and now, we are doing none of the above.

What are we doing, you ask?

Well, friends, we are learning how to be a Navy family. We are learning how to be better parents, better spouses, and better friends. We are learning to let go of everything we never thought possible and to say hello to that which possibly makes us everything. 

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Robert Frost (1923)

Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

But, I digress. 

I often do, you know :) 

In addition to a blanket of snow, we have been receiving the most wonderful, homemade gifts of the season! I have the quite the collection of crafty, clever, and creative friends and family. I am constantly in awe of their handiwork and blessed by the fruits of their labor.  

A gift from a very talented friend who works in fonts and letters. We actually have a few of her pieces in our home, but this was her Christmas board, and it now sits on the trim above our front door.

...the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts...

-Matthew 2, KJV

In a small white box, we were presented this beautiful idea for making the house smell good (and adding some much-needed moisture to the air!). Oranges, lemons, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and bay leaves to simmer on our stove.

You can't stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.
-A. A. Milne

Gift from home. Mom sent a bounty of yummies: carrot cake jelly, pumpkin butter, monkey butter (walnut and banana jelly), canned, wild-caught salmon, which my Dad caught, fig preserves, and delicious chocolate! I don't care who you are, receiving homemade gifts from your parents during times of slightly higher-than-normal anxiety when you are literally blazing the pathway as you walk it, is a blessing of great magnitude to the heart and soul. I don't know that my Mom even knew I needed this. These jars light up my pantry like jewels and hugs, every time I open the door.

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.
-Charles Dickens