Christmas Tour 2023

 

I was so excited to decorate the lake house for Christmas this year. It was our first time to put our Christmas décor in this space, and I just wanted to see how it would all fit! I spent last Christmas downsizing some of our decorations in hopes that we could create a look that really fit this space. Because our space is so narrow, we did take advantage of a sale to get two very skinny trees to serve as our family trees, and I’m hopeful they will last as many years as my first skinny tree! (I got it before Ryan and I were married, so I’m guessing it’s around 15 years old now, and it’s still doing great!)

            Today I thought I’d give you a tour of our home for this Christmas!

Here is our Names of Jesus tree. (This is the 15 year old tree!) I put it in the dining room this year. Looks perfect in the front window! 

I have a few other decorations scattered around the dining room, too!

Those wreaths hung in our sunroom when we lived in Kokomo, and in the years since, I put them on kitchen cabinets. They don't really fit well in this kitchen, so I put them here instead. I like it! 

My favorite Christmas art - a print done by Brent Vernon. 

Just a little extra...

I didn't put anything in our guest room/office/Lexi's room this year. Since that room is in transition, I just left it alone. I have big plans for next year, though!

Our bedroom turned out really cute, I thought. We got the "big tree" back in our Kokomo days, and it's the perfect size in this room.

The Christmas tree farm we started in the Kokomo sunroom has lived on our headboard the last several years, and this year is no different. Well, the only difference is our fairy lights stopped working, so we'll have to get a new strand for next year. Still cute, though!

And here are a few more gems scattered about the room:

Our kitchen isn't huge, so I just have this little corner in there. Gingerbread themed!

Ryan hung our stockings on the stairway this year, and I love how it looks.

(I have ideas for sprucing up the garland there next year, but I also love this year.)

We have a little shelf in the stairwell, and Ryan did a great job adding lights to the decorations I put there. (The shelf was made by one of our WillowBridge tenants.)

Found the perfect spot for the mistletoe!

I kept the bathroom decor pretty simple. This is Ryan's bathroom. I painted that canvas at a class with a friend a few years ago. I'm no artist, but I celebrate that it's recognizable. The trees and snowman were my gifts from my roommate Angela, back in 2010, shortly before she passed away.

I put these simple pieces in my bathroom:

Here are some of the pieces scattered around our living room:

Look what's back!!! We haven't had a place to hang it since our Kokomo house, but it's back now!!

This tree painting was the project at my mom's 80th birthday party - cookies and canvas themed. 

And here are the living room trees. The first pictures are from before the ornaments went up - and then after! 

It's cozy in ways that delight my heart. I am grateful to spend the Christmas season enjoying these sights! 

PLOT TWIST!!!

 

I hope I never get over God’s ways being so much higher than mine. The way He opens doors I never would have imagined and allows me to experience things beyond anything I could comprehend is both faith-boosting and humbling.

            Several weeks ago I was invited to record a series of training videos for work. They would be used to train Steering Committee members (which happens to be the kind of group I work with every day), and I could record the videos right in my home, using some software that was new to me. I set up a makeshift studio in our dining room, using our bathroom door as a backdrop, taped my scripts to my laptop screen, and recorded away. It took me about a day to get them right – and it was such a fun opportunity.

            Not long after that, I was asked to be part of some live training for new Program Directors. This adventure was more challenging, because training live meant no redos. All mess-ups were real time! Plus, the training I did wasn’t for a group of people I normally work with, so I felt very vulnerable in allowing the things I didn’t know to shine so brightly in front of about 30 people. They were all so kind, and even though the day felt messy in my mind, I guess it went better than it felt, because on that very day, I was invited to reprise that training in a video format.

            This time, I’d travel to a real studio with a teleprompter, lights, a videographer, and multiple camera angles. WHEW! That day was yesterday, but before we could even get there, we had some plot twists.

            I’d been watching the weather, because I thought we were going to get hit with some snow on Sunday. Of course we would! I had a driving event coming up…why would we NOT get snow? I was so relieved when the swath of snow went just to the north of us…narrowly missing our area. We “just” had rain. I celebrated it! And then Ryan reminded me that rain, if not given a chance to dry off the roads, turns into ice when the temp falls. And our rain kept going…and our temps kept dropping.

            We both feared I would have an icy drive to Ohio, so on Sunday afternoon we made the hard, yet responsible decision for me to drive on over, stay in a hotel, and be safe for a local commute on Monday morning. I cried from the change of plans and from leaving Ryan behind a whole day early. I threw all the things in multiple bags (don’t ask how much luggage I took for an overnight stay) and headed out.

            Traffic was fairly heavy, but I made it to the Columbus area without incident. I got all checked into the hotel and felt safe and warm in my room. I caught up on things on my computer, FaceTimed repeatedly with Ryan and Lexi, ate dinner in bed while watching a Hallmark movie (not the worst way to spend a day), and even read in my book!

            Monday morning came early – but not as early as it would have if I’d had a 2+ hour drive! I opted to stop at Tim Horton’s for some fresh brew, because the hotel coffee was not entirely amazing.

            I got settled into the studio and only through the help of my amazing friends and coworkers, we were able to knock out eleven training videos in under two hours. It was hard work, and learning to navigate a teleprompter was an adventure! (MANY BLOOPERS!)

            We finished up just before lunch – only to find out there had been an issue with the audio, and I had to reshoot all the videos! We decided to make the best of it and power through…and through the grace of God alone, we reshot them all in a mere thirty minutes. (We had worked out all the kinks in the first round.)

            I came home utterly exhausted, but as Ryan reminded me, I did shoot 22 videos in one day, so I was allowed to be tired!

            It was so much fun, and as I look at these pictures, I have to say that never would I have imagined I would one day shoot videos in a real studio. God has such plans, doesn’t He? Grateful to tag along and be part of them.

Random Thoughts

 

What a whirlwind of a week we just had! Lexi’s birthday, Thanksgiving, and lots of other stuff in between! I thought I’d welcome a new week by doing a little photo recap of some of the goodness we’ve enjoyed!

            We get questions now and then about Braeya. She is still with us, but her life is slowing down – way down. She sleeps most of the time and is content to have her space. But now that Christmas season has arrived, she enjoys sleeping under the lights of the main Christmas tree. It’s sweet to see her changing up her spot and spending more time with us!

            We officially finished our Christmas decorating this week and I’ll get the tour up soon! My favorite part was doing our family tree together. I read the stories, Ryan put up the ornaments, and Lexi did quality control.

            Ryan’s second boot camp class went really great! I am so proud of him for how well he’s doing in teaching the class, and I’m proud of myself for being able to do more than I imagined!

            We had a Friendsgiving with some of our friends from church on Friday night. I loved the coffee cup I found to use! We watched the movie Oscar, which is from the 90s. Have any of you seen it? It’s pretty funny!

            This is what happens when Ryan just wants a good picture of Lexi and she wants to be funny.

            Sunsets have been stellar this week.

            A good week indeed. Looking forward to wrapping up November this week. WHAT? How is this year almost over already???

Sunday Sentiments

 

I’ve been working hard on dreams and goals for the year to come. I’ve been evaluating the year behind me and daring to dream for the year ahead. I set aside most of yesterday to work on this, and one of the things I read about was a suggestion to take a moment to grieve things that didn’t turn out the way you hoped or dreamed in the year about to end.

            I almost dismissed it. Grieve things in a year that was filled with so much more good than bad? It seemed almost unkind.

            But I think it does matter.

            I thought of some dreams that crashed and burned. I thought of hard work that had to end. I thought of almost-changes that didn’t end up happening. Even if all those things were okay (or even right and good) it doesn’t mean there isn’t grief involved. It doesn’t mean they didn’t hurt.

            Sometimes saying goodbye to a year means saying goodbye to the things IN that year. And goodbyes aren’t always easy, even if they’re necessary.

            So I decided I would allow it. I will grieve the things that were hard in this year. I will be grateful that God shut the doors – for whatever reason – but I will allow myself to feel and heal from the hurt they brought.

            Yes, I know we still have a whole month left in this year. I’ll need it to keep sorting through all that happened and all that didn’t…and all I hope to see in the year to come.

            It’s been a good year, this 2023. I’m grateful for all of it. But I’m especially grateful for the permission I found in that little suggestion!

Saturday Suggestions

 

Well, we started our long weekend yesterday by OVERSLEEPING! I had the day off, but Ryan did not, and we woke up a solid three minutes after he was supposed to be on the road to work. Thankfully his hairstyle doesn’t take long to do, and I packed a lunch in record time. (And God bless a timed coffee pot that had already run!) He still made it to work on time, and I settled in to find you some fun things to read today. ENJOY!

ONE. 

I love praying for Ryan, and though I usually have no issue thinking of things to pray for/over him, I do love this list of ideas of how to pray for your husband for 30 days. (This works even if you don’t currently have a husband! Pray ahead! I sure did!) I am going to put this list in my planner and use it. 😊

TWO.

The season of giving homemade treats for gifts is upon us, and this little article has some cute and creative ideas of how to package them. Not only are they practical…they have a festive touch! 😊

THREE.

I wrote a while back about how Royal Caribbean is about to have a full world cruise that will last almost 300 days and go to all the continents. I follow an Instagram account of a lady who is planning to sail, but I’m trying to find some blogs to follow too. The entire thing just fascinates me! If you missed it the first time I wrote about it, checkout this overview of the trip from someone planning to sail!

FOUR. 

I found this one too late to pull it together for this year, but I’m saving it for next year! A photo-based Christmas countdown! This is a great idea if you want to do a countdown that doesn’t take up a lot of space or include daily gifts/food.

FIVE. 

Ryan and I have tried making gingerbread houses before, and I’m sad to say we are pretty solid failures at it. I don’t think it’s our next career. But these are some pretty cute ones if you want some inspiration for your own projects, or just some pretty things to look at today.

SIX. 

And finally – an actual year-round capsule wardrobe to inspire you, complete with an outfit for every single day. (Or it will be by the end of this year.) Brilliant!