Christmas 2016

This year, I decided to not stress that I was alone, but instead do my best to make it the best Christmas yet. 

On Christmas Eve, I got new pajamas and fuzzy socks. 

I was well spoiled by family and friends. I felt so loved!

I was thrilled to find the perfect pajama shirt. Most days, I live on Jesus and coffee. 

I've actually had the presents under the tree for a few weeks now, just to keep the tree skirt in place. The cats didn't like this. Today, as soon as the presents were gone, they were back under the tree. 

I left the tree lights on last night. I loved waking up to the tree all lit up. 

Before I got ready for church, I decided to open my stocking. 

After I opened my stocking, I hopped in the shower to get ready for church. When I got out, I went downstairs to get my breakfast. Instead, I found some cats who decided to put themselves on the naughty list. Yesterday, I thought it would be nice to have some pretty flowers by my tree, so I bought a small vase of roses. 

They did look pretty, until someone decided to destroy them. After further inspection, I found chew marks on the ribbon that was around the vase of flowers. I'm pretty sure Percy was trying to get the ribbon, which in turned knocked over the vase and then they decided to eat the rose instead. 

After church, I came home to open the rest of my presents. I think the one I was the most excited for was a new kitchen table. Its not assembled yet, but a friend is going to help me put it together next week. 

The cats checking out their package of crinkle balls they got. It came with a dozen. Percy is convinced they are ALL his. 

Percy and Blue had fun playing in the wrapping paper while I unwrapped my presents. 

I must say, its like Santa knew exactly what I wanted! I felt very fortunate that I could spoil myself this year. 

 Once again, I am amazed at how far Jesus has carried me this year. He is the air I breathe and I am forever grateful for his Peace and Love. 

Christmas with the Nephews

This year, I decided to try and support home businesses for my Christmas shopping. So for the nephews, I bought them a pet and dry towel from a friend who sells Norwex and then some cute soaps from another friend. 

For Tyler & Preston:

For Colt:

Colt and his family were out of town for Christmas, but I was able to go see Preston & Tyler on Christmas Eve. 

For Valex and Daxsen:

Snowman Jars

School had me pretty stressed this year, but when I saw these cute snowman jars on Pinterest, I had to make a few to use for coworker gifts. They were so easy to put together and they turned out super cute. 

Christmas Cards 2016

This year, I decided to do a simple card instead of doing a newsletter. This year had a lot of lows, I lost my grandma and a dear friend. I learned of my ex's unfaithfulness and watched my marriage fall apart.

But the Lord has also blessed me. I was promoted to Payroll Specialist at my job and I graduated with my Associate's Degree. Most importantly, the Lord restored my joy, while my world was falling apart.

When I saw this card that said JOY, I knew it was the perfect card. 

When they came in the mail, I was upset to see that the last line was missing. So I tried to match it as close as I could and then I hand fed each of them through the printer. 

Here's hoping that 2017 goes much better.  I can't wait to see what God has in store for me. 

Brrr

Tonight, my nephew Daxsen got to sing at the community event where they light the Christmas tree. It was pretty cold, so I bundled up pretty warm. But watching those poor kids sing had me freezing!

Pictures

I wanted to do something to mark my divorce, but I had a hard time deciding what to do. I contemplated taking a trip, but school made that impossible. Instead, I decided it would be fun to do a photo shoot. I love photos and I decided I needed some of myself. Something to mark this new chapter of my life. I did some looking on Facebook and found Tereza Thomas. I loved her work, so I contacted her and we set an appointment.

We were  supposed to meet the first part of November, but then something came up and she had to reschedule. When I saw there was snow, I decided it was worth the wait. She was so much fun to work with and I love how the pictures turned out. It was so hard trying to narrow it down to my favorite, so instead, I give you my top 10 favorites. 

This picture was actually the last one we took. I had let her choose the locations and the poses. But I couldn't resist a fun picture of throwing some snow in the air. I love how it turned out. That grin you see, that is from the Joy that Jesus has given me. 

This was probably the funniest picture. She told me to look serious, but instead I laughed. She got some fun pictures of me laughing, but somehow she managed to get a serious shot too. 

These last four are my other favorites. 

I'm so glad I decided to do a photo shoot. I think every woman should do it. I felt so beautiful and I love having proof of it. I also love seeing how happy I look. I plan to make this a yearly thing to do.