Yesterday was wedding dress shopping day with my daughter Bethany. Her best friend Allison is her maid of honor came along, as well as her sisters Abigail and Jennifer, who are bridesmaids. 

We went to a beautiful shop named Serendipity, at the suggestion of her maid of honor and I am so glad we did!
Our appointment was for 3:00 and we arrived on time. They let us in and the first thing they did was take our temperatures. Then we went to a hand sanitizing station to clean our hands. I appreciated the fact that they were following precautions.

Our sales associate gave us a quick tour then took us to the seating area with a small couch, two chairs, and a little table with bottled water and little beautifully decorated cupcakes! 

Bethany was then taken to select dresses from the showroom.  The rest of us chatted while we waited and before long the sales associate and the bride-to-be were back with arm loads of dresses. It was getting exciting! 

Bethany soon came out of the dressing room in the first dress. Of course it was beautiful and she looked amazing in it. I really thought it might be ‘the one’ and kept searching her eyes for clues as to how she felt about it.

She did say it was very pretty and she felt pretty in it but I didn’t think it was ‘the dress’. 

She went to change into dress #2. The associate came out to tell us that this was the dress Bethany really liked. We all hoped we liked it, too.

When you go dress shopping with your daughter you expect to feel certain things but it was different than I expected and I was a bit in awe of how certain Bethany was about what she wanted. I was impressed. 

The second dress was perfect for her! It suited her figure beautifully and the dress had all the elements she had always dreamed of in a dress. 

While we were pretty sure that was going to be ‘the dress’ we encouraged her to try on the remaining dresses because it had taken no time at all, it is fun to try on dresses, and of course there was always a chance there would be another dress she liked better. 

She did like the remaining dresses but found something with each that crossed them off her list. All that was left was for her to try on ‘her dress’ one more time and say ‘Yes!’ to the dress!

After the decision was made, the business of measuring and paying for it came into play. Then it was time to celebrate with champagne and photos! It was all a lot of fun and made it feel like the very special day it was. 
​

I always feel like January is the longest month. After the rush and activity of December we are faced with a cold, bare month with nothing to do. For those with seasonal depression it is the worst. After years of hating January I learned a few tricks to get through it.

Number one is of course cleaning after the tree comes down. Nothing says ‘fresh start’ like a nice, clean home. I know the house can feel empty when all the decorations come down, but it is easier to clean and you’re working with a blank slate. That’s where number 2 comes in.

2- cozy it up a bit. Candles (real or battery operated), a few books sitting near your favorite spot on the couch, throw pillows, warm lighting, and cuddly throw blankets help give a sense of calm and comfort. 

A third suggestions is scent. Any air freshener, scented candle or however you scent your home will do. I love the Bath & Body Works concentrated room sprays. Seasonal to fit what you think January should smell like -snow for instance- or something tropical. Whatever scent you choose is up to you, just spritz something that makes you happy.

Number four on my list is comfort clothing. Fuzzy socks, a favorite robe or lounging clothes will make you feel better. It’s like a little hug to put on your favorite things.

A nice drink will warm you up and make you feel better. Coffee, tea, cocoa, or even your favorite cocktail. I’m thinking comfort equals happiness!

Reading is my 6th suggestion for dealing with the January blahs. Getting into a good book  always helps me. I love cozy mysteries and autobiographies. If you received a book as a Christmas gift, now is the time to read it. 

New-to-you movies to watch is another suggestion but of course an old favorite will do as well. My personal pick me up movie is Midnight in Paris. It’s got humor, romance, & fantasy all in one. If you haven’t seen it, give it a try!

Number 8 is decorating for January. I have a small snowman, snowflake, and winter decor collection I like to have on display. Just here and there, to help with the bareness of everything in the house. Plus I love snow, so it gives me a bit of pretty​ winter to look at even if all I actually get is rain. 

9 is cooking or baking. If you didn’t have time to bake during the Christmas season you can still bake cookies! Snowmen, snow flakes, or whatever your favorites are. You can bake bread. Or cook for friends. The oven will warm the house, the aromas will scent your home, and you can share whatever you make with friends or co-workers if you like.

My last suggestion is to have a winter get together. Even with the current situation you can still have a few friends or family members over. Be with people you love.  Play games, listen to music, dance, eat. Make it casual or fancy. Have a winter theme or luau. Whatever makes you happy. 

​I blogged a few years ago but it was pretty sporadic and I didn’t seem to have a lot to say. It sounds funny to say that because now my head is full of ideas. But back then it was just really hard to write.

Maybe I was too busy with my kids.  Now that I am a bit older I have a clearer head and my thoughts just flow onto paper or keyboard so much more easily than they used to. 

When I was a teenager I wrote poetry and wanted to be an author.  I was always writing and my pad of paper was never far from me. It feels like that now. Creative juices flowing or whatever you want to call it. 

I tried vlogging once, at the encouragement of my vlogger daughter, Bethany. It was not a good fit for me. I don’t do enough interesting things and I felt awkward and self conscience.

Blogging is a much better choice for me. It’s like journaling in a way, which I do all the time. I enjoy it and I feel comfortable doing it. 

My love of words goes back to when I was a little girl. I was always writing song lyrics since music was another great love. I enjoyed the challenge of making words ‘fit’. Discovering new words was a joy. 

I am also interested in the origins of words. I’m a true logophile. I find words fascinating and fun. Blogging lets me enjoy my hobbies of words and writing and I get to talk about whatever I want. Maybe someone will read my words. They might even enjoy what I have to say, which would be wonderful.

We all know that life is full of changes. Some are easy to adapt to but others are a bit more challenging. 

Our youngest daughter just moved into her first apartment. She is 21 and eager to ‘adult’. As her mom I wish she’d stay home longer, save more money, be a little more worldly than she is before living alone. Her dad seems to think it is a good idea for her to be out on her own. It’s probably a little of both, but it’s still hard for both of us. 

She is our little girl. We want the best for her but worry like all parents do. Still, hearing the excitement in her voice as she called from the checkout line in Target with her first household items in her cart made me feel proud of her. 

She’s going to have a nervous first night there. She’s going to make some cooking mistakes that will trigger a frantic phone call to mom. She’ll have her first party there and she’ll have friends over and have game nights. She’ll also have lonely nights and that is part of it. 

I’ll pray for her happiness and safety there as I pray for all of my children every day. I always ask God to protect all my children and grandchildren (as well as everyone I love) from accident, illness, addiction and harm. I’ll add a little extra request for Jenny – that she is happy and thriving in her new grown up world. I’ll also pray for help with all the changes in life that come our way. 

My first journal entries speak of looking forward to the roaring ’20’s and my excitement at the thought of the resurrection of speak easy style bars and 1920’s fashion. 

January and  February are always my doctor appointment months so I took care of all of that business. I also watched a fair amount of cleaning vlogs so spent a lot of time cleaning. It was totally worth the effort because the house looked great. 

By March I was ready to start spring cleaning, and I started in the kitchen area like I always do. I was working on cleaning the cabinet tops when word started to spread about the pandemic.

 I remember running to the Dollar General for something and a man in line in front of me made a big deal about grabbing the last bottles of hand sanitizer. I had no idea what he was doing. It didn’t take long for me to find out and to be glad my daughters are Bath & Body Works shoppers and had huge stashes of hand sanitizers.

Before I knew it I was hoarding canned goods and toilet paper and half filled with fear and confusion like everyone else.
Flatten the curve, they said. We followed orders and stayed inside, half afraid to breathe the outdoor air.  We hunkered down. Well, most people did. Everyone in my family are ‘essential’ so I was home holding down the fort and disinfecting everything when they came home. Shoes were left on the porch. Strip down to your undies as soon as you come in and take a shower. It was nuts. That’s how we lived. We worried and wondered and sprayed Lysol if we could find it. 

By April I needed a distraction so decided to start Christmas shopping for my grandchildren while items from China (toys) were still available because certainly we would halt imports from them. Well, that never happened. 

In May I started thinking about 2021 and ordered a planner and started buying planner stickers for the good days that were to come. I had to focus on something else besides what was happening. 

In June I started my spring cleaning which I had initially started in March and which was rudely interrupted by the pandemic. I did not have the same enthusiasm I’d had in March. 
By August I was buying stuffed animals for myself as a comfort and coping tool. They helped. 

We started remodeling the bathroom and painted the kitchen in August and September. The added chaos to my life was such a treat but the final results were awesome and the highlight of my year.

In September we planned an engagement party for our daughter and future son-in-law, following social distancing guidelines. It was held in our back yard in early October with plenty of open space and bottles of hand sanitizer at every table. We kept the guest list small.

By mid October I was all set for Christmas since I had started so early. I was anxiously looking forward to 2021 and a new beginning.

November and December were spent with my daughters waiting for symptoms since they work in the medical field and several co workers had tested positive for COVID. By Christmas one had tested positive and the other had 3 negative results. It finally got us. Thank goodness everyone is fine now.

For months I was focusing on January 1st. I needed that new beginning.

So here we are. 

I am truly hoping ‘normal’ returns and we can start truly living our lives again. I am also hoping my planner and journal are filled with happy and fun things to look back on when we reach January 2022.

Welcome to 2021!  Woo hoo!!! Are we loving this new year or what?!

I know we are all just so glad to be done with 2020, amiright? 
Well, as bad as 2020 was we did have some really positive things happen in our family, so we can’t complain 100%.

Our daughter Bethany got engaged and graduated from college.
We remodeled our bathroom (unplanned, was just supposed to be painted, but whatever, I love it!)

Spruced up our kitchen, which is nifty.
Daughter Jenny bought her first new car.
Got a new roof on the house. 
Celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. 

So not all doom and gloom, which is great. I hate to focus on the bad stuff.

We have a brand new year so let’s hope for some great things to happen!

We have a wedding in June. 

Home improvements are in the works.

And more good things I am sure. Stay positive for 2021 (and COVID negative!)

​Wishing everyone the BEST for 2021!

It’s a quiet New Year’s Eve for us tonight as I am sure it is for most people. COVID restrictions have made it difficult to ‘party like it’s 1999’ and let’s face it, most of us are pretty done with 2020 and have mixed emotions about celebrating anything to do with it. 

Our wild evening consists of some wings and chips with chili con queso, along with our ‘house wine’, Cupcake Moscato. Attire is pajama pants with a mismatched t shirt.

I’ll be on the computer tonight, and hubby with be playing video games online with his dad and our future son-in-law. I am not even going to bother turning on the tv for midnight because due to satellite delays we were about two minutes behind the rest of the world at midnight last year and it just felt silly. The neighbors and their fireworks and gunfire will let me know what time it is.

I am just looking forward to waking up tomorrow morning believing we have a fresh start and that things will be better in the New Year. I think everyone is hoping the same for 2021.