It’s been a few days! Long days, it feels like. But in another sense, it also FLEW BY. I know some people are already taking down their decorations and that part of the aftermath of Christmas makes me sad. I’m not ready to let go of the joy that Christmas time brings me. Especially not after these last few months. I told my fiancé that I was going to leave the tree up year round and just decorate it for the holiday (i.e Hearts and cards for Valentines Day, clovers for St Pattys Day). He told me no 😂
We started out Christmas Day at our home where we opened gifts as a family. We got Della a super cute kitchen set for Christmas. SHE LOVED IT and I’m thankful because we were up til 1am putting it together 😅
Her face 🥰
I got Dylan a pair of new boots
We then went to Dylans’ mom’s house and opened presents. We facetimes grandparents while opening presents instead of going to their house for lunch.
It was a very different Christmas, but I still loved every second of it. I’m sad that it’s over.
I hope you all had a great Christmas!!
What was your favorite gift? Mine is my new sewing machine!
The satisfaction of accomplishing something on your own.
Let’s talk about it.
First off, WHAT A GREAT FEELING!! I’m talking about that moment when you’ve successfully done something that you set out to do ALL BY YOURSELF.
Like… You didn’t know what you were getting yourself into, but your dedicated self didn’t let that stop you.
I remember applying for financial aid for college my senior year of high school. I was the first kid of seven in my family to really pursue college, so I had no idea what I was doing. I walked in blindly, researched tips along the way, and explored the new chapter at my own pace.
And I went to college, got PAID to do so, and did it ALL on my own. I OWNED that $h#t!
Tonight I’m watching my fiancée bask in the glow of that same feeling of achievement. And it’s GLORIOUS!
Watching people succeed is THE BEST!
Dylan bought the truck he had been dreaming of back in October of this year. He didn’t want fancy, he just wanted his own style. He has a very interesting style (it’s one of the things I chuckle about the most). He’s very particular. He is the type to get frustrated over bad hair days and to want a specific hat for a given look. He’s never been one to care about what was “in.” He’s always just wanted to be unique and retro in his own way. So initially he wanted a Chevy truck with four wheel drive and he found exactly that in his 08 Chevy Silverado (He’s a very simple man, I appreciate that).
Well last week, the Silverado’s drivers side door wouldn’t open. We had to crawl in and out of the passenger seat to get to the drivers side for like a week. We’ve been short on money, so Dylan decided he was going to fix the door on his own and not take it to the shop.
I was doubtful, admittedly.
He researched the issue and went to the auto parts store bought a new cable. I was shocked he made that big of a move, but I still wasn’t convinced he was going to pull it off.
That night he stayed up until 1am working on that darned door.
He came in that night discouraged, but not defeated.
The next night he wanted me to go out there with him while he worked on it. I agreed on the grounds that I could just SIT out there and be company; not actually help in any capacity.
I went out and sat in the garage on my laptop for a bit, helped a tiny portion, and returned back inside to the heat.
The next time Dylan came in the house, the door was fixed.
He had no clue what he was doing initially, but he was determined to get the job done! I think that is such an admirable trait.
I had a refreshing weekend spent at home with my family. Saturday we had some family over for Christmas, but it wasn’t anything too big or exciting.
Sunday while cleaning we found $80 in Wal-Mart gift cards, so we decided that we needed to go to Wal-Mart and spend that money on absolutely nothing important.
Since my sister lives with us now, we decided that all of us should splurge on something that we each wanted for ourselves. When we first went to checkout, we had nearly the whole cart full of things just for my daughter, but we stopped, went through the cart looking for the things we didn’t really need, and put stuff back.
Then we each got serious about looking for something for ourselves. It’s crazy when you have a kid, so much of our everyday life revolves around them – even when we don’t mean for it to.
So Dylan got some new jeans for work, my sister got a new sweater, and I got some workout leggings. I’m wearing the leggings today and OH! They are nice! I did a workout in them on my lunch break and they didn’t slip down at all. I just got the Wal-Mart brand tight athletic leggings – they were only $15, so it makes me wonder how people really spend a lot of money on leggings from name brand companies. $50 for a pair of LEGGINGS?!
I just can’t do it.
Me and my Wal-Mart leggings will be just fine over here.
If you follow along with me every week, I often write about:
Work struggles
Parenthood
Stress and relief
Addiction
Family
Relationships
If you’d be down to team up, leave me a comment and we can share info! I really want to do a few of these so I share some of who YOU are to my readers!
I’m excited for this project! Let’s team up! Drop me a comment!!! 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
It’s currently 11:29pm and I’m sitting here enjoying the last few minutes of December 18th.
Because it’s FINALLY the weekend – Something I’ve deserved since MONDAY, amiright?
I actually am only up right now because I fell asleep with Della on the couch. I didn’t wanna fight bedtime tonight, so I laid with her until we both fell asleep watching cartoons. I woke up, moved her to her bed, and am now relaxin. Dylan is in the garage working on his truck. His drivers side door won’t open and the truck won’t start without a jump, so add that to the list of BS that has smacked down on us in the last WEEK.
I’ve been overwhelmed with work this week and have just felt a bad vibe all week long. I’m hoping the stars realign next week so I can get my spirits back up.
No real big plans for the weekend. We were supposed to have family Christmas tomorrow night, but COVID ruined that too. I’ve remained fairly optimistic and have tried to see the positive of this pandemic since the first lockdowns started, but here lately I’ve just been feeling that optimism get cut thinner and thinner.
I’m ready to do what I want when I want. But I’m afraid I feel we have months to go still, even with a new vaccine. It’s been nine months, but it’s still a new normal. No comfortability in sight.
I’m going to challenge myself to list three good things about this week:
1. My sister has her room downstairs all settled, and it makes me feel good that I’m able to take her in when she needs someone. She seems happier.
2. My daughter never ceases to make me laugh when I need it the most. We had fun this week playing with some new Christmas presents she got. She served me “breakfast” on her new plates this morning.
3. This week was payday. On top of that, our company earned a small bonus for our fourth quarter efforts. Only $100 after taxes, but I’m not complaining! I could fill my car three times with that!
It’s good to challenge yourself to see the good when everything feels so drag. What are some good things that happened to you this week? I need to hear some love from y’all 💓
A member of my family was recently involved in a domestic assault.
And I don’t normally write about this very important topic, because to be honest, before last week I hadn’t had a whole lot of experiences of it firsthand.
But I write a lot about my personal life and the things that I care about.
So this is written with passion, and within the parameters of what you would expect seeing on this blog.
Approximately 1 in 4 women are victims of domestic abuse in the United States[1]. That number just absolutely blows my mind because I have five sisters and I can unbelievably say that two out of those five women have been physically abused by a partner.
It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
I received the call from my sister and my blood boiled hot. I told her to calm down and that I’d be there in one minute. I hopped in the car while dialing my boss to explain to her I had an emergency to take care of and that she needed to clock me out for the day. She understood and asked no questions.
I wasn’t sure what I was in for, so I called my aunt. The women that raised me. She always seems to know exactly every question I have about adulthood and provides personal experiences to make it seem ridiculous not to trust her advice when I ask for it.
I stayed with her while the cop took pictures of her injuries and the destruction of her apartment. I watched my sister shake in fear as she wrote her statement. I was there for the most vulnerable seconds of her life. I know she isn’t lying, and I know that she is a SURVIVOR.
The next day I called my oldest sister and asked her to help me get an Order of Protection in place. She took the day off with no questions asked and my oldest sister and I marched our younger sister into the courthouse in front of a judge within two hours of me asking.
I contacted a Quanada rep (they have advocates that attend hearings and offer assistance to victims of assaults) and got my sister some therapy sessions set up.
She is doing well now, she is staying with me now. She seems happier.
But she still blames herself.
I want to make it clear to any SURVIVORS out there:
Anyone that causes you bodily harm does not love you.
What they did to you was not because of anything you did. Nothing you could have done should ever result in someone putting their hands on you.
You are worth more than how they made you feel. You can break the chains. There is more out there for you.
If you or someone you know needs help, the Domestic Abuse Hotline is 1-800-799-7233.If you’re interested in supporting The National Domestic Abuse Hotline with non-financial donations including material resources, partnerships, collaborations, or other opportunities, please reach out to hotline.requests@thehotline.org
My aunt and uncle started renting a ranch-style brick country home the year I started sixth grade. I remember that because we moved in right at the start of the school year and my little boyfriend at the time lived down the road a few miles.
It was the kind of country vibe that our family fit well into. We road our bikes up and down the long gravel driveway from the house to the grain bins and back. We played kickball in the huge yard out front. I remember one season my uncle borrowed our school’s pitching machine and brought it out to the yard so he could shoot me some outfield fly balls. The athlete in me loved it.
This is the home I know better than any other. The home I’ve spent the most hours of my life in.
Us kids spent many nights sitting on our beds in the basement chatting, laughing, bickering…
It was the place our family was raised in. We developed and overcame and powered through so much together in that home and I’m sad that the house will one day be just a memory of a time when all of us were together.
You never know the power of a moment until it’s just a memory.
This was the house we had to bury our first dog at.
The house where I learned to drive and later got in trouble for breaking curfew.
I got ready for school dances and graduations in the tiny bathroom with my six siblings.
Most of my education was earned while studying in that house.
So many memories made under that roof…
My uncle has been living there for more than ten years. By now, he could paid off a house of his own, but instead he’s shoved tens of thousands of dollars into RENT.
I completely understand and support his decision, but it doesn’t make saying goodbye any easier.
We were all supposed to get together Saturday to celebrate our last holiday in the house. My uncle is leaving right after Christmas.
Of course….. Someone in the house tested positive- ruining our opportunity to reminisce in our home all together for the last time.
I’m heartbroken over it.
Goodbye, Home
This was all the land we got to play on. We would ride our backs down around the grain bins and back. We jumped in that pond and walked those fields. The best front yard for playing kickball!
I love the holidays. It was always a cheerful and happy time growing up. Our parents always presented the Christmas spirit in a beautiful, sentimental way. Now that I’m an adult, I appreciate that we did so much more than open presents.
We made homemade ornaments and spent an entire day making cookies, fudge, and candy.
We all loaded up in the station wagon to go to the Christmas tree farm. We held hands around our tree and sang “Oh, Christmas Tree” before cutting it down.
We packed all nine of us in a car so that we only had to pay one admission into the Avenue of Lights.
We decorated the tree, yard, and house as a family.
We made a trip to town to drive down Maine Street and look at the lights.
We jammed out to Christmas carols and made jokes about someday doing this with kids of our own.
And now the holidays that we joked about ten years ago are actually upon us.
We now have the opportunity to share all of the beautiful and happy memories that we cherish, with our children.
Christmas was always so much less about gifts, than it was about spending time with family. No matter what was going on, Christmas was always the ultimate uniter.
I’ve witnessed so much love, forgiveness, and acceptance during this time of the year. It’s as if the magic in the air guides everyone back to where they belong. Grudges vanish, judgements cease, and love conquers all.
At least that’s what Christmas is and always will be for our family.
I’m thankful to now be able to feel what my parents always felt while spending time with us during the holidays. I can feel a smile buried in my chest when carrying on traditions that I shared with my family as a child.
Between the Lens 