Welcoming the new year in peace.**

(**and quiet!)

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Right now I am snuggled under a blanket, feeling peaceful and contented after a whole day of delightfulness with my dear girlfriends (Lisa and Amy!) and my (sweetest of all) hubby. In the past 24 hours I have eaten out every meal. I know what your thinking. What?? Am I on vacation or something? Well, yes, in a way, I am. My wonderful, darling oldest two children are on holiday at their Grandma's house!! And all I really know is that after much dramatics in what should have been a simple transfer of children to my father yesterday, I came home to a thrillingly quiet abode! (Those dramatics consisted of mainly my leaving my brain AT HOME when I drove the hour to meet my dad to drop the kids off..and thereby missing TWO main exits and driving at LEAST about 45 minutes out of my way all together. And all I can say is, well, I guess it COULD have been worse, right? It could always get worse. That's how I console myself anyway.)

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Anyway, for New Year's Eve, Mark and I (and baby Elsie) had a fabulous night IN. It was bliss!!! I lit every single candle in my house (and no naughty little boys blowing them out at every turn!), had all the Christmas lights aglow, and playing piano Christmas music softly in the background (and no wild children shrieking over top of it). We ordered Cheesecake factory in for dinner, we sat at our dining table and I don't think we have EVER fully appreciated our home and that dining room so much as we did last night. We loved it. So beautiful and serene. I think I honestly forgot how peaceful and quiet homes are without the sound of kid-craziness going on constantly.

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We definitely need MORE of that. At least once a season, I think.

After dinner we watched Mama Mia (my second time in 2 days!!) the movie musical together (and yes I know I am lucky to have a hubby that likes musicals and romantic comedies too...) and promptly fell asleep together on the large sofa upstairs waiting for the ball to drop. We awoke(missed the ball!) at 1:30 to ring in the new year by stumbling happily down to bed for the night.

And that was just last night!

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I was blessed today to go get brunch with my girlies and we talked for a few hours at the restaurant...then we met up with the hubbies and hit the sales at the mall for the day. WOW. It was so fun. We finished by catching dinner at a great Asian bistro restaurant and YUM! It was tasty! And I ended it by saying goodbye to my friend again as she heads back to Austin. What great fun we have together.

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Just two nights ago we had a SUPER-GIRLIE-Mama Mia party at my house seeing the movie for the first time- it was just fabulous!! Two sets of sisters hanging out and having just the best time together!

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Ohhh, friends like that are so hard to come by. Definitely a treasure not to be taken for granted.

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As the first day of the year comes to a close, I feel like I have enjoyed this Holiday season thoroughly, and I will(as I always do!) hang on to it for as long as reasonably possible by listening to Christmas music for probably a couple-(few? It's depending on snow!Snow always makes me feel christmassy)more weeks, and I will gaze into the glow of our tree and slowly start to think about my dreams for the new year. Goals I'd like to take on, and things I'd like to improve on, both physically, mentally, and spiritually.

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Growth is good, and like my mother always said, time flies the older you get! So as I grow older, I feel like I am trying to catch each new stage (for myself but especially my children) before it blasts pass me. To hold it for as long as I can despite it's fleeting passing, attempting to pause it just long enough to enjoy the beauty the best I can.

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Experiencing JOY from of all the moments of life will definitely be one of my most important goals of the year.