Well Wishes for the NEW YEAR!!

HELLO!

I can't believe it's been an entire month (practically) since I've written. This was not by choice, I swear. I have about 6 drafts started and almost ready to publish.... but they haven't been due to the Holiday buzz, the crazy work and travel schedules and last but not least - our malfunctioning modem and router issues. UGH!

So finally, after hours of Todd patiently holding, calling Comcast and troubleshooting galore... hopefully we'll stay in business! :)

We had a WONDERFUL Christmas together here in D.C.. It was actually a little weird at first. We did all of our family visits before Christmas weekend and I didn't have to work on the holiday. It was wonderful waking up Christmas Eve to each other, casually having a nice breakfast and coffee, taking in the peace that surrounded D.C. on our 10 mile run and knowing we didn't have to rush off to someone's house for all the hustle and bustle that's become an expectation for us. It's not that we don't enjoy our family time, but when you spend more time in the car than with each side of the family.... it's more and more difficult to do (I don't even like thinking about the madness it would be with KIDS!). We realized this summer with our move, we wouldn't be able to take the time off of work that would allow us to be in NC over the holidays to see everyone we want and need to be with. So we made adjustments and split the visits over Thanksgiving and Christmas. What a difference it made. We in no way spent as much time with our family and friends as we wanted to, but we did what we could with the time we had.

Christmas Day was also a nice calm day for us. We slept in and then went to church. We haven't found a home church here in the DC area yet. My work schedule and Todd's training schedule haven't given us a whole lot of Sunday's to join in on fellowship.... but, thankfully, we had Christmas Sunday together to fellowship with the kind and open hearts of Clarendon Presbyterian Church. This small church was breathtakingly beautiful. Small and quaint, but gorgeous. I'm not sure how old the structure is, but the sanctuary is gorgeous. I think there were 10 of us total there Sunday morning. We sang together, read the Christmas Story, and shared our favorite memories as families from Christmases past. It was casual, kind, and  a beautiful way to start our Christmas morning.

I'm thankful we had the opportunity to join this church family in their Christmas morning service. We will certainly be back for a "traditional" service to meet and greet a few more faces!

I hope that each of you had a special and wonderful Christmas holiday celebrating the birth of Christ.

There will be much more to come in 2012. Todd and I have lots of goals for this year... mostly around running/fitness, professional development, financial and as a couple, but all are exciting! :) And yes, as always, I do have a goal to do MUCH more through and with this blog.

Hugs and Happy Holidays friends!! :) I love you all!
-a.