Hosted by Jen at PlainGrace.com (Formerly Suscipio)

Moments of Gratitude…

Today I am especially thankful for

• The joy of the Christmas season.
• 14 years of marriage to my Sweetie.
• A date night to watch The Hobbit.
• Another week of vacation with staying up late and (relatively) sleeping in.
• Hugs and kisses from my littles.
• The Packers winning today’s’ game. I have one happy hubby (who almost had a heart attack.)

Beauty in the Ordinary…

When a hubby doesn’t care about your physical flaws and says you are still the most beautiful woman in his eyes. (Love is blind. 😉 )

In the Kitchen…

M – Leftover ham, broccoli and homemade Mac and cheese (made with low fat smoked Dutch cheese. Yum)

T – Pizza and salad.

W – (New Years Day) Party buffet – fave appetizers, cold cuts, etc

Th – Breakfast Dinner – Eggs, turkey breakfast links, country potatoes & tomato slices.

F – Tune Melts & Trader Joe’s Red Pepper and Tomato soup. Yum!

S – Leftovers.

S – Epiphany Party – Taco Salad Buffet.

Praying…

• For those who are not enjoying the joys of the season and are dealing with loneliness or depression.
• For those who have lost loved ones, especially recently.
• For those suffering the cross of infertility.
• For our military, especially those having a hard time being away from their loved ones during the holidays.
• For some special intentions.

Pondering…

I’ve been thinking about the new year. For the last two years I’ve had a “theme” or word that I’ve worked on during that time. I am thinking about what this year’s them will be. (I’ll  hopefully post about it in the week.)

Around the house…

The after Christmas mess was insane. I have pockets of it cleared out but there are far more areas that are still crazy messy. It will be a very busy week cleaning, decluttering and purging.

Reading…

Past Suspicion by Therese Heckenkamp I started this book some time ago and lost interest. I finally picked it back up and finished it. It was okay and had some great “I can’t wait to see what happens” moments but overall it was not a favorite. To be fair, I think she wrote this book when she was 18…so for an 18 year old, it was good. 😉 There is talent there so I am looking forward to seeing how her writing has developed. I’ve  added her second book onto my list – Frozen Footsteps.

But for now, the next piece of fiction on my list is Divergent by Veronica Roth. (I don’t want to see the upcoming movie until I read the book first. 😉 )

Listening to…

The snores of the kids and the clicking of my typing on my laptop as I watch Christmas in Connecticut.

On my DVR…

We finally replaced our old broken DVR and boy, does this new one hold a lot more! I’ve got countless Christmas movies including all the new Hallmark movies and so far my faves are A Very Merry Mix Up and Finding Christmas. Currently, Brian and I are finally getting around to watching the PBS Masterpiece show The Paradise. We just finished watching the last episode tonight. Wow. I especially appreciated that there was romance without bed hopping. I am looking forward to Season 2. The storyline takes place a year after Season 1 ended. Here’s the trailer.

And who else is pumped for the start of Downton Abbey next Sunday?? Yeah, baby! 🙂

On the blog…

There are some great End of the Year link-ups coming up this week.

Monday I am linking up with Sarah of Amongst Lovely Things for “Most” Posts of 2013.

Tuesday  I am linking up with Pam from Everyday Snapshots for 13 for 13 and Dwija for 2013 in 13. (Your favorite photos of 2013.)

Wednesday I will hopefully link up with Jen at Plain Grace for Naming the New Year.

Posts I’ve Liked on my Bloglovin

I’m behind on my blog reading but here are a couple…

• Staying Peaceful When You’re Overwhelmed by Misty’s Mornings

• Austenprose’s Top Jane Austen-inspired Books of 2013 by Austenprose

Pinned…

• FREE Printable Home and Blogging Pages

• Popular Organizing Posts of 2013 at I’m an Organizing Junkie

• New Years Resolutions for Kids Printable

Plans for the Week…

A quiet New Year’s Eve, a family New Years Day get together, and an Epiphany party with some local Catholic families/friends. It’s the first party we’ve hosted in a long, long time. Wish me luck. 🙂

Captured…

Since Brian and I celebrated our 14th Anniversary on Dec 28, I thought it would be fun to post then and now pics. 🙂

Click on over to PlainGrace.com to read more almanacs/journals.

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