priceless

Just park your car...you've found us!

UGHHHH...this tree is my nemesis this year!  

It's a pre-lit, FAKE tree that was bought when we were first married to fit in our new (now old) house.  So...it doesn't fit great in our new family room and I would say more than half of the lights no longer work.  When we put it up...I strung lights through the middle section and about a week later all the lights on the bottom of the tree no longer work.  FoooEEEEyyyy!  Needless to say...it is trashed after Christmas!

This is totally a secret between us...I am actually giddy inside about this fact because I have always wanted a real tree.  I grew up with the real thing and have always succumbed to the fake because we have yet to spend a Christmas in Georgia.  Not anymore folks...my kids will from this Christmas on always come down stairs during the Christmas season to the smells of pine!!   

YES!

Now, since we are 99% sure we will be having no more little ones,  I will also be on the hunt for the perfect stockings for next year!  I have been shopping already...just hoping for a sweet sale after the holidays!

Cue the music...

Truth be told, I am struggling this year.  

The only way to explain it (or at least I try to explain it to myself) is that my heart is sad.  

My life is good...I've been given so much...

 but at the end of the day when my house is quiet...

 my heart is sad.  

I ran across an article in Real Simple the other day...actually it was in a Note from the Editor... that struck me as being very true.  The gist...

Think small...happiness is all around you!  

Find your joy in the little things.

I woke up the next morning to this...

and a little girl saying..."Look momma, I decorated the tree!  Isn't it pretty!"

As I smile and say..."Yes sweet Love... it is absolutely divine!"

"yes momma...Diiii-vine"

The last paragraph of the Editor's note went like this:

This is happiness, each of these things.  

And if you incorporate enough of them into your day

---and hit Pause when they come, if only for a moment---

you might just find that you know exactly what it means to 

"be happy."

Do you want a glimpse at a few of the moment's I've paused...

the belly laugh of our little Lover when he gets caught sneaking up the stairs...

that sweet grin that always makes my heart dance...

a husband, that even though I may not always show it...STILL makes my heart flutter!

and the small things that don't matter but make life better...

a chai tea latte in the morning...just add milk!

 or the smell of your favorite candle...definitely the Volcano candle from Anthropologie!

What do I want for you all this season...

all the HAPPINESS and LOVE you can stand!

Merry Christmas!