We've officially been in our house since Tuesday. It's been really nice
to, once again, have a place that is slowly becoming "home". I'm
finding that routines I'd thought were lost forever (mostly personal
ones like quiet times and such) are not so hard to re-discover. I'm
also finding that the task of settling into a house is a much bigger project
than I'd once anticipated.

Christmas lights, holiday music, stockings and presents and carols...
It's amazing that even though I'm rather behind this year
with Christmas preparations and feeling less than prepared for next
week, the season is yet upon us. Without cookies or wassail or the
perfect paper napkins, we are celebrating His birth and all that His
birth means. I miss the traditional elements a lot and hope to never
repeat the lack thereof again; and yet I am thankful for a year that is
causing me to realize how amazing His gift of life truly is. We don't
need "the works" to make this season momentous--the Baby in the manger
is that wonderful.