L'aventure américaine

I love Christmas.  I do.  It's my very favorite holiday and I love that it brings people together...  that you express your love and affection...  that you spend time with your family, biological or not. I was far from my family this year and I missed them.  I really really missed them.  But, I am so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life here, who although they might not normally celebrate such a Christmas carol filled, ornament adorned, festive holiday, put on quite a show for me.  I am so appreciative! On Christmas Eve, we celebrated with the Van Dykes (Stephanie and her parents).  We all decorated the tree together and Papa Van Dyke made a delicious dinner of eggplant parmesan after some decadent cheese fondue.   Ice cream sundaes and plenty of wine made for a festive party, filled with excellent conversation and much laughter. The newly decorated tree, the Popes, and the Van Dykes! The beautiful table and the ladies who decorated it!

It's Christmas time, which is always a time of reflection.  This year has brought a tremendous amount of change for us.  I am reminiscing about my Christmas Eve last year with my family, celebrating our holiday together.  I wondered when Randal would propose.  I was happy to have my parents, my cousins, Mary and her family, and Randal all together.  I was so tired after 6 months of non-stop action in school.  2012 had been a year of extreme ups and downs and I was ready for an emotional break. I am not sure that 2013 was full of the serenity that I had imagined.  But, it was so full.  Full of joy and full of sadness and full of success and full of love.  Always full of love. I have done a tremendous amount of research this year on health and wellness.  Because of that, I eat better and exercise more than any other time in my life.  But, in the research that I have done, I keep coming across another message that is different from the

The Storm (Bear) by Mary Oliver Now through the white orchard my little dog      romps, breaking the new snow      with wild feet. Running here running there, excited,      hardly able to stop, he leaps, he spins until the white snow is written upon      in large, exuberant letters, a long sentence, expressing      the pleasures of the body in this world. Oh, I could not have said it better      myself.

The house seems quiet today and both Randal and I feel a little melancholy after such a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. My parents came for a week and we had a marvelous time.  Randal and I enjoyed taking them to every room in the house and showing them every detail...  what we had decorated, what we planned to decorate, what we planned to keep.  We showed them the town of Klamath Falls and they even came to the Kiwanis Club meeting where Stephanie and I presented.  We went to a winery, a creamery, and a chocolate shop.  We walked the streets of our neighborhood.  And we celebrated Thanksgiving with family and we so grateful to do so. So many things to be thankful for this year.  Mom and I found a great store in Jacksonville with some kitchen-inspired headgear. Mom and I also went to Albany, OR to visit our dear friend Lois.  She turns 90 next month, but still made some delicious meals.  It was wonderful to see her. Mom and I cooked our first joint Thanksgiving