I love these people! This is us getting a bit giggly at the end of our [miniscule] photo shoot. Now that I’ve got my tripod game figured out there’s no excuse not to have something to frame for the grandmas! Here’s one of the extras from our brief foray out in the Nebraska wind two days before Christmas.

Rebecca has been coming over to help me wrap Christmas presents since 2011.

That makes me want to cry!

A few weeks ago I considered writing something on Facebook about how, if you have a neighbor who is elderly or has a physical ailment, you should go help them during the holiday season. Putting up lights or other decorations, scooping snow, running to the store, and yes, even wrapping presents, can be very difficult for someone slowed down by body problems. But let me tell you something about 2018… I didn’t worry at all about the gifts that piled up in Jeremy’s office (hidden from one particular 14 year old), and that was because I knew Rebecca was coming.

This friend is a light to me, and not just on our designated wrapping session every year. She is a breath of fresh air, a beautiful soul, and a joy to watch as she grows and changes. Rebecca, I love you! Thanks for using your strong arms and perfect wrapping skills to bless my family.

I call this shot, “Waiting for the Dog to Go Potty.”
Also known as, “The Place I Stand 3-5 Times Per Day.”
Latest contemplation, “I’m Glad I’m a Human and Don’t Have to Poop in Zero Degree Blizzard Weather.”

Post-birthday house. The morning after. Gonna need a little caffeine to get this cleaning party started.

I spend most of the year dreaming of travel and planning, simultaneously, a dream trip as well as the next actual trip. So then it always takes me aback when it’s time to pack and I start feeling a sense of dread about the whole endeavor. I get nervous about the unknowns, I am unsure of exactly what clothing items will be appropriate, and I question the wisdom of the whole affair. Basically, I go from Adventure Lover to total and complete Hobbit. I look around my home and wonder why I’d ever leave it. But then the magic comes back to me as soon as the horizon opens up and I am driving or flying to new places. Inspiration hits. Words start coming back to me, I wish for a camera in my hand, and the sweetness of it all floods in. This last week was precisely what I wrote above—that common mixture of excitement, dread, and fulfillment once more.

This trip, however, involved my entire family and as we drove west on I-80 I’d say we felt a bit like a speedier version of a turtle or a snail—we had everything we needed with us. No man was left behind, and we carried all we wanted in our family car. As the resident Travel Dreamer, I’m the one that usually goes while the others stay, but not this time. We were all together. And since we were all together, we were a mishmash of relational issues, all entangled in the relatively small square footage of our Nissan Altima.

Road trips are an interesting thing, aren’t they? There’s this imaginary family we all have in mind who all hear the call of the open road and somehow they look cool pursuing it. But friends, I don’t know that actual family. Reality looks much more like a thousand personalities, moods, wishes, irritations, attitudes, and opinions crammed into a small space. One person has to pee while another never wants to stop. Another can’t sit ONE MORE MINUTE on her road-weary bottom and wants utter silence in the vehicle while the others are up for a dance party at 75mph. One thinks it’s entertaining to regale the car with how very much she loves the scenery while another is loudly eating the entire canister of Pringles in one sitting. Mom is focused on obsessively throwing out trash at every single pit stop while Dad is annoyed the Horse Lovers of Colorado have decided to parade down Main Street right this very moment as he’s trying to leave town. Family road trips might be about togetherness, but I think they’re a test. During the bulk of the year families can spread out a little bit more, but on a road trip, it’s work-it-out time. The good, bad, and the ugly all come out and you’re forced to deal with it all. It’s healthy, even though it’s not always pretty. The next time you’re tempted to wish you looked like that uber cool traveling family, don’t. I promise you such a thing doesn’t exist because in real life there’s always someone who has to stop and use the restroom. In real life, there’s chip crumbs all over the once-clean car seats. But potty breaks and crumbs can’t dissuade you from making memories. So in the car you go. And last week that’s what we did. From Lincoln to Denver to Estes Park and back to Lincoln once more. And I’m so so happy we made these memories together.

It’s another indoor day—a mixture of illness inside and frigid temps outside has us very low-key on this final day of 2017. I’ve been working my way through an audio copy of The Boys in the Boat, so with The Gilmore Girl’s dad telling me a story in his smooth tones, I began to put away ornaments. I decorated lightly this year as I was hitting finals season after Thanksgiving, and I found myself grateful for that reality today. I purged a few Christmas items no one loves, repacked carefully the ornaments we really care about, and now there’s a tree broken in three pieces waiting by the door. The final packing of it is an ordeal for strong hands, so I wait for help in smushing it and re-taping its already beaten-up cardboard box. While the taking down of Christmas always feels a bit bittersweet, it’s also accompanied by that crisp feeling of a fresh start. So here’s to the New Year! To getting rid of what we don’t need. To cherishing sweet memories. To decorating with lights and colors. To valuing the people we know more than the things we own. To 2018 and to God be the glory in this new year.

There’s something so satisfying in the quiet after a party is over. Everything echoes of the warmth and love that existed a few hours before. Counters now clean were filled with platters of comforting foods. The empty sink and wet dishcloths cleaned glass upon glass. The dinner table still bears a centerpiece but now only a few crumbs remain to remind me of the feast enjoyed by all who sat here. Memories of family and laughter and moments are all tucked away in my mind after a good Thanksgiving was held. I’m grateful for this space because it can hold these people. And these people are worth remembering.

This is my beloved friend Rebecca and she’s my absolute favorite Christmas elf. Every year she comes over to help me wrap all our Christmas presents. It’s tradition that we watch Elf—with Livia lounging on the couches in front of us so she can’t see the gifts—and that we drink Diet Mountain Dew.

I’m so grateful for Rebecca’s help when my own joints get cranky after hours of repetitive tasks. This girl is a joy and a blessing to us!