A New Year

So it's the beginning of a new year.  So much we have learned, so much more still to learn! About each other, life together, growing in Christ...the list could go on! We spent time hanging out with family and friends, working hard and waiting out down times, working on making this apartment we rent into a home we love :)  I am so thankful for the family that understands and the friends in the many levels of "life together" that encourage us to keep going and the ones that are following, reminding us that we have the responsibility and the privilege to encourage them as well.

Today has been an unexpected blessing of doing nothing and hanging out together and rearranging the apartment and recouping from the holidays. The snow started falling last night and we took a few pictures then came back in to snuggle and warm up.  This morning after sleeping in and finding out that work was closed, we had a leisurely breakfast and tried new coffee.  We bundled up and took a walk in our winter wonderland :)  The streets and sidewalks were covered with a couple inches of snow topped by a layer of ice...what an unexpected feeling stepping down on it the first time! We wandered down to Main Street then over to the park.  On the way, a few people were out with makeshift sleds enjoying their own winter wonderland, and there was a random police car roaming around with his chains on his tires making odd patterns on the lanes. We picked up chunks of ice from the playground and threw them in the air to make them shatter when they fell. The pieces flew in all directions making us laugh like little kids :)

Home again, we hung curtains on the doorway to the hall and chose new pictures of the nieces and nephews to put in the frames we hung on the walls.  Last night, we finally took down the tree, and I decided that I wanted to change just slightly the way we had our couch laid out (its a sectional that is really easy to move). Now the room is more open and I think it will be more comfortable to have people over :)

ok, I've been over here a while by myself...the couch is looking very inviting, especially considering who is sitting there ;)