Woo! It's been a little bit since I last posted, but boy has time been flying! We have been truly enjoying our holiday season over the past two weeks. We are not used to getting much down time, if any, so we have definitely been making the most of it. I'm not so sure that we have relaxed much, but we have enjoyed ourselves very much. Needless to say, we truly enjoyed our SECOND VERY MARRIED CHRISTMAS!
We started the holiday season off (before our week and a half break from work and school) by celebrating with our work, school, volunteer, and church groups:
We had a lot of fun at Paul's business Christmas dinner at the Ledges' Clubhouse. It was soooo foggy that night, but it did clear up enough as the night went on for us to snap the breathtaking view from up there. The pictures do not do it justice. We enjoyed a great night with Paul's company, complete with exquisite food and fellowship. We even won a door prize this year - a gift card to Ruth's Chris (fancy dining)! Gracious knows that our cheap selves would never go there otherwise, so we are looking forward to possibly celebrating our anniversary there. :)
I was also showered with Christmas goodies from my cheerleaders and students at school. I was so surprised. I really didn't know that students still did that, granted there are stipulations now....but that's doesn't stop them from bringing enough chocolate to get me through another year ;) I received sweet letters, lots of chocolate, penguin socks and ornaments (they've discovered my love of penguins), gourmet apples, ornaments, coffee, and candy! Yes, it was awesome!
We were blessed to be able to celebrate Christmas with our Inner City kiddos. Those sweet babies enjoyed a night of pizza, cupcakes, juice, crafts, and their favorite PRESENTS! While we have enjoyed the break lately, we sure do miss those children and can't wait to get back to them. We will be eager with open ears to listen to all that Santa brought them!
Fun times were also had with our wonderful Bible class from church. We gathered at the Yokley's lovely home for a time of food, fellowship, and fun. We enjoyed a variety of breakfast foods for dinner, some yummy wassail, and played Christmas games. I even won one of the games and was awarded a lovely smelling candle and festive pot holders! (We've now won twice this holiday season, so I doubt it will happen again in our lifetime lol)
I was so excited to send out our second annual Christmas card this year! I have wanted to send out cards for so long, so I knew when I got married that it was a must. Being an English person and loving to write, our cards would not be complete with a poem to sum up the year. I wasn't so sure that the poem was going to make it this year - I was having writer's block, but it did, indeed. Maybe I should start scratching out ideas throughout twenty-fourteen so I don't have that problem next year. Anywho, I know that one day I will love looking back over these and how our lives progressed through the years.
We also absolutely LOVED receiving cards from all of you! Our board filled up pretty fast, and we feel so blessed! I keep these cards each year, and I love to look back through them at the year goes on.
We were truly blessed all throughout the year, and we enjoyed the abundance with family and friends throughout the Christmas season. I was blessed with so many wonderful gifts (including a vacuum cleaner, clothes, hair and beauty supplies, adorable boots and scarves, jewelry and watches, crafting supplies, a decorative canvas to go over our fireplace, and DIAMONDS! Yes, Paul always goes above and beyond to spoil me. If it all went away tomorrow, though, I would still be so very blessed and still say that my cup overflows. One of my favorite gifts this year was a "LANZA" framed art piece. Paul's family originated in Italy, and his cousin took these pictures from various places in Italy. To be honest, I initially though the gift was probably bought from one of those stands in the mall; however, upon finding out the contrary, this piece took on a whole new level of sentimental value.
It could not have come at a better time, as this Christmas was quite bittersweet. We found Grammy resting
peacefully on Christmas Eve. Grammy loved Christmas time, and she had just celebrated her 84th birthday the day before. She came into this world around Christmas time, and she left it in the same fashion. Every year she gave ornaments to everyone,
and mine was the first in a new collection called Heavenly Belles.
(Coincidence, I think not.) The angel is also holding a cardinal,
Grammy's favorite. Needless to say, we will be continuing this
collection in years to come in memory of her. Please continue to keep
Paul's family in your prayers. We know that God's timing is always
perfect, but not always easy. The family all gathered on Sunday at a private graveside for the burial service on Sunday. We also received guests at Grammy's house Sunday evening, and the 32-year traditional Horseshoe Trail lights at Grammy's house were cut off for the last time at 9 pm. All the news channels showed up; people rode the city shuttle buses to view the lights one last time; and there were cheers and claps as the lights shut off in celebration of Paul's grandparents and the joy they had given so many each Christmas season. Paul is already beginning to prepare for next year, as the Christmas lights now take on a whole new meaning - carrying on the Lanza tradition that his grandparents started. This wasn't the end....just a new beginning.
Speaking of new beginnings, we are getting ready to ring in the new year. We are apparently old folks now, as none of our friends are celebrating the actual new year. They all claim they can't stay up that late. So, there are no huge NYE plans for this couple, but we plan to celebrate with friends tomorrow at Another Broken Egg (as we crack open the new year!).
Nevertheless, we have enjoyed our last couple of days off from work by enjoying our hobbies (something we don't get to do all that often). I am working on some decorative crafts and renovating our master bedroom. Paul has been toying with his electronic gadgets, most of which I don't understand. Pictures of the completed renovations will be coming soon!!
We have truly enjoyed ourselves and count our blessings as this new year comes. This year was a lot of firsts for us. Our first full year married - I got my first full-time job as a grown woman - I began my Masters's - Paul began his Ph.D. - I taught a full year - We began and completed several new projects - and We have grown so much, together and spiritually. We have allowed God to lead us, and the blessings have been abundant. We are blessed beyond measure, and we can't wait to see what God can do through us in the upcoming year. We don't have any major New Year resolutions - we just want to give God more! And that, my friends, pretty much sums up our desires in a nutshell.
"Either we and everything we hold dear take second place to Jesus, or we stop pretending that he is our God."
We hope you have a Happy New Year! Until next time...
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