The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

This Christmas time was a really sweet one, with a lot more time to soak up the season and a lot less time spent in the car. Some highlights:

• Going the the Andrew Peterson Christmas concert with my brother and sister-in-law. I still think it's one of the best concerts I've ever been to, and it's become the epitome of Christmas for me. And Clint shook Andrew's hand. AND rumor is he might be coming to Tyler next year...
• 70 degree weather the week before Christmas
• Staying up until 12:30 making the ridiculously melt-in-your-mouth, artery-clogging-at-its finest cinnamon rolls from my new Pioneer Woman cookbook
• My niece finally latching on to That Good Ole Baylor Line. She used to tell me to be quiet when I started to sing it, but now she knows every word! We start the brainwashing early.
•  Riding four-wheelers with all 29 1/2 of the Walpole family. Which leads me to...
• We're going to have a new niece or nephew!
• Reading Jane Eyre! It's my first time and I really didn't even know anything about it. I have about four chapters left, and I'm loving it. 
• Getting money for Christmas. Guilt-free shopping!
• Coming home. A week and a half is a long time to be away.
• Getting together with friends for New Years and winning the elephant. Fortunately my husband dominates at trivia games.
• New Years - the second most wonderful time of the year! The beaver part of me just loves this season - clean slates, new goals, lots of list-making and planning. My official New Years Resolution is...to make monthly resolutions. There are so many things I'd love to do, but it's overwhelming to do it all at once. So for January: no sweets. Along with just generally trying to eat healthy, keep running, write Thank You notes, and blog more. Here we go!