The holiday season is in full swing! And so is all of the
busyness and loveliness that it brings. We decorated our apartment yesterday (with 69 degree weather outside, if you can believe it!). We decided to forgo a Christmas tree this year, but you hardly notice with all the lights and glitter and stockings and such we put up. It makes it feel so cheerful and peaceful. I wish it was acceptable to keep these decorations up all year long...
Andy and I were so blessed to be able to visit Wisconsin for
10 days over Thanksgiving, and what a blessing it was, especially in this season of thankfulness. I have such wonderful
family and friends. We were able to spend time with both Andy's and my families, friends from high school, college, former
coworkers, and many of our Neenah friends. Lots of good conversations and
laughing so hard my stomach hurt! I love this quote:
I’ve just been
feeling so grateful for where God has brought us in life. We’ve had so many
transitions in our lives in the last 5-10 years and have made lifelong
friendships at each stage. I’m thankful that I can live in another state 400
miles away from “home” and still feel so loved and cared for. It’s not always easy, that’s for sure. I do
miss everyone dearly. Visiting home was so good but also a reminder that we had
a wonderful life built in Wisconsin that we were uprooted from.
But I’m learning that being forced out of my comfort zone is
just about the only way I will ever leave it! And change can be good. It’s so
true that we have a hard time realizing our dependency on God until
circumstances occur that force us to rely on His provision. And God has been so
faithful in providing us exactly what we need. We have really started to feel
comfortable with our church and new friends here. And we know from experience
that sometimes that can take a long time
to happen, so praise God that He has allowed us to fit in so quickly. And it's been so fun to have time for just me and Andy too. We've been enjoying regular sushi or coffee dates, as well frequenting the farmers market for local foods and trying out new produce (including every variety of squash we can get our hands on, golden beets, and watermelon radishes--which I highly recommend!).
Oscar is doing well too, he’s come a long way from when we
got him, he appears to like us and like living with us. He got to come with us
to Wisconsin and got spoiled by being petted and snuggled by all sorts of people. We took him to
the groomer yesterday for the first time, and he seems slightly traumatized by
the experience (he'll bounce back, I'm sure! :) Also the Badgers are in the Rose Bowl and the Packers are doing
well, so at this current time, all is well in the football world! (now my
fantasy football team is another story…)
So we’re back in Des Moines for about 3 weeks before heading
back to Wisconsin for Christmas!
