naptime

Drew has been asking every day as we leave for preschool, "are we going to the Polar Express?" I keep reminding her that we have a few more days until we leave. We are heading to the "North Pole" (NC) at the end of the week to take Drew to ride the Polar Express. I am not sure who is more excited, Drew, or me and her daddy. I'm hoping we will get some snow while we are there, but it looks like we are having a warm winter! 

I have been so busy with school that I haven't felt the Christmas spirit as much as I would like. School work has been hanging over my head like a fog. It's not even that it's so much, but it's just there. College days nostalgia without the lack of real life responsibilities that accompanied it! 

That and sometimes, Christmas is bogged down by memories that make your heart hurt. Happy memories, vivid memories can make your heart hurt more than anything. I guess that's not so bad though. Better to have had really happy memories that are worth looking back on and missing so deeply than to have none at all. I've been wanting to put that feeling into words for some time. I know I am not the only person to feel this way this Christmas.

And I don't mean in my honesty that I'm not making amazingly happy memories now. I am and that's God's gift to me all over again. The gift of memories that hurt so good and the chance to make many more. God is good to me all the time. 

Andy and I have been reading Ann Voskamp's Advent devotional and it is so so good. So good! This one is by far the very best I've read. I can't wait to read it with Drew and her sister in years to come. 

I love this girl and all of her excitement for the things in life that are truly neat. Like Santa Claus and his sleigh, Christmas lights, hot chocolate, candy canes, and everything in between. She's loves it all and oh how I wish I could steal some of her wonder! 

I hope you all are enjoying this week leading up to Christmas, reflecting on your happy memories, and making many more.