december

Well, here we find ourselves in the final month of 2012, and hopefully we are the stronger, better, and more well-rounded than we were in 2011. I know I have grown. I am thankful to God for his intervention in my life - for steering Brett and me where he knows we will grow the best, thrive, be able to serve, to learn, to go through difficult times to be refined; to experience his blessings because he is a good God.

I have run out of storage space for pictures on this blog, so I need to figure out how to buy more. I think it is $5 for 20GB or something like that. So for now, it's going to be pictureless posts. Since Brett's and my weekend getaway to Two Harbors, life has been about improving the downstairs, running after a busy and fast Stella; BSF; my increased time in the kitchen (I seem to be getting into cooking), my return to reading books (!), Thanksgiving, decorating for Christmas, and our desire to revamp the house (within reason) by redecorating or changing things up.

If I could post pictures, I would show y'all our new curtains hanging up downstairs, our new couch and console table downstairs, our perfectly-shaped Christmas tree (after last year's not-so-good tree, we are delighted with this year's Frasier), and maybe a few shots of Stella being her fun little toddler self. Oh my goodness, she is fun. And busy. And hilarious. And talkative. She is growing up and noticing so many things and picking up on so much. Yesterday at Target, we heard the sound of a kid crying in a different aisle. She looked at me with a concerned expression and said, "Sad." She loves her daddy so much. She loves babies, dogs, cats, and songs like Old McDonald Had a Farm; The Itsy-Bitsy Spider; Baa, Baa Black Sheep; God is So Good; Holy, Holy, Holy; a song that goes "Ha-le-loo, ha-le-loo, Ha-le-loo-yah, praise ye the Lord!" We bought her her first coloring book and box of thick crayons because she kept wanting to draw with my pen whenever she saw me use it to write a grocery list or something else. She still isn't strong enough to make that much of an impression on the paper with a crayon, but she is learning how to hold it. She also likes stacking her crayons on her play doll stroller or on the floor. She will be 18 months old on December 8, which reminds me, I need to make her 18-month doctor checkup. A year and a half! We love her dearly.

I have already dreamed some dreams for 2013. Only time will tell if these aspirations are realized.

I hope this Christmas season is filled with joy and peace for you. Much love, the Johnsons :)