weekend

"you don't have a right to the cards you believe you should have been dealt.

you have an obligation to play the hell out of the ones you're holding."

(cheryl strayed)

well said cheryl, well said.

btw, you all may be seeing many more quotes from her on this blog as i recently purchased her book brave enough because i could tell from the title it was a book i was going to need (and i pretty much knew if she wrote it, i would probably love it.)

this weekend was a good one.

camp outs. sharing popcorn with malena while we watched project runway junior (which i am sure that she will be on one day soon. i will invite you all to her runway show). sleeping in a little bit. drinking a cold cider. (sidenote - just to be clear, those last two didn't happen in that particular order;)). checking out local artists and their amazing goods. walking along a lighted luminaire pathway to check out holiday lights with four of our favorite people, and getting to eat dinner and laugh with them. a breakfast with 5 women i think are pretty great at my favorite breakfast spot (aka sunday morning dream come true). putting up the tree. decorating the house. touching all of the ornaments and thinking about the memories of each one (ok, and maybe a few tears along the way as i decorated but that happens even on years when i am not a total emotional mess). oh, and there was some laundry -- and a trip to the hospital to see my dad-in-law who came down with pneumonia but is doing much better now and is home which i am thankful for (and so is he).

all in all, it was a really good one. lots of fun memories. laughter. and just a few tears each day which isn't too shabby.

i hope that your weekends were good too and full of exactly what you hoped they would be.

i am anxious to see where this week leads, but for now, i am going to stare at these lights for a minute more and then try to get a little bit of sleep to rest for what i am sure will be a long week (and because my big brother gets a tad upset if i am up late).

sidenote:

+++ while i can't quite psychologically pull the trigger on making goals for myself in 2016, i would encourage you to and elise has her new goal trackers out and ready for downloading. and they are awesome. and you can download them for only $4. and they are awesome. did i already mention that? i used one for 2015 to track all of the days that i was active (walking, running, etc.) nothing like crossing off the day because you met your goal. you know i am all about that. you can find out more info and download them here. you and your new goals are welcome;)