This Christmas break, while too short, was filled with things I love. Here are a few of them…

Breakfast… more specifically, having time to eat breakfast. During the semester, hardly a day goes by that I don’t eat at least one meal in the car. Over the break, I loved getting up, brewing coffee, making breakfast, and opening a book. My staple while I was at my parents’ house was Greek yogurt with blueberries, almonds, and honey. Yum!

Snow… on Christmas! I think my last white Christmas was at least 10 years ago. We got a beautiful blanket of snow for Christmas morning!

Family… I love spending every Christmas with our extended family. Having baby cousins makes the holidays especially fun. Eli, my cousin Melissa‘s toddler, has become quite a talker. Here he is looking at the winter wonderland and the birds out Ma’s kitchen window.

Friends… in town from all over the place! I got to see dear friends who live in Indy, Chicago, Flagstaff, Birmingham, Lexington, Bowling Green… It is always hard to try to squeeze in visits with everyone who is in town, but I did my best this season! I loved hearing stories and life updates– thanks friends for all the meaningful conversations we had! It was a particular treat to be with these four girls for a day in Birmingham- just like the good ole days in college (except one lives across the country, another is married, we’ve all graduated…)

Patrick, Mom and Dad… all together for the New Year for the first time in 5 years. We met in Pigeon Forge to see Patrick’s show and ring in the New Year together. Patrick is going to Japan for a year starting in February to perform at Universal Studios in Osaka. I’m so thankful we spent a good bit of time together for Christmas and New Year since next year he will be half a world away.

Another thing I love? Getting a new camera for Christmas so that the blog can once again have pictures. I hope your holidays were blessed with peace and love! I am in Atlanta, getting back into the swing of things with a Jan term class: A German Case Study in Migration and Interfaith Relations… Maybe I’ll blog about that when its all said and done.