Oh, There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays

This was by far the best Christmas break I've had in a long time.  We started a little early with presents and dinner on Christmas Eve.  This year I made an executive decision to put the tree upstairs in our bonus room, as it's carpeted and there was less chance of an ornament getting broken.  While this was the first year we didn't have an ornament casualty, this was also the first year our kids woke up at 1AM excited because Santa came.  I had to run upstairs and send them back to bed.  Remembering all those Christmas Eve's where I didn't sleep in anticipation of what I got; I'm sure this was extremely hard for my kids.  Kennedy woke up again around 4, wanting to play with one of the stocking gifts she'd managed to see at 1.  Once again I came upstairs to shoo her back to bed.

Christmas morning was magical.  The girls really liked what Santa brought them, both their gifts they'd asked for and the gifts left in their stockings.  We hurried to get ready, tried to eat a quick breakfast of cinnamon rolls, and head to St. Louis to catch our plane to Colorado.  I felt so bad for Jonathan because unbeknownst to me, he'd managed to get sick on Christmas Eve, for the second year in a row.

This was the first year, since we've been married, that I've come home without Jonathan with me.  Traveling with both girls by myself, I was a bit nervous.  However, the trip home was really refreshing, even if he wasn't there to enjoy it with us.  I truly think when you've grown up in a state, especially a state your spouse is not from and had not been to before you began dating, you spend your childhood doing all the things there is to do.  Jonathan is a true explorer.  When we go places together, he's very much a doer.  He likes to get out and experience the area.  The last few years we've had differences of opinion on what to do with our time.  Sometimes he won, sometimes I won, but neither of us was fully satisfied with our trips.  It was refreshing to get a chance to focus on relationships that hadn't been nurtured in awhile.  

I know every person comes to a point in their lives where they fully take stock of the relationships they have with others.  Sometimes people stop making you a priority and a relationship ends/stalls or a relationship has turned toxic and it's necessary to walk away.  We are all busy and in the hustle and bustle of life, some relationships fall through the cracks.  This trip home, I learned that there was a relationship I hadn't been making a priority, but I need to start making it one.  There are times when you re-connect with someone and you realize that they are worth the priority and investment because they truly care about you.

I reached out to a friend who I've known since I was 6.  We text back and forth every now and then, are friends on social media, but we hadn't seen each other since I was 6 months pregnant with Savannah.  Her mom and my grandma were best friends before my grandma passed away.  When I moved to Denver after graduating from high school, we really got close.  We've seen each other through triumphs and tragedy and spent countless hours driving the C-470, I-25, I-70 loop around Denver while listening to music.  Catching up with her made me realize, in my world of second-guessing and feeling like I don't know who my true friends are, she is a true friend.  I learned that this is one relationship I need to invest in and continue to make a priority.

The girls and I were sad to leave our family.  This was the first trip to Colorado where they got to spend quality time with a lot of my family.  They absolutely enjoyed the time they got to spend with cousins they only get to see once or twice a year.  My heart is so full and I hope I was able to pour some joy into those we spent time with as well.