A Very Merry 2016 to You :)

A very happy 2016 to you all! 2015 is done and gone, which is a bit sad – I never had a chance to write a Christmas post! But it's the dawn of 2016, which is happy--now I can write New Years resolutions. :)

What did you do for New Years Day? We had a quiet celebration – we walked around historic Strasburg (despite the wind and cold) in the morning and later had an afternoon tea together (with a gorgeous teapot my sister-in-law bought me for Christmas).

I took these pictures on my phone, which lets me play around with the lighting and overall atmosphere. This one is "Vintage." Isn't it pretty?!

This one is "Bleach." I love the clean, white look and the wintry light. I'll be using this one a lot.

Also "bleach."

Vintage. Out of curiosity - which do you like better, bleach or vintage?

Do you write New Years resolutions? I do. I do so enjoy writing a ridiculously long list of self-improvements I would like to accomplish. I love lists, you see. I struggle with writer's block, and can hardly ever finish any of my projects, but I write splendidly long and complex lists! As you can imagine, I'm a firm believer in daily “to-do” lists. It gives me great satisfaction to cross out the items one by one and be able to hold in my hand tangible proof that I have accomplished A Great Many Tasks.

But, as much as I enjoy writing out a grand list of New Years resolutions, it's hard to stick with it throughout the year. I've done better recently, I think. But I always do best at first (once I get into the swing of things), and then crash once something happens to throw me off track or I get bored with a list I wrote too long ago to care about anymore.

This time, I think I'll write my resolutions on a month-by-month basis. This (the theory goes) will give me flexibility to account for big changes or “life events” that come my way; also, it'll stave off boredom by giving me the opportunity to write a NEW list at the beginning of every month. :) Of course some of the resolutions will be the same but I'll be able to switch up others, and that (hopefully) will feel like a fresh start. And fresh starts are always fun.

So, anyway. I'm actually still working on a complete list of resolutions for January 2016, so I can't post that for you today. But, here are the categories:

Church

Money

Devotions

Food

Exercise

Creativity/Writing

There may be other categories; I'm not sure yet. What about you? Do you have any resolutions you feel like sharing?

In other news, Dean is growing up fast. He eats his oatmeal with a spoon now, and resents his mother trying to spoon-feed him when he's being particularly messy (“I can do it myself, Mommy!”). He enjoys putting on Daddy's slippers, he's figured out how to shut doors (usually with a bang), and he locked Mommy in his bedroom the other day (the lock is on the OUTSIDE of the door—go figure that). Fortunately, Daddy was home and gave Mommy a lesson in lock-picking should the incident ever recur. Mommy is greatly relieved to have obtained this knowledge!

Dean has also become an incurable little book-worm (which makes his parents ridiculously proud of him – they never stop smiling at him if he's in the room, and they never stop talking about him if someone else is in the room). Whenever he woke up all cranky in the mornings, I used to hold him and sing to him and he'd settle into a happier mood. Now, if he wakes up cranky, all he wants is Mommy to take him in her lap and read him a book!!

Anyway, here are pictures of the little munchkin: