Out with the old and in with the new

Happy New Year, friends! I can’t believe it’s 2022!!!

Before I talk about what my hopes are for this new year, I wanted to take a quick look back at this Christmas and how it was different than Christmases past.

I’m not talking about how my home looked, but how we actually spent our Christmas day as a family.

Typically, we get up early on Christmas morning, open presents, and grab a quick bite to eat.

Then I find myself hurrying to cook a dish or two and get myself ready to go to my mama’s for Christmas lunch.

But this year, we decided to do something different. We stayed home.

And while we missed seeing some of our family, it was nice not having to rush out the door to another destination

Of course, this doesn’t mean we weren’t busy because there was lots of food to prepare.

I cooked in my pjs, but eventually made myself more presentable 🙂

I tried to be present and didn’t take alot of photos, but I’ll be sure to share some of the recipes I used that day.

For a late breakfast, Mister grilled sausage and I made cinnamon roll waffles and Christmas Mimosas.

We had a late lunch that consisted of traditional Christmas dishes: smoked turkey, rice & gravy, dressing, peas, and cranberry sauce.

And for a dessert, I made vanilla souffle for each of us in adorable mini dutch ovens from our local Dollar General. I found a recipe for this delicious dessert on Pinterest and will definitely be making it again!

I set a simple tablescape and with items I had on hand and cut fresh pine to place around the brass candelabra I thrifted the day before.

Pet PJs are from Hannah Anderson

It’s always a treat to have our son home for holidays and to wake up in our home on Christmas morning.

Having a grand dog adds to the fun and Miss Ellie enjoyed playing with Hero all week 🙂

They have both been good and got lots of goodies from Santa this year 🙂

By the way, if you want to see my home decorated for Christmas, I blogged it here.

There’s also a video tour up on Living It Country Channel on Youtube.

As the year comes to a close, like many of you, I find myself reflecting on everything that happened.

The good, the bad, the hard, and the fun moments.

Thankfully, there is more good to remember than bad. And such is life.

As a follower of Christ, I was never promised a life without difficulties.

But He did promise to be with me through the good and the bad….. and He was. He is. He always will be.

My word for 2021 was TRANSFORM. I wrote about it here.

As I focused on this word and what it means to me, I not only lost 25 lbs and improved my health, but I stepped out of my comfort zone and joined a Hope Circle…a group focused on how to write a book proposal.

2022 will be the year I take that final step to reach my goal of finding an agent and traditionally publishing a book about my life {it’s the thing movies are made of, y’all ????}.

I don’t say it on here enough, but thank you for following along on here and my social media.

Every like, comment, and share allows me to continue to enjoy this part time job as a way to share my creativity and passion for all things HOME.

Home is my favorite place to be. Not only within the walls that I reside here on earth, but within the arms of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has made a heavenly home for a sinner like me.

So here’s to celebrating a new year with new possibilities. New goals and new dreams.

And here’s to not being afraid to try something different. Traditions are not written in stone and can be changed to reflect the needs of your own family.

I’m so thankful to have you following along on all of my blogging adventures. Today is our monthly blog hop, “It’s Good to be Home”. I hope you’ll go and check out the posts from my sweet friends below:

JENRON DESIGNS / Southern Spangled / At Home in the Wildwood