Just a Simple Christmas Wish

Unlike November which pushed and roared and bit its way into Michigan...

leaving us in a muffled snow globe...

December crept in like a lamb.

Quietly sunny and almost snow free...so far.

To be honest with you, I am quite liking it.

I don't have to pull on boots to slog out to the garage.

No shoveling mounds of snow from the driveway.

Fear-free driving to the big city. 

Yes....the entire winter could stay just like this if it were up to me.

These sunny mornings pour into our kitchen like warm syrup,

 creating a cozy place to begin the day.

I've been starting my days lately with a couple mugs of tea.
I love coffee, too (a lot),
but Young Living Essential Oils makes a wonderful
Ocotea Oolong Cocao tea enhanced with 100% pure therapeutic grade Frankincense powder
that is light and delicious -
especially with a teaspoon of honey and pinch of cinnamon.

Sometimes I add in an additional cinnamon flavored tea bag to deepen the flavor.

I need my tea strong.

This special tea was created to help decrease appetite and food cravings...

which so far....is working for me.

After my morning treadmill run,
I sip it while I go about my daily tasks,

warming it up every once in a while,

and completely forgetting about the leftovers in the bulging refrigerator.

It keeps me moving, motivated, and multi-tasking.

So, many things have been accomplished during these past two weeks.
I worked on a dream catcher order for a customer who was giving it as a Christmas gift.

Her request was faded blue fabrics.
A friend of mine has been faithfully sending me feathers she finds around her home in Texas,
and I was happy to be able to add them to this dream catcher.
{thank you, Patty!}

After that was wrapped and ready to deliver,
my attention turned toward a new rug I received from a sweet friend in Florida.
Some rearranging was needed in the living room to accommodate this gorgeous thing
with its faded burgundy and cream design.
{thank you, Heather!}

I pushed the coffee table out of the way and went to whipping rugs around the room for a while,
(great arm workout, btw)
trying to create a pleasing-to-the-eye prairie/shabby chic layering affect.

Next on the agenda was wrapping gifts for a local nursing home.
Our church was providing some Christmas cheer to the residents there this year.
After thinking about what my own mother would have enjoyed receiving when she was in the nursing home,
I remembered there was a box full of Philosophy "Grace" products stored in my basement that my dad had purchased for my mom during the past couple of years.
Unfortunately, she was never able to use them.
Choking back tears as I wrapped and tied the presents,
 I knew they both would have loved knowing
where some of these lotions and perfumes were going to go.

December 1st is usually the day when the decorations get hauled down from our cold attic,
but wanting to keep my "mojo" going,
I started early this year on the day following Thanksgiving.

Opening up boxes of ornaments each year is almost as delightful as opening up a gift on Christmas morning.

After hours of arranging and rearranging and re-rearranging,
I was relatively happy with what I saw...

I adore the German glittered deer created by @shabbybeachygirl. Thank you, Jen!

...but ended up going with this instead
which satisfied the prairie girl in me.

The pink tree was plunked in a wooden bucket on the workbench in my studio
next to the tiny lilac painting my dad created decades ago.
A painting my great-grandmother made sits on the shelf beyond the tree.

A Florentine tray full of Christmas bits and bobs sits on the newly stained and white-washed coffee table.

The mantel definitely spoke to my heart the most, though.
I tend to overdo the decor on the mantel for some reason,
 and always-always-always have to take it all apart and start over again, simplifying as I go.
The second time is usually the charm.

I started with this.

And I simplified it to this.

The kitchen decor was kept extremely simple, too.
A couple of ornaments on some vintage dishes and
a bottle brush tree on the sideboard.

The inspiration board in my studio also received a more simplified look
with a RASCC 2015 calender adding a bit of sparkle to the room.

Speaking of sparkle,
the sparkle and love of my life celebrated her 12th birthday on December 5.
 We gave her a new "baby" named Ruby.
Ruby, the lamb, now goes wherever Maizie goes...
from bed, to dinner, to nap, to potty break.

Maizie would have been a wonderful mother.
She treats all of her "babies" with gentle love and attention.

 

The house is decorated.
The Christmas shopping completed.
The sun is shining.
There's no snow on the ground,
and my little Maizie Grace is happy and healthy.

Just a simple Christmas wish...come true.


~  Eucharisteo  ~

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