After the excitement of Thanksgiving, we are catapulted into Christmas.  It is my favorite holiday.  I decorate the house for the kids to come home.  Christmas music resounds throughout the house while I bake Christmas cookies, pralines, and dark chocolate bark.  It is such a cozy and sentimental time.

When everyone has gone home and the celebration is over, we have the daunting task of taking down the decorations and making the house clean and clear of holiday reminders.  This ritual always gives me a New Year’s spirit.  It is a new year and I am alive to make it my new year.  There’s something to be said for the words “starting over”.  It is a blessing to be alive and able to start a new year. It may be the last year I will get to begin so I always want to do it with a grateful heart to God and make it a meaningful one. Many blessings!  May we all have a Happy New Year!