An old fashioned post.

The blog was created to share life. This One Beautiful Life. In a world of technology, hustle, bustle and greed it is so easy to lose sight of that. I have been doing a lot of soul searching as of late…as of always. There persists, this lingering question of what to do with this space. Bloggers will tell you that you need a niche. The “best” blogs and highest earning blogs focus in on one topic, (usually on how to make money on your blog) but that is not what this space is for and I never want it to become that. Sure, you might see an ad or two as I meagrely try to compensate for the small cost it takes to run it but know that ultimately it is my desire to share life, inspire, encourage. At the heart of my writing life is what inspires me, motivates me and encourages me to continue. So this is for you, to you – thank you for sharing.

Today, I give you an old fashioned post…like I used to write…you know, the ones where I just share life.

I love Christmas…did I mention that?

I try to do as much as I can in preparation before December so that I can spend the little free time we have just enjoying each other and the season.

I wish you could have been here this morning.

I woke at 6:20am to the sound of my girl. I found her in her room, light on, glasses on, tiara on, singing her heart out. I love her.

Not too shortly after she was settled in front of Bubble Guppies, a glass of milk and some toast, Jakob emerged with a giant smile on his sleepy face. Today is the first day of December! Which means the first day of his Advent calendar and that much closer to Christmas. This year we did the Advent Calendar a little bit different. My kids have been wanting Playmobil for a while, but it always seemed a little daunting to me so when I saw the nativity set, I knew it would be the perfect starter set and would also make an innovative Advent Calendar. So for every day in December the kids will get to open one package each containing a piece of the set. To be honest, some of the pieces are pretty small. I had bought the Wise men as well but Ben was pretty adamant that they could not be pulled out until Epiphany. Day one: the stable.

The belly continues to grow and as mentioned I have complete placenta previa so I am forced to take it easy – no exercising and no lifting – whatever that means when you have two kids. It my world, the phrase “take it easy” does not exist but I am trying.

I’ve taken up knitting. I am hoping it will force me to sit like a jigsaw puzzle has the power to do. I am a project person and often have trouble relenting when a project is waiting to be finished. Jakob called first dibs on my starter project, which was, of course, a scarf. He was so encouraging as he watched the progress and would often want me to work on it so that it would soon be finished. Thankfully, it didn’t take long.
Next, I will attempt a sweater for baby.
I could be crazy.

The weather has been cold (in Vancouver standards). It snowed on Friday night and a white blanket still covers the ground. The whole city is covered in a magical frost and of course Jakob was ecstatic and was out early Saturday morning shovelling the steps. He was a little disappointed that there wasn’t enough snow to build a snowman but there is time for that.

We are officially into the busiest season of our year. Ben is out every night. Last week he had 10 rehearsals and 2 performances – this week is similar. There is a tension because while it is all good and fun, there is the temptation to get caught up in the busyness. I am praying this will not happen. We are getting better at saying “no” and I definitely feel more prepared this year.

Well, my tea is almost gone and I have a few things to do before I get on with the rest of my day but I hope you all have a beautiful Advent. Don’t get wrapped up in the busyness or the consumerism as we are all so tempted to do. And by the way, thanks for reading.