December hopes

In keeping with my sporadic blogging of late, November passed in a bit of a blur. On reflection I did fulfil some of my November hopes. I took some steps into the unknown with, I hope, positive outcome. We went to three fireworks displays, all of which were awesome in their own ways. We saw lots of friends, did a photoshoot with a friend in the Autumn mist and leaves, and watched lots of movies curled up with chocolate. And so Autumn fades with happy memories.

Onto the next season, and with December come so many more hopes and expectations.

- I hope to complete some craft activities. With the help of my Beautiful Blonde I will be doing some scrapbooking this month for a good friend's Baby Shower. I also want to buy some cinnamon sticks and get creating with candles and Christmas decorations. I love continually making our house a home (or, flat a home in our case!) and can't wait to make the most of this new season.

- We're having a Christmas party with all of our friends next week, and the following week I'm getting the girls together for a girly Christmas movie night. I have bought the final few DVDs that were noticeably lacking in my Christmas collection and now own Miracle on 34th Street (original and 90s versions), It's a Wonderful Life and Muppet Christmas Carol in addition to The Holiday and Love Actually. Combine these with wonderful girls, some wine, ice cream and chocolate and you have a blissful evening!

- I hope to finish reading the original Dickens Christmas Carol and maybe make a start on another of the classics that I downloaded onto my Kindle.

- Amidst all of this we have countless dates with friends and family and we're spending Christmas in Germany so Gluhwein and the Weihnachtsmarkt will both make an appearance.

- My biggest hope of all is that I don't let this flurry of events and activities overwhelm me to the point where I can't enjoy them for need of my own space every now and then. Instead, I want to enjoy the memories I make as I make them and also find those pockets of time for myself.

I'm realising more and more that I take great joy both in creating and in learning. Autumn and Winter are perfect times to expand on these as the cold and dark usher people indoors. So in short, my hope for December is to nurture these outlets and see where they take me!

Happy Winter!

Much love,
xx