This holiday season

I decided that Christmas this year will be about remembering that miracles are all around me. Just like the Christmas story, they normally come in shapes and sizes that we don't recognize or expect.

I have been spending a lot of time with my puppy. Just her and I.  She takes up all my thoughts and requires my complete attention on walks. I can't talk on the phone or check my phone, I have to focus completely on her.  Ensuring she doesn't eat a chicken bone, (which by the way .......HOW are there SO MANY chicken bones on the streets of Brooklyn?), also making sure she stays close to me and doesn't jump on the hoards of people that are my neighbors, or dart into the streets.  Honestly, it's a very spiritual experience. It is being present. Being in the moment and staying in the moment. My mind doesn't even have the space to stress and obsess about things when I walk my puppy,  I have to focus on Callie.  It gives my mind a break from all the major things I think matter "so much".  It's been a real stilling experience.  Adding Callie to our family has been one of my best adventures.

I never pictured my life this way. My world is so much smaller than it use to be. I spend most of my time with just a few people and a puppy. It's a life that is so incredibly full, so full of miracles and life. It's the kinda thing that makes me realize I don't even know how to ask for what I want, because what I got is even better than anything I could have articulated. 

Ryan and I were really intentional about spending a lot of time together during our first year of marriage and we decided to focusing on "quality of life."  Choosing adventures, experiences, and each other over anything else.   We traveled abroad twice this year, to Curacao and London. We visited Boston and Washington DC. We flew out to San Diego and visited family. We explored parts of NYC we'd never seen before and found bars and restaurants to eat, drink, and laugh in.
Ryan has taught me so much about enjoying life. That life happens now and how enjoying those unplanned special moments create the memories that matter.

Sharing a life with another human being is such a treat, an adventure, and a continual compromise. It is the most selfless thing I have ever done.  It's remembering it's not just Jes anymore, there's two of us in this now. It's incredibly beautiful and then it's gets ugly and messy and both parties compromise because seeing someone else happy is worth the sacrifice of getting our own way. (and while I write this I also know it will take my entire lifetime to master this idea). 

Yesterday I saw the movie Brooklyn. It became a favorite even before it ended, it's the kind of movie that you hope keeps going and doesn't end. (For those of you who know me well, you know movies are not normally my thing, I get bored quickly and I'd rather read the book). But this movie...... ah man! It was so moving. The character development was beautiful. I was so committed to the main character, I cried like ten times during the movie (as did most of the audience at the cinema). If you can, see it! The story line follows a young girl who moves from Ireland, on her own, in the 50s to live and work in NYC. So, there's a little holiday activity idea for you all!

Wherever life takes us, I hope for big adventures and joy for you all this Christmas and holiday season.