Twelve Days of Christmas: Day 6, A Year in Review

I love this time of year, this in-between period of reflection and hope, of seeing where you've been and where you want to go, of looking back at footsteps in the sands of time and stepping forward to create new ones. And as I straddle the Old Year and the New, I begin here, in reflection ...

1- Most Popular Posts 

(things I've written which have resonated)

Smiling Eyes

(this continues to be my top post for 2019 which brings multiple visitors to my blog every day) 

The Garden of Answered Prayer

(understanding prayer)

The Story Behind a Book

(the story on why I wrote my book)

The Bumbling Christian

(resulted in some very sweet emails)

On a Wing and a Prayer

(parenthood and letting go)

A Perspective on Gratitude

(seeing things differently from above)

2- Posts which Created a Buzz 

Without a doubt, my Girls' Trip to Italy Recaps created the most buzz. Because of them I received emails, private messages, phone calls, and texts wanting to know two things: 1/ when is the next trip and 2/ can I put their name on a list.

Girls' Trip to Italy, Days 1-3

Girls' Trip to Italy, Days 4-5

Girls' Trip to Italy, Days 6-8

Girls' Trip to Italy, Days 9-10

 Girls' Trip to Italy, Days 11-12

3- Top Photos of 2019 

(no fancy equipment, just the camera on my iPhone 8 plus)

(and it's impossible to take a bad photo in Italy ... I'm just saying)

(Isola San Giulio, Italy) 

Isola San Giulio, Italy

Venezia

4- Top Trips

(this isn't a fair category since my two week trip to Italy was the highlight of the year, 

but I love to travel ANYWHERE so, technically, they are ALL my favorite) 

ITALY - New Orleans - Hilton Head - 

Arkansas - Jekyll Island - Virginia Beach 

biking the Virginia Creeper Trail   

White Water Rafting on the Chattooga River 

5- The Best Worst Poems 

(from the files of very bad poetry by bia)

words

something said

thoughts

raindrops of many

moody blues

leaving

by any other name

 6- Events that Inspired Personal Growth

(and pushed me outside my comfort zone)

 An Ocean, an Airplane, and Two Countries Full of Kisses

(writing my book)

Deep Breaths

(the learning curve on book talks and speaking engagements)

My Session with a Personal Style Coach

(identifying my style, updating my wardrobe, branching out)

My Interview with mi.o (my modern italian network)

(on being interviewed)

In Awe

(on the responsibility of getting 31 people to Italy, and back home again)

2019 Girls' Trip to Italy

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day 5, Destination Ornaments

Welcome to my newly updated blog. I've rearranged, updated, changed out photos, and generally cleaned things up a bit. I've included links to published articles, my book, and my web site. Let me know what you think!

And since we're still celebrating the twelve days of Christmas, here is something I love: destination ornaments!

clockwise from top right: 

New Orleans, Va. Creeper Trail, San Juan, Rock City, Puerto Rico, 

Santa Fe, Mexico, Las Vegas, Russia, Italy, Iceland, Sedona, Mount Vernon

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day 4, A Memory of Christmas Past

One dark and cold evening just before Christmas, we were sitting around our backyard fire pit. I was wrapped in a blanket, Nicholas and Jonathan were lounging in the Adirondack chairs, Joe kept feeding the fire, and Timothy went back and forth between sitting and kicking the soccer ball against the fence.

There is something about sitting around a fire that encourages us to be in the moment; to simply watch the flames crackling and spitting; to sit in quiet contemplation or to share a story.

That evening around the fire pit, we remembered how Once Upon a Time Nicholas claimed, with wide eyes and breathless excitement on Christmas morning, that he had seen a red glow outside his bedroom window which he was certain must have been Rudolph.

It wasn't until several years later he learned that the red glow had been the car brake lights of the guy delivering our morning paper.

It was a good memory to bring forth while sitting around the fire a few days before Christmas.

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, 

and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, 

become a child again at Christmastime.

~Laura Ingalls Wilder 

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day 3, Not Ugly Christmas Sweaters but ...

Ugly Gingerbread Cookies!!!!

Decorating gingerbread cookies is something we do every year. Sometimes we go all out and have an official competition with a tray of assorted goodies to use (last year my parents participated and Nonno won with his Christmas Yoda gingerbread man). This year I kept it simple by adding a tub of vanilla frosting and a jar of Nutella to the few goodies that came with the kit.

Because the goal of my guys is to just eat the darn thing already, I have rules:

1- To eat, you must decorate.

2- You can't eat until everyone is finished decorating.

3- And you cannot eat until I've taken a photo.

But let me tell you, once that photo is taken ...

CHOMP.
CHOMP.

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day 2, We Have Mail

During the Advent and Christmas seasons, our mail carrier is one of my very favorite people. His daily visit brings excitement and anticipation in the form of actual mail. Addressed to us personally. With a real stamp on an actual envelope.

This time of year reminds me that letter-writing is not a lost art after all; that it's always there, dormant, ready to resurface on a surge of Christmas spirit. 

And the treasures each card holds! Inside there may be blessings, good wishes, family photos, shared memories, or even a funny joke. Once we received a card someone forgot to sign, and we had ever so much fun trying to guess who sent the red cardinal on the holly branch. Was it Uncle David? Aunt Ann? Our realtor? We never did find out. 

It is a wonderful tradition, this exchanging of Christmas cards, for each one reminds us that at some moment in time someone out there was thinking of us when they signed the card, wrote our name on the envelope, and placed a Christmas stamp in the upper right hand corner. 

On a closet door which straddles the family room and kitchen, I tape up every single card we receive (along with Christmas family photos we've taken through the years). And because the location is such that we pass it numerous times of day, one of us will often stop to look, read, remember.

And each time we do, at that moment in time one of us is thinking of you.

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day 1, Missing Him Already

Before nestling all snug in our beds on Christmas Eve, we set our alarms for an early morning wake-up call so we would have time to celebrate Christmas before Nicholas started his 9-hour drive back to Little Rock, Arkansas.

It was wonderful having Nicholas home for 11 days (I love having all my guys home!) but since he was scheduled to work December 26 he needed to drive home on Christmas day.

So bright and early on Christmas morning (so early that we almost discovered Santa scrambling back up the chimney), we gathered in our family room to exchange gifts and have our traditional Christmas breakfast of homemade sticky buns. Then, we helped Nicholas pack his car and we watched him drive away. 

It was 7:30 a.m. 

When we trooped back inside Jonathan and Timothy looked through their stuff, Joe organized his new tools, and I curled up on the couch with a cappuccino. It was different being done so early, and I missed seeing Nicholas and Jonathan bent over one of their strategy board games on Christmas afternoon, but I know we are entering a new stage of our lives in which traditions of old will always be honored, but perhaps in different ways. Maybe we will even create new ones. 

Nine hours later Nicholas called to say he arrived safely. He had already unloaded his car, set up the Fontanini nativity set he received as one of his gifts, and was looking forward to celebrating Christmas with his girlfriend. 

And curled up on the couch (no cappuccino) watching a Star Wars movie with the rest of my guys, I embraced this Christmas day which, while a little different, had been so, so good.  

Nicholas with Nonna and Nonno, Christmas Eve

Christmas Hope

All the boys are home for the holidays, and since there is nothing that makes me happier than a full house ... bring on the figgy pudding! (Or rather, the Panettone!)

Before I sign off for a few days I'd like to say this: While we are looking forward to the next few days, I understand that many of you are not. There is a lot of heartbreak out there and not everyone looks forward to a Hallmark Christmas. But if there is one thing this season offers it's hope, which can be found in the unlikeliest of places ... even in a stable. 

God bless, everyone. 

The Novajosky Family