I suppose I need to wrap up my 2025 WOTY series before too many more days go by! Here's the recap of the word I chose and why from a year ago:
My Word of the Year for 2025 is Practice. Put the things I've learned and that I know into practice. Practice doing what I know I should do and want to do. Practice how I want to perform. Practice―and get better at―the things that are important to me. Make a practice of healthy and beneficial habits and routines. In 2024, my WOTY was Rhythm, and one way I tried to establish a rhythm was by keeping a very brief daily diary, to watch for daily and weekly patterns to develop and to be intentional about keeping the good ones going. In 2025, I'll continue keeping the daily diary, but with a focus on how well I'm meeting my goals in the disciplines I'm practicing. See my WOTY post for 2025 for how I chose this word: Word of the Year 2025 - Practice.
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Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions;
I will put them into practice with all my heart.
~Psalm 119:34~
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December is a month that really tests my ability to stay consistent with any and all good habits, helpful routines and schedules, and checking things off the to-do lists without getting overwhelmed! I think it's that way for most of us - it makes me feel better to know I'm not the only one facing those challenges. There were definitely days during the month when things did not go according to plan, and even more days when I felt too rushed or too lazy to do a good job of sticking to my plan. However, I reached the end of the month with all the gifts bought and wrapped, all the bills paid on time, and the house in reasonably good shape. We got groceries purchased and put away, meals prepared and enjoyed, and even did a bit of holiday baking. When we got home after our trip to Maryland for Christmas, we had a couple days to regroup and get ready for some of the Maryland kids to come visit us for New Years, and managed to do that sort of on time. The spare room was admittedly pretty chaotic, but the important thing was that there was a bed and bath ready for our guests to use.
Now I'm considering whether I'll do an official 2026 Word of the Year. I may just talk about it in monthly recap posts rather than write an introduction post. Anyway, in keeping with my monthly tradition, here's a brief recap of the month just past, along with some photos.
Week One
On Thursday, I left work early so I could get to shower and get down to the State House in time for the Holiday Open House. Scioto Valley Chorus performed a holiday set of music, and I took a bit of time to look around.
On Saturday morning, I went with hubby to Timbuk Farms to pick out my holiday greenery, then drove out to Mount Vernon to get my hair cut. I "paid" my hairdresser with poinsettias! Picked up groceries on the way home and after lunch I got a batch of meatballs made in put in the crockpot. The kids came over and we all went to Pataskala for the cookie walk, to Dawes Arboretum for the Winter Wonders Walk, and had meatballs ready for our dinner when we got back! We divvied up the spoils from the cookie walk too.
After church on Sunday, we had lunch with our 55+ dinner club at Chi Thai. We did have a nap in the afternoon, and slept just a bit too long because we were almost late for the 55+ group trip to the Butch Bando's lights. Later on we had a quiet evening at home.
Week Two
Wednesday was Dinner + Discipleship as usual, and what a treat to not have to make dinner! I got another treat in the evening when we discovered that an old favorite Christmas special of mine was available on Amazon Prime! Haven't seen An American Christmas Carol in decades, and I was so happy to be able to watch again. And relieved when it was every bit as good as I'd remembered.
On Thursday we had a really quick dinner and then met the kids at Easton to see the holiday drone show. Show was good, but the weather was not. It was so cold!! We got hot drinks in one of the coffee shops and then went our separate ways - kids went home, I went home, and hubby went to his hockey game.
Friday evening was also movie at home night. We found one from the 80s called Santa Claus: The Movie. It was pretty good, but partway through Kennady called and after the long pause to talk to her, we decided to finish the movie another time.
Got up early-ish on Saturday and went with a group from church to Lower Lights and helped out with their childrens center holiday open house. That was lots of fun, and I was able to visit with a friend on the bus on our way there and back. The snow had just started when we arrived back at the church, and hubby and I paid a quick visit to Oakland Nurseries to look around and enjoy the holiday decor. After that we got groceries and went home for a nap before dinner and the rest of the previous night's movie.
Church attendance was down a bit on Sunday morning due to the snow and cold, but I was surprised at how many did come despite the conditions. Harrison and family had originally planned to come for the afternoon, but with the weather and sketchy road conditions they opted to stay home. I made schnitzel for our lunch and it was pretty good, if I do say so myself. Scioto Valley Chorus sang carols at the Ronald McDonald House downtown in the early evening. On the way home - like a couple miles from home - my car just. Died. No warning, no reason, just said Nope. I called hubby and he came to meet me, we tried a couple things to see if we could get it started but nothin doin. I went home with him and left the car where it sat until the tow truck could finally get to it about eight hours later!! Bet tow truck drivers made bank that night, as there were so many cars in the ditch or just stalled. As a result of my misadventure with the car, I scaled back my planned baking for the evening and just made peanut butter cookies and holiday puffcorn and called it good.
Week Three
An interesting start to the week, as we had to leave earlier than usual on Monday since we were sharing hubby's car. He was able to borrow a work vehicle to use during the week while we awaited word from the shop about the fate of my car. I did leave work a bit early so I could get myself over to the SVC holiday party. While I was there I got a phone call from my Mum that my Aunt Linda had passed away.
On Tuesday we heard back from the shop, and the car needs a new engine. That's a pretty big price tag to repair a car we still owe on and that we were hoping to trade in just a couple months down the road! Once again I left work early, this time for my appointment with the eye doctor. At least that was good news, my prescription had only miniscule changes so no need to get new glasses. We went to the Blue Jackets game in the evening.
Wednesday evening was a Christmas party at D+D. At home we had coffee, watched Hallmark Christmas movies and finished all the Christmas shopping online. I have so many mixed feelings about Amazon and online shopping for gifts. Such a time saver but it feels like so little effort required that it's kind of like cheating, y'know?
On Saturday morning we went car shopping! We came home with a 2024 RAV4 and I finally have a red car! It's beautiful and I love it, but it's a bigger car payment to manage, plus we still have the old RAV4 to deal with somehow. Still, it's a pretty great early Christmas present to have a practically new car! Once home we did a little cleaning and fixed dinner. Harrison and family came over to enjoy schnitzel with us (I'd practiced it the week before!) and then we went out to see the lights at one of the metro parks, and also drive around and look at Christmas lights for a bit.
After church on Sunday we had a quick lunch of leftovers so that hubby could get over to work and look after a few things. I looked after some tasks at home, went to the store for a few last minute groceries and gifts, then drove out the Timbuk to meet hubby. We stopped at the shop where the old car was and cleaned our personals out of it, and then went home for a nice long nap. We had a late dinner, wrapped all the gifts, and watched TV.
Week Four - Christmas Week!
I went to work on Monday, but hubby had the whole week off, so he was the one who stayed home and relaxed. He also did some baking and even made dinner! We watched The Santa Clause (one of our favorite Christmas movies), and The Santa Clause 2 (which we like but not as much as the first one), and got laundry done.
I worked about half a day on Tuesday. We packed everything up and were on the road by about four to head to Maryland. Our dinner stop was at Tom's Ice Cream Bowl in Zanesville. Love that place. We arrived at the homestead about midnight.
Christmas Eve! We slept in a bit and spent the day with the kids. We paid a quick visit to Kennady at work and picked up Ledo Pizza for everyone's late lunch. In the evening we had dips and appetizers to graze on for dinner. Spencer, Landon, Kennady, and Dan were all involved with the Christmas Eve service and had to be there early to prepare. I drove over a little later with Aubrey. When we all got home we had Dan open up his presents from us before he went home. We watched TV and just relaxed the rest of the evening.
Happy Christmas Day! We got up and gathered in the family room with our coffees and the yule log playing on the TV and opened gifts. The family's traditional wrapping paper 'snowball' fight followed, and then we had a brunch of biscuits and sausage gravy. In the afternoon we played with Aubrey and relaxed. I drove Kennady over to Dan's place so we could have a visit as well as get her over there for Christmas with his family. When I got back, we put the turkey in the fryer and prepped our Christmas dinner. Meaghan's sister and brother-in-law came over and joined us for dinner, and they had gifts to exchange. We all enjoyed playing with Aubrey and her new toys and games, then watched Christmas Vacation and Elf.
Happy Boxing Day! Slept late again - we are on vacation, after all! - and had a rather lazy morning. The weather looked pretty iffy, so we decided to go out for my birthday lunch instead of birthday dinner to be safe. We went to Ventura's in Fairfield. We've been wanting to try it since friends of ours purchased it a couple of years ago. Once again, naptime when we all got home after our yummy lunch. We had leftovers for dinner, played with Aubrey, and watched It's a Wonderful Life.
On Saturday morning I went out to brunch with a friend, and hubby went to visit some of his past work friends. I did a bit of shopping since I had some time to myself, and was pleased to find a good deal on a jean jacket I need for chorus. At home I played dominoes with Spencer and Landon and Meaghan for most of the afternoon.Leftovers for dinner, and phone calls to Mum/Gramma and to Aunt Alice.
Week Five
Attended church with the kids, then had one more meal of leftovers before we packed up the car and headed back to Ohio. We stopped at Cracker Barrel for our dinner, and grabbed a few groceries right before getting home. We unpacked and quickly got some laundry going. Needed to get some things settled in preparation for the kids' visit in a couple days!
Back to work on Monday. In the evening we picked up Harrison and family and drove out to Clifton Mill to see the holiday lights which are fantastic!
Tuesday was a regular workday, but I picked up groceries on the way home and while dinner was cooking I tried to get a bit of cleaning done in the spare room. I didn't finish before they arrived but that's okay! Once they got in we had coffee and a visit and watched some of season five of Stranger Things. I know - we're behind!! This was a show that Kennady and I watched together the first couple seasons and then hubby got into it as well, and since we all wanted to watch the finale, hubby and I had to get somewhat caught up! (We are still behind, by the way. Kennady and Dan and Harrison and Angela all watched the finale on New Years Day but we haven't yet. I know the basics of how it ended because I told them I didn't care about spoilers.)
I took Wednesday off work so I could spend it with the kids. We went to the Book Loft in the German Village, which is a favorite spot of mine, Kennady's, and Dan's. I spent some of my gift money from my uncle on myself. We stopped at DiBellas for lunch, and prepped all the NYE food when we got home. Harrison and family arrived about seven, and we spent the evening enjoying food, having second Christmas, and playing games. We rang in the New Year and shortly afterwards we all went to bed. Harrison and family stayed the night because they didn't want to drive home in the snow with sketchy road and potential sketchy drivers out.
Happy New Year!
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