Ringing In The Hodgepodge

Happy New Year Hodgepodgers and readers everywhere! So glad you stopped by for this end of the year random! It's never too late to participate...answer the questions on your own blog, then add your link at the end of my post. Please say hello to the blogger who links before you because that's what good neighbors do. See you in the new year!

Now here we go-

1.  Share a favorite moment/memory from the week of Christmas.

So many wonderful moments to consider, but I've narrowed it down to two. On the Tuesday before Christmas my girls and I spent most of the day baking together. 

We sipped tea in pretty mugs and we talked and laughed a lot too. Hubs was out all day so it was just us girls and I really cannot put into words the contentment I felt all day long.   

A second favorite memory would be sitting on a church pew on Christmas Eve with my family beside me, candles lit,  joining with all those gathered to sing Silent Night. The Christmas Eve service has become the best part of the holidays for me in recent years. Taking time to be still in the middle of all the activity happening this time of year helps put life back into proper perspective. 

2.  If someone wrote a book about your life based on the past year, what genre would it fall under? What would the title be?

What genre would it fall under? Maybe psychology-ha! In 2015 my oldest daughter got married and moved to the west coast, my hubs retired after 30 years with the same company, we sold our home in NJ, moved south (after a short temporary stay with my mom), bid a tearful goodbye to the best dog ever, and are currently in some cozy digs while we build a home from the ground up. 

Psychology it is. 

What would it be called? How about Roll With The Changes?

3. What made you feel patriotic this year?

Many things...the Star Spangled Banner sung before a game, a YouTube video of a soldier coming home, and anything at Arlington National Cemetery. Just before Christmas I saw a picture of wreaths placed on every grave there and my heart felt so full. 

4.  What experience from this past year would you like to do all over again?

Well it definitely wouldn't be selling a house-ugh! I think I'll go with the obvious answer here...

...Daughter1's wedding day. 

5. What song lyric sums up or is a reflection of your 2015?

This one-



Honestly this is kind of my theme song. 

6. On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate 2015? (10=stellar) Why?

I guess I'd say parts of 2015 were far better than a ten, but there were some 4's and 5's sprinkled throughout the year too. C'est la vie! 

7. What part of the upcoming year are you most excited about?

Do I really need to answer this one? Moving into our lake house! 

8. Insert your own random thought here. 

A few of you asked about my crafty Christmas project, one I was keeping hush hush until after the big day. I made a scrapbook for my daughter1...it's their love story in words and pictures. 

And a lot of stickers because I just couldn't stop with the stickers. 

The book has a plastic sheet over it because it needed to fly back to Washington State in a carry on bag, and I didn't want the pages to become torn or bent. I'm not going to post too much of the contents here because it's personal, but here's one half of a page-

They danced their first dance to George Strait's song, True. Most of the pages I've written on by hand, but for this one I printed the lyrics on my computer. I had so many cute candids and keepsakes from her showers, the various stages of planning, their rehearsal, getting ready on the day of, etc, and I wanted them to have the photos to keep. 

The book turned out beautifully and my daughter and son-in-law were surprised which makes it more fun. I really enjoyed putting it all together and I'm anxious to get back to scrapbooking some of our other family trips and photos I've neglected.

Happy New Year Everyone!