Fall roundup (with pictures!)

Gideon and I just wrapped up a series of posts where we reviewed Christmas movies. It was fun, but I didn't want to do it for that reason. This fall, I started to have pretty terrible writer's block and couldn't bring myself to write anything personal at all. Usually, I write poems and short stories along with blogging. I did none of this from October to now.

The review series was really just an exercise in writing something every day for a month. I wasn't sure if it would have a positive effect - part of me feared it would make me hate writing - but it did. I feel super rejuvenated and I'd like to catch everyone up on how I spent the fall. For the most part, it was pretty great.

The weekend following my birthday, my mom and nana visited Eureka Springs. I really loved that visit. We spent an entire day shopping downtown and grabbing coffee or tea at local shops. On Friday night, they took me and Gideon to dinner at Gaskins Cabin. I had a steak bigger than my hand. On an unrelated note, I've put on a bit of weight over these past few months.

They left and I returned to the daily monotony of life. I don't mean that to sound negative; I love my life. I love my job and the people I work with. In fact, I find myself more excited to go to work than I am to go home sometimes. (At work, cat puke doesn't periodically show up on the floor.) I'm happy that my life consists of doing the same things each week, because I enjoy all those things. That's a monotony I could get behind.

Mom and nana visited again for Thanksgiving. We spent the holiday with Gideon's family, and somehow everyone got along well with one another. No Palin fistfights with this bunch! That was certainly a relief. Gideon had to work on Black Friday, so we drove to Branson to do some serious shopping. The outlet mall in Branson is incredible. It has basically every store that has ever been conceived. The  more money I make, the more I realize that I really enjoy shopping. I enjoy it even more when my family goes with me an offers to buy me stuff. 

It feels like that was just yesterday. It's almost Christmas and time has passed by so quickly. A coworker told me the other day that I'll experience this more and more as I age. Years can go by like weeks, he said. While I think he's probably right, I want to at least try to treasure the life I'm living while I'm living it. That can be difficult for me at times. I can spend hours thinking of all the things I don't have and all the mistakes I've made. 

Being surrounded by people who encourage me to be my best helps curb that a bit. I'm a very lucky person and I don't want to lose sight of that because I got a flat tire and have to move money from savings to take care of it. I've interviewed mothers who can't afford to feed their children without outside assistance. They don't have a savings account. I've begun to think it's almost insulting to the less fortunate for me to bemoan having less when I have so much more than many others. Truly, I am lucky and very grateful for that.

In 2016, I'm going to try to be more grateful for all I have. My New Year's resolution is to notice when others do something good. If I read an article I like, I'll email the writer saying so. If a child is polite to me in a store, I'll notice it. If someone opens a door for me, I'll thank them as sincerely as I can. 

There's so much negativity in the world. I contribute to that a lot more than I'd be willing to admit. Looking forward, I want to stop doing that. It won't be easy, but nobody ever did anything without taking a first step. 

Now for the fun part of this post: pictures! I've taken several photos over the last few months that I haven't shared with anybody except for maybe the guys in my office. 

"Hey, look at a photo of my cat!" I said enthusiastically. 

"That's a cat all right," the sports editor replied. 

Anyway, here you go:

Gideon and one of our many cat mugs. I am obsessed. You can see our Christmas tree in the reflection so this is full of holiday cheer! 

My nana at Thanksgiving. She bonded with Gideon's grandma's dog. She also looked super hot. 

One of the many photos I took for BJ's modeling portfolio. I'll have to Photoshop my hand out of this so I don't look like one of those stage moms.

We were at Green Forest High School's annual trivia night, where we lost terribly. But there was lots of delicious food and my hair looked awesome, so I'll call it an overall win.

Another photo of my little model. Someday, he'll make Mommy lots of $$$$$$$. In the meantime, he'll be puking on the floor and farting on my face.

I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas! Treasure being with your family. It's one of the simplest joys out there. (Unless your dad is Charles Manson.)