Atlanta Snow

(picture was taken yest afternoon; today the patio is white)

I woke up this morning to the outside covered in a light blanket of snow! It began snowing yesterday afternoon. I smiled as I walked to my car, with snowflakes falling on my head, because I couldn't wait to show Brayden the snow, and secretly I was counting on school being cancelled today. It is. By 9am the temperature was 16 with a wind chill of 2 and I simply sat huddled on the couch, still in my pj's, and enjoyed my cup o' joe, while I watched the fire flicker and Brayden bang on his new Baby Einstein piano he'd received for Christmas. I love slow, cold, coffee-filled mornings! We are snow-covered...if I can say that. In reality, it is only about 1/2 inch, but it is white, frozen, lovely, and going nowhere soon since the temps are not forecasted to rise about freezing until Sunday at the earliest. YAY!!! Needless to say, this brief interruption has helped ease the transition back into school for the Spring semester.
I've intended to write for quite sometime, but there is always some other task calling my name and when free moments are so seldom, the delight of updating the blog quickly becomes a chore. I also intended to have my Christmas cards in the mail by the 20th. That didn't happen. In fact, they weren't even mailed until 2 days ago! I think 2009 has been the year of....dare I say "CHANGE?!" Wonderful, fantastic, inviting, and lively change, but nonetheless, change. Chris and I have learned to work together better as a team as we've learned to care for and adapt to Brayden's needs and scheduling. We've also learned a whole new layer of selfishness exists within ourselves that can still be masked even in marriage. Having a child strips this away--hopefully! And I've learned that if I don't take proper care of myself, I will end up resenting everyone or everything around me. With that, the latter part of '09 has been extremely tough on me. Returning to work full-time has been more than difficult in trying to juggle the demands of work and home. I found by October I was depressed. I simply felt unhappy with my life and guilty that I was losing time with Brayden and he was growing SO FAST! I was angry that on the weekends, when I wanted to spend every moment with Brayden and Chris, I had piles of essays staring at me, waiting to be graded, and it seemed I just couldn't catch a break. God has been so gracious to provide incredible childcare for Brayden and I know that I needed to work for this school year, but we are trusting the Lord to provide for our needs so that I can stay home next year. If you pray, I invite you to pray alongside us that God would blow us away with his provision in this regard. I am hopeful to make several changes for my life in the year 2010. Prayer is one of them. I would like to pray more often and be more specific in my requests, believing God at his word. We are thankful to you for your friendship and interest in our lives as you follow this blog. May it, in some small way, be a blessing to you.