snowy sunday

 

 

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

this morning we woke up to SNOW! the first real snow of the season. with the white fluffy stuff falling outside, candles lit inside, the christmas tree glowing and christmas music playing we are determined to stay in our PJs as long as possible today. 

jp wanted to help daddy in the kitchen. how much longer until our little man is tall enough to do the dishes on his own? 

 

 

hard to believe that at this time last year he was growing quickly inside of me. just waiting to make his grand debut. it's amazing the amount of blessings a year can bring.

even sammy is in the spirit, rocking his favorite christmas shirt. he's not happy about it. and the shirt couldn't be more accurate...

Headlines

Friday, oh Friday, how happy I am to see you. This week has gone by in somewhat of a blur, similar to the past month. I don't like when that happens, it makes me feel like too much of the same day-to-day-blah and not enough of the soaking up the beauty and adventure that comes when we slow down and enjoy the moments. But, I am determined to push the pause button this weekend and hold it as long as possible. 


In the meantime, here are some headlines of what has been happening around here...


Dan's crazy work schedule only got crazier last week. He worked long, long shifts that went through the night, causing him to miss out on a lot of the Thanksgiving celebrations. Thankfully as of the past couple of days he is back to his normal schedule. Lets hope that holds throughout Christmas. 


An update on our baby Bing. He had his surgery this week. He ended up having to spend 2 nights at the vet, the surgery took longer than expected, but he is back home now healing. He has a bright green cast on which we have to keep dry and keep him resting for 2 months. Someone do tell us how we are to keep a 90 pound, hyper German Shepard off his feet for 2 months. 


I am taking Jackson to the DR this afternoon to see if everything is okay. He broke out with hives last night, has had a runny nose for awhile now and just hasn't been himself. It could be teeth, it could be a virus, it could be an ear infection... but I won't feel okay about it until his pediatrician checks him out. 


Our Christmas tree still isn't up. When you add together all of the things I mentioned above plus 2 crazy work schedules it adds up to a tree waiting to be decorated. That will end tonight, even if it means me decorating it alone in the wee hours of the morning!


There is so much more running through my mind that I could write about right now, but I'm determined to check as many things off my work to do list as possible this morning while JP is resting at Nanna's so I can devote as much time as possible to my boys this weekend without work weighing on my mind.


More to come later!
Happy Friday,
Jessica

I don't know how tomorrow is already Thursday or how it is officially December or how it is possible that Jackson is going to be 10 months in just a few days. It's as if someone pressed the fast forward button on my life without my permission. 


In any case this week seems to be going by especially fast, partly due to the fact that I am in the midst of a week full of global meetings at work- this is where my teammates fly in from around the world so we can meet face to face. I see each of them periodically throughout the year, but it is rare that we're all in the same place at once. 


Today, as I was looking around the room my thoughts started to drift from the conversation at hand and I started to think about how incredible it is that out of the small group assembled, almost each person was from a completely different place, country even. We stemmed from around the globe, every where from the US to South Korea to India, Venezuela, Egypt, Mexico, China, Italy and many others in between. Each of us coming from strikingly different places with different backgrounds, upbringings, religions, beliefs, habits, cultures... you name it, all of us "different" in every sense of the word. But, you know what, knowing each of these people, some more deeply than others, I know for a fact that we're not all that different. 


Sure, there are some "on the surface" things that set us apart. We look a little different. We have slightly different mannerisms and ways of communicating. There are some language barriers. But, at the heart of it, at the center of all that really matters, we're all pretty much the same. They all love their kids and families just as much as I love Jackson and Dan. They all work hard. Harder than hard. They are driven beyond belief and thrive in constant learning and challenges. They're all just moms/dad/sisters/brothers/friends who are working hard to live their lives the best way they know how. Just like you, just like me.


This is a lesson that I have learned first hand many, many times through the work I do. You see, a lot of the work that I do has to do with understanding the dreams, motivations, needs and desires of people from around the world, with the goal of being able to design ideas and products that will have global appeal. This goal has enabled me to study the lives of people, mostly women, from literally every corner of the globe and what I have found time and time again is that at the end of the day we all share the same basic fears and dreams. 


I'm not sure what major "point" I'm trying to make with this somewhat of a ramble except that I realize many times how blessed I am to have had the opportunities I have been given to see the world from a view point that many of the people in my life have never had exposure to. Not only am I thankful for these blessings, but more importantly I feel the weight of responsibility that comes along with such understanding to ensure that I pass it along to others, especially my children. 


I can't help but think that God has given me this immense passion for writing and sharing my random string of thoughts such as the one above with others for a reason and so 'thank you' for even considering reading along and listening to what runs through my mind. I hope my experiences prove to be valuable from time to time and I hope that in return you'll share with me some of yours.  Because at the end of the day we're all just trying to live life to the fullest, to enjoy it as much as possible, to make our mark, to leave it a little better than how we found it... and we can only do that with God and with each other. 


And if none of that connected with you then at least this will hopefully make you smile. This is JP from bath time tonight. He thought his mama's funny noises were HILARIOUS!