Christmas went by quicker than ever. The evening before Christmas Eve I all of a sudden got a fever and all I could do was to try to survive. That's probably why Christmas this year went by in a blur.
I am quite lazy at heart, if I'm honest. So it's been a relief to be able to force myself to not do anything but the necessary. I've been able to spend hours reading on the sofa, which it feels like I haven't done in ages. Cuddling up next to one of the cats with a chocolate bar or piece of brie cheese and a large cup of tea. Enjoying time well spent. I'm so easily distracted these days. That's possibly one of the reasons why I haven't been spending as much time reading as I wanted this year. Of course there will be new years resolutions this time of the year, it's always great getting a chance at a new beginning at something. I'm a sucker for new beginnings. So I've decided that 2016 I will find a lot more time for reading. Because it's simply one of the things I love the most. I have plans on writing a post on my favourite books of 2015. So more on that later.
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Even though Christmas times are all festive and fun it's also a time filled with stress and to do-lists. I think most of us have a couple of days before Christmas in an "almost-breakdown-state", at least I do. My nerves can't handle the pressure I put on myself to clean the house into perfect condition, while at the same time make Christmas gifts, bake sweets and have a relaxed time. And as for us who study there are most often a lot of deadlines around this time as well. This equation just doesn't work. I kind of had a small breakdown today. After I had been studying for most of the day I started crying, because I had no time or energy for all the other things I had planned for the day. I decided to change the mood I was in, because it ain't fun being there. The best way I know to change my mood around is to put on really good music. For me worship music is the best way of changing my thoughts. Works every time, after just a couple of beats I'm way better. Today I put on Chris Tomlin's Christmas album for the first time. And it was good! Other times I put on anything by Leeland. Every time I do this I'm amazed by the power good worship music has. So after I was in a better state of mind I felt like doing something for me, a moment of pure happiness. Today that was baking. When I'm allowed to do it without the pressure of time it's joyful. So now I'm going make a cup of tea and enjoy my banana bread. Perhaps I'll have more energy tomorrow to finish off the things I had planned for today. When we got married I never thought I would have to share my camera with Andreas. Then he started wood working more seriously, and with that he got an interest for photography. I am thrilled about that, and he's getting so good at it. But that means that I'm at home now with no camera to shoot with. Have to use an old bit good photo to decorate the blog post for now. I think we might need to get another camera soon. But they're so expensive.
I really hope you're all able to take time this Christmas to enjoy the moment. And to do something you really like, just for you. Love, Elin Friday night, date night. Candlelit dinner, dressing up and spending the night at some fancy restaurant. That's the most common association with dating I think. Even if that's a lot of fun, specially the dressing up part, it's not our kind of date. We've been talking a lot, my husband and I, about the dating culture. Since social media is such a big part of our lives you more often see couples showing off their dating life. And the most common thing you see, the dinners. Ever since we got together, I feel like we've been a bit different. We have explored our own ways of doing things. Such as dating. We think that every couple should find their own way of spending that quality time with each other, and not only think of dinners as the main alternative for dating. There are so many other ways of dating. For us a date night can be an evening spent in Andreas' workshop with both of us being creative. Most times I bring my knitting, but this time I brought my colouring book. Even if the both of us have our main focus on the things we're creating, it's so cosy to make it together and share our thought. Dating is all about spending relaxed time with each other to catch up and see the person you fell in love with. When we got together we used to spend time just like this. Creating stuff together. It's one of the things that defines us as a couple, it is who we are. This summer we had a revelation. We we're out on a dinner date, and after the dinner we went for a walk in a park. We walked around and looked at all the trees. We realised that the trees had been the best part of the date. The thing is, my husband isn't himself a lot of the times we spend eating at restaurants. He feels like he should be in a certain way to fit the traditional date, which isn't who he is.
So we made the decision to from then on spend the majority of our dates in a non-traditional way. To spend more time doing things that we are comfortable with. You should do the things you love with the person you love. Who knew this could be such a joyful day? One of our cats, Sigur, is quite the adventurous type. He has been away before, but never like this. Last time we saw him was the day we got the chickens. This means that he's been out in the wilderness by himself for almost five months. We thought he was dead, since there was no sign of him anywhere. Imagine our surprise when he all of a sudden stood outside our door this morning. I feel like throwing a party. It's a miracle that he's back!
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