My goal for Christmas 2014 was to be purposeful and peaceful.
I made a conscious decision to not fill our calendar to the brim, and was a little more selective on things like treats to make, decorating, and all the Christmas traditions that are fun but not absolutely necessary.
I knew of Leah through Thuy since they both lived in McNary Hall at Oregon State University. I’ll admit that I was jealous that they had a tight-knit group that got to experience new things together. I was just getting started learning ballroom dancing, but I had no other friends who did, so I went on my own. Thuy, Leah, and their other friends went together and benefited from exchanging notes and learning from one another. I knew that they would all grow quickly. And they did. They moved up into the performance team not long after. I wished I had been on the team the same year as them.
After ten years of employment at Vernier, each employee receives a four-week sabbatical. I remember thinking, wow, that’s awesome! What would I do with four weeks off? And now, here I am, at the end of my sabbatical thinking, “Wow, that went by fast. What did I do?”
Lamont and I work in the same department at Vernier, but I didn’t know him until we sat beside each other at a Blazer game. Not long after, I saw him in passing at church, and we began chatting here and there.
I learned that he had been with his girlfriend for several years and he had two beautiful little daughters near the same age as my own daughters. I remember praying that he would marry his girlfriend someday. Not only was that prayer answered several years later, Jenni and I were invited to be their wedding photographers.
We couldn’t be happier for the both of them.
I discovered a wonderful storytelling app for the iPad, Adobe Voice, which allowed us to quickly put together our Mother’s Day sentiments this year. I highly recommend trying it out if you have an iPad and a desire to tell stories. Check out the two we created.