Christmas is over and New Years is on its way. At this part of the year, it is common for people to start thinking about what is next, what their resolution will be, and if they can keep it. But for me, this is the part of the year when I become reflective. Before I can move on to what is next, I must mentally go through the ups and downs of this past year. Call me nostalgic, or overly sentimental (which I am), but every year around this time, I look back. I take a moment—even if it’s brief—to [...]

There are years when we start listening to Christmas carols in October. There are times when we are so excited about the Holidays that our gift shopping is done by the first of December. But then there are years when we feel like we have to drag ourselves to our closest friend’s Christmas parties, gift shopping is painful, and we wish we could skip to January. If you find yourself in the latter category this season, this post is for you. As someone who has had enough hard Christmases to know how easy is it is to fall into the [...]