Do you enjoy the holidays? For many people, long-held family traditions give joy to the season. And aren’t traditions nothing more than routines? Routines followed through the years that now evoke special memories when we experience them again?
 
In our household, Thanksgiving is the “official” kickoff to the holidays. But truthfully, it usually starts a week or two before the turkey and all the fixings make it to our table.
 
Yes, I am “one of those.” The tree is up before Thanksgiving. When I was younger, Mom would spend days decorating our home for Christmas. It wouldn’t have felt like the holidays without rooms full of festive decorations. So, needless to say, the routine or tradition of decorating followed me to my own home. Years ago, I’d spend the weekend after Thanksgiving decorating. But over time, we’ve figured out it’s easier to get it up a little earlier. My daughters help with the creative process and together, we transform the house for the coming season. I’ll be sure to share pictures here in my posts closer to Christmas.
 
Now that the house is ready, it’s time to focus on the food we’ll enjoy on Thanksgiving. I need to make the grocery list, and we should get the turkey into the fridge to start thawing.
 
Up until a couple of years ago, Mom did all the heavy lifting in regards to our holiday meals. It wasn’t until she began to pass the baton to me that I truly appreciated all the work involved. As was her practice when preparing for significant events, she made a list for me. A simple menu scribbled onto a piece of notepaper that I intend to keep forever and pass it on to my own kids.
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We’ll work together over the next week to stay true to Mom’s traditional Thanksgiving meal. I’ve never mastered the art of gravy making, but my sister-in-law has it down to a science. My daughter will make the pie. There will be lots of teamwork to get it all on the table. Over time, I hope to get as efficient at it all as Mom was, but for now, wish us luck!
 
The one part of our Thanksgiving meal that I have happily “owned” for many years is making the cranberry ice. It’s a sherbet made from lemons, cranberries and lots of sugar. Preparing the cranberry ice used to be Great-aunt Mary’s duty. Eventually, someone new had to take it over, and I raised my hand. For the first few years, results were questionable. But, as with so many things, practice helped (since this dish is only served in our family on Thanksgiving and Christmas, practice can take years!). With any luck, the pretty, frozen concoction will again grace our table on Thursday.

​Years ago, once we finished with the feasting of Thanksgiving Day, our holiday weekends often switched to shopping and more decorating. Mom and I used to get up early, put on our holiday sweatshirts and snowflake earrings, and hit the sales. No, we never waited in the massive lines, waiting for doors to open on Black Friday, but we would join the crowds at a more reasonable hour. We’d have our lists in hand—ideas for our family and friends and the gifts we hoped to find for them. As our family grew through marriages and babies, our shopping circle grew, too.
 
These days, shopping holds less appeal for me. Our kids are older. I’ll still get the shopping done, but not all in one big push before the calendar even turns over to December. We’ve tried to temper our spending and the related stress over finding “the perfect” gift. We’re blessed to need little in the way of material things and find more joy in time spent together.
 
My best piece of advice to you for the upcoming weeks is don’t forget to make your lists! Get all the "to do's" on a list, chip away at the tasks, and enjoy. Knock a few things off, grab a peppermint mocha or a Christmas cookie for a break, and then get back to it. Preparation helps holidays happen and can reduce the last-minute stresses that so many people complain about in the weeks to come.
 
There is much to love about the upcoming holidays. It’s often the simplest of things that make us smile.
The beauty of twinkling lights, both inside and outside, chasing away the dark of early evenings and the cold of winter. The scents of our favorite foods, cooking in the oven and candles glowing on the hearth. Nothing says December to me like the smell of pine. Even when I walk by a particular grove of pine trees in the middle of summer near our cabin, the light fragrance they give off takes my mind back to Christmases past. The holiday tunes we know by heart. The clear chiming of bells.
 
Life means things change and evolve. Holiday traditions are no different. As our children grow, we’ll have to share them with others, making our time together even more precious. Those around our tables will change. But the real joy of the holidays can be found in the memories we’ve made in the past and the new ones we're making now.
 
This year we will count our many blessings when we gather around our Thanksgiving table. My heart breaks for so many facing loss and tragedy this year, knowing they won’t be able to experience the same joy of routine and traditions. We’ll also wish the people ringing our table would still include those we’ve lost, but we’ll be thankful for the many memories we will always hold dear.
 
If the turkey is a little dry or the cranberry ice isn’t properly frozen, it won’t matter. Because that’s not what the holidays are really about.
 
I wish you the very best for this Thanksgiving and the upcoming holidays. May you find joy in the little things and find ways to help others less fortunate to feel the light of kindness.   Kim

We all benefit from the assistance of others as we make our way through each and every day. Life is not a solo endeavor. Even though we often feel alone as we go about our daily routine, I invite you to take a step back and think about how many people helped you yesterday. On the flip side, how many did you help? I suspect it’s a significant number. We just tend to take much of it for granted.

A large portion of our days consist of routines, and because of this, we tend to miss the little random acts of kindness people do for us. Helping each other is integral to our nature. Today I challenge you to keep your eyes open for two things.

• Recognize when someone helps you and feel gratitude for their efforts on your behalf.
• Watch for ways you can assist someone else. How can you make their day a little brighter? And then don’t overthink it, just do it. 

​A friend has been toying with the idea of starting her own blog. She is a gifted writer with a warm heart and wisdom to share. She’s cheered me on since the beginning and I knew I wanted to do the same for her. As so often happens, when you keep your eyes open to the possibilities, we found a way to help each other.

Today I’m delighted to share a guest blog post with you, written by my friend Carla Torgerson:
   
Acceptance…
 
Ten letters strung together to make one word. Simple enough, right?

For some of us, acceptance comes easily. For others, the process is like being dragged along an unfamiliar path that is uncomfortable, and at times, almost unbearable.
 
Like most, I have had to accept many things in life.  Sometimes I’ve been able to do this with grace. Sometimes, quite the opposite.
 
A few years ago, I heard the words YOU HAVE RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS for the first time. Those four words have drastically changed my life. They shook me to my core, dropped me to my knees, and took the wind out of my sails. They significantly altered how I thought of myself as a person.
 
I was once a very strong and vibrant woman, but as the disease took its toll on my body, little by little pieces of who I was began to disappear. The list of things that I can no longer do is long. 

Saying goodbye to the woman I once was has been grueling. It truly has been a difficult grieving process of letting go without a safety net in place that assured me of who I was now going to be.
 
I found myself wishing, wanting, and hoping for things that were no longer possible. Daily I wasted my emotional and physical energy in a state of denial, bargaining with my inner self. Trying to make it all make sense. Attempting to calm my heart and settle my broken spirit.
 
It seemed like it took forever to wrap my head around the news. I passed through each stage of grief. Shock, denial, anger, bargaining, and depression. I glided through some of them swiftly but camped out in others for way too dang long.
 
After days, weeks and months of struggle, I think I have found myself in the acceptance stage. I won’t lie. It’s not easy and I can’t pretend that it is. I have a feeling acceptance is an undertaking all its own.
 
What I have come to realize is that we all must learn and grow through experiences that life throws at us. Each of us has our own story to tell. Every one of us has faced challenges and have needed to accept the things we cannot change.
 
For myself, it’s important to embrace life and all that it has to offer, instead of dwelling on what is no more. I am now hopeful of the endless possibilities for me to grow into a new person. The person I am meant to be. Because after all, isn’t that enough?

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​I am so excited for Carla to be starting something new and look forward to reading her words of wisdom in the future. I invite you to check out her new blog at the link below.

If you can find some little way today to help someone else pursue their dreams, do it! Support their small business, visit their restaurant, or read what they’ve offered to share. Nothing will make you feel better than providing someone else with a helping hand.     Kim