Hello dear friends, how are you today? Have you recovered from all the festivities of what is now last year? It's 2010, can you believe it? I've been on a brief vacation for two weeks, though I've still been here each day posting a little something for you because I figured for those stuck at work or in need of inspiration that, well maybe it helped to know you could visit each day to find something new. In addition to being online for only an hour daily (which felt like a huge break for me), I spent a lot of time with friends and family eating and laughing and well... you know, things that we do when we settle down long enough to listen to our hearts and feed our souls. Things we do when we step out of our normal routine and give ourselves the permission to let loose a bit. I did some traveling and enjoyed that, but I mostly stuck around my city because there is plenty to keep me occupied. And you know what beautiful thing happened last week? We received a lot of snow!  My friends say that it's uncharacteristic to receive so much in this area and they're suspecting I brought it with me from New Hampshire... but they are happy and I'm happy and well, it's been beautiful. I gave my haus maus friends a little tour of my neighborhood in the snow (part of it anyway), if you'd like to see the full post and all of the photos you may click here. Some highlights are shown below.

You know what I've been doing in my neighborhood? Drawing on cars! My husband and friends call me crazy, but I'm spreading joy. Chances are if you live in my area, you've seen the cars I've decorated. They are very obvious, with massive smiles on hoods and windows. I use my glove to carve out two eyes and a big grin. Nothing fancy. My goal is that when people go to clean off their car, they see the smile left for them and experience a single moment of joy. How can even the grumpiest person now appreciate a happy face on their car? I see my smiles everywhere and so far I've decorated around 50 of them. :)

There are lots of people setting new year's resolutions right about now, I always set a few of my own but I prefer to call them goals for the new calendar year and I only set a few that feel attainable so that I don't walk into December 2010 with a long face feeling down on myself for not accomplishing all I'd set out to do. I believe more in small steps vs. major leaps, though this year there are a few things that I simply must do that will feel like a giant leap for me personally but I'm ready to take them on and see what happens.

So! With that I'll leave you with a few more posts and then I will go do some work offline for the remainder of the day. I feel like I'm getting a slow start after all of that December action, what about you? But the 7:00 a.m. walk through the forest this morning for an hour and a healthy breakfast and lunch helped to renew some of my energy so I'm ready for the new year and all the things that it will bring. Cheers to us all for being alive, having our families and our health, and for all of the little joys along with the great big ones. Together let's make this year a great one!

(images: holly becker for decor8)