Hello 2013!

Michael, Scarlett, and I are celebrating the first day of 2013 by watching lots of football and cuddling on the couch!  It has not stopped raining, which gives us a great opportunity to rest from a very busy December.  We kicked off the holidays with a trip to New York City to see the Christmas lights and to eat lots of good food!  Well...that's not the only reason we went to New York.  It was a business trip for me, but fortunately Michael got to join me, and we got to fit in some sightseeing and eating ;)!  We started the trip with a visit to the famous Katz Deli.  This place was crazy crowded and crazy good!



After our first meal of the day, we went to the Chelsea Market then to Midtown to Rockefeller Center and Times Square.




After Rockefeller, we were hungry again, so we took the Subway to Lombardi's, the oldest pizza place in New York City!



On our last full day of the trip, we started out in Chinatown.  After, another big meal, we went uptown to Central Park then down 5th Avenue.  I loved being able to go back to Central Park and walk down 5th Avenue at Christmas.







I loved the Christmas windows at the department stores on 5th Avenue!

After a few days in NYC, we came back to Birmingham for two days then traveled to South Carolina to visit Michael's family for Christmas.  This Christmas may have been the most relaxed one ever, which is what I really needed!  We did not get to see Michael's brother Sean and his wife Caroline for Christmas, so they came to Birmingham this past Friday to spend New Year's with us.  We had a great time seeing them and their sweet girl Dolly.

We decided to stay in last night and enjoy a low key New Year's Eve with our girls.



2012 was a great year for us.  We have been blessed with so much, and I pray that 2013 will be even better.  I know that in 2013, I hope to help others more and to find joy in each day rather than worrying so much about the next.  I am still struggling with anxiety from time to time, and I hope to learn how to appreciate the blessings I have rather than focusing on the trials that some times get in my way.

Happy New Year!