Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Lovely sunsets in Florida and Utah (we caught the first part while we were walking in a park and then I made Rudi pull into a cemetery so he could see what it became after that).

2. A kind Moldovan tech who speaks Russian to Rudi’s mom and who offered to make her some varenyky (Russian pierogi-like dumplings)

3. Pizza outdoors on New Year’s Eve with Sarah and Rudi

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Rudi took practically all our Christmas presents from my parents with him to West Virginia so I could stay an extra four days and fly home.

2. Mum and I got nearly all the baking we’d hoped to done (today was mushroom turnovers and chocolate snowball freezer cookies).

3. Dad and I got two afternoons of playing pool in. Occasionally I even won. (I’m in a place right now where, much like with bowling, I just want to hit the ball hard. It’s good to understand what you need out of recreation.)

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Driving north, we saw a jeep draped in Christmas lights. It was the most festive car on the road.

2. We got a significantly later start than I’d hoped to (entirely my fault — PMS that I didn’t realize was PMS), but getting on the road late in the afternoon meant that we were treated to a gorgeous sunset and Christmas lights across five states.

3. Corey enjoyed chasing the balled up wrapping paper from the packages I’d opened around the living room.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. A coworker was really insightful and asked about something that’s been a struggle I’ve been keeping to myself. It meant everything for someone else to give voice to a problem that I sometimes think I imagine.

2. It was a ridiculously warm day today in the northeast, allowing us one final volleyball gathering on the patio of my local dive bar. With omicron’s virulent tendencies about to make life a whole lot harder again, I appreciated it tremendously.

3. Rudi came home for 16 hours between trips.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

I realize in the midst of this week’s Virtual Advent Tour posts that I somehow missed a Three Beautiful Things post on Thursday. Whoops! Here are three beautiful things from last week:

1. Christmas cards have started arriving.

2. Rudi’s flight was very early out of Dulles, but it meant I got to see a lovely rosy glow as I was driving back to D.C.

3. My volleyball team’s opponent forfeited this week, but one of the earlier teams stayed to play us. Then half of us stayed to help out another team that was short-handed. It was a good way to spend a Thursday night.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you had a wonderful holiday. (Or happy Thursday if you don’t celebrate!)

Beauty and gratitude don’t always go hand in hand, but today they do. Here are three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I spent last Thanksgiving alone, Facetiming with my folks to watch the parade and chatting with Rudi, who was out with his mom, on the phone. I don’t think I’ll ever take spending the holiday with them in person for granted again.

2. My brother called to wish us all a happy holiday. He recently made a major life decision, and he sounded so much more relaxed this time than the last few times I’ve talked with him.

3. The table may not have literally groaned under the weight of so many delicious dishes, but I think I heard it sigh contentedly. Mum has spent the past month preparing a couple dishes a week and freezing them, and the only thing that needed to cook from scratch today was the turkey and Rudi’s carrots and peppers dish. I appreciate how much work went into making the holiday meal (it was after 11 last year when I sat down with just three dishes) and the energy required to do it all.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your past week?