Leah Grace Merry—early—Christmas, and happy winter!
As today is the first day of winter, I’d like to go over my fall bucket list and check off some of the things I did!
- Share coffee with my sisters. There were a few instances where we all got together, but it wasn’t for coffee. I did get to hold some babies and hang out with my amazing sisters, though, so it was really nice!
- Go to the beach. Our family went to the beach early October and it was a lot of fun. I made the mistake of wearing a thick sweater and it ended up pretty warm outside, but one of my family member’s had an extra t-shirt on hand, which was nice, haha.
- Visit a cozy Christmas store. We did this as well, during our fall fun week—where we took a week off school to enjoy autumn as a family—and didn’t buy much, but really enjoyed just hanging out. Then we went out to eat after, which was really fun.
- Had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was full of appetizers and the big dinner (although we had it for lunch and dinner…) and a bunch of pies. Pies are definitely a staple in our house on Thanksgiving—we had 6 pies to split between 20 people (including the little kids + babies), which actually felt like it wasn’t that much, haha! Yes, we had loads of leftovers even after our company and other family members took some home.
- Hosted my own at-home writing retreat. And it was amazing! I made significant progress on my book—I finished outlining it (the first time) and had a really chill day.
- Had a girls night with some of my sisters. We didn’t watch Pride & Prejudice, but we enjoyed a different movie with snacks and all around coziness! That was very memorable.
I beta read a book, hiked, and got up earlier than usual a few times for writing + time with the Lord, which were things on my list. I also had individual time with most of my nieces and nephews, which is such a beautiful thing: being able to love on the sweetest kids ever. Plus, the niece and nephew count went up this fall as well!
While there were a few weeks this season that were really different and a little unsure, I thoroughly enjoyed fall of 2023. The weather, the new family members, the writing.
I really let myself relax and do my things at a much more manageable pace. While I didn’t complete my whole bucket list (or even get close), I’m happy with all I got done—and enjoyed— this fall!
What was your fall like? Are you excited for Christmas or wishing it were summer?
