Here we are, January 31st and I'm writing my first blog entry of the year. (face palm!)

The holidays went well for us, I am a part of our church choir so the holidays were especially busy for me. I loved it!

My husband and kidlets are doing well with the oldest two making it thru their first semester of high school! YAY!

Our finances are still super tight BUT, we are still maintaining a budget and for the first time since James started his job a couple of years ago, we had saved up enough dollars to cover his unpaid time off! Being on the same page with my hubby with regards to finances is a massive blessing.
Having 4 weeks off every year, unpaid aside from any holiday pay there might be, is pretty stressful for a family of 6 on such a low income. But God gave us brains to use, so we should be using them wisely.

Christmas was still a little bit stressful for me personally, it usually is. Not having the luxury of being able to join in any of the gatherings, seeing/meeting my nieces and nephews, etc,.
I've reached out to three of my brothers a few times on Facebook, two of them read what I send but do not reply. I'm okay with that, at least I'm able to tell them 'Happy Birthday' and whatnot directly instead of needing to always put things on this blog as I have to for Julia.

I know that there are a lot of families out there who have bad stress and anger over the holidays with family, but imagine never being able to communicate with them let alone see and spend time together.
But please suck it up, you really don't want to be without your family.
Over the holidays, friends just don't have time for you because they're all busy with their own gatherings and families, so there are no 'stand in' family over the holidays.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be a downer or have people feel sorry for us, but I saw an awful lot of complaining about family going on with my Facebook friends and its just so sad that people can't be thankful for what they have.

Happiness and thankfulness are both a choice, and it is 100% up to you.

I am so thankful for peace and togetherness in our marriage and children right now. God has blessed us so much in following after His will for our lives.
James and I are both unsure as to what God wants our future to look like right now, but we also both know that we are doing something right...We've been under attack but the blessings keep coming anyway.

All that being said, I hope that all of you had a wonderful and Merry Christmas and that this new year will be the year that you choose to follow after God's heart and not care how others treat you.

If your focus is on what God wants for your future, don't allow others to distract. You are the only one who has to live with your decisions.

Love you guys!