Have A Little Faith in We

Hey Friends! Happy Wintery Weekend! Here in Northern VA we are in the middle of a record breaking blizzard. Yup – we are locked away indoors and you know what? It is glorious!!  Although we had a few things scheduled for the weekend and a trip to Hopkins early next week -a chance for a few days snowed in with my boys is really making me smile!! And luckily with the last few weekends – we have had some practice with hiding away from the world…

Two weekends ago I came home to a quiet house while Danny was at hockey. So I curled up on the couch, with a little take out, threw open my laptop, fired up the DVR and….. fell asleep! Yup, asleep….. it has been a busy few weeks getting back to the real world after the holidays and I think it all was catching up with me! So what else to do but embrace it. When Dan came home  –  I switched up couches and caught a movie together in the basement. It was the best kind of Friday night – simple.

It all worked out for the best anyway since I planned to have the most productive Saturday you could ever imagine! Christmas away, contract work, some blogging….. which was all a great plan until I ended up sleeping in a little longer than expected… which was followed by watching a few extra episodes Making of A Murder…. and suddenly between a few snacks, a couple of naps, venturing out for several puppy walks…. my Saturday was quickly gone! Hanging in and doing a whole lot of relaxing with a  little computer work sprinkeled in and it was delightful.

The winter chill and winds can be brutal for Dan.  Mixing that with coming off the holiday excitement and he really needed a weekend to relax. And for me? It was excuse to hide away and breath a little bit. January has a full calendar with both contract work and my full time role – so call it cold weather, call it CF, call it whatever you want…. sometimes you just need a time out.

Luckily I had rested up by Sunday morning brunch as I headed downtown to meet up with some work colleagues from a past life who have gone from water cooler buddies to some really great friends. These are the kinds of people that make you laugh until your sides hurt and you can hardly catch your breath between one-liners. Nothing like a few jaunts down memory lane and the exchange of some real world advice with a side of sass to get you rocking. That afternoon I came back to Ashburn and killed that to do list like none other!

Wrapping up the weekend with mass and dinner for two at home – and I am pretty sure we won the weekend.

This past weekend was another fairly free weekend. So we planned to work, say good bye to Christmas (I know, I know – I just couldn’t let the festive melt away until SEVERAL weeks into January ….), and celebrating Bridget turning 18!

Friday night I was stuck at the office until 7:30….. like I said January is going to be a busy month! After a full day of meetings and -good news – exceeding my number goals for the month – I was ready to call it quits…..just after I got my desk back in order. And even though I felt a little crazed, you know what makes an amazing Friday night? Being able to say good bye to a long, tough week!

Saturday Dan slept in and I got up to get going with life….aka – Starbucks and Real Simple Magazine!! The more full life becomes, the more often I find myself running to my planners or reaching for my notebooks just trying to plan it all out, schedule myself to the max and get it all done. On  a Wednesday when I am in the middle of a planning session I dream of Saturday mornings, my free time where I will accomplish all these to dos swimming in my head. But when I do make it that Saturday, I am not in that place. Instead I am tired and need to recharge.

So in 2016 – I am going to embrace it and learn to take, even enjoy, those breaks. We are only a few weeks in – but you know what I am finding? If I stop berating myself and just take the breaks, I am able to make the most of the productive times.

Following some downtime and some cleaning time….. we were off to a fancy pants dinner to celebrate sweet Bridget turning 18! So Ganmommy, Mom, Dad, Dan, Brig and I got all dolled up and visited a really lovely restaurant that is in VA, but at the tippy top of a very tall building so the view looks into Washington DC. It is not a place that could be enjoyed on the Bessette budget – so we were pretty excited for an invite.

Sweet Bridget – it has been a pleasure to be your sister. 18 years later and I still remember wondering what it would be like to be so very far apart in age….but wonder no more because – it has been awesome. Being able to watch you experience the world has been the most incredible miracle. As a little kiddo you loved to learn, was always so kind, and never hesitated to be little buddy on one of my adventures. As you have grown you have found your voice, developed your own interests, discovered your own style (with a lot of belts…), created your own goals – and when most kids may want their independence you have taken us all with you. It is so funny how you reflect little bits of all of us in your personality and in some ways it gives all of us other crazy Heppes a common ground to share. It is a lot of pressure for you little lady, but you really hold all of us close – because we all feel it is a privilege to have you in our family. This next chapter is going to be quite the adventure and we are so glad to go on it with you. Love you!

So after a restful day and fun-filled night, Sunday was a day of work. We cleaned, did laundry, prepared for the week, went to mass, AND drum roll please…. put away Christmas. Yes, yes I know we are well beyond the half way point of January and my decor was about to become a permanent fixture …… but with the joy we found in decorating this year, I wanted it to last as long as possible. It has been a few years since we have seen all our Christmas stuff, celebrated our own traditions, and reminisced about our own memories. Couple that with the excitement of celebrating in our new home and I just LOVED this part of the holiday season this year. But all good things must come to an end – so they did.

And so there we have it…. two weekends with quite a bit of downtime – which was great practice for the blizzard we are currently weathering….but more on that later! Stay warm and cozy friends!!

Thank you of reading and remember to make it a great day!

Jackie