First Hodgepodge of the New Year!

Happy 2017! Hope you're rested from an amazing Christmas break. I'm feeling ready to get back to blogging a bit! 

Welcome to the first Hodgepodge of 2017! Joyce From This Side of the Pond asks the questions. Come join the fun! 

1. Share one favorite moment/memory from your Christmas holiday. I cherish the feeling we have on Christmas Eve. We read the Christmas story and the girls get in their Christmas pajamas. The house is quiet and calm, yet full of excitement. 

2. What was the best thing you ate over the holidays? Was it homemade or store bought? If it was homemade did you make it? I love our Christmas breakfast. When I was younger, we had homemade biscuits with an assortment of jam, fresh fruit and brie. We continue this tradition and absolutely love it. It's simple but so good. 

3. What was one of the most beautiful things you saw over the holidays? I saw my girls holding hands when we went out looking at Christmas lights. It was effortless and made my heart so joyful. I also saw the excitement they had in GIVING this year. They gave to one another whole hardheartedly and with so much happiness. That in itself was a gift. 

4. What does fresh start mean to you? Having a whole year ahead of me and a blank calendar means new memories to make with our family. A new year of hope and promise. 

5. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being very positive and 1 being not so great) how would you rate 2016 in terms of personal achievement and well being? Explain. I feel like 2016 was a 7. I worked a bit more, and tried to focus on our family without loosing myself in that process. I've made a bit more time for my friends without compromising what is most important to me. I've tried to say more of what I mean without apologizing and in general, am working on living a more honest and real life. It's a journey but slowly, I'm getting there! 

6. Every January 1st since 1976 Lake Superior University has published a list of words they'd like to see banished from the Queen's English. Words may be banished due to misuse, overuse, or just general uselessness. Go here to read more about how the words were chosen or, if you're like me, to find out what in the world the word or phrase even means or the context in which it's used. There were quite a few on this year's list I'd never heard before. Here's the 2017 list of banished words- You, Sir-focus-Bete Noire-Town Hall Meeting-Post Truth-guesstimate-831-historic-manicured-echo chamber-on fleek-bigly-ghost-Dadbod-listicle-get your dander up-selfie drone-frankenfruit-disruptionWhich word on the list would you most like to see banished in 2017? What word or phrase would you add to the list? I find the idea of selfies a bit irritating when overused. So, the development of handing selfie shots off to a drone? No thanks, I'm good. 

7. Large or small, light or deep, share with us one goal you have for the new year. I want to expand our garden a bit and plant raspberry bushes. Seems achievable. I also want to look towards the "now" with hope and optimism. 

8. Insert your own random thought here.