Gracias + Hope

It's been a while since I've blogged so I just wanted to give a little update on My Year of Letters!

November was a crazy month on many levels. My dad was recovering from his neck injury, I lost my full-time job, and we had a celebration to celebrate our marriage and were graced with the presence of 75 friends and family. We also celebrated Thanksgiving with 14 loved ones. Thus it was a challenging but beautiful month, and I'm excited for the month of December and all the possibilities that it brings (including healing for my dad, whose neck brace could come off in less than 2 weeks if all goes well!; possibilities to do peace education in ways I hadn't yet considered; more time with loved ones).

The letter project has been coming along - as November was a bit crazy, I didn't write everyday, necessarily, but have still been averaging at least 7 letters a week. I now also have a shoe box full of responses, of beautiful notes from around the world (some of which are decorating our apartment!). I treasure these precious gifts of friends' time and energy, and the friendships that have been rekindled as a result of this project.

My letter writing project for December has me focusing on two things: Thank You cards and Holiday Cards! I'm excited for both. I've been writing thank you notes for the many gifts we received for our celebration, which were so beautiful and thoughtful. I have a great Karma (reusable) "Gracias" card that I've been using (see photo).

I also love sending holiday cards. The one featured in the photo is the "Hope" card. I bought them about a month ago, which seemed a bit early to be thinking of Christmas, but I couldn't resist as they seemed like just the cards I wanted to be sending! I also have a "Live Peace on Earth" card from the Peace Alliance, the proceeds of which go to the organization, and a Trader Joes card, which is just funny because we love shopping at Trader Joe's :-)

The themes of Gracias and Hope seem very appropriate for this month. In November I celebrated a month of gratitude of posting something each day that I'm thankful for. I continue to be thankful that my dad's accident wasn't worse and that he is healing well, and I'm so thankful for all the people who came to visit us last month. I'm thankful for the opportunities that my job afforded me and the work I've been able to do, which I'll hopefully be able to do in a new capacity (again, with the hope!). I'm continually thankful for the wonderful family and friends I have, and especially the most supportive and loving husband I could dream of and our beautiful, funny, loving dog.

And I hold a lot of hope for December and the new year. Hope for new beginnings, hope for possibilities that I cannot yet imagine.

Here's to gracias and hope as we start this new month!