I pull into the little parking area just off Mosquito Lake Road and get out of the van.  I am giddy with excitement and immediately start scanning the trees and river bank.  I don't see anything but I know that just across the road there is the possibility of eagles.  I grab my camera, extra camera cards and batteries.  The kids get out of the van and we head up to the road.  We are immediately greeted with a large bald eagle in a tree right in front of us.  The boys marvel at the sheer size of the thing.  Down along the river is another group of three eagles, tearing something apart. Farther along the river bank there are four or five eagles on the ground, a couple more in trees.  We watch them hop along the shore, spreading their wings and push off the ground soaring over the river. Our eyes start to pick out more and more eagles on both sides. Some of their feathers are spotted and they have brown heads which means they are still juvenile birds, they haven't reach adulthood yet.  We start counting, three here, a three in a tree, three more in another tree, one on a log in the river and it goes on.  Seventeen total of the ones we can see.  They are beautiful, powerful, majestic.  It is amazing that we can pretty much drive right to a perfect viewing spot of these birds.  We wait for them to soar and glide, hoping that they will swoop down to pull a fish out of the river but we don't see that. Instead we listen to their cries and watch as they spread their wings, jockeying for positions along the bank or in the trees.  More cars pull up and people get out, kids are amazed and their eyes light up with excitement. What an opportunity. We live in such a beautiful and special area. I get to get out to enjoy it with my kids and I am overcome with gratitude.

The quiet morning surrounds me as I place one foot in front of the other on the wooded trail. This normally popular trail is almost empty of people.  There are a few over eager ones and their pups out but definitely not like during peak hours or peak weather. My dog's ears flap up and down with each stride he takes and his tongue hangs out one side of his mouth with what I would call a smile. One look at him and I can tell that he is living life to the fullest, enjoying this small moment of pure bliss, just running for the sheer joy of being outside.  John and I grab this small opportunity to talk as we run around the lake, sharing a little bit of what is going on in our life, our concerns, and our thoughts.  It's a time to reconnect uninterrupted and without questions. All the while we watch the dog with his zest for life and just laugh at his exuberance for being here now. After one lap around and I take the dog and grab my camera while John takes another lap. There are starting to be more people and more dogs, however my dog only has eyes for a tennis ball I found.  Same game over and over again; fetch in the water. It's cold and sprinkling and January but he doesn't care. Sometimes I wish I was more like the dog. Living in the moment, enjoying such a little thing as a walk. He isn't distracted by other dogs or even by the ducks. He is focused on retrieving and enjoying what he was made to do. I take my cue from the dog and look around, a feather, the moss on the tree, the reflection of the shoreline upon the water, the repeated patterns of the bark on the trees.  I'm enjoying the quiet, the beauty, the time outdoors.  A beautiful Saturday morning run and walk and date on a rather grey day.

It's 6 am, the coffee is brewing in the coffee pot. The piggers are popcorning in their cage and Skagit is snoring in his kennel.  John is getting ready for work and the kids are slowly rolling out of bed. I pour my self a cup of coffee and add a little sugar and sit down at the computer. My routine, scan Facebook.  Is there anything that has happened in my circle that I need to know about? Wait, what did my friend Marie post?  A list of things that she wants and dreams about doing in this year. The headings are all fun sounding. How cool is that? I'm so loving her headings, that I decide to copy them. In fact I'm going to use her list as inspiration for this new year. So I scan her headings and choose which ones will fit for me.  All.
Dreams/Goals
Learn
Record
Organize
Celebrate
Read
Teach/Inspire
Give
Health/Well Being
Go/Explore
Create

I get excited and my mind starts turning, racing with ideas but need more help. She sends me her complete list and I peruse it, thinking about my current situation and how it may go together. Opening a journal, I start practicing letters and once more feel like I'm in grade school working on penmenship. I open a book my friend Tara gave me and look at different lettering styles. I want my list to be beautiful and inspiring for myself. I am so visual. I find a primer for cursive in French. There are some letters that are shaped differently than American letters.  Look it up.  One thing I want to learn is calligraphy so I  grab a notebook, which I realize that I'm starting to collect.  I open it and start practicing calligraphy and shaping the letters just right. This snowballs to my bible journal too.  I am inspired.  The only thing is that I want to do everything on my list this week but it is supposed to be a year thing. I have to pace myself.  Maybe I should make this for each month.  There is more thinking to be done.

I love books, especially fiction books or books that have a nostalgic feel to them. Every year at Christmas I get out my stack of Christmas books. They include such titles as "The Night Before Christmas", "The Polar Express", and "The Sweet Smell of Christmas ". The last one my mom bought me to replace the one we had when I was a child. I love to introduce my kids to books that I enjoyed when I was younger or even sharing stories now. This year I bought a new book to add to my collection. It's not really a book, it's a devotional but I'm including it with my Christmas books. I didn't read it every day. I didn't want to put that much pressure on myself but when I found extra time I would read a few pages although I didn't want to read ahead. I wanted that anticipation of what would come next. Often times in the fiction books I have read, there are prophecies about the main character or for the main character. It happens over and over and over again.  I know that the Bible has prophecy in it that was fulfilled by Jesus but it really struck me this year.  The Bible isn't fiction and it has true prophecy in it, all over pointing to Jesus, better than any fictional book could ever have. Two specific fiction books that I can think of are "Rowan of the Rin" and "Gregor the Overlander."  I think we as people love the thought of something pointing to future events and puzzling them out. However, this year it really struck me that we have that very thing but it isn't fiction. While reading the Advent devotional, the prophecy really stood out over and over again. I don't know why it made such an impact this year but it did. I loved reading the prophecies and writing little notes in the Advent book, making little doodles and highlighting things I want to remember.  My hope is to add to it next year and maybe my kids will want to read through it as well.