From this.....

to this....
What a crazy month it has been! Since John and I rarely get to celebrate his birthday and our anniversary (being that they fall on the 23rd and 27th of Dec.) we decided to celebrate early this year with a 10 day trip to Cancun. Actually, we never even set foot in Cancun itself but we spent an amazing time exploring the Riviera Maya and the Yucatan peninsula. We loved every minute of it- the white sandy beaches, sunny, 80 degree weather, kind people, good food, adventurous dives in cenotes (freshwater caves), exploring the ruins- I could go on... and on.
A few days after we got back from Mexico (Dec.19th) I left for a 3 day work trip to the middle of nowhere (anyone who knows were Ferron, UT is would probably agree), then it was back to snowy Salt Lake for lots of family fun and festivities. Then after Christmas John and I headed down to St. George to spend some time with his family for New Years. With so much going on one thing we have let slip through the cracks is our regular car maintenance, so we ended up with one more adventure than we had bargained for when our Subaru sputtered and died just outside of Fillmore.

The funny thing was I had just finished telling my sister-in-law the saga of our move to San Jose, CA a couple years back when we got our U-Haul stuck trying to cross Donner Pass in a huge blizzard. I was confidently reassuring her that second to the original disaster for which Donner Pass is named, no one could possibly have a more miserable 72 hrs. than we did (sliding down an off ramp in Truckee with our U-Haul and trailer spinning out of control, getting stuck in a car wash- the only place we could turn around since the rest of the city was a parking lot from all the stranded skiers trying to make their way home from Tahoe, spending over $600 on chains for the U-Haul and subaru that we would never use again- I guess I should never say never :), dead batteries, driving the wrong way on I-80 and risking our lives to line up our Subaru to charge dead batteries, I'm skipping over a whole day of fun, but since the entire story would take days to tell I'll just skip to the best part- being swarmed by cops, probably 10 police cruisers, one of those big swat vans with the spotlight, loud speaker, the whole deal, when dropping off our U-haul trailer at 5 am when we finally reached San Jose since, come to find out, the same location had been broken into the week before). I think this story jinxed us because last week in Fillmore we relived parts of it (although to a much smaller degree!).

But "alls well that ends well" and we were able to have a great time in St. George. However now it's back to real life-- and part of me isn't exactly sure how to come to grips with the fact that the holidays are over. Sometimes I feel like life gets going so fast I barely have a minute to step back and even register what's going on. I love being busy but I also realize how important it is for me to take some time to be still for a few minutes- whether it's to read, ponder, pray, or just listen. Temptations come in many forms and I often find that it's when I am distracted- mostly with "good" things- that I become most vulnerable.

Thankfully I am recognizing that tendency more and more and hopefully I'm getting better at safeguarding myself, but tonight I'm feeling a bit somber because it scares me how easily little things can slip into my life if I'm not being vigilant. It might start with a seemingly insignificant negative thought, or a last minute decision to skip breakfast because of all the food that will be at a party later on...but it's amazing how quickly one excuse leads to another. In the past I have been easily discouraged anytime I realized how quickly the pendulum can swing, but right now I am grateful for the ability to learn from my mistakes and the agency that allows me to choose for myself where to go from here. I know it won't be easy, admitting our weakness and fallibility never is, but I'd much rather take the time and energy to do a little tune-up before anything else breaks down. I'm sure the Subaru-and the wallet- would have appreciated the same! :)