My ‘Small Things’ posts are about those little things that have brightened my week 🙂

This week, I’ve been:

Listening to: Melaena Cadiz, who I heard about through Tomboy Style. Amazing voice!

Watching: Monsters University – sooo funny 🙂 Also, a little randomly, I caught a programme on brown bears in Alaska. There was stunning scenery and they were so fascinating to watch. I love seeing the persistence of wildlife and habitats through the seasons, and there is something particularly magical about mother animals bringing their young safely through their first year, which is one of the things we saw on the programme.

Laughing at: Gogglebox, as usual. For some reason I just find it hilarious!

Thinking about: Giving 100%. I find that when I attempt to offer my all to God, He adds the ‘spark’ and specialness to what I’m doing.

Eating: Stollen and Chai Latte.

Wearing: My purple pearl earrings, which my Grandparents bought me on our trip to Jersey about 10 years ago. (Jersey’s a beautiful place, and we had such a lovely time. The three things I remember most about the island are the great skies (especially sunsets), the freshness of the air, and having some very good food.)

Reading: Lots of perspectives on Christmas/holiday season. In a magazine called Woman Alive, I read about re-finding the simplicity and humility of Christmas. I agree that the commercialism and expectation can become cloying and stressful, distracting from the true essence of this time of year. However, I see Christmas as a time for celebrating God’s extravagant generosity, so I don’t think we should feel guilty about sharing presents and parties either. I think we should be realistic about what we expect of ourselves, our bank balances and our families, and use what we have to enjoy the festivities with those we love, and to share with those who have less than us. I am pretty sure that Christmas can be fun and magical whatever the size of your budget. I’ll be posting some Christmas ideas in the next few weeks, which will include plenty of home made decorations, food and simple gift ideas. On a different note, I also read this about working out how to ‘be’ around family at these sometimes pressured times of year.

Doing: I’m  loving preparing for Advent. I have put together this Advent surprise for Andrew, which, without giving too much away, is simply filled with edible treats, home made bits and pieces, and one or two other little gifts.

I also went to an advent wreath making workshop last night (mulled wine and Christmas music included) which got us all in the Christmas spirit. I am not particularly knowledgeable about the symbolism, but I love the idea that the ring of evergreen symbolises God’s eternal love encircling us. Here is my creation (apologies for the blurry photo):

As usual, I have had some lovely dog walks this week, and here is a little snap I took on one of them:

I hope that all of you lovely readers have had some brightening moments this week too 🙂