It's a chilly evening in Albuquerque! It seems winter is finally upon us just in time for the Christmas season. I love the holidays - the excitement, the celebration of a year about to be complete. Looking back over the past year, I am amazed at how many changes have taken place in my life - moving, grad school, new friends, marriage - it has been a year of goodness and a year of transition to new and exciting things!
Now that winter break is here and time is a little more abundant, we've got the tree decorated, made Christmas cookies, and begun the endless Christmas movie marathons! We also decided to take advantage of break to do a cheap-o trip to Taos and Old Town. Here are some of the pictures from those adventures along with an advent prayer that I dearly love!

An Advent Prayer for Peace

“I Have Come to Bring You Peace”

I have come to bring you peace.

Not the peace of the season, for it is too fleeting,

Not the peace of the carol, for it is too nostalgic,

Not the peace of the greeting card, for it is too slick,

Not the peace of the crib, for it is too wistful.

Rather, I have come to bring you peace,

Peace of the ordinary, the daily, the homely,

Peace for the worker, the driver, the student,

Peace in the office, the kitchen, the farm.

I have come to bring you peace,

The peace of accepting your self as I fashioned you,

The peace of knowing yourself as I know you,

The peace of loving yourself as I love you,

The peace of being yourself as I am who I am.

I have come to bring you peace,

The peace that warms you at the completion of a task,

The peace that invades you at the close of the day,

The peace that sustains you at the beginning of the day,

The peace that reinforces you when you are reconciled with one another,

The peace that touches you when your family is in order.

Without peace, my coming is unfulfilled.

Without peace, my birth is forgettable.

Without peace, Christmas is a contradiction.

I have come to bring you peace.