Holidays + Guest Blogger

How lucky am I to have met such beautiful bloggy friends? I have another one for you today. Samantha is a serious testament to being a strong wife! And I am so happy that she gets to spend the holidays with her husband and little boy this year!

Hello Brooklyn State of Mind readers! I'm Samantha and I blog over at Hooah and Hiccups. A big thank you to Brandi for letting me visit with all of you today!

 The holidays are a time for family, get togethers, and traditions. But what happens when you're away from your loved ones during this time? Not by choice, not somewhere luxurious, and not somewhere fun. My husband and I are no strangers to being apart; he's a soldier in the United States Army and you guessed it, I'm an Army wife. 

 This time last year, he was deployed to Afghanistan and I was 9 months pregnant. Neither of us had a very Merry Christmas but had no choice but to brave it with strength and optimism. This year, he's safely on the home front and we're taking full advantage of our time together. 

 It's also our son's 1st Christmas and this is all the more reason to make it jolly. So far, we've been unwrapping a Christmas book each night and reading it by the tree. We've seen Santa, taken a ride on The Polar Express, and made "mistletoes".

 

 We plan to bake Christmas cookies, decorate a gingerbread house, and see ice sculptures. You can't get much more Christmasy than that! 

 I've always loved the holidays but last year was really hard for the both of us. You don't realize how much someone enhances your life until they're not there to do it.

 This year, I encourage everyone to take a moment out of the chaos and just take it all in. The smell of cookies baking, or of the fresh Christmas tree. Children's laughter, Christmas carolers, the warmth of the fire.

 These things are great by themselves but what makes them better are the people around us and the ones we spend the holidays with.