Finally - the holidays are over! Such a relief. This year was particularly lacking in spirit here in our house, and all of the travel was a lot. DH and I decided halfway through our visit home that we'll be staying home for the holidays next year. Oddly, it was his suggestion and not mine. This was our first xmas living away from our home state, and an 8 hour drive followed by lots of running around was just not ideal. Given my strange relationship with my family, it wasn't all that enjoyable even once I got there. Visiting with his family was nice for the most part - they're having their own share of drama at the moment. But I got to finally meet his cousin's new baby, and see his grandma, who had a nasty fall a few months ago, but is thankfully doing much better. I think once we have kids, we'll make a real effort to have the holiday be exciting and family-oriented, but until then we're fine with it being low-key and relaxing.

Beyond the stress, our trips home tend to be pricey, hitting restaurants and stopping along the way (and of course gas). Took a look at the budget when we got home last night. We're over budget in quite a few areas. January will be easier to be rather stringent. I'm looking forward to that. No trips planned. Nobody visiting. It'll be nice to have things just feeling like normal. In fact, this will be the first time since we moved that we'll be going a whole month without a trip back home. I'm elated!
a
This is also one of my favorite times of the year: the end/beginning of the next. I love reflecting and goal setting, and I'm pretty excited to get into it. This year I didn't really have any resolutions set. Instead, I decided to keep a list of things that I loved or was proud of as they happened. It was a rather eventful 2016 for sure. Lots of change. And much to come - so I feel it will be a good practice. At the beginning of this year I did a 30-day journaling challenge. I plan to do that again this year.

Also, DH has the whole week off of work, which is really nice. He's been miserable at his job, and it'll be great for him to get a break and relax. Today we need to go pick his car up at the shop and do some grocery shopping. He's running bar trivia tonight and I have no plans outside of making dinner tonight. Started on my list. Need to get that finished up. Trying to keep it inexpensive given that we're already over the grocery budget (our "grocery" budget includes anything bought at the grocery store and OTC medications, cleaning supplies, etc). I think I'll be adjusting that a bit for January - but our restaurant budget is going to be *way* lower.

We're going to a small get-together on Saturday for the New Year. Not doing anything crazy, just spending time with some new friends from my acting class. So that should be a good time (and inexpensive).

Hope you all enjoyed your holiday and are looking forward to the new year!