Mrs. Green: Our first Christmas

Holy 3 months, Batman! I have missed writing - but life happens. And we've had a lot of life happening lately. Sometimes living life takes precedent over writing about it. But, for today at least, I'm back.

The other night I was driving home from work, thinking about how full my life is right now. Happy and blessed. How it's my favorite time of year.

And it made me reflect on Derrick and my first married Christmas.

He had just taken a job at HHGregg. His first week there was Thanksgiving and, while I was out shopping with my mom, my sweet husband was working an all-nighter, dealing with crowds of crazies - two things he's not good with.

That season - from November to February - of him working at HHGregg was a difficult time, but we didn't know it. I remember sitting in the living room watching tv, my eyes fighting sleep, leftovers in the microwave, waiting for him to get home some time between 10:30 and 11:00 p.m. I'm pretty sure dinners of cheap oven pizzas and pigs in a blanket were staples.
Thank God I've evolved as a wife and nutritionist!

Derrick had to work until 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve. I remember putting dirt up against our house by myself that day, so that grass would grow in the spring - because my dad said we needed to do that to keep water from washing out around the house. I guess I just needed something productive to do. It's a good, silly memory now.

Derrick was also scheduled to work all day on the night of our best friends' first Christmas party - but he surprised me when he took off to be my date. His hard work and sweet heart meant so much and mean even more looking back now.

But those are happy memories now, and they make me appreciate where we are now.

There were many other happy memories that year too.

It was the first time we put on Elf and decorated the tree together.