{"id":379494,"date":"2013-12-30T04:55:00","date_gmt":"2013-12-30T04:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/2013\/12\/30\/i-believe\/"},"modified":"2013-12-30T04:55:00","modified_gmt":"2013-12-30T04:55:00","slug":"i-believe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/2013\/12\/30\/i-believe\/","title":{"rendered":"I Believe…"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cHow was your Christmas,\u201d I asked the clerk.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\u201cI\u2019m glad it\u2019s over,\u201d she replied, \u201cI\u2019m not a fan of the holiday.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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She went on to share a few lamentations about shopping and parties, her words sort of trailing off as she ticked off a few other dislikes.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Within hours of gift exchanges and Santa\u2019s arrival, numerous Facebook statuses declared it a joyous end to the dreadful day and spewed disgust and distress about the \u201cmess\u201d that must now be taken down and put away.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Though I try not to judge these Scrooge-like personas, I can\u2019t help but wonder why they carry on the charade and feed the commercialism they say they loathe\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
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Can\u2019t help wonder if they don\u2019t believe in the magic and power of Christmas to help transform mankind\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
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When I begin to feel tension and hear that little voice saying, \u201cI have<\/i> to\u2026\u201d I STOP.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Every year I bake copious quantities of cookies and breads that I box up and distribute to friends and loved ones.<\/span><\/div>\n
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I LOVE seeing my kitchen counters covered with flour and sugar and bottles of edible decorations and baking tins and cooling racks\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
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It\u2019s an all day affair, and I do mean all<\/i> day. Sometimes the event spills over into two days.<\/span><\/div>\n
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The aroma of the season fills my home and my heart with joy.<\/span><\/div>\n
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But this year, between overtime at work and the great, but time-consuming things happening with The Five Facets<\/i>, and other life situations, I wasn\u2019t making it happen.<\/span><\/div>\n
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One day, when I found myself stressing and saying, \u201cI have<\/i> to bake,\u201d I knew I was falling prey to the monster that swallows the season\u2019s spirit.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\u201cNo,\u201d I countered, \u201cI don\u2019t have<\/i> to make those goodies.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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That said, I knew my angst was two-fold, because I really do look forward to that time in my kitchen.<\/span><\/div>\n
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And I love it even more when my children are a part of the process.<\/span><\/div>\n
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I believe in flexibility…<\/span><\/div>\n
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Big Guy and I decided to make one batch each of two simple recipes.<\/span><\/div>\n
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I chose one of my all-time favorites, Mexican Wedding Balls rolled in green and red sprinkles.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Big Guy made a batch of chocolate\/caramel blossoms.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Can you believe I didn\u2019t take a picture one?!<\/span><\/div>\n
But don\u2019t you think this photo from a previous baking session a few months back works just as nicely?<\/span><\/div>\n
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I packed a snack-sized bag into each of the packages being shipped and stacked the remainder of our treats onto the festive plates on my dessert rack.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two days before Christmas, Beauty had surgery for ACL reconstruction\/meniscus repair on one knee. My belief and faith in her surgeon gave me confidence as they wheeled her off to the OR.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Little by little I wrapped my gifts, all the while watching those recorded Hallmark Christmas movies or bopping to the beats blaring out from the Holiday Happenings radio channel.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Christmas morning 2013 – Santa has arrived!<\/span><\/div>\n
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Those are some of the traditions that fill me with happiness.<\/span><\/div>\n
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But the greatest gift of all is seeing the overwhelming evidence of selflessness and in places like overflowing mitten trees, Animal Shelter bounties, and Salvation Army kettles.<\/span><\/div>\n
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I believe in community\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
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Again, NO PICTURES?!<\/span><\/div>\n
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The after-holiday glow of my tree and lighted garland brings me weeks of post holiday comfort as I gaze upon the splendor while relaxing on my sofa.<\/span><\/div>\n
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I believe in the magic of Christmas, in the way it brings out the best in people.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Yes, it also brings out the worst in those who participate because they feel they have<\/i> to buy, but I believe in the beauty and power of one kind gesture\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
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There is hope and promise and possibility in every good deed\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
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Elements that bring me peace and make me smile\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
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As did the last in The-Soon-to-be-50 greeting card series from my mom\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
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And the gift of family photos, compliments of Beauty\u2019s talented eye and her camera\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
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I believe in family\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
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and in marriage\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
The birthday can Koozie, a luncheon, and rousing game of Foosball from Fave before he headed out on his next adventure drew much laughter and many more smiles.<\/span><\/div>\n
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And then there was the surprise 50th<\/span><\/sup> birthday party Warren and my good friend held for her husband and me\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
I believe in friendships\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
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Cupcakes D’s daughter made for the occasion<\/span><\/div>\n
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Love, laughter, and light filled my happy\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
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Do you believe in the power of simple Moment(s)? What made you smile last week? Share those instances here and spread a little magic!<\/span><\/div>\n
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May instances of clarity and compassion and courage lead you into the New Year, Journeyers\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
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With love,<\/span><\/div>\n
~AE<\/span><\/div>\n
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Soon\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
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\u201cHow was your Christmas,\u201d I asked the clerk. \u201cI\u2019m glad it\u2019s over,\u201d she replied, \u201cI\u2019m not a fan of the holiday.\u201d She went on to share a few lamentations about shopping and parties, her words sort of trailing off as she ticked off a few other dislikes. Within hours of gift exchanges and Santa\u2019s arrival, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[316,116,113,317,1145,106,63,320,497],"class_list":["post-379494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-happyhappens","tag-christmas","tag-family","tag-finding-happiness-in-your-day","tag-i-believe","tag-joy","tag-parenting","tag-random-happiness","tag-turning-50"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/I-Believe-Macy-s-Believe-Meter.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}