A T T H E P A R K ' S

M Y  2 0 1 4 Some years you want to look back and review all of the accomplishments and fun adventures while other years you'd like to close that door and never revisit.  2014 was very bittersweet.  So instead of recapping the ups and downs we've gone through this year, I thought I'd answer some questions I found from THIS article which will give me an opportunity to reflect and see some positive things I might have missed.  I've only shared a portion of the questions below because some of the answers should just be kept private.  So come join me, won't you?  And check out the article for the rest of the questions and answer them for yourself!  You never know what you'll learn! Who was the #1 go-to person you could always rely on?  My husband.  He really shined this year. Which new skills did you learn?  I have been learning more about minimalism, which isn't really a skill, but more of a lifestyle change. What, or who, are you most thankful

Happy (Belated) New Year from the Park family! Other than trying my hand at a little chalkboard art below, hubby and I did nothing for the holiday.  We had a couple of invites for parties but we were so exhausted from the work week (sadly it was only a Wednesday) that we hung out on the couch and watched the New Years Eve shows on TV.  Apparently I had fallen asleep on the couch (surprise, surprise) and around 11:45PM hubby tried waking me up.  I wasn't the happiest person in the room and wanted to be left alone, so I was told.  He wouldn't give in and kept trying to wake me up.  He even forced me to sit up, haha.  We watched the rest of the show and rang in the new year quietly in our family room.  There wasn't any toasting of champagne and even the dog was unimpressed, sleeping soundly on her bed.  At least we had a New Year's kiss. We went to bed shortly thereafter and for the next two hours I was WIDE AWAKE.  I could NOT sleep to save my life! 

Merry (Belated) Christmas from the Park family to yours! This Christmas was a little different with both of us working on Christmas Eve and with me working the day after, we didn't get to see our family until the following weekend. We didn't get to make any Christmas cookies, or have a fancy Christmas dinner and I had just finished my shopping a few days before. The house was barely simply decorated and desperately needed a good cleaning and we didn't even get to send out Christmas cards this year.  After our church service on Christmas Eve I had fallen asleep on the couch watching It's A Wonderful Life until 1am before hubby woke me up. But Christmas day was perfect. We spent the day in our pajamas watching TV, napping, and wrapping gifts (no judgment please). Even if everything else falls apart, Jesus is still the reason for the season. We're so grateful we get to celebrate Christ's birth. Jesus is the best gift of all. Here are a coupl

This year it was my goal to simplify.  About half of our decor never left the storage bins and I only used the red ornaments on the tree.  After Christmas this year, I ended up reducing our holiday decor from six bins to two since we'll likely be selling our home and moving before next Christmas.  Hope you enjoy our more simplified home during the holidays. Check out home tours from previous years, 2013 , 2012 , 2011 .

The weekend after Thanksgiving, hubby and I and one of my girlfriends/coworkers met up with some of our long time friends (and no I did not get a group shot, boo!) for the annual trek into the middle of nowhere to find the perfect Christmas tree.  It was pretty chilly that day so we grabbed some hot beverages from starbucks and drove way out of town, many miles west of Sisters.  We turned off a little side road, parked and started our adventure.  It was a bit overcast that day but we were still able to see Mt. Washington in the distance. The tree we ended up picking was a very tall Noble, like twelve feet tall!  We have a vaulted ceiling in the family room but we wanted the tree by the front windows so we had to cut the bottom a bit once we got it home.  I'll share a Christmas home tour soon so you can see the tree all decorated. I almost used the above photo for our Christmas photos but we ended up not sending any out this year.  Photo credit to Rachell