I painted this while listening to the rest of the S Town podcast yesterday. 

If you haven't listened to it yet, I highly recommend you do so. It takes a couple of different turns during the 7 episode story. I thought it was going to go in one direction, then another, and ultimately it goes on to something that I wasn't expecting.

It's a great story. Heartbreaking and funny and just a little odd. If you're like me, and live in a relative bubble, this will be a bit eye opening. How people in the rural south live and interact with one another. 

It's a little addictive, hence the whole painting in a day. So once you sit down to listen to it you'll want to listen to another and another. I suggest putting a whole day aside for it. Seriously.

The new painting is now available in my Etsy shop too! 

It's Christmas Eve! One of the most exciting nights of the year for lots of people. I, for one, am excited. I love Christmas. Every year I think maybe this will be the year that I don't really love it as much as I used to. Maybe I'm just getting a little too old for this. And every year I prove myself wrong. Actually, I am more in love with Christmas this year than any year I can remember. I just can't get enough of all the lights and music and candles.

This was actually from last year...but it still looks the same!!

It's kind of funny because I really thought this would be the year that I might want to not celebrate it as much. I thought this would be the year that I kind of poo-pooed it. It's not like we really have a lot to look forward to. Almost all of our friends have moved away. Our families live 3,000 miles away and it's been a tough year for me in general.

But maybe that's why I'm loving it so much this year. The lights, the music and the cozy home feeling I created is so comforting to me right now. It makes me happy and that's why I think I'm really loving it so much. 

On another note, I really didn't want to mention anything about politics in this blog post because it's Christmas and because frankly I'm so tired of it, but Nate's mom shared this podcast with me and I've found it very helpful. It's called Advice from Mom. A woman, and her mom, who is a therapist, take listener questions about their emotions and feeling about the president elect and his decisions. 

Honestly, just listening to her mom's voice is calming, so when she starts diving into our reactions toward politics, it feels very reassuring. Her advice is wonderful too. For about two weeks after the election I, like most people, felt like we had suffered a huge loss. It felt for me, almost like 9/11. I was feeling so many emotions, I couldn't focus and I would just click aimlessly around different news sources on the internet hoping to find some little glimmer of hope that maybe this wasn't really happening. She addresses those feelings in the first episode and was very reassuring that those feelings were totally normal.  That what we're feeling now is also very normal and she goes on to give advice on how to channel those feelings into positive outlets.

So, if you are still feeling lost, and I know I am, maybe listening to this podcast might help.

Well, I'm going to go sit in my living room, enjoy my Christmas tree, my dog, my boyfriend and I'm going to watch something festive. I hope that everyone can find some peace and light the next few days.