Journal Your Christmas 2016.

This will be my tenth mini Christmas album, done under the auspices of scrapbooker Shimelle Laine's Journal Your Christmas class. Every year's album is different, but every year's process is the same: start off with a bang on December 1, and then abandon it somewhere around December 21 (usually when we go home to Ohio for the holiday.) Then when we come back, I am completely over Christmas and end up grudgingly finishing up the last pages sometime the following December.

This year has proven to be no different, so far...I am trying to finish the December 21-25 pages from 2013 and 2015. (I didn't do a 2014 album, or I am sure I'd be patching up that one, too.)

We're heading for Ohio again this year on December 22. I'm going to try to do better this year and get the dang book done after Christmas!

December 1st's entry is focused on a "manifesto"--I don't go quite that militant in my approach. This year I want my focus to be hope. I struggle with hopelessness quite a lot in my life, and the past several weeks (post-election) have been extra-hard. I know that many of the people around me are struggling, too. Last year I wanted to be a blessing to others during the Christmas season, and this year I want to "be joyful in hope" and spread some of that around as best I can.