The Holiday Season was filled with trips and spending time with friends in Arizona and California! On December 22nd, my train left Tucson around 10 pm (thank you Jessie for taking me) and I began my journey to Bakersfield, California. Sleeping in the obtuse position is not the most relaxing time for my back, but with melatonin, I managed. I arrived in Los Angeles around 7:30 am and took a 2 1/2 hour bus ride to Bakersfield, CA, arriving by lunchtime. I've never been to California before, so it was an experience seeing the big city of LA and then journeying into the San Joaquin Valley where Bakersfield is.
I was in Bakersfield with the Leaman family from Friday, December 23rd till Wednesday, Dec 28th. We did many classic holiday activities, from puzzles to playing games to eating lots of sweet treats. We also played and watched many hours of Minecraft! Hannah also has a younger sister who is 8, so there was plenty of time for playing with Barbies and other games.
Hannah and I did 3 (and started a 4th) puzzles over 6 days!
Christmas Eve and Day was a special time for me to participate in. As the youngest child, I never experienced the prepping for stockings that come from the "North Pole." It was a joy to spread that cheer to someone and make the day feel special. On the morning of Christmas, we were all woken up by Ellia (the youngest Leaman) at 5:00 am and had first breakfast from Santa, then opened some presents, had second breakfast, and then finished Christmas by midmorning. It was a lot of fun, but definitely a different pace than what I was used to as a child (especially when we couldn't start stockings till 9 because Mom was sleeping from her night shift, Love you mom...I fully respect it now).
Here are some other fun photos from my time in California! This includes the annual family tea party, Hannah's TTeokbokki Korean Rice Cakes that I'm obsessed with, and playing pickleball one afternoon.
I arrived back in Tucson on the morning of the 29th (with another night train trip), and I spent the day recuperating by working on another puzzle and watching way too many episodes of Bones. I worked Friday and Saturday morning, and then I spend the rest of the weekend with Jessie's family. We went downtown for the New Years' Eve Taco Drop (an interesting experience for sure). I started work again on Tuesday, and that was a hard adjustment to go back to a long workday after taking the week off. We then celebrated Epiphany at the Showalter's this past Friday evening.
Overall, it was a change of pace for the holiday season. I definitely missed being in Harrisonburg, but it was fun to join others in their traditions and explore new places along the way.
Michaela and Cade arrived back in Tucson Tuesday evening, and we've been slowly adjusting back to our routine. For me, it was cleaning the house yesterday evening that finally made it feel like a reset. Over the past week, we've added some new neighbors to our Shalom campus. The SOOPers (Service Opportunities with Our Partners) through Mennonite Mission Network have started to arrive, and there's a change of energy on our property. I'm excited to see what lies ahead for January and the year moving forward.
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