{"id":22065,"date":"2025-12-30T10:56:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T15:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/?p=22065"},"modified":"2026-04-21T11:07:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T15:07:54","slug":"december-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/2025\/12\/30\/december-3\/","title":{"rendered":"December"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Going into December I didn’t really know what to expect. My father was gone, one of my kids chose to take a different path with his life that did not involve us. Navigating our new normal was a challenge but we pushed on through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our weather was still pretty warm (ish) so we tried to spend a lot of time outside, fresh air always helps my mood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I love them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We were slow to put up decorations this year and in the end didn’t really do that many. We knew we would be headed back to the beach for the week after Christmas so what was the point?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I also found that I didn’t take many pictures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But then Austin and Taylor showed up from Ohio and it was nice to have them around for a bit<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This random guy struck up a convo with us and was a lighthearted friendly diversion<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Andy put a little tree on the deck and I love it. Early mornings are such much easier with the dogs when I have a little lit tree to look at with my coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Christmas was a low key event. We all decided not to do many presents and just enjoy each others company<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then the Cleveland kids went home and we went to the beach<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It really never gets old<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And while it has been sad not being in our own home it has also been kinda fun renting different places and gathering ideas for our new house<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This puzzle was probably one of my more favorites. I love doing a puzzle at the beach<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

More sunsets<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cole joined us for a little bit<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And went kayaking with Eva on the marsh<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Made more of my fave breakfast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I hung out and read a lot on the porch with the dogs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We did a bonfire on the beach one evening, they are always my fave. They only allow permits certain times of the year so we always try to grab one<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We spent NYE there with friends and I actually stayed up until midnight. Then it was back home to start the new year and our new normal<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Life goes on<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Going into December I didn’t really know what to expect. My father was gone, one of my kids chose to take a different path with his life that did not involve us. Navigating our new normal was a challenge but we pushed on through. Our weather was still pretty warm (ish) so we tried to spend a lot of time outside, fresh air always helps my mood. I love them. We were slow to put up decorations this year and in the end didn’t really do that many. We knew we would be headed back to the beach for the week after Christmas so what was the point? I also found that I didn’t take many pictures. But then Austin and Taylor showed up from Ohio and it was nice to have them around for a bit This random guy struck up a convo with us and was a lighthearted friendly diversion Andy put a little tree on the deck and I love it. Early mornings are such much easier with the dogs when I have a little lit tree to look at with my coffee. Christmas was a low key event. We all decided not to do many presents and just enjoy each others company Then the Cleveland kids went home and we went to the beach It really never gets old And while it has been sad not being in our own home it has also been kinda fun renting different places and gathering ideas for our new house This puzzle was probably one of my more favorites. I love doing a puzzle at the beach More sunsets Cole joined us for a little bit And went kayaking with Eva on the marsh Made more of my fave breakfast. I hung out and read a lot on the porch with the dogs We did a bonfire on the beach one evening, they are always my fave. They only allow permits certain times of the year so we always try to grab one We spent NYE there with friends and I actually stayed up until midnight. Then it was back home to start the new year and our new normal Life goes on<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":22062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","category-life"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ECDC80D8-1ABF-41DC-87DD-69A0474E4CEB_1_105_c.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22065"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22068,"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22065\/revisions\/22068"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}