First of all, I want to wish all of you a Happy New Year, late though it may be. I, personally, am always very excited about a new year. To me, it is like a blank canvas sitting before you. You do not know what will fill in the blankness, what the coming days will bring. You wonder by the year’s end what that canvas will look like, what memories have been painted on it, forever etched onto its surface. The start of a fresh new year is an exciting time, full of anticipation to see what the days will bring. My new year days have brought a couple of very exciting, unexpected things. Both of which could be seen in our front yard just this month. A patch of snow? In our yard? Unheard of! You see, where we live, we never get snow…ever. We may get a little flurry once every 4 or 5 years if that; thus, as you can imagine, we get pretty excited about our little flurries. So seeing some snow, even just a teeny tiny bit, is always a cause of ecstasy for us. It was very exciting to see snowflakes falling in our yard, a rarity indeed. A very merry new year’s surprise! Though the snow was very fleeting, the thing it sits upon is not (unless it’s in drive I suppose). I don’t know if anyone remembers my random mention of a rubber ducky keychain found in my A Little Bit of This, a Dash of That, with a Pinch of Other Stuff Post made back in September. Here’s the little guy: I had mentioned that my mom got it for me quite a while back, claiming it would be the perfect keychain for my first car. Being the dork I am, I very much approved, but wished I actually had a car and car keys to go with it. I did not see that happening any time soon. So into the closet my poor ducky keychain went, for a very long time I suspected. But wait…what is this…? Are those keys? Attached to said ducky keychain? WHY YES. YES IT IS. I am the official owner of a car!!!!!!!!!! ……….So you might want to be extra cautious on the roads. ………… Teehee. Just kidding. My spectacularly fantastic grandparents informed me on December 21st that they were getting me a car for Christmas. My response was somewhere between and I officially received it on January 2nd. A very, very good way to start the new year! Ain’t she purty? It’s such a blessing to have a car. It’s definitely something I’ve been in need of but just had no idea how I’d ever get one. I’m am so amazingly blessed to have the grandparents that I do. That blank canvas of anticipation to see what all the days of 2013 will fill it with still sits in front of me, but I’d say thus far it’s being painted with some pretty glorious things. I pray you all have a wonderful 2013. Let’s fill these blank canvases with beautiful memories, and by December, we can look back on it and think of all the blessings God has given us. Through the sunshine and storms, there is always something beautiful to be seen.