January blahs

January has always been a blah month to me. Gone are the happy celebratory colors of Christmas replaced by winter white or blue. Gone are the buttery, cheesy, chocolately foods of Christmas replaced by diet plans and resolutions to fit into my pre-pregnency jeans. The landscape seems stark too, the magic of Christmas lights having disappeared from rooftops and trees.

This year, January also signals the beginning of the end of our time in the United States. Our hallway is filled with boxes for storage and the garage sale pile grows bigger each day filled with items that seemed like a good idea at the time. My to do list is longer than Dear Sgt.'s Christmas list and not as fun to fulfill. 

In the midst of all the chaos and bubble wrap, I feel a sense of peace that I've never felt when moving before. This is our first duty station move with a child. We are no longer at that awkward stage where we don't want to go to bars but don't quite fit in with the couples with children crowd. It is exciting to see Bunny grow each day and I know she will find Europe enchanting with all the castles and museums. I want to explore Europe as a family and have wanted to live there since my first trip to Provence in 2000. We still have a month to get as many family visits and Target runs in before boarding a plane to our new home.

So, I am trying to find the bling in the blah as I complete my tasks during nap time. It may not be December, but this January might not be so bleak after all.