Football, A Fire, and A Sleepy Boy

Each December 31, people eat, drink, and are merry with those they love. Some spend time at home with a few; others spend a zillion dollars to go to an upscale venue in some major city. Last night, I spent one of my favorite New Years Eve celebrations with some of my most favorite people. As we counted down, I looked around the room to see friends I made as long as twelve years ago. When we got to "zero", I got a solid smooch from Ryan. I can confidently say I checked off a great New Years Eve ... and had probably the best buffalo chicken dip of my life. 

As the night winds down as it does and we wake up the next morning (some with worse headaches than others), the new year begins. And now, almost 20 hours into 2014, I sit on my boyfriend's maroon couch. A fire is crackling in the corner of my left eye. Football is on but I don't understand a thing about the game yet. A beige blanket covers my legs. And Ryan's head is leaning on my arm...literally right now as I type. He sleeps. I type. I couldn't be more content. 

I can bet you weren't dying to know the color of my blanket or the fact that my man is snoozing. I've been working on recognizing things that I am thankful for. Little things. I urge you to do the same right now. Maybe it's who we're with or the fact that we have time alone to relax. Maybe we have a cold beer or a dog cuddling next to us. Maybe it's the fact that your toes aren't cold because we're lucky to have heat. Maybe it's an old friend we reconnected with. Whatever it is, we're lucky. 

Here's to the first day of 2014 being a lucky one. Let's all make a little more of an effort to make the other 364 days great as well. 

Happy 2014, all. May your nights be filled with cozy blankets and good leftovers.