Christmas is here\u2026again\u2026already. Time flies when you\u2019re having fun, spend a lot of your time buzzed, and have a baby. Yep, as you know that\u2019s the biggest difference between last Christmas and this Christmas; the addition of Samuel Liberty (otherwise known as Sammy or Little Browne).<\/p>\n
Last year Annie and I decided to get out of town for a couple of days right before Christmas and figured Monterey would be a good spot. The crappy thing was that we were pregnant but ended up having a miscarriage a few days before we left for Monterey. It was a very surreal, odd, crazy, and intense time for us. We were trying to take it all in and see where the chips would fall. The trip to Monterey ended up being really good for us, we had an amazing time and it allowed us to regroup and move forward on the right foot.<\/p>\n
By the end of January 2012 we were pregnant again and now here we are with Sammy, born on October 12. This Christmas is going to have a whole new meaning for Annie and I, our lives have changed immensely and we are excited about the changes. We haven\u2019t given up on our food and wine adventures, in fact, I think we\u2019ve had even more fun. It\u2019s been great to get Annie back in to cooking now that she\u2019s not pregnant and we moved into a new house that has an amazing kitchen. More importantly, it\u2019s been good to see her enjoying her wine again (along with other libations) since little Sammy is a formula baby.<\/p>\n
All of this leads me to my often corny little speeches:<\/p>\n
As with every year, this year has brought us many wonderful things and some very horrific things that force us to think and reflect. Annie and I are extremely happy and feel very fortunate to have Sammy in our lives. We feel thankful beyond words that we are able to do the things we do and we feel incredibly lucky to have the friends and family that we have; those people that partake in our life showing genuine interest and give us endless love and support. Sure, we have issues and problems like anyone else but we are dedicated to working through those things and learning from all things that come our way.<\/p>\n
It has been difficult to hear some of the financial stories that some people have had to go through due to the bad economy. More recently it\u2019s been quite hard to hear stories like the one that unfolded at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. I don\u2019t mention these things to bring us down, instead I mention these things to show the aftermath of such destruction\u2026and that is the incredible compassion that is shown by people all over the world for the small town of Newtown and others in times of need. You see, we can blame this on me getting older or the fact that I just tend to be a little more in touch with my emotions\u2026who knows; but I truly feel like each one of us, regardless of our circumstance, can help others. \u201cHelp\u201d, or being compassionate, doesn\u2019t have to cost us anything other than a moment of our time. Helping does not require money and it doesn\u2019t have to require a lot of time.<\/p>\n
We can make this world we inhabit better simply by saying hello to someone and smiling. We can make things better just striving to be better each day so we aren\u2019t weighing down this world with more negativity\u2026it has plenty already. We can stop talking crap about people. We can work on who we are and attempt to fix those flaws we carry that harm others.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t need to go into all the things we can do, I just urge each of us to reflect on our lives and the lives of those around us. Where can we help? What can we do? This isn\u2019t about trying to create world peace\u2026there are much smaller steps we can take to make positive change in a world that often seems dark and heartless. Just do something, every little thing helps.<\/p>\n
Annie and I are hoping to either partner with a non-profit over the next year or so to start helping the causes that we like or if we can\u2019t find one that aligns with the things that mean something to us we may just start our own. I\u2019m just so fed up with all the negativity in the media and in everyday conversations; we can each choose to be part of the problem or part of the solution. An amazing side affect for me is that trying to help others helps keep my Holiday depression at bay\u2026so there\u2019s a little bit of selfishness there.<\/p>\n
Annie, Sammy, and I wish you nothing but the best this Christmas and we are sincerely thankful for all the friendships and support. We hope you are enjoying time with family and friends but if you need to partake in some adult beverages to make those times a little more jolly, by all means, go for it! Thanks again everyone\u2026now let\u2019s go change the world!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Christmas is here\u2026again\u2026already. Time flies when you\u2019re having fun, spend a lot of your time buzzed, and have a baby. Yep, as you know that\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2546,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","filesize_raw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2544","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lifestyle","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n