A.R. Geiger

We did not expect to be in the tiny house again this Christmas.

In fact, there’s a lot of things about this Christmas we didn’t expect.

We didn’t expect the job I had spent all year waiting for to fall through at the last minute.

We didn’t expect that I would be back in school as a nearly-thirty year-old mum.

We didn’t expect my husband to be let go three days before Thanksgiving.

We didn’t expect my husband’s newly started business—Refresh Painting—to become our main income… less than a month after we started it.

This year is all about the unexpected. And… a few crushed expectations as well. I’d be lying if I said that we weren’t struggling to find our feet—and our peace—in all the chaos. I personally wasn’t expecting Christmas to be a part of our year at all, what with the overwhelm of a new business and college, and the sudden financial pressure. I comforted myself with the fact that Adam is too young to realize that he was missing out this year.

And yet… here we are.

We’ve got a $20 tree, ornaments from our adventures over the years together—we’re big gift shop people when we travel—and we have Adam.

We may not have much time—or any time—for parties or caroling or diy Christmas events, but we can fall asleep to Christmas movies and Christmas lights in the evenings. We can listen to carols while I meal prep for our chaotic week ahead, and we can be thankful that we are here, we are together, and however tiny this home is, it’s for sure full of love.

That’s more Christmas than I expected.