I seriously have so many things that I love about Christmas. My parents did a really great job of making it a special day for family and tradition, so those are the things I really look forward to this time of year. My birthday is on the 19th, so they have also done everything they can to make sure my day doesn't get lumped in with all the Christmas celebration. My mom always wants to make a cake for me and have a small "birthday party" which is basically just them, my sister and I (and now Justin) eating cake and opening a few presents. Last year was my first Christmas to not get to spend with my parents (we were visiting Justin's family), but this year will be both of our first Christmas to not get to be with any family on Christmas day. We will fly back to Texas on the 26th, but there's something about waking up on Christmas morning in the house I grew up in that I'm going to miss.
I love watching old home movies that my dad was faithful to record every year until we got too old to be cute on film anymore, or he may have just gotten tired of holding that dinosaur of a video camera on his shoulder. Like I said in my last post, I'm an early bird. This has always been especially true on Christmas. I don't care if you want to sleep in, there are presents under that tree and we are waking up to open them! My sister had the mindset that no one else was going to get to them until we did, so what's the rush? Every video we have includes me shaking her awake, assuring her there's only presents and no "switches" from Santa, and even once literally dragging her out of bed onto the floor. Confession: Before I woke her up, I'd go into the living room and try and make out any big unwrapped shapes sitting around the tree. Not sure what good this did, but I think it just made me feel sneaky. Before we got to unwrap anything, we opened our stockings. Once we got to middle school, I had friends bragging about getting cell phones in their stockings. I would get so mad that all I got was candy and lip gloss, but looking back I'm glad I wasn't allowed to have a cell phone until I could drive. My parents are pretty old-fashioned, and I'm thankful for their values. Anyway, then we got to open presents (finally). In most cases when we were young, my sister and I would get the same toys but in different colors, just so we could tell them apart and not fight about it. Within the last 5 years or so, we've started getting together with my older sisters and their families on the Saturday after Christmas. The adults buy a gift for each kid, but we do a "secret Santa" style gift exchange with the adults. We have a big dinner and play games and catch up. I love this event because I don't really get to see my whole family that often. My three older sisters were grown and out of the house before my younger sister and I came along, so we've always loved getting to hang out at holidays.
Another thing that puts me in the Christmas spirit is snow. We never got much of it in Texas, but we've had quite a bit the past few days in Virginia. It's made me feel like a kid again waiting for the announcement that school is closed. We closed Monday and Tuesday, and have a 2 hour delay today. These kids are going to be crazy, I can feel it.
We had a women's event at church last weekend that I got to be a part of. The way it was set up was there were three speakers (including myself) who each had a conversation with Mary on her way to Bethlehem. These conversations were just us sharing part of our story with her and encouraging her. While I am really not much of a public speaker, I agreed to speak and I think it went pretty well! No one booed me off the stage anyway.
Even though I won't get to see my family on Christmas day, there's a part of me that's excited about just waking up in a quiet house with just Justin and I, making breakfast, and opening presents. My mom mailed our gifts to us so we would have presents from her and my dad to open that morning. I am SO pumped about getting to see my family and friends when we go visit, but who knows, it might be nice to start our own Christmas morning traditions this year.
Old home movies are the best! I love watching my brother and I tear into presents in our awesome 90s Power Ranger PJs.
ReplyDeleteI love all the decorations. found your blog through the linkup.
ReplyDeleteHey girl, Thanks so much for showing me some love! :) Love your blog. So much you can consider me as a new follower ;)
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My husband's birthday is the 16th, so I always try to make it special because it does get lost in all the hype of Christmas! Happy soon-to-be-birthday!
ReplyDeleteVisiting from the linkup! I think it's lovely that your birthday wasn't lost in the Christmas hype. As someone with a June birthday, I can't even imagine how frustrating that could be, and I've heard all kinds of negative stories.
ReplyDeleteThis is my first Christmas away from my parents as well - my husband and I will be spending our first married Christmas together, just the two of us. I totally understand how just being the two of you is a mixed blessing - I hope yours is still absolutely wonderful!
Home movies are so precious! I think I've pretty much memorized every single home movie of my family that exists!
ReplyDeleteOh, and by the way, I mentioned you in my blog awards post today, because seriously, I think the name of your blog is brilliant.
DeleteThat's awesome! Thank you so much! :)
DeleteSo cool that you are an "almost" Christmas baby! My niece was born Christmas morning and it's so fun having birthday cake with our Christmas brunch. I also love snow for Christmas and wish we got more of it here (NC). Thanks for linking up with us!
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