Merry Christmas

I have had a hard time getting in the Christmas spirit this year. Truth be told, I listen to Christmas music year round, so the holiday tunes weren’t really doing it for me. I dreaded putting up a big tree and filling it with our ornaments because all I could think about was taking it down. Alone. In fact, I couldn’t really imagine taking it down by myself… which means it probably would have been up for far too long which is just depressing in and of itself. Not to mention we were gone all last week… that REALLY helped me avoid the holiday spirit! I also didn’t do holiday cards this year. I should have. Lots of awesome things happened this year. But, I never got around to it.

But here we are. Christmas Eve. And somehow, we’re ready. I got a little mini tree instead… it should be easy to take down. I decorated it today with white feathers and twelve red ornaments depicting different names of Christ. Simple, sweet, keeping the focus on Christ. Although I can’t tell if it looks good, or if it looks like a bird crawled up in the tree and died all over it.

I spent the day running last minute errands and wrapping loads of gifts (and decorating the tree). My love language is gift-giving so I have really had a fun time the past few days shopping for my family. Tomorrow we’ll wake up with our friend Kevin (this is the second year he’s stayed over for Christmas and I am starting to think this is the beginning of a tradition!) and open presents and have a lovely breakfast. Then Tommy and I will spend Christmas day with his family. There was no debating where to go this year for Christmas. Next year I am sure I’ll be waking up with my family 2+ hrs away, so this year it’s all his family. We’ll have a big ol’ lunch and then come home and crash. Perhaps I can talk him into seeing the new Sherlock Holmes movie that comes out tomorrow. We’ll see.

I do love this time of year. I love the smells, the joy, the cheer, the gift-giving and the reason for this entire season.  I’m signing off for a few days - I’ll be spending time with my family and loving every single minute of it. It may have taken me a while to get into the Christmas spirit this year - but I am here now. And I am going to soak it all up!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours. We wish you a blessed holiday full of peace, joy and happiness.