Christmas Preparations

It’s been a long week, heck it’s been a long year!  I have been busy finishing school and putting Christmas gifts together for special people.  It is weird, just spending time with family, and hopefully seeing a few special people for brief increments of time.  I am at a point in my life where I would much rather bake cookies, go to dinner, or just hang out with people who I care about then any material things that I could ever possibly have.  So, it feels awkward doing driveway drop-offs, instead of visiting. I am lucky to get to see a few people outside of my bubble to put up a smile on both of our faces.  Like many this time of year, I have a mile-long list of things to do, but this year I, as well as many others, have more time to do them. I just need to motivate myself to do it.

Christmas is a season of giving, more then getting.  Even though it took me a long time to realize that it is far more rewarding to be the “teenage Santa” then it is to get gifts.  It is different this year, than in the past.  For instance, last year I ran my very first fundraiser, on my own, through the power of Facebook, and bought Christmas gifts for a group home.  That was by far one of the best Christmas gifts that I have given.  I wanted to top it this year, but that did not happen.  I feel bad not doing much, but I realized that we cannot be Instagram worthy all of the time.  I was planning to mail a ton of cards this coming week, but we will see if that happens or not.

We put our little pencil tree up this week, and watched our favorite Christmas movies, including: “Disney’s a Christmas Carol”, “Mickey Mouse a Christmas Carol”, “Christmas Vacation”, “The Grinch” (Both the cartoon and Jim Carrey version), “Polar Express”, and of course my mom and sister watch EVERY SINGLE HALLMARK MOVIE FROM 2003 UNTIL NOW!  I only watch parts and pieces of these movies.  I am not a big movie person, unless I am dedicated, for example “Guardians of the Galaxy” I watch often.  Groot and Rocket is the perfect fictional duo.  Also, how can a movie with a guy as hot as Chris Pratt be bad?  

Christmas music is exciting to our family, in our house we play Christmas music all year around.  It keeps us positive!  We have our favorites!  Here is a short list to put you in the holiday spirit!

1. “Little Drummer Boy” by for King and Country.  My favorite Christmas song ever!  I had the honor to see it live, and we were right in front of the stage!  It is just powerful, and upbeat and exciting.  It more accurately portrays how I picture what it would be when the King of the Universe was born, an exciting burst of hope and joy for the world to finally be saved.
2. “Underneath the Tree” by Kelly Clarkson.  Just happiness, and the Christmas spirit.
3. Anything from Trans-Siberian Orchestra
4. If you are feeling silly “The Christmas Can-Can” by Straight No Chaser is a fun one!
5. The Piano Guys also have some great Christmas arrangement
6. The Nutcracker Suite has been on the playlist for the last eight years, but this year it will finally be retired. That’s a story for another time, with sadly not the ending we had planned.

Stay joyful, be silly, make memories with the people who you can see, because you only have a set amount of time with loved ones.  Make every second count.

Merry Christmas