Merry Christmas

For some reason this Christmas has seem to have flown by...I am not sure if it was my finals taking me all the way into the 19th of December or that time really is flying by as I get older, but I am going to miss Christmas when it is gone this year. I have really enjoyed preparing by purchasing gifts and attending church and spending time with my family. Typically I am not a winter holiday person because many people I know get to busy and try to do a lot. For some reason I feel like I have taken a step back to soak it all in, I have let a lot of things roll off my shoulder, even if it does not seem like it at the time. I also am enjoying and savoring the traditions that my parents and family have set forth for me and my siblings. We have so many holiday traditions that I hope to continue on with my kids. One tradition is Kris Kringle. My middle sister was born 12 days before Christmas so to do something special for us and my my sister's birth, my parents came up with Kris Kringle. Every night beginning on my sister's birthday up to Christmas Eve we receive tiny gifts from Santa. This could be anything from a chapstick to a small gift card. But there are specific things we also receive...the first night we always get our ornament. Mine is Mary's Angels by Hallmark and on Christmas Eve morning we receive pajamas that we wear that night to bed. After these small gifts Santa comes with the big gifts on Christmas.
The fourth tradition (ornaments are second, pj's are third) is Christmas morning breakfast. It used to be this huge feast my mom would start once all the presents were open. Now it is this delicious casserole that I absolutely cannot get enough of. It is so yummy and I love it with a big glass of orange juice! We also eat lasagna on Christmas instead of turkey or ham and I love that we incorporate our heritage into it. The fifth tradition is probably ever since 1995 (or when we got the CD) we have listened to Steven Curtis Chapman's Christmas CD while opening presents. His CD always puts me in the holiday spirit and I love to listen to it year round because of how great of a CD it is.
The sixth tradition is probably how we decorate. As a family we love to decorate for the holidays and typically decorating takes us two days. It's not that we have that much stuff it is just that we are so particular about how things go and where they are placed. For instance the mistletoe must be hung in the door frame (unfortunately ours has seen its last days so we need a new one), We also put a ceramic Santa that my dad received at the end of our hallway.
The seventh tradition is my mom's Christmas cookies. She spends so much time and energy on making delicious Christmas cookies that everyone gets to enjoy. My favorite are her fruit cake cookies. The eighth and I think final one is the pickle ornament. We do not do it the traditional way that the Germans do but my dad does hide the pickle ornament in the tree and we search for it. Typically whichever child finds it receives an extra present, but I think we would fight to much if that happened.
After going through these traditions it makes me excited to think that I will be able to pass these on to my kids one day. :)

100 posts later!

I am so proud of myself for keeping up with my blogging...and when I mean keeping it up I mean more than one every three months. I was unsure of blogging when I first began it but now it is sort of a release for me. I love it and even though no one probably reads my blogs for some reason it makes me feel good to write one. So here is a blog "toast" to my first 100 posts and to many more to come!!! :)

Geesh!

I am pretty sure that I have not blogged in so long that I actually forgot my username (for like 5 seconds). So much has happened and I cannot believe how busy these past two months have been for me. They have been such a blur and I just want to slow down so I can take it all in. Before long I will no longer be a college student but hopefully working at a job or working on another degree (fingers crossed!). Thanksgiving was a great time this year, I spent it with my mom's side of the family which is unusual for us considering we always go to my dad's side but since my grandfather is sick we decided to take the load off of my grandmother and host it at our house. We had such a great time, I got to meet my brother's girlfriend (huge deal!) and got to talk with my cousin who could not be with us this holiday.
I also got to take a week's break from school so that I could jump head into finals week. I am so proud of myself and the work that I have accomplished this semester. I think academically this has been one of the best semesters for me (work accomplished wise) and I hope that when grades come out they reflect that.
So Thanksgiving came and went and it is now Christmas Eve. What have I been doing that I have not been able to blog in forever? Let's see....I went to ZooLights twice, I have been working a lot, celebrated my friends 22nd birthday in Columbus, had finals week, have been volunteering for 2 Occupational Therapists, teaching Sunday School, and tutoring. I also went to see New Moon (twice and loved it both times) and now I am really trying to get into the Christmas Spirit. Yes, even now on Christmas Eve, I am still struggling. I think it is because school let out so late for me and I know the next few weeks are going to be rough for me money wise...oh well, it will be taken care of!
One exciting thing that I did get to do was go to the town where my dad works and check our their Christmas celebration. It was sooooo cool. They have Santa drive around their downtown square and all the buildings light up. Then they light the tree and fireworks go off. I really enjoyed this because all of my family (except my brother) and my niece go to be with me. This was the first time for her to watch fireworks and she thought they were so cool. I hope this year she is not sick on the 4th of July so I can take her then too.
I also bought our Christmas tree this year, it is something I am very proud of. Ever since we added onto our house we have celebrated Christmas in this room and only one time out of the roughly four years we have had it we have only had one big Christmas tree (14 ft.) So this year I decided I wanted another big one and we went out the day after Thanksgiving and found one. It is absolutely perfect and no ornament was left behind this year!
Well, I think that is all for now and I promise to start blogging more and more!
Merry Christmas everyone :)