It’s that time of year again, when we fill our homes with the smell of pine needles, get pieces of glitter and tinsel all over our face, and we silly grin as we string garland and lights around our front porch. We run ourselves ragged into shopping malls trying to guess what our family could possibly need to add that extra dose of joy and we are painfully reminded that our gift wrapping skills need extra help. We bake cookies, add marshmallows to our coffee, and give our hands cramps as we fill out holiday cards – all in the name of Christmas Spirit. It’s the holidays and whether we are ready or not, they are coming. I feel like Christmas always sneaks up on me… (anyone else?) Maybe it’s because I am just entering my “slow” season (which let’s be honest, it’s anything but slow) and fill it with travel or maybe it’s because after being in retail for years and planning for Christmas beginning in July, the consumer calendar isn’t enough for me to fully prepare for everything. Either way, December 25 comes and goes far too quickly and I want to cling to each fleeting minute of the holiday season for so many reasons.
The older I get, the more the idea of what Christmas is really evolves in my heart. As a kid I made those awesome chain-link countdown garlands and felt like Santa would never actually come, then I would plot ways to sleep under the piano bench and meet him when he came down our (inoperable) chimney. Now, all I want is for all of my family to be in one place, happy and healthy. That’s it. No popcorn garland, no potluck, (although if Grandma’s nacho cheese made it, I wouldn’t be upset) no presents. No presents? I swear I am not a scrooge. The thing is? I have everything I could ever want or need, I truthfully can’t name a single thing I am hoping to get this holiday season (I’m sorry Drew, I just made your job a lot harder.) I think the evolution of the season and how I approach it has made me far more sentimental, emotional (grab the tissues) and just happy to be in one place at one time with people I don’t get to see nearly enough.
So how do I really feel about the holidays this year? What do I want most out of the days that seem to fly by at a breakneck pace? I want to sing holiday tunes with Drew on the six hour trek home (with the dogs in our laps.) I want to hear Grandpa Sulo read the Christmas story from the Bible and play us his most recently recorded polka tune. I want to help keep coffee cups full with Grandma Delores and sit around the living room, too full from lunch. I want to hold a candle during the church service and sing “Silent Night” off key and wonder if any of the little kids will burn the church down. I want to wake up with puffy eyes on Christmas morning and wander upstairs in my pajamas where mom is already making egg bake and the coffee is hot. I want to sit with our growing family (hello, sweet nephew) and open up gifts of things we don’t need but were a thoughtful addition to our lives as we go in order of youngest to oldest! I want our home to fill with aunts and uncles, cousins upon cousins, a random dog or two, and my grandparents who started it all. I want to sip bloody marys and talk life and fill my tummy with too much food! I want to celebrate life and living and health and wealth and happiness and I want to do it all with my favorite people ever as I imagine all that Mary encountered giving birth to the King of Kings (and then deciding that I am still not ready for children of my own.) You see, Christmas isn’t around us – it’s within us. It’s what we value and love and wish for and these are the things I want : family, friends, health, wealth, and happiness. This is my grown up Christmas list. (And if you’re wondering what our Christmas looks like, just click play below and see for yourself, this is my family!)
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** Instead of doing traditional Christmas presents, I would love to donate on behalf of my favorite people. If you have a favorite organization or know a family in need that could benefit from a donation either goods or monetary, please comment below or shoot me a message! We are looking for a few different places to donate to this holiday season to help make an impact on our community.
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