I love all of the preparation surrounding Christmas, from shopping, to list-making, to wrapping, to decorating, to movie-watching, to music-blaring. And now it's time to really reap the benefits of the preparation. The parties are starting to happen, gifts are starting to be opened, and ALL THE FOOD is being eaten. I've loved visiting with family and friends a little more frequently in the past couple weeks. I've loved looking at Christmas lights around town (and hope to do a Christmas light tour bike ride soon!). I loved the Christmas symphony performance. I really loved visiting Noel Acadien Au Village for the first time in many years with one of my best friends and her husband (on his first ever visit.)
One of my favorite Christmas albums is Snowed In by Hanson (obviously), and since this album came out when I was 12, I've really grown into loving the song At Christmas. As a child, I remember feeling like Christmas Eve was the longest day in the world, and I couldn't wait to tear into all the presents that had been under the tree for weeks. I know lots of those presents got shaken multiple times because I was just too excited. My parents would take us out for lunch or to the mall just to walk around, so we could feel like time was passing by more quickly. And we would always wake up between 6:30 and 7 on Christmas morning to see what Santa left us. And as I've grown older, the lyrics to At Christmas have become the anthem to how I celebrate the holidays. It's more about the family and friend togetherness, and creating that scene of a festive holiday time.
Now this is what Christmas means to me
Being together with your family
And the wise men who fallowed that star
To where our baby Jesus lie
Christmas is, without a doubt, more stressful now than before, but each year, I try to stop often and let the season really envelop me. I usually fail miserably at not letting stress overwhelm me, but I try harder during the holiday season to remember what it's all for. One of my absolute favorite moments is when I'm sitting (laying) on my boyfriend's couch in the evenings, and the only light in the room is coming from the Christmas tree. That cozy, cheerful feeling is Christmas to me. It's my favorite season, and I want to fully appreciate every minute of it before it's gone for another year.
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