It’s Thursday! But not just any Thursday, it’s Christmas Eve! In honor of Christmas (Eve), this week’s three is three things we do to celebrate Christmas each year.
1. Christmas Card. We may or may not have a long-standing tradition of ridiculous cards. Some years we get really into it, and it takes all sorts of prep work. This year it’s still a little ridiculous, but we cut out all the prep work and just grabbed a decent photo of us from earlier in the year (like normal people do). Here’s the family photo for 2015:
2. Christmas Tunes. We take Christmas songs one step further and record a song each year to share with friends and family. This year’s song came from Judy Garland’s version of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” which she sang in the movie, Meet Me In St. Louis.
3. Christmas jammies. Actually, this is a bit misleading. We don’t have elf tops or striped skinny bottoms, but we do typically spend most of Christmas day lounging around in pajamas. The time leading up to Christmas always seems to be a hectic and busy one, so we’ve always found it vital to soak up whatever rest is possible at the end of it before bringing in the New Year. We’re definitely looking forward to it this year!
There is a season for everything. A season for laughter and a season for tears. A season for thankfulness and a season for sharing. I’m glad we have different seasons throughout the year, because each brings its share of sweet and bittersweet moments. Whether your Christmas season brings joy or peace, restlessness or the flu, I hope you know it’s just a season that is sure to bring a mix of everything. We cherish the good and address the bad as well as we can. Christmas is here and so is this season in life, whatever that may be for you.
While this season has been unexpected and sometimes busy for me, I’m glad we’re here. I’ll keep this short and sweet, because we all have a million little things to do this week in order to spend quality time with friends and family and some time relaxing, resting and rejoicing. We always look forward to putting together our Christmas card and a Christmas song to share at the end of the year. Here’s wishing you a wonderful Christmas, New Year and winter season.
Merry Christmas and Go Tell it on the Mountain!
(Go to Gratton Christmasfor more photos and a little bit of behind the scenes)
Alright, we can agree that since it is December it’s officially acceptable to talk about Christmas, right? I know some of y’all have been decked out for weeks, but in our house we wait until after Thanksgiving to get going on Christmassy things.We bought a tree this past weekend, but it still needs decorating. We also spent some time on our annual Christmas card.
Leading up to our very first Christmas I knew that I wanted to start the tradition of sending out Christmas cards. If you don’t already do so, can I just encourage you to? Sure, it takes time and effort and can add up, but it is so much fun to both send and receive Christmas cards in the mail. Anyway, we talked about what to do for our very first card and tried to think of epic ways to say “Our First Married Christmas” to our friends and family. The bar for family Christmas cards had been set pretty high by his sister, but we knew we wanted it to be a tradition all of our own.
My “brilliant” idea was to wear our wedding attire and decorate the tree. We got married in October and for some reason I thought it might be funny. Thankfully, we never got around to trying that out and in hindsight, I think that might have looked a bit random and awkward. Less than a week before Christmas the hubby just said, do you want to go have a snowball fight and call it good? So we did. He insisted that I aim for his face (but I can’t deny that I had fun doing it).
How fitting that our first Christmas card was in the snow. Have I mentioned that the hubby worked at a church? In case you weren’t aware, Christmas Eve is a pretty big deal when you work at a church, especially within the creative arts and music department. That particular Christmas Eve, there was a snowstorm and we had a large driveway to shovel before he left. After a lazy morning in my sweatshirt and sweatpants, I threw on my coat and boots and helped him clear the driveway. Before long, he had to go but I offered to finish up. Out of habit, he shut and locked the door to the house and drove off.
So there I was, alone, on our first Christmas Eve as a married couple, locked out of the house in a snowstorm with no phone, no keys and not looking my best. Did I mention we had just moved to that house a few months before and didn’t yet know the neighbors? Oh, and that it was CHRISTMAS EVE? Not exactly the introduction I had in mind. Thankfully, I spotted someone smoking on their porch down the street so I trudged through the snow and tried to explain how my husband had accidentally locked me out. I called and he came back as quick as he could, which meant I was locked out for about an hour by the time he returned with the key. Nothing bad happened to me and it was all an accident. He hates that story a little bit, but I love it. I don’t think I will ever forget that first Christmas together in Iowa.
There was a certain innocence to that first Christmas in the snow. I will forever remember it fondly. The moral of the story is not to lock your wife out in the snow, but to cherish the little moments this season.
And we’re back! Back from a cold and snowy state we love, back from all the holidays and back from a month of very little blogging. I can’t say I have listed out my resolutions for 2014 yet (partly because I am still searching for last year’s list to see how I fared), but I will say that I hope to blog more. It’s a wonderful part of my life and sometimes people even tell me it inspires them. What’s not to love about that?
So we continue with the Thursday Three. Something about it is just a little charming to me. Clearly it’s been a while so let’s just make this three a wrap-up from where we left off instead of only about the past week, shall we?
1. Christmas is a wonderful thing. Some people get all crazy about it and I’m not to that level. There’s not months of Christmas music or much talk of Santa here. It usually is a busy time of work for the hubby and even a little bit of stress as we squeeze too many things in a packed month. But it’s still good. It’s a celebration of a Savior, a time to gather with family and share time and food with others. Maybe I’m all sentimental because it’s already over and our tree is lying cold and lonely on the curb. But let me say it anyway—it’s good. We got our first ever real tree and decorated it in simplicity. We went caroling, sang songs and smiled for the Christmas card. We talked to some kids about what Christmas means for a video we worked on together. We hosted each of our sisters and their families which included several dogs and small children. We exchanged gifts, watched Netflix and found ourselves in a Nerf war.
2. Snow and cold are not our friends. We moved away from that stuff but managed to visit right in the middle of winter. To Iowa we went to visit friends and family and celebrate a wedding of dear friends. We hit some of the town’s finest establishments, rang in the new year (and the hubby jammed along for a song on stage), visited my grandparents and watched two people say “I do.” It was fun and freezing, but we’re glad we got to go to all of it. And bonus—our trip got extended due to days of cancelled flights. Yay cold.
3. Being a grown-up is a funny thing. Sometimes I feel like I’m running around trying to chase down my life. Trying to check off all the lists, go after my dreams and be good at whatever role I fill. Some days I think maybe I’ve made it and I wish I could just walk away with a trophy. But it doesn’t work that way. It’s a constant process of learning and growing. So tonight I’ll sort through weeks of mail while eating cereal for supper at 11 p.m. and just be okay with it. Here’s to another year of who knows what!
This is the only photo we have from last weekend’s wedding, and I’m wearing a baby fur hood from the photo booth. The hubby was super excited about it and insisted we take this photo but somehow managed to avoid donning any sort of accessory.
Here’s a glimpse at this year’s Christmas card. There’s something I completely love about doing these each year. While it’s a lot of effort to take on amidst a busy season, it’s a welcomed opportunity to share a little love and joy…even if it’s just through smiles and songs. We’re fairly simple people but always have more than enough of those to give.
