Ten Things I Probably Should Have Blogged... #5

Today’s post is part 5 of a 10-post list of events in our lives that we probably should have blogged about during the past two years.  I’ve enjoyed taking a step back and remembering those moments.  I hope you do too!

5.  First Christmas - 2012

I.  Love.  Christmas.

I love everything about it.  I love the meaning of Christmas.  I love the decorations.  I love the traditions.  I love the smells.  And the lights.  And the magic.  Christmas is so magical to me.  It’s beautiful.

I was beyond excited about our first Christmas together.  However, there were some parts of me that were sad.  Like I said, I LOVE Christmas traditions.  Traditions sometimes change, and new traditions are born.  That was something I was mentally and emotionally preparing myself for last year.

It was the first Christmas that I did not wake up at my parents’ house on Christmas morning.  It was the first time I was missing the candlelight service at church with my family.  It was the first time I wasn’t eating Christmas breakfast with my family.  You see, breakfast alone was one of my two top favorite traditions of Christmas.

New traditions can be exciting too, and I could not have been more excited about starting new traditions with my new husband in our new house.

I don’t think Savva knew what to expect when we started decorating for Christmas.  He had to keep reminding me that this is our first Christmas and it’s ok to start small and grow as we grow throughout the years.  But I wanted Christmas to be absolutely perfect.  Does perfect mean going out and buying expensive decorations and whatnot to fill the house?  NO!  But it does mean that I put a lot of thought into creating our own Christmas Wonderland in our house.  We loved it so much we left our decorations up until the middle of January.

Top 3 Things About Christmas 2012:

1.  Our tree:  We went to a family’s house where they also grow Christmas trees here in Boone.  They live not even 5 minutes from us and were genuinely some of the most kind people I have ever met.  We spent such a long time looking for the perfect tree for our new house, and when we found it, they let Savva cut it down and helped him tote it to our truck.  When we went to pay, we found out that an older couple had already bought our tree for us.  They heard us saying it was our first Christmas as a married couple and they wanted to make it extra special.  They did.  It was such a sweet act of generosity that I will never forget.  I will never know who bought our tree that year, but I am so very thankful that they took the time to be a part of such a special moment in our lives.

 

2.  Our Advent Calendar:  Growing up, we always had a countdown until Christmas with our advent calendars.  It was something I was missing this year since I wasn’t home, and so I made one for us.  The one I created had miniature stockings hanging up our railing with numbers that I painted on them.  Inside each stocking was an activity for Savva and me to do together to celebrate the coming of Christmas.  Although we did not get to complete each one that year, it was still fun to open them each day and try to do them.  I have already been brainstorming the ones for this year!

3.  Christmas Eve/Day Family Time:  I was a little bummed about missing our Christmas Eve service in Durham, but I was very excited about spending Christmas Eve with Savva’s family.  It was a hard Christmas for them since his grandfather passed away in August, but we were able to be together and give lots of hugs throughout the night.  Somehow, traditions between my family and Savva’s family fit beautifully together.  

- We did Christmas Eve with his family and then went back home to stay at our house.  It’s very important for Savva and me to be at our house with our children on Christmas morning, and so we wanted to go ahead and start that tradition now.  It was so much fun waking up on Christmas morning and seeing what Santa brought!  He somehow knew that our stockings were now here in Boone :)  

- It was so nice to have a little quiet time just the two of us opening our gifts from each other and enjoying a beautiful Christmas morning.  After we exchanged gifts, we went to Savva’s parents’ (across town) for breakfast and to open gifts with them.  It was so nice to see them on Christmas morning.  

- After breakfast, we said our goodbyes and headed to Durham.  We were there for lunch with my parents, Jay, McKenzie, Ryan, and Mema.  This was usually our breakfast crowd, but we shifted it to lunchtime so Jay, McKenzie, Savva, and I could travel.  

- For dinner, we met at Mema’s house with Uncle Eddie, Aunt Teresa, Melanie, and Steven for dinner and gifts.  

We could not have been more thrilled that our new traditions worked out the way they did.  Of the four grandkids on Mom’s side of the family, 3 of us had gotten married in 2012.  We were all nervous about how this would change things as we adjusted to sharing holidays.  It was amazing that it all worked out for us to be together!  We were so thankful for that.

Here are some more photos of our house decorated for Christmas:

 

Our tree before decorating it!

I promise our lights really weren't blue - it's just the way the camera was picking up the lights!  You can also see in this picture the beautiful nativity scene we got as a wedding gift and the mistletoe hanging from the loft.  I also made the things hanging in the shadowboxes with ribbon, pine cones, and some pieces from our tree.  Then I found almost the same things at Michaels, so I might be buying them this year instead!

Our stockings!

These are the doors to our pantry in the kitchen.  Jay and McKenzie's Christmas card was the first we received, but the ribbons quickly filled with cards from family and friends!

Savva's mother gave this Christmas Mickey to us.  When Savva was little, she said he used to dance in front of it as it played Christmas tunes!

The beautiful Christmas quilt Mema gave us!

It's blurry, but these are the PJ pants we wore on Christmas morning when we opened Christmas gifts!

As for Christmas 2013, I have already been listening to Christmas music for the past two weeks, and last weekend Erin and I spent a lot of time in pajamas watching Christmas movies! I actually am watching a Christmas movie as I'm typing this. I'm so excited! Christmas music makes an appearance in my life throughout the year, and it always makes me so giddy and happy.  It’s great therapy for me when I’m having a rough day!  Is it too early to start decorating???