Friday, November 28, 2014

Happy Christmas!

Hello! Yes, I am one of those terribly annoying souls who begins to celebrate Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. Don't you worry--I give my thanks. I help with the food, the clean up, and the giving of thanks because I have plenty of things to be thankful for. I do not play Christmas tunes or begin to pull up my decorations...until the day AFTER Thanksgiving.
Believe me, I understand those of you who roll their eyes at people like me. I empathize--let us at least get through the month of November, right? Why rush Christmas; it just means that the end of the year is inching up on us as fast as the Bullet Train? But I have good reasons for beginning to celebrate the season as soon as possible. Not that I need to justify my actions, but I'd like to...just so you know.

1. My Christmas decorations are heavy, as I'm sure many of yours are. We have several boxes and lots of stairs on which I must pull these several boxes up. I dedicate the majority of my day to lugging boxes up and down the stairs, which are not a straight shot by the way. Turning and maneuvering is involved. And it takes a while to set up everything after that. In fact, set up is sometimes a two day process, depending on the schedule of the day and if I'm still in a turkey coma from Thanksgiving. This year is a two-day set up. All decorations except the tree and the garland are finished. The tree is up, just not fluffed to its fullest or decorated. (I bet money that fake trees are more of a hassle than real ones, and real ones don't smell like musty basement). So, since I complain of the hassle of set up day, I like to appreciate my decorations for as long as possible because my mother and I work hard to get them up. We might as well revel in them for a full month.

2. I see no error in getting in to the Christmas spirit early, especially if your spirit is about giving, not merely the commercial aspects of the holiday. With the decorations set up, I'm ready to pick my angel tree, I'm ready to wrap presents for Habitat for Humanity, and I'm ready to make people smile by saying "Merry Christmas" as I pass by. Come on--tell me that doesn't bring a smile to your face.

3. I never allow myself to forget the reason for the season. God gave his son to us, and his son then gave so much to us. This is a time to remember every blessing that we have and a time to in turn give to those who are not as blessed as some of us--a time to share god's love. This should be all year round, but Christmas is a special time to show God's word and love through our actions and spirit. I'm not saying "Ho Ho Ho!" spirit, but "God Bless you" spirit. Let the Spirit flow through you into your society.

So there you go. See, I have good reason to start celebrating as early as possible. Be thankful that I don't set up before Thanksgiving--even I might become annoyed with myself if I started doing that.

So...Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad! Joyeux Noel! Frohe Weihnachten! Buon Natale! God Jul! C рождеством! Nollaig Shona! Vrolijk kerstfeest! Happy Holidays--whatever you celebrate, remember the reason for your season!

Friday, November 21, 2014

HAMily Thanksgiving

Happy early Thanksgiving, dear readers! I just had an amazing out-of-family experience with my HAMily. You would think having a thanksgiving dinner with people that aren't your family or don't have some relationship with a member of family. But that's what is so cool about my very unique college experience. With my freshman introduction to college, I have been adopted into this new, revolutionary family called the HAMily. I have my awesome roommate Rachael--the weirdest, nicest person every! But then there's these tons of amazing people that have become brothers and sisters. They are all amazing people who have come together and become a family. We don't all get along. We argue and scream, then we hug and laugh. It's great. They drive me crazy, and I need my alone time. But at the end of the day, I love and respect each one of them.
Tonight was an amazing night that showed just how much of a family we are. We put together this WONDERFUL dinner, decorations. We sat at a long table, ate together, conversed, took pictures, pictures, and more pictures. The food was wonderful, and the company even better. I'm so lucky to have gotten to know all of these fabulously interesting people that I'm blessed to call my family. Thank you, friends, family, for making my college experience the best it can possibly be. I am so, so thankful!