Question.
Is it bad if I just recently finished decorating my house for Christmas?
Honestly,
I even feel a little silly writing this post because it seems as if
everyone was finished with Christmas on December 26th, eagerly gained
back all of their square footage from taking down holiday decor that
very day, and they are now waiting to ring in the New Year and kick some
butt in 2015. I am ALL for that, but at the moment, I'm happily sitting
by our fireplace while the embers slowly burn out after a cozy day on
which my family and I finally celebrated Christmas.
I
never mind traveling for the holidays, but I also love hosting and
getting my house ready for guests! This Christmas was a bit different
for us. We usually celebrate with my husband's family before Christmas
and tend to travel or be with mine on Christmas day and several days
after that. However, due to other family situations, we weren't able to
be with my side of the family until the 29th. I was bummed it wouldn't
be closer to Christmas, but I was still incredibly grateful that they
were coming! I'm one of those sentimental types (as if you couldn't
already tell from my previous posts) and I love holiday traditions! It
was hard to think of celebrating so seemingly "far away" from Christmas
Day itself.
During
the Christmas holiday, I tend to take off a couple of weeks from work
because I never know if we'll be traveling, hosting, or who knows what.
With how all of our family gatherings were arranging themselves, I began to grow excited at actually having a big chunk of time to fully decorate my
house, bake yummy treats, plan dates to catch up with friends, make,
wrap, and mail presents, and simply relax and get my house ready for our
family! I always think I can do it all (before Christmas Eve) and still have time to fully enjoy every moment--and truth be told, every year is an epic fail.
Not
that I didn't watch Elf and Prancer or spend sweet time with my husband
and our loved ones, but no matter how late I stayed up, there was
always one more errand to run, one more (or several things) to make, or
one more thing I had to regretfully remove from the ultimate "before
Christmas" to-do list because I simply didn't have the time to make it
happen. I am a perfectionist with an awful sense of timing when it comes
to decorating and planning for Christmas. Just awful.
Christmas
truly snuck up on me this year! I love Fall so I never decorate before
Thanksgiving, but I try to start soon after and I love giving each item
its place and having my home feel so incredibly cozy for more than a
month! I know people like to decorate early and props to those who are
way more organized than myself, but I feel like there are SO many people
packing up before December is out the door! For a girl who once long
ago left her tree up until March (I agree, that was a bit much--but it
was not me who was sad they had no Christmas tree in their living room
when we had that freak blizzard in 2013!), I just can't do away with
Christmas until at least sometime in January! Now that we have a "grown
up" tree, we have scattered our smaller trees throughout the house,
giving each guest their own unique Christmas tree. I just want everyone
to feel loved and cozy. It's too fun to think of and create each and
every detail as I decorate every corner of the house, but I do realize
Christmas itself is not about all of that.
Now
that our week with my family is in full swing and my vacation is
winding down, I feel exhausted! Who's with me? I absolutely love
Christmas and I adore my family and our crazy fits of laughter, but in
some ways, it hasn't felt entirely like Christmas. Perhaps it's due in
part to the fact that our traditions were delayed a bit and everyone
else in the world has seemingly moved on, and probably due to the fact
that I'm not an elf and my busy little hands couldn't keep up with the
crazy expectations I put on myself for the holiday. Silly little human.
I
guess it's ridiculous to think or be surprised that it doesn't feel
like Christmas. Honestly, I think some part of Christmas will never
"feel like" Christmas. For most people, the anticipation is greater than
the actual holiday. I want to be grateful for the present day in which I
receive the opportunity to live and serve, all while remembering that
there is a far more majestic reason for celebrating each season and
every day. He is the reason we can anticipate an even greater day to come. The weary (exhausted) world can rejoice because of Him.
"I
sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. We try to crowd
into it the long arrears of kindliness and humanity of the whole year.
As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through
the year. And thus I drift along into the holidays-let them overtake me
unexpectedly-waking up some fine morning and suddenly saying to myself:
'Why this is Christmas Day!'"
--Ray Baker
Merry Christmas, friends.
And hey, good news:
We ARE celebrating New Years Eve on time!
Be
sure to check back soon for an insanely good recipe (full of brown
sugar goodness) to take with you into the new year! Even my clean eating
readers can probably doctor it up to their liking!
