4th day of Christmas . . .

4th day of Christmas . . .

Giving Back

This has been a crazy year. You know that list that they show you in psycholgy class that shows certain life events and how stressful they are supposed to be? Well, I think we went through about 6 of the large events. In the last 15 months we have remodeled our house, moved out of state, sold our house, tried to buy a new house (this one is ongoing, argh!!), I have changed jobs, Gary is doing the same job in a new state, become pregnant and had a baby. Throughout all of these changes the reoccuring theme for me is SERVICE. It seems that this is a really importnt lesson that I need to be taught, learning to care for my friends and neighbors. I thought I was pretty good at it, but this year the service that has been given to me has blown me away!

I've learned that every extra set of willing hands is a huge help, no matter how big or small the project. I've learned that instead of saying, "If you need anything, just call me.", you should say, "I'll be right over!" and give of yourself for an hour or two. Seemingly simple service, like doing the dishes, folding laundry, or vacuuming can mean the world to someone. And lastly, really listening and trying to understand what people really need can go really far in making someone feel welcomed and loved.

It sounds simple, but it is a fine art worth perfecting over a lifetime

Second & Third days of Christmas . . .

Of course I made a big commitment to do a 12 Days of Christmas blog and I forget to follow through on the SECOND day!

Second Day of Christmas Post . . .

Advent

I went to the library last night and found The Encyclopedia of Christmas. It wasn't hard to find since the librarians had a large display of Christmas books set up for everyone to see. In it are all kinds of interesting Christmas facts, like how Christmas is celebrated in Greece to the significance of Greenery to Christmas. There is even an interesting section on the English holiday Boxing Day, which, until now, I had never quite understood. But for my post today I want to concentrate on the first entry in the Encyclopedia, which is Advent.

I don't have many Advent memories from childhood Christmases. Mostly the Advent calendars that I remember belonged to other families. Don't get me wrong, my family has plenty of other fantastic Christmas traditions (look for these in future posts), but the Advent calendar is not among them.

According to the Encyclopedia, the Advent was started by Christian churches as a way to prepare for the spiritual significance of the holiday. Ever since Gary and I got married, and especially since Riley was born I have been thinking about what Christmas traditions I would like to carry on in my own family. I wanted to be able to enjoy the excitement of Santa and gifts, while also emphasizing service and the real reason for the season, Christ's birth. Looking back I think that almost all of the Advent calendars that I remember were more of a count down to Christmas, rather than a preparation or teaching of the day's significance. I think that I would like to find or create an Advent calender that teaches scriptures, presents opportunities to give service within the home or for the community, and endeavors to help you reflect on the true meaning of Christmas in the days leading up to it.

Does anyone have memories of an Advent calendar that they would like to share, or examples of family traditions that could lend themselves to this idea of Advent?

Third day of December post . . .

Neighbor Gifts

I have not settled on an idea for Neighbor Gifts for this year. Two years ago we gave everyone little jars of honey from our beehive and a container of our favorite spice rub that we use on Salmon along with the recipe. The year before that I made 5 or 6 different cookies and combined them into tins. That was pretty fun, but making all those cookies was pretty ridiculous! I have been thinking about doing cookies again this year, but maybe I don't have to go so crazy, just do 2 or 3 different kinds instead. Other ideas (most of which have been inspired by the latest Trader Joe's ad) are Pumpkin bread, a collection of a few of our favorite family recipes, Eggnog cake, or Yule Log cake. Yule Log cake might be fun, since I have never had it before (and the TJ's ad makes it sound SO yummy) and I could include a little note describing the story of this holiday tradition, which I can find in my helpful library book Encyclopedia of Christmas!

What are your good ideas for Neighbor Gifts, and what gifts have you given out or seen in the past?

First day of Christmas . . .

I was inspired by an email newsletter that I get to do a Twelve Days of Christmas post starting today, December 1st. Especially since my last post was on November 4th. Apparently I have been very busy! I don't have any new pictures to post today, but since I am going to be doing 12 posts I guess I will have plenty of time to post them later.

Tonight we are going to the library. Gary, Riley and I love the library! I just went onto the library's website and put 18 books on hold. 18! I guess everything I looked at today just seemed really interesting. What was I thinking? How much time do I think I am going to have in the few weeks before Christmas to sit and peruse all those books anyway? We shall see. I guess I could always renew them to enjoy in January.

Last night we slept on our new 800 thread count sheets, bought from Kohl's during the last hour of their Black Friday sale. I usually don't participate in Black Friday, but we needed new sheets and these were $50 off! I am starting to see why people get so excited about it.

Well this post had nothing to do with Christmas, but better to have something than no post at all. Until tomorrow . . .