These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things...

As I was searching through some of my documents on my computer last night, I came across this little list below of some of my favorite things about Christmas; favorite memories, best and worst gifts, ect. It’s actually a list that my sister, our cousin, and I did back when we first started our e-zine, The Waking, in 2008. Reading over it again made me smile as it brought back some good memories, and so I thought I’d share it with you guys!

There are so many special things about the holidays, and with only less than a week left until Christmas, I hope you’re soaking them all in. And I would love to hear what some of your Christmas favorites are, so feel free to share! :)

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things...

Favorite Christmas Memory -

 

(Top: picture of our house & church covered in snow. Bottom: our sad attempts at snowmen or a snow family rather (we even made a little snow cat). What can you say? We’re Texans who never had never seen snow lol.) 

My favorite Christmas memory is waking up to a white Christmas in 2004. We were more than a little shocked when it started snowing in our tiny Tx town late on Christmas Eve 2004. That never, and I mean never happens here! But I think everyone felt like little kids that night, playing in the snow for hours. That was actually the first time I'd ever seen snow. The next morning it was like a dream waking up to our yard covered in snow. After we opened gifts, we went back outside to build a snowman. It was funny because the snow just seem to put everyone in the best mood. All morning people would drive by and just say hello, or Merry Christmas. Definitely a Christmas to remember.

Funniest Christmas Memory -

(Top: Christmas play complete with a “talking Christmas tree” … I’m the one holding the poster board of the snowman. Bottom: My sister will kill me if she finds out I posted this lol. The girls wearing beards for our Christmas play.)

Well my dad is a pastor of a small church here in our town and every year my sister and I try to get Christmas plays together for the church. We've been doing this for almost 8 years... and just about every year we've had the same problem, we never have any guys to play the part of Joseph. So we've had to get very creative over the years, and I have to say, we've done a pretty good job. Some of my funniest Christmas memories are the things we've done in our church Christmas plays, which include, but are not limited to: Girls wearing beards, a talking Christmas tree, singing squirrels, and getting beat up with a loaf of bread. But I'm happy to report, this year, we have a Joseph! Here's hoping our girls will never have to wear beards again!

Top 5 Christmas Songs -
1. “2000 Decembers Ago” by Joy Williams (new favorite)
2. “O Holy Night” - (either the version sung by Nsync or the one by Celine Dion)
3. “My Favorite Things” - (Anita Baker version)
4. “Sleigh Ride” - (Relient K's version)
5. (tie) “Hallelujah” by Krystal Meyers (I know it's not a Christmas
song, but to me, it feels like one,"And I realize the reason you
came.”) “I Celebrate The Day” by Relient K ( loooove this song!)

Top 3 Christmas Movies -
1. A Christmas Story

2. The Santa Clause

3. Christmas With The Kranks

 

Top 3 Christmas Treats -
1. Truffles

2. Chocolate Cookie Bark

 
3. Cappuccino Cream Cheese Brownies

Best Gift Received -

Hmm, honestly, I'm not sure. I don't know if I've had my "red rider bb gun" moment, ya know? When I was little anything having to do with Barbie was probably my "best gift". When I was a teenager it was probably anything having to do with Nsync...hmm, perhaps I've said too much lol. Now it's probably anything music related. A few years ago I got a beautiful pink acoustic/electric guitar...that I still can't play all that well lol (any one giving away guitar lessons for Christmas? ;) ).

Worst Gift Received -

Well about 5 years ago I took up the hobby of making candles. I would buy the candle wax, wicks, scents, and colors. For Christmas that year I asked for more supplies to make them. Well on Christmas morning, to my utter confusion, I open my last gift to find...an empty glass jar. Yes, one glass jar. I didn't expect to get a jar so I sat there a little perplexed, as you can imagine. My mom just looked at me and said, "It's to make a candle in." Then we just busted out laughing lol. I've never opened up a gift just to find an empty glass jar, but my mom knew I liked making candles, so she thought I could make one and put it in the jar. So heart in the right place but I don't think an empty glass jar is on the top of anyone's Christmas list lol.

What does Christmas mean to you? -

Christmas is my favorite holiday, so it means a lot of different things to me. Great food, great music, time with family; but really it's so much more than just that. Our church Christmas play this year is one that my sister and I wrote, it's called “2000 Decembers Ago", after the Joy Williams song I mentioned above. It's about a girl who discovers that the story of Jesus' birth is real, not a fairytale like she always had believed. That's what Christmas means to me. In the midst of all the fun, food, and music, to stop and realize that thousands of years ago, a way of salvation was made for us.