In the Christmas Spirit...

Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year, and this year is no different! At the beginning of December I felt like I wasn't "ready" for Christmas to be here already, even though the past few years I've been chomping at the bit starting in November. I was afraid for a few days into the month that it wouldn't feel like Christmas as much because Curt's still in China, and things just seemed busy, because I didn't FEEL it right away, but I worried in vain...

Last week I started a women's Advent Bible Study with other Young Life leaders/ladies, and started me on the path of really meditating on the "reason for the season." Then this past weekend, me, Mom, and Kendyl went to our DAR meeting (my first, their second) at a local, upscale assisted living home.

Sidenote: Mom has worked relentlessly getting our family genealogy and paperwork together - you have to have EVERY duck in a row paperwork and proof-wise to show without a SHRED of doubt that you ARE a true Daughter of the American Revolution. I'm so grateful, too, as it was me who said we should do this when I found out we did have men who fought for our country's independence (even though at the time, I had NO idea how much homework it would require)! Mom spent a ton of time in the many courthouses in West Virginia to get this together for us - thanks, Mama!

So we're sitting in this meeting room with about 30 women (yes, mostly older) who were all so excited to have us as new members, and it was AWESOME to know that these ladies were descendents of our country's patriots - too cool for a history buff like me! But anyway, when we finished our meeting we all went to gather with the residents to listen to the Goldenaires sing Christmas Carols, and sitting in that room listening to older men and women sing, watching the residents sing along and do that fun old people clap, I got so emotional singing Silent Night (my favorite) and was finally filled with the Christmas Spirit... 5 days into the month (late, for me), but now it's here, and I'm SO HAPPY!

I spent some more time this weekend helping decorate the house, and putting together Curt and I's annual family Christmas letter to get them sent out on Monday which is a HUGE Christmas to-do (licking every single one of those 120 letters by yourself is not fun)! I also had trouble picking our pictures for our mini-collage (some of my YL friends know who saw the different iterations), and I was so pleased to hear tonight at Bible Study that Rachel said she loved the end result...

She also said our little buddy, Dylan (her 3 year old) liked it a lot too... she said he sat down at the table and looked at every single picture and described to her what he saw. When he got to the picture of me scuba diving he said that it looked like I was dressed as Mickey Mouse which made me crack up! She explained to him that it was me scuba diving, and he said, "yeah, maybe but also like Mickey Mouse" - haha! What's awesome is I can see that from a little person's eyes... wearing all black, a bunch of extra gear - let's go with it!

And now tonight, another wonderful Advent study that reflected on Hope, a beautiful blackberry pie that I cannot WAIT to dive into for breakfast, most of my shopping complete, most of those presents wrapped, and my boy Maverick dreaming at my feet while me and Mom watch The Biggest Loser finale - I love all of it :-)!

December only gets better from here - Curt gets home in 13 days, and in the meantime I get to spend more amazing and priceless time with family and friends, reflecting on *everything* Christmas is about! We are so blessed...

Love,