A Different Kind of Christmas

Every year for the past several years I have gone back home to Idaho for Christmas to spend the holidays with my mom and dad and my sister and it is always something that I look forward to, but this year was the first year in awhile that I stayed home in California.  In reflecting upon that it felt kind of bittersweet in a way, but I can truly say that I had a wonderful Christmas.  As I prepared for the holiday season I found ways to bring Christmas into my home and into my life.  The first thing that I did was to participate in the singing of Handel's Messiah.  If anyone has heard or sung those magnificent choral pieces you know how wonderful they are.  If you have not heard them before I recommend that you look up Handel's Messiah online and enjoy this wonderful oratorio for yourself.  The next thing I did was to bring holiday cheer into my home was to make it feel like Christmas, I found a small tree and I added some holly and ivy.  Since I was staying put I found myself in a baking mood.  I made cookies, cakes, and chocolate, and I had so much fun especially when I had my music going.  I found myself establishing my own traditions, yet finding time to remember many of the wonderful Christmas's that I have had throughout the years. Christmas Eve was spent with my extended family, and I must say that it was so wonderful to be there with them.  As long as I could remember my family has always gotten together on Christmas Eve and even after families had moved, children have grown up the tradition still carries on.  There may not be as many people as there once was but it always is the same.  And oh I must add, I actually had fun singing Karaoke, at first I didn't want to but by golly it was so much fun.  Christmas Day was spent at home.  I was able to cook a turkey with all the trimmings, and when I cook my turkey I cook it the same way that my mother has always cooked hers.  I think what made my day was hearing my father tell me that I I cook a really good turkey and I think for me that was the icing on the cake.  I found time for quiet reflection that day and Christmas was not about things or the haves and have not's but it was about what was most important to me which is family.  People today are so consumed with materialistic things and ideals and they forget what really matters most in life.  Material things fade away but family never dies.

Photos from December 2011

Christmas 2012

(This is me singing karoke. I am actually having fun.)