Christmas

I've already spoken my piece about the real reason for Christmas.
Now for the presents side.
Did you know I get six Christmases this year?

We did Black Friday this year. (My first time ever!) The day before Thanksgiving I convinced David that we should get an xbox. We went to Walmart on Thanksgiving (LOVED the late night thing. Waking up early doesn't sound fun.) and got in line and waited for forever to check out with our xbox. We had decided this would be our "big" gift for each other. But of course we couldn't wait to open it and we have been playing it ever since. I still have absolutely no buyers remorse over getting it. I mostly got it for the Kinect and I love love LOVE playing it with David/friends. We almost packed it in our suitcase to take home to NY to play over Christmas break too.

There was a fun dessert party (with wayyy too much sugar) with some of my most favorite people ever. (Jessi, darling, you were missed.) We had a secret santa gift exchange and it was so fun to see the gifts given. It is so funny how well we know each other.

stolen off FB - Thanks, Alisa!
Also, my hair is getting so long. Hair cut, anyone?

Monday night we did all our packing and we opened a couple presents (one I wanted him to have to use while I finished working for the next couple days). Then the next day we each opened another one. We also had another Christmas opening presents from his family before we left because we didn't want to take any with us just to turn around and bring them back.  Plus we had Christmas with my family in NY too. It kind of takes the anticipation out of it, but it's not like we are seven years old again and can't sleep on Christmas Eve.  We actually helped with filling some stockings.

After we finished opening presents and sat amidst a floor of wrapping paper with everyone excited about what they received, all I could think about was how we are SO blessed.

We have enough to live comfortably on (and we really don't make much money now but it still works out so well) and we could still give presents to those we love. I love both parts of the process - getting stuff is always fun and giving is even better because it is so fun to buy things for other people, even when you're not sure what to get them.

Hopefully these feelings of gratefulness continue to last well into the new year. We've got lots of exciting things planned for our life and even when things go wrong (which they inevitably will because of how much I keep trying to plan for them) I just need to remember how great we really have it.

Even when I get presents that look like this:

Because inside is what counts and it is stuff that looks like this:

Merry late Christmas.

As you can tell, I've been enjoying my break and not blogging. Sorry. :)

Christmas - the real reason

We had a really wonderful lesson in Relief Society on Sunday. Three different teachers taught about Christmas and it was so interesting to see their individual takes on it.
(Coincidentally, one mentioned art, one mentioned music, and one mentioned poetry - It was great.)

The whole lesson just got me thinking about Christmas, Christ, and everything in between. Here are snippets of my notes/thoughts on it.

Brian Kershisnik's The Nativity

We talked about this painting - which has Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, and lots of angels. The angels bring up two things: 1)If you look closely, the faces of the angels have so many different reactions to it. Can you imagine how they all felt? 2) The thought that maybe we were there as angels - watching this significant moment happen.

Christ was born in a lowly stable, son of a carpenter, and was raised in a small town. He had no formal education, no political office and was not wealthy. The scribes and the pharisees missed his birth because it wasn't what they were expecting it to be. Are there distractions in our life that keep us from having Christ as the center of our lives? (A couple that were mentioned were time, technology, worrying so much about the small "to-dos" versus the big picture.)

Sometimes the most precious gifts of life are right in front of us but we cannot or will not see them. If we really want to remember the true meaning of Christmas, we need to focus our traditions on Christ. I've thought a lot about the traditions that I want to have when we have children of our own. One comment that was made was that we need to be intentional about these traditions. We need to see Christ in Christmas. President Uchtdorf, at his 2009 talk at Christmas devotional (it's really good), said this:

All of these spectacular displays and decorations that compete for our attention can be beautiful and uplifting, but if that’s all we see, then we’re missing something that’s in plain sight. Sometimes, despite our best intentions, we become so preoccupied with responsibilities, commitments, and the stress of our many tasks that we fail to see with our hearts that which is essential and most sacred.

It is incredible to see how much of Christmas has been created by the commercial world - the gift giving, the decorating, the parties. But underneath it all, there is a small quiet reason for celebrating. Because on Christmas, we were given the gift of having a Savior. Someone who came into this world to take our sins upon him. Someone who loves us unconditionally. And that Someone is what Christmas should be about. How holy that night was when our Savior entered this world. It's my goal this season to remember that.

I really love the looks on Mary and Joseph's faces here.
painting by Simon Dewey

Another really good talk by President Hinckley.

Also, one of the girls talked about how one of her Christmas traditions is to listen to "The Real Story of Christmas" by W. Cleon Skousen. (Available in book or audio cd here) 

I looked into it and it seems really good. I'm thisclose to ordering it for myself.

Finally Friday.

1. My sister asked what my "unreasonable" wants for Christmas were.... A baby, a kitchen aid, a car without squeaky brakes (even though ours are new, they still squeak. ugh), and a vacation!  What are yours?
This is where I want to go right now:

no original source... anyone know?

2. There is a BIG test happening today. Please pray that the questions that are randomly chosen are not on the HARD HARD side. Hopefully they are middle ground - at least there is a shot that way. I'm nervous right now. I'm not even the one taking the test.

3. I've been crocheting up a storm at work in my down time making Christmas presents. And now everyone at work is starting their own crochet projects. It's like an epidemic here!
Also, how about this CROCHET wedding gown?!?

via

I also really like this rug.

via

4. We (I) finally put up our Christmas tree at work. Which is good because I don't think we are going to do one at home since we won't be here for Christmas. Basically it was a pre-lighted, pre-decorated tree that I just had to drag in from the storage unit outside and somehow put back together while it was all still tangled together. But I definitely felt in the Christmas spirit while hanging up all the ornaments that fell off. I also have tried to convince my office that it really is okay to sit with the lights off and the tree on. But no one believes me.
And I really like this no tree Christmas tree.

via

5. Lately I've been putting french fries on my burger! It is so so good. You should try it. That was random I know.

It's finally friday!
Linking up here with E Tells Tales