Feeling festive.

Our tree is decorated. Our presents are wrapped. Our Christmas cards are pretty close to being sent out.

For the first time in a while, I'm feeling excited for Christmas. With divorced and unremarried parents, I usually spend the holiday season worrying about people being alone or not getting presents or things like that. Well, not this year! Okay, that's not true. I will always be worrying about something.

I don't know if it's the fact that for the first time in four years I won't be doing any December traveling or that I have my own lil family to spend it with or the most anticipated arrival of Poole Baby, but I'm really feeling the holiday cheer.
Drink hot chocolate! Make gingerbread houses! Go look at Christmas lights! Do a Christmas craft! Watch Elf! Eat all of the buckeyes Tyler gave us in one sitting! Do another Christmas craft! Eat more buckeyes! Put peppermint in everything!

A lot of people tend to overdue it with decorations and treats and forgetting The True Meaning of Christmas.
I've spent some time self-evaluating, and I don't think I'm to that level. I just want to eat peppermint bark and listen to Christmas songs and wrap presents all the time. I just feel so excited about this holiday almost all the time.
Really I think this is a good thing. Because Christmas isn't supposed to be a stressful time. It's supposed to be a joyful time. And my heart has been so full lately.

Thank you, December 2011, for finally getting me in the Christmas spirit.





Some favorite Christmas albums/playlists:
Come Let Us Adore Him by The Lower Lights.
Good Tidings of Great Noise compiled by Angela Hardison. pt 1, pt 2
Christmas For the Ears compiled by some random 8tracks user.
A Very She and Him Christmas by She & Him.
Songs for Christmas by Sufjan Stevens.
And Jeff's favorite: Any Christmas song by Nat King Cole.