I'm Craving Christmas

to some of you this post will be ridiculous. but to the few, who may be like me, this makes perfect sense. let me explain. every year, at about this time, i start craving christmas. like really craving it. i know its a little silly, but i can't help it. i mean, christmas is THE best time of year. hands down. it makes me excited about every other time of year.

for example. i'm enjoying my summer. i really am. i love the traveling & lazy days. i love that my hubby is out of school & has more time to be at home with us. i love the longer days. i do not love the weather. i enjoy it for a few weeks. but if you live in memphis, or the surrounding areas, then you know how un-enjoyable the weather can be. i mean the humidity is out of control. by july, i'm ready for cooler days.

spring is always nice because everything is new again. i enjoy seeing the trees & flowers bloom. i even like the rain showers that come along. and of course, it gets everyone super excited about the impending summer & all its glorious freedoms.

fall is my 2nd fave time of year. lately, we've been having some cooler days & it is much appreciated. its made my longing for fall even stronger. i love it. i love the cooler days. i enjoy the fact that it gets darker earlier. and the much coveted extra hour of sleep is delish. i love that it brings football season. (yeah, your read that right. don't tell my hubby!) i love the changing colors, the harvest festivals, the hayrides, the pumpkins, dressing up silly and of course the treat of turkey day. so i can stuff my face without feeling bad about it! but my favorite part of fall: it comes right before winter & of course that means CHRISTMAS!!!

growing up, my parents always made the holiday season nothing short of incredible. we would start with black friday. the crazy shopping day after thanksgiving. my mom & i would get up early & hit the madness. we'd shop until our feet fell off. it was so fun. then that weekend we'd all pile in the car & go pick out THE tree. we'd take it home & decorate it that night. it was a staple in our family. that started our holiday season. my mom would set out a christmas advent calendar & every night before bed we'd fill the daily slot in the calendar, reminding us we were one day closer to christmas day. we'd have christmas parties & do more christmas shopping. we would visit with family, spend the evenings drinking hot chocolate & watching the christmas specials on tv. we always went driving around looking at christmas lights & of course, we were listening to christmas on the river in the car!!! my sisters & i would spend many a night in my dad's office, with a stereo playing christmas carols as we wrapped presents. we loved getting to decorate the house & seeing all the store christmas displays. we usually tried to make it to the enchanted forest or the singing christmas tree. but the week of christmas was always the best. each day was filled with something fun & exciting. which usually included us girls going out with daddy to shop for mom, last minute. just like a man! we NEVER took our tree down before mid-january. we just had to savor every last minute of the christmas spirit. i mean, it only comes once a year!

so. my parents are the reason that my sisters and I are addicted to christmas. now, don't think we got lost in the hype & we never knew the true meaning of the day. we did. every year, my dad would share the christmas story & as a family we would discuss the meaning of christmas & the season, JESUS. we would celebrate at church & at home the blessed birth of Christ, our Savior. as a christian i know that He is the reason that christmas is so very exciting! its because of the hope that we have in Him that we can celebrate all the other aspects of the holiday.

now that i'm married & blessed with Jack & this little one on the way, christmas is even more special. i love the little traditions that ben & i have already created for our family. i love that he & i make a date day out of black friday. some people call us mental, but we love getting out & shopping with the masses. we love stuffing stockings for each other, watching christmas movies & wrapping presents. we make starbucks a regular. but only for the one season. we love the caramel apple cider! my hubby has embraced my christmas spirit & he has so much fun with it. we love spending christmas eve with his family as we travel with them to all their friends houses & drop off christmas cookies! and we love spending christmas day with my family as we all gather to open presents, eat & watch christmas movies. we are especially excited about this year b/c jack will be 14 months old & so much fun. we can't wait to spend that time with him.

we've already discussed how we want christmas to be such a special & fun time for our kids. this doesn't mean we want to buy them 1000 presents but that we want them to enjoy the season & all that it represents. (not that they won't get plenty of toys, i'm sure!) we can't wait to teach them about Jesus & what He's done for us. we are looking forward to reading the christmas story with them. we want to teach them about why we as christians have so much to celebrate this time of year. but we're also looking forward to the silly things like: taking them to visit santa, leaving santa some cookies & getting up christmas morning super excited to see what santa brought them.

so i'm ready. already. i'm ready to celebrate Jesus. ( we should be doing this everyday anyways!) i'm ready to read the christmas story & praise God for the gift of Christ. i'm ready to spend time with family as we remember the reason for the season. but i'm also ready to sing christmas carols, look for the jingle bell rock ( a tradition i share with my sisters). i'm ready to shop (which i'll begin doing in october b/c my family is huge!) i'm ready to bake cookies, eat like crazy, look for christmas lights, visit santa, decorate the tree & my house, go to christmas parties, watch holiday movies (gotta love christmas vacation with the griswolds!!!!) & enjoy the splendor that is christmas!!!! i'm so glad that my sisters get just as excited as me! most of my other friends think i'm crazy. i don't wish away the time. i'm thankful for everyday that the Lord gives me. every season of the year is fun & they have their own advantages. my best friend growing up, always thought i was nuts! she covets the summer time but i crave winter & christmas!!!

so you may be thinking "come on audrey. you're ridiculous. christmas is forever away. stop thinking about it" but i say to you. "check out my ticker at the top of my blog! it's only 157 days away!!!!! so get excited people!" Merry Christmas!!! (in july!)