Christmas!!! and taking it with me into the new year

HOLY COW!!!!!!!! Christmas finally came!!!!!! i don't know that i typically start thinking a whole lot about Christmas until the fall arrives and, though i usually start pulling the Christmas music out in September or so, it doesn't occupy a good chunk of my brain space until around Halloween-time. but this year was different. i bought the plane tickets for Mike and i to fly out to VA for Christmas in June or July so i started telling people about our planned trip way back then which got me pretty excited about it right from the beginning :) it had been about 4 years since my family had a Christmas where everyone was home together to enjoy it - i was on my mission in Seattle one Christmas, Megan serving her mission in Long Beach the next, and then Mike and i here in MN for the following Christmas because we had just gotten married and couldn't afford to fly out to VA. so there are the past few Christmases to set the scene. and looking towards the future on top of that, with Megan and Josh's getting married and being poor and in school, and the likelihood of Hilary following suit (with the married part anyway) in the next year or two who knows when we'll all be together for Christmas again. (p.s. i suppose we are poor and in school also so that is not to single them out or anything ;) so i feel justified in using the word EPIC to describe this event! from talking to my manager at work i found that even others were looking forward to this trip FOR us because of the excitement i'd been projecting about it:

Me: Sharon! I can't WAIT to be in VA for Christmas!!!!!!!!!
Sharon: Jaime, I am excited FOR you because of how much I know you've been looking forward to it!!

haha :) well in my mind Christmas is worth being excited about and so i'm glad i could project that Christmas excitement to other people and hopefully get them filled with happiness and anticipation too!

basically everything about our trip was wonderful!!! here are just a few of the highlights in no particular order. to write them all would take...well about 9 1/2 days since that's how long we were there ;)

vacation! - i can't deny that having a chunk of time designated such that the pressure/stresses of work, normal schedule, school, and all that external stuff were very minimal if not present at all for most of the people involved in this trip was GLORIOUS!!!! never underestimate the power of taking a break from all that keeps you busy in everyday life :)

people i love! - obviously seeing my family was a BIG part of what i was excited about!! i get to talk to my mom and dad every sunday but getting to SEE them and in particular on vacation as i mentioned was something i was REALLY looking forward to. i feel like my mom specifically was much more relaxed and carefree than i've ever seen her so that made me really happy to see :) i text with haleigh periodically throughout the week, but being able to receive a big haleigh hug and hear her boisterous laugh were two things i couldn't wait for :) hilary is so busy at school with all the things she is involved in and i don't get to talk to her much so i was excited to reconnect with her and to make her laugh and/or roll her eyes at me as much as possible ;) [which btw i feel like i got way more laughs this time than normal! score!! her sense of humor must be developing much more into what it should be for that to happen ;)] megan and josh have been out of the country since the latter part of august so the communication with them has been less than what i am used to with megan although we did exchange some delightful emails towards the end of their trip :) but face-to-face is always better!! also i hadn't had much of a chance to hang out with josh when i met him for the first time at their wedding (for obvious reasons) so i was really looking forward to getting to know my new brother better! he's the only one i have here and i've never had a Christmas morning with a brother there so what a new experience! :) also it was so nice to see Grandma Dolly!! she is such an awesome lady :) so nice and pretty funny too! we went over to her house as a group for several of the holiday festivities, but Mike and i were able to go out to lunch with her one day too while we were there which was really great :) Anny also flew out to VA to be there for a few days after Christmas and i always love being around her - she is such a happy, kind person and it feels nice to be around her :) i wish that we could hang out with her and dane more often! having several states in between us does make that difficult though...

i love and appreciate old friends even more these days since i live in a place where i am away from so many of the friends i've made over the years. i have found that at times it is more difficult to make friends in the places that i used to look to for creating friendships since those people may be at different stages in their lives which aren't so conducive to having lots of time to do much friendship-building. one of my favorite parts of our trip was that one of my best friends ever from our BYU days, Kim, was able to take a road trip up to my parents' house with her husband Tim and their new baby Addison to visit us!!! their trip was short but the little time that we did have to spend together was priceless and i treasured every minute of it!! it was so kind of them to make that several hour trip up from GA to visit!! i was able to get to know Tim a little better since the only time i'd met him before was at Kim's wedding last december (and again, for obvious reasons didn't get to talk to him much! i need to start getting to know people before their wedding day when they're too busy to talk! :) i was also able to meet their little girl Addison who is so beautiful and seemed to be a very happy baby. we would have to ask Kim and Tim their thoughts on that though to confirm or deny it since they are the experts ;) i really wish that they lived closer because friendship with them comes so easily and is so fun! we have a lot in common! it was great to see Mike enjoying their company as well. we'll have to get together sometime in the future for certain!!!

traditions! - old traditions, new traditions...i love them all!!! it has been interesting to me to marry into a family with far fewer traditions than those of the family i grew up in. mike didn't have very many traditions associated with Christmas so last year when we just had our own Christmas morning here in MN we adopted most of my traditions - which i was very okay with because i love them so much! but i kept feeling like i was running the show since Mike didn't have too many things he had grown up doing. anyhow we really enjoyed the well-established traditions of caroling, Christmas Eve party at Gma's along with dad's bday celebration, opening presents one by one on Christmas morning (aka afternoon and into the evening haha), sharing Christmas memories, trip to D.C. temple to see the lights, and lots of yummy treats constantly surrounding us just to name a few :) we are excited and welcome the new traditions of writing notes to family members to put in each person's heart box, combining resources to help a struggling person or family have a better Christmas, and daddy-daughter/daddy-son and mommy-daughter/mommy-son outings :) i may have to write another blog on those but for now we'll just leave it at that :) "traditions are the glue that holds a family together" and i felt so close to my family as a result of doing all these things together and making so many wonderful memories!

i better stop there before i completely lose track of time reminiscing, but all of those things combined with the joy of celebrating our Savior's birth and the peace and the love that Christmas always bring into my life made for an absolutely amazing holiday for me and seems to have left me stronger as a person. my love for the Savior as i've taken the time to appreciate and contemplate more on His life have rejuvenated my spirit and filled me with a glorious joy of life and the gospel and people in general :) the love i've felt from friends and family has reminded me that i am not alone and i have been blessed immeasurably to have such incredible people in my life. being able to share my beloved family traditions with my husband first-hand and being with him in my parents' love- and gospel-filled home has strengthened our resolve to create a similar home where all who enter feel welcomed and at peace from the weariness that the world can bring, and where we know that our future children will feel safe and be able to grow in truth and righteousness. these feelings are ones that i don't want to fade away as Christmas memories and feelings seem to do so quickly with the world in general as the new year brings a return to the daily schedule and tasks and moves us one calendar page at a time from that blessed Christmas day. i've been making an effort to fill my life with the gospel, with continued contact with my family, with activities that bring me joy and fulfillment, and with acts of love and kindness for Mike and for those other people that are around me so that i can keep that Spirit of Christmas that i felt so strongly while at home and do not want to let go of. i am resolved to go over my talk from last year about keeping Christmas with you and if you are looking to hold firmly to the Christmas spirit you've felt over the last few weeks then i encourage you to click on the link there to that blog entry and read it too! hopefully it will help in your endeavors :) i have also really enjoyed a song that my dad posted on his blog not too long ago about keeping the Spirit of Christmas with you throughout the year:

happy two weeks after Christmas and merry rest of the year everyone!!!!!!! :)