This year, being a relatively chaotic year, has made the two of us think seriously about downsizing our Christmas.
In all honesty I've been thinking for months about how to decorate, especially since I knew we would have our own house by the holidays.
Salt dough ornaments, cinnamon ornaments, tons of buffalo print ribbon.
I wanted it to be simple, inexpensive, and a "country charming" feel.
However, the closer either of us got to the season, it felt forced. As in, why spend money on a tree when we haven't even finished unpacking?
In all honesty I've been thinking for months about how to decorate, especially since I knew we would have our own house by the holidays.
Salt dough ornaments, cinnamon ornaments, tons of buffalo print ribbon.
I wanted it to be simple, inexpensive, and a "country charming" feel.
However, the closer either of us got to the season, it felt forced. As in, why spend money on a tree when we haven't even finished unpacking?
It started with Jeremy suggesting that we not get a tree this year. The first year in 3 years we had room for a live tree again. I agreed with him on it, then disagreed, and now that we are a few days past Thanksgiving, I don't have the energy to even do it this year.
I'm still going to drag out our tiny table top tree, sans decorations. Just the little fiber optic lights to make it pretty at night in the living room.
Between the tree discussion and where I am now the thought of Christmas cards came into play.
I had Jeremy pack what we would be wearing and lug it to my parents house for Thanksgiving with the thought that we would do our annual trek to the Natchez Trace and take pictures.
Then the night before I told Jeremy to let my sister know she could sleep in, I wasn't dragging her out to take the photo.
We weren't taking a photo at all.
No Christmas picture.
I might buy some cute cards and send them to our family, but the effort and money I put into our Christmas cards every year just wasn't appealing.
Heck, I've said multiple times that the part of Christmas I enjoy the most is Christmas Eve. We all sit around eating appetizers and then grab some hot chocolate and look at lights.
Last year was hands down one of the best. On top of our usual Christmas Eve shindigs with our tiny family of 7 we dug out Nanny's recipe for tamales and had Pop teach us all how to roll tamales.
Times like that are what I love about Christmas. Being with my family who I rarely see, doing things we haven't done in ages, and hearing stories of the silly things Pop did when he was younger.
Not the presents.
The conversations and memories.
I can't tell you what I got for Christmas many years, but I can tell you what I did with my parents and grandparents. I can tell you the feeling of sitting around the table snacking, or sitting on the couch eating the newest Blue Bell flavor of ice cream with Pop.
I don't recall a single thing Granny Aida ever got me, but I do have a good laugh every time there is a good frost outside. The little Puerto Rican woman called us super early one morning, extremely excited and wanting Mom to send Laura and I out side to see the snow. Granted it wasn't snow, but she thought to call us to tell us to run outside and see what she thought was snow.
That's what Christmas is about.
Memories.
After this past year with everything Dad has been through, it's just nice to all be together.
10 years from now I won't even remember the lack of decorations, or what Jeremy bought me. I'll just remember the feeling of being together and some silly story that someone told.
So here's to a simple Christmas at our house, with lots of extra time for memories.
