The Christmas Tree

A Christmas tree is an important part of the holidays. When I was younger, we always made a whole day of going out and getting our tree. There was a place nearby that you could cut down your own tree, any tree you wanted for only $20. We would spend seriously all day picking out the best tree. I loved getting huge ones that were too tall to fit in our living room. Now we usually don't take the drive to cut down our tree, we just go to the local hardware store and pick out a dinky one. It's not as fun but the principle is still the same. The best part of the tree is decorating it. I love picking up all the old ornaments that I and my siblings have made throughout the year. We always take a long time putting them on and listen to Christmas music while we do so. There are old ornaments from my first Christmas and craft projects I made in Girl Scouts and Grammar School. 

A Christmas tree always puts me in the holiday mood. I love the smell of pines. It always reminds me of my favorite day of the year. My grandma likes to get a fake tree, but I can't stand them. They are not the same. I also love seeing everyone's trees. I think a tree can say a lot about your personality. Some people pick tall skinny trees while others pick tiny ones. I love walking into my friends and family's homes and see their own personal touches on their Christmas tree.

Christmas Eve

The day before Christmas is almost as fun as Christmas. Everyone is doing their very last minute shopping and wrapping gifts like crazy. In my family we have a tradition where we have a Secret Santa with just the 5 of us. We get to open these gifts on Christmas Eve. The day is typically busy so we eat dinner, watch a movie, and exchange our gifts. I love this part of the night. We start to wind down and relax before all the excitement to come. When we each get our gift, it occupies us for the rest of the night until it is time to go to bed. Every year on Christmas Eve, my mom buys us each a new pair of pajamas. I love pajamas and when everyone takes your picture on Christmas morning you want to look cute so this is the perfect solution. 

Shopping

If you go to the mall anytime after Thanksgiving, actually make that Halloween, you will be forced into the Christmas spirit. They play Christmas music in every store and advertise great gift ideas. I personally love Christmas shopping. I usually go by myself. Going with someone else is fun too, but I am an unusually slow shopper so many don't like to put up with me. I like to browse and put a lot of thought into my gifts. I see someone I want to get for someone but I always get nervous it's not perfect or that as soon as I leave the store, I'll find an ever better one just around the corner. Eventually I always find the perfect gift for everyone. I am usually overly joyed to give this gift. I love giving a really good gift to someone. Something you know that they will love, something that they never expected but are so happy to receive. When I see the smile on my friends faces, I know it was worth all my hard present finding time. I love watching people open presents. Even if they don't like what they got, its fun to see how they react just to be polite or if they love it, I like to see how grateful and excited they are. Gifts aren't always superficial, they come from the heart and watching someone you love open a present that is just what they always wanted, you will see one of the many joys of Christmas.

The Day After

It's funny how all the hype and gifts and anticipation are all saved up for one day. The 25th is full of non stop movement and excitement but what happens after. December 26th. This day must feel so sad, he was so close to being everyone's favorite holiday. No one counts down to December 26th. 

I personally really enjoy this day. All the presents are still under the tree, you get to put on a brand new outfit, and my mom always takes us out on this day. It is a tradition that my mom takes my brother, my sister, and I to the mall to make any necessary returns, pick up a last minute gift, or spend our gift certificates. This day is more of a relaxing day. Just as good as the day before but without all the stress and pressure. You get to look at each of your gifts individually and enjoy them. You get to eat left overs and enjoy yourself.

Christmas Cookies

For Thanksgiving, my family went to my grandparents house. They pretty much made all the food but my mom made a couple of things to bring with us. The best thing she made were cookies. Around the holidays, cookies are a very popular food. There are chocolate chip, peanutbutter, sugar, and many many others, but my favorite are these cookies my mom makes. I don't even think these cookies have a name. They sound really weird when I describe them, but if you ever tasted them you would know why I love them so much. They are saltine crackers with a butter and sugar mixture poured over top of them. You bake this so the mixture gets hard like toffee and then melt chocolate chips on top. Once they are out of the oven, you put them in the refrigerator to get hard and when they come out, you break them apart and eat. These cookies sound so obscure and when I explain what they are people usually make a funny face, but do not knock it until you've tried it. Since these cookies are obviously horrible for your heart and are extremely fattening, my mom usually only makes them around the holidays. These cookies are a special and they always make me think Christmas with my mom.

Christmas Morning

When we are young the best part of Christmas is obviously the morning when we get to open our presents. The night before we can hardly fall asleep because of all the excitement, and the morning of the 25th we wake up so early to bug our parents. Ever since I was little I can remember waking up early and sneaking into my brother's room to wake him up. We would sit there at 5 in the morning waiting until 8 when our parents would finally climb out of bed to watch us open our gifts. Him and I would sit and talk about what we hope Santa brought us and how excited we were for our favorite day of the year. Ever since we've gotten older, this tradition has slowly died out. Now I would love to sleep until 10 on Christmas morning but my little sister likes us to wake up early and every time I want to say "let me sleep" I remember my brother and I and how much this morning meant to us. I remember how I was so full of anticipation I thought I would explode. Sometimes I wish Christmas still felt as wonderful as it did when I was 8. I still enjoy it but it doesn't have the same magic anymore. Now I feel like I'm just excited to see people I haven't seen in a while and get the gifts I already knew were coming. 

Christmas Movie Marathon

The last day of school before Christmas break, usually December 23, is basically a waste of a school day. We do nothing in class but eat candy and talk about what we hope to see under the tree Christmas morning. Since my friends and I usually hang out after school on half days, this day of my sophmore year was no different. Two of my best friends and I headed back to my friend Becca's house. We had nothing to do but we were excited for the holidays, so we decided to watch a movie that my other friend Rebecca had never seen, Elf. If you have never seen it.. please go watch it right now. It is so funny. It has Will Ferrell as a human who grew up in the North Pole and heads to New York to find his father. After the movie was over, we kept quoting our favorite parts and laughing nonstop. We decided to watch it again to make it even better. Of course it was even funnier the second time. Pretty much we stayed up all night eating food and watching the same movie over and over again. We threw some other Christmas movies and finally went to bed around 4 am. The next day was Christmas Eve and I know I always have trouble falling asleep because of the anticipation of the next day, so our movie marathon made it easy for me to fall asleep. The next year we made it a tradition. The CMM. This time we invited a big group of people and watched a lot of different movies. We kept it going and have been doing it for 3 years. This is one of my favorite parts of Christmas. It's where my friends and I exchange our gifts and have our little holiday get together before everyone leaves for vacation or goes off to see their relatives. It is a tradition that I hope carries on for a long time.