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.

I know its early but..

There are only 43 days until Christmas. I'm sure most people are dreading the sounds of holiday music playing and the commercials for new gift ideas, but I am very excited. Every year the media starts even earlier with promoting the holidays and everyone always complains. Instead of complaining I wish everyone would savor the Christmas moments. See most people would like to not think about Christmas until at least December but I prefer to start early. I feel like we only get a short amount of time before the hype of the holidays is over. I love when you start to feel the bitter cold air and hear the sounds of Christmas music while you are defrosting in your car. I love how everyone's moods seem to change when they get into the Christmas spirit. I am just happy that now I can start my wishlist and turn on the radio and hear the sounds of the season. There are only so many days that we can sing carols and be merry, and I know I cannot wait until the holiday season is in full swing.