Why Christmas Was Awesome

Well, once again Christmas has come and gone. I am always a bit sad the day after Christmas. The holidays are such a magical time of year. I never want to see them end. I don't want to drive through my neighborhood streets and not see all the lights. Life always feels a bit darker post Christmas. Our mindset shifts away from love, family and service right back to work, responsibilities and to ourselves. It's depressing. I do have to say that this Christmas was really nice. There are several reasons...

It was the first "married Christmas" for Seth & I. In reality we have had 5 different Christmases together. Yikes!

Wow - those are some AWESOME pictures! Anyway - our first "official" Christmas wasn't exactly what we expected. We thought we would have our own place but I suppose we will have that to look forward to NEXT year. See how I look on the bright side of things?

It was also really nice to spend time with family. Last Christmas felt a bit sad because it was the first Christmas without Grandpa. This year however was really nice.

It is crazy to think that next year I will officially "come home for Christmas." I think that will make me love the holidays even more than I already to.

As usual it was great to spend Christmas Eve with family enjoying our big Italian feast!

Some highlights from Christmas include:

An impromptu dance party.

My Dad loves the new Miley Cyrus song "Party in the USA".

It's true....how weird.

My sister put it on her iPod player and everyone started dancing.

It was one of the more awkward and awesome moments of my Christmas.

Please take note of my pajamas. These were another great part of Christmas. Britney & Sean always get me awesome gifts. Seth and I each had full footsie pajamas. We looked awesome. I wish I had more pictures of us together. They were hilarious.

Another highlight was my darling nephew Drex. He finally took several steps on his own. This little guy has been a little wabbly on his feet but on Christmas night he finally walked. He stood alone, walked about 7 steps and then clapped. It was too damn cute. Several of us got a little choked up. Too cute.

Another highlight - ugly Christmas sweater day at work. The day before Christmas Eve we celebrated with an ugly sweater competition. Hilarious. Another reason why I love my job. I will miss it so much.

Truly though, the holidays are all about being with the ones you love. It was a good one - with more to come this week.

However - as much as I hate to see the holidays end - I LOVE the new year. I love a fresh start. I am big on New Year's resolutions. I love getting into a healthy diet and exercise plan. I love the sense of bettering myself. I love anticipating all of the new and wonderful things that are ahead in the year to come. I am thinking a lot about my resolutions. I'll post on this later.

Happy New Year!