Over the River and Through the Woods

I was looking up some pictures for some different posts, and just because I love looking at pictures of freshly-fallen, undisturbed snow, and I came across this picture:

And immediately the song “Jingle Bells” popped into my head. So I decided to write a post dedicated to some of my favorite Christmas songs.

• “O Holy Night” – my favorite is Josh Groban’s, but I also love it because every year we attend the Christmas Eve candlelight service at St. Luke’s Methodist Church, the church where I grew up and where Tay and I became the fourth generation of my family to get married there. Anyway, Oklahoma City University music majors intern at St. Luke’s, and every year vocal and music majors come together to perform AMAZING music during the Christmas season, and every year a soprano vocal music major sings “O Holy Night” and every year it brings a few tears to my eyes.
• “Silent Night” – again, at the Christmas Eve candlelight service. At the end of the service, they turn out all the lights and the whole congregation sings “Silent Night” and it’s a great moment that brings everyone together. And for that moment it seems like the world is still and there is peace in everyone’s hearts, and everyone forgets who burned the roast or was late to dinner or did some wrong to someone else. And as it gets closer to Christmas and I hear “Silent Night” on the radio, it makes me so excited for Christmas Eve in the candlelight.
• “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” – I love it. It makes me think of Kevin McAlister’s schemes in “Home Alone” and how much he cared about his home and his family to come up with some of the craziest traps in the world. And it’s really fun to dance to with Tay when it’s just us at home (yes, he dances, on occasion).
• “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” “Joy to the World,” “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” and any other song that little kids sing in the children’s choir or at the Christmas concerts at school. I love how they are all off-key, a bit pitchy, and loud as heck because they all want their moms to hear them, and you can’t help but want to hug them all, even the one in front who’s picking his nose, or the little girl who doesn’t sing and just spends the whole time waving to her parents.

What are your FAVORITE Christmas/Holiday songs? I know I have more, but I want to read what you guys like…

A First Time for Anything

If you’re like me, you took a look at your calendar this morning and realized you have something almost every night from now until after the New Year. Our calendar is full of fun, family, and work events, as well as some “us” time scheduled in, which I am grateful for. It seems like every January we seem to look back on December and realize we saw each other less than we saw everyone else. *PLUS* This is our first “real-life” Christmas. Many couples count their events after their wedding as their “first Easter” or “first Thanksgiving” but we count everything as our “first real-life” event because these are the first events we have with both of us out of school and in the work force (that may not sound like much, but if you’ve ever had a spouse in graduate/law/medical school, I know you understand). So this year, instead of watching Tay study for finals, we get to do fun GROWN-UP stuff – or fun stuff that makes these almost-grown-ups feel like little kids again!

Here are some of the fun “first real-life” events we get to experience this year:

• First Thanksgiving with Taylor not leaving dinner early to work on outlines for class
• First 2 weeks of December where I actually get to see Taylor in the evenings, for longer than the 30 minutes he took out of studying to eat dinner with me
• First December in Oklahoma City
• First December where there isn’t already ice/snow on the ground
• First time we are going snow tubing at the Bricktown Ballpark!
• First time we BOTH have work Christmas parties
• First time I wasn’t so busy helping him study/stay sane that I actually have Christmas shopping done, presents wrapped, and cards sent out before December 24th
• First time we both have to request off work to visit the in-laws and friends
• First Christmas we won’t see Tay’s sister (we are SO sad!!)
• First Christmas we have put up a tree, decorations, and lights because it’s the…
• First Christmas we will be home to enjoy them!

The great thing about Christmas is that it’s always a great time for new beginnings, and for us as a newly married couple, it’s fun coming up with our own traditions.

WHAT ARE SOME FIRSTS FOR YOU THIS HOLIDAY SEASON?

-C-

Thankful!

Another thing I’m thankful for – Airfare Sales!

I bought our tickets to Phoenix to see Taylor’s family almost a month ago, after watching fares for over 2 months. But every fare I found back to Oklahoma City was almost twice what it cost to get out there. We had even begun to contemplate driving to Phoenix – 15 hours there and back. And 1,000 miles I do not really want to put on my car (hello, resale value!).

Luckily, on Monday, American Airlines decided to grace me with some slashed fares – and the lowest fare was at the time I wanted to come home! So now we can still spend most of the day we return with Tay’s family, and still be home at a decent (read: before our usual bed time) hour.