Christmas = More Christ

Christmas is, no doubt, the best time of year. Why? People are more giving, more forgiving, more understanding, more patient, more friendly, more appreciative, more loving. They are more Christlike. I wish every day of the year felt like Christmas.

Jake and I were all by ourselves this year at 2,000 miles away from the nearest family. We missed them a LOT but we were also able to keep the stress of the holidays to a minimum. In the words of a good friend Paul Keep, or as I like to call him, PK.... "It was a good day." And if you all knew PK, then you would know that "a good day" is quite the statement.

The Festivities:

Soon after Thanksgiving.... we got a Christmas Tree! The Farmers Market is my favorite place to get produce around here, and they just happened to have some beautiful and inexpensive North Carolinian trees that caught our attention. We were in the Geo, unprepared, but it still worked.

Christmas morning we had the alarm clock set to give us 1/2 an hour to get ready and we actually made it to church on time. I guess one-half hour is all we really need. The church choir sang and it didn't sound like angels but I appreciated it nonetheless. The story of Joseph and Mary was recited and we left with squishy feelings.

When we got home we made eggnog & cinnamon toast (a Shumway tradition) that will be carried on for many years to come because it's a kick-A tradition. It's the perfect Christmas breakfast. Well, if my mom had been here to make biscuits and gravy, I wouldn't have complained about a breakfast like that either.

I would love to say that we had a classic Christmas movie playing in the background throughout the day, but in all honesty, we started watching the second season of HEROES. Yes, it gets more cheesy. And yes, I will watch whatever I want to watch on Christmas even if it's a Sunday Christmas.

We opened gifts that our loving parents had mailed us. The FedEx guy could've thrown our package and it probably would've been okay but I'm glad he didn't because Jake and I got some really really cool Aviator sunglasses................. and some cuddly hand stitched blankets. Cashews and Pumpkin Seeds. Mmmm. Thank you :)

Later on in the day our friends who own & operate a Thai Food Restaurant in town invited us to eat dinner at their place. I felt so special to be sitting in a restaurant that was closed to the rest of the public that day. Peet is from Thailand and she is an excellent cook. Jake wants to rename a menu on her item to be called "Hot Dang Panang."

Her husband Donald is a fabulous writer. Check out his website and buy his book. He's one of our favorite people here in Hartsville. Real. Nice. And real nice. After we finished dinner we helped Donald & Peet paint their kitchen because, well, it needed painting. I also learned how to play Fruit Ninja on the iPad. It takes no skill yet, I beat everyone else's score =)

And at the end of the day, Jake made me a pair of shoes. I'm not sure why he doesn't like me to brag about him, but he is amazing. He cooks, he sews, fixes all of our car problems, plays beautiful music, and he's handsome. His mama did grow him up good. I love him and his big headphones. Those are the same headphones I fell in love with 5 and half years ago.

Christmas was fun. It was relaxed. It was meaningful. It was.... a good day.