I can’t wait to see how Girlxoxo and Estella’s Revenge holiday for 2018 🙂

 

WED. Dec. 19 #AMOnthofFaves This is How We Holiday – Rep your home’s holiday look, share pictures of your holiday decorations. Christmas tree, your favorite holiday traditions, holiday festivities, favorite ornaments, places to go, holiday drinks, holiday eats, holiday themed reads.

 

Ok, so I’m no Grinch. I love the holidays. The look of the tree. The lights twinkling, sparkling, shining brightly. I love riding around looking for Christmas light displays. And Christmas movies.

But this year… oh man, I’ve been off my game. And it all started with Thanksgiving.

First, I could not keep it in my head that Thanksgiving was happening 11/22 and not 11/29 like I kept wanting to think. Then I was gone for 2 weekends in a row in November (Louisiana Book Festival and Callaway Gardens).

Then my niece came to town…. then a cold came to town.. and now it’s December 19th and the tree has been up less than 1 week.

Now if you’ve followed my blog, you know that i have a love/hate relationship with my Christmas tree. It’s 9 feet tall. It’s large. It’s the kind you have to put together limb by limb (seriously, it might be easier to wrestle a bear than get this tree up the stairs, unpacked, put up and decorated!) And I’ll admit that as I’m doing this…. I’m feeling a bit Grinch-y. But, when the tree is lit up and decorated…… it’s something else.

But this year…. because of much of what is listed above and other things..I just couldn’t deal with the 9 foot tree. So, I’ve put up the 7 foot tree that was bought a few years ago when the house was getting painted and no one had energy to put the 9 foot tree up.

 

These are some of my fave ornaments 🙂 I’ll be revealing my new fave ornament in my Instagram stories/Twitter  today…. so get ready to see that later on!

 

This is my family. From left to right: Mom, Little A, Hope (my SIL), Ron (brother), me, Dad and Miss A. This was last year’s Christmas photo.

The last time we got our you-know-what together to take a photo? 2012. Yep.

We’ve changed. Children have been added to the group. The walls have been re-painted (don’t the look so much better in hot chocolate?)

Last year, I said no one was leaving the house till we got a picture and I pretty much think I’ll say the same thing this year. Because it’s SO easy to skip the photos in the hustle bustle of getting to the next place. The table to eat the food. The living room to unwrap the gifts. And then people are leaving. Taking little kids home for sleepy time. Adults are heading home, to their rooms, to clean up the house. And NO ONE took a picture and we’ve got to stop it. We’ve got to start really making an effort to document the moments. Because while we think we’ll remember it all forever…. we really won’t.

 

This is the 2018 Christmas tree. It’s one of those 3 piece trees. It’s smaller around. It’s only 7 foot. And it’s got colored lights. It’s also got charm 🙂

 

Right now…. I’m digging the Colbie Calliat/Brad Paisley mashup of “Merry Christmas, Baby”.

 

Traditions? With the last few years being a hodge podge of people passing away, getting married, and moving off- Christmas is not the same as it was years ago. Change has happened and change can be good. I’m not sure if we had any traditions, honestly, or if Christmas was the same for many years because that was just how it was.

Christmas Day plan: Since the girls (my nieces) will be over for Christmas Eve so they can enjoy Santa Claus at their house- I plan on getting up Christmas morning, having a lovely cappuccino while I play with the cats and then hang out with my parents. There will be A Christmas Story viewing happening as well 🙂

 

*Did you decorate big for 2018?*

 

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Happy Reading and Bookishly Yours,

T @ Traveling With T