mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again

It IS beginning to look a lot like Christmas, isn't it?

Everywhere you go, in fact. (i think i'm funny)

I have SO much to do this December! 

TOP TEN FAVORITE CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES:

1. THE LIGHTS AT TEMPLE SQUARE

this is one of my favorite activities. ever. whether it's with a boy, my family, or just some cute girlies, travelling down to sacred Temple Square to see the gorgeous lights and hear the beautiful music is always something i look forward to. i can't wait to go this season! there are always great surprises to behold.

2. CHRISTMAS GIFT EXCHANGES

this has become a season tradition. me and five of my best girl friends get together (third year running) and we have a gift exchange complete with dinner, chatting, and christmas movie. it is such a great time because we are all together and reminiscing and creating new memories. i hope to start more traditions like these with more of my friends.

3. CHRISTMAS MUSIC

so. i've posted about christmas music before. sort of not really (that as like a "not only, but also"). anyway, christmas music warms my soul. every time i hear it the true meaning of christmas fills every fiber of my being and i can walk around with the love of the holidays in my heart. think i'm being dramatic? story: i went on a date, and one of my fave christmas songs came on (where are you christmas by faith hill). i decided to tell my date that that song was the frist christmas song i heard, and it was such a great kickoff to my holiday season that i started tearing up. yeahhh....probs not the best "fun fact about me" i could've thought of for a date. but, i heart the song. so...yeah.

4. ICE SKATING AT GALLIVAN CENTER

i have to go skating at the Gallivan Center at least once every winter. being outside is the bomb.com for skating...it creates an atmosphere unlike any other. a cold atmosphere, yes, but one that christmas would be nothing without. make sure to pack your gloves!

5. CHRISTMAS MOVIES

rudolph, frosty, the grinch, charlie brown, elf, santa claus, abominable snowman, herbie the elf, a christmas carol, sitcom christmas episodes....there are so many great things to watch! one movie i can't go without watching is the grinch. for some reason, i LOVE that movie. also, i have to watch at least one claymation christmas classic. i hope christmas break brings many-a-movie maraton. or else i might die. 

6. DECORATING THE TREE

decorating the christmas tree is a PROCESS at my house. we usually don't get our tree till the week before christmas (it has to be just right (so right in fact, that sometimes we don't get it till christmas eve)). once we get the tree put up and all the furniture in our front room rearranged at least 3 times, it's time for lights. my dad has to do them a certain way, or else he (or my mom) will take them down and they'll have to be done over again. this usually takes a few days. finally, when the lights are on, we can begin decorating the tree. my mom has a certain order of ornamenting. is that a word? ornamenting? anywho, we have thousands of ornaments that have been willed to my mom, or she bought in europe, or that are precious to her. they are so precious that no one is allowed to touch them except for her. but then everyone else gets in trouble for not helping decorate the tree. so then we all try to pitch in, but we end up getting in trouble for touching and "untouchable" or putting and ornament in the wrong place. once the tree is completed, my favorite thing to do is to sleep on the couch by the light of the tree. it makes every second of the decorating part worth it.

7. CHRISTMAS ELVES

ever since i can remember, christmas elves have visited my house. starting december 1st, we get little gifts from the elves that keep track of us to make sure my little sister and i are being good girls. some of those gifts have been a chocolate orange, lip gloss, gift cards, socks, and advent calendars. oh those elves are so clever. each morning, we receive our gift and a note from the elves, and we write them back each night before we go to bed. this tradition is still exciting, and i'm very upset that it's the first christmas i won't be able to partake in the elve tradition.

8. WHITE ELEPHANT

my family holds an annual white elephant party. we all get together and bring absolutely heinous gifts to exchange. the standart rules apply, and there have been fights over gifts. my dad got a t0upee one year. it looked real. disgusting. i love this because it's another chance for my whole family together and laugh and have a grand time. after the white elephant party, we have snowballs. snowballs are balls of ice cream with chocolate in the middle, coconut on top, and a candle in the middle. delish. family, food and love. nothin better.

9. THE NUTCRACKER

every year since i was three, my family has gone to Ballet West's Nutcracker. of course i'm bias, but this is the most beautiful production of the ballet. once we got old enough, my cousins and i began to audition to be a part of the Nutcracker. my cousin patricia was a buffoon before i was old enough to audition, and watching her made me realize i HAD to be up on that stage. luckily, two years later, i auditioned and got cast as a party girl! i was the yellow family (family 1), and i got to do a special dance with clara and another girl. what more could an 8 year old want!? i was in the same cast as my cousin, and we had a ball. the next year, my cousin and i tried out again, and i got a call back for clara!! alas, i didn't get it...but both my cousin and i got to be in "clara's court". my younger cousin was a buffoon in our cast, and we got pictures taken together. presh. i have so many happy/frightening memories of the Nutcracker: i LOVE all of the dancing, and how pretty clara looks in her cute pink tutu. i was forever scarred by the horrifying mother buffoon head. it looked like a clown, which i'm deathly afraid of, and it'd look out over the audience and wave. i started to cry once. another thing that scared me was seing santa come across the stage in the sled on christmas eve. i know santa is jolly and everything, but seeing him terrifies me. don't ask me why. but, i hope i get a chance to see the Nutcracker again this year!

10. CHRISTMAS EVE/DAY

on christmas eve, my little sister and i get new pajamas, and we get a new ornament to hang on the tree (yes we can touch them). oh, grandpa gets new pjs as well. then, it's off to bed. in the morning, we have to wait till my dad is up...which ends up being like...1 o'clock. to make it worse, santa puts a sheet up to cover the opening into our front room so we can't see a dang thing. pure torture. my mom gets busy in the kitchen making her famous christmas casserole and coffee cake. my uncle ed and aunt phaedra come over and bring some fancy new food for us to try. we eat breakfast, and wait for my sister, her husband and cute children to come over so we can open presents. the sheet is taken down and the presents are revealed. elation. joy. ecstasy. as much as i love getting gifts, i love giving them more. seeing a person's happy gratitude after opening a gift i gave them is the best feeling. the true meaning of christmas, maybe? 

I cannot wait to begin my christmas traditions. as soon as the death trap that is finals week is over, it's off to joy, peace and love land. 

ps...i typed in "pictures of santa" to google images, and this was one of the first pictures:

diiiiisturbing.