Christmas Weekend

Well, I can't believe we're already at the weekend before Christmas. Actually, the weekend is over and we're welcoming in Christmas Eve. Where has the time gone? It feels like yesterday was just Thanksgiving and we were still getting all of the decorations, music, and movies out to put to use, and here we are already almost getting ready to put them away.

It seems like there used to be so much time as a kid to truly enjoy the season, and even a bit in high school. There were Christmas parties to plan and performances to attend, whether it was with the choir or a play at school, and the older you get, the less festivities there are to get wrapped up in. I used to look so forward to all of those things, but now that I'm in college, there aren't many things other the usual movie watching and listening to music to do, or there just isn't enough time. Its been especially hard to do a lot of things on the weekends that we might usually do, like going out to CALM's holiday lights or trying things out in LA, because my dad works, but it has still been a really wonderful season.

Saturday:
Saturday, my dad had to work, so my mom and I stayed home all day. I slept in a little bit, but still woke up way earlier than usual, which was strange for me, but nice. We didn't do anything all day; I watched Boy Meets World, made collages, and other random things, just taking it easy (as always). I tried to help my mom program our garage door opener to the button in our car, but that did not work out like we wanted it to once again. I have to say it was pretty entertaining for us just trying, though.  But, as you can see, I had a lot of time for surfing the web and finding pointless things.

Throwback when I wrote Patrick Dempsey a letter and he sent this back! :) He's awesome!

Later that night, I made a Christmas playlist to get me in the festive mood, while getting ready for dinner with my grandparents. My parents and I met up with them at Outback. We hadn't really eaten all day, so I was starving, and completely out of it. I was quiet most of the time, not really feeling like I had much to say about anything, but it was still a lot of fun. And the food was delicious! 

When we finished dinner, we said goodbye to my grandparents and came back to our house, then out again to Target. I ended up buying Something Borrowed and some festive Kardashian nail polish, so I was extremely excited. We stopped for ice cream at McDonald's after that, which meant our last peppermint treats of the season, more than likely, and headed out to a pretty well known area in town for Christmas lights. Not only are they gorgeous houses, but everyone tends to go all out for it. We listened to Christmas music and laughed a ton, whether it was crazy singing or quoting Elf. Plus, we saw Santa and one of his elves walking down the street, which is not something you see everyday, even during Christmas. 

We came home. I watched The Office, and went to bed a few hours later.

Sunday:

"This is my favorite day!"

Angela (The Office)

Yesterday was the special Christmas service at church. We sang a couple songs during worship like Joy To The World, and a few regular worship songs, which was nice. The service was incredible. Our pastor talked about how Christmas is all about hope. Jesus changed everything when He came to this earth, and that was the whole point. We can have strength, security and serenity, knowing that God has everything under control even when we have no clue what we're doing. 

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you...Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." 

John 14:27

(one of my favorite verses and themes for the year)

We visited with a good family friend after the service, and headed out to lunch after that. We ate at PF Changs, which is one of my favorites, and it did not disappoint this time. And for some reason, our waitress reminded me of Emma Stone! She was fun and had a perky attitude. When we finished, we headed home, rocking out to Nsync, which was AWESOME! But, when we got back to our house, my dad realized he'd forgotten his phone, so we turned back around. Luckily, that only took about 5 seconds, then we ran into Target. It seems that we've practically lived there this week for pretty much everything we've needed. Not that I'm complaining, seeing as I love Target, just merely making an observation. It wasn't as busy as I was thinking it would be, so we were able to get in and out. 

We came home, and I spent the rest of the afternoon in a pretty relaxed state. I wasn't feeling the greatest, so I made my room dark except for the Christmas lights around my window, while watching The Holiday. I turned my phone off and simply watched the movie. That's not something I do very often, but it was nice not feeling obligated to keep checking my phone, like some big offer was about to come my way and I couldn't miss it. I forgot just how much I love the movie. 

When I was done, I joined my parents in the living room where we watched a ton of festive recorded programs from our DVR, like Lady Antebellum's Christmas concert, CMA Country Christmas, and later on, Christmas with the Kranks. We ordered pizza and just relaxed! But even I had trouble staying awake during the Kranks. I was feeling incredibly wiped out, and it didn't help that the room was dimly lit with only our Christmas tree glowing really. 

Around 10:30 or so, we ran to the store to get some last minute things for Christmas dinner. We weren't there long at all, and I got an itunes card, so I'd say it was a pretty successful trip. It was a little too empty when we walked outside. It felt like one of those moments in movies when people get mugged, because there's absolutely no one else around to witness it. Kinda freaked me out, but we were in the car again soon enough.

I spent the rest of the night buying a few things on itunes, wrapping a couple presents, watching Christmas episodes of my favorite shows, and editing pictures. I was feeling extremely sick and knew I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway, so I might as well get something accomplished. I also finally watched the Christmas episode of The Vampire Diaries. I was pretty impressed, but I'm hating the Damon and Elena scenes right now. I know it'll serve a purpose later on in the season, but still...We've all just waited too long for this moment to come. Why does it have to start out like this???

Anyway, that's all for now,

Shelby :)