i'm dreaming of a white christmas

thank God that i finished all my finals on saturday! i dont know if i did good or bad this year but i guess i'll find out when santa clause comes to h-town. hehe, get it?? :p

speaking of christmas, i'm not really doing christmas this year. usually around this time i would be frantically writing christmas cards, decorating, and thinking of THE perfect gift for my friends and family. but this year, i'm just relaxing and not worrying about the hustle and bustle that's involved with christmas that seems to be taking over everyone's lives and their true "christmas cheer." i like to say that i'm "practicing advent" - whatever that means. haha. im trying to learn and figure out a way to celebrate Jesus' birthday that's not so commercialized and "of the world." i'm asking myself, how will i want to celebrate christmas with my future children? do i want to decorate the house with extravagent decorations, bake cute christmas cookies, spoil them with awesome gifts or do i want my kids to celebrate the joy and hope Jesus brought to earth through his birth? and if i want the 2nd way, how would i do that? what would that look like? so far, the only idea i've thought of is asking my kids to give away something to a friend that means a lot to them. any other ideas?

yes, i know, i am thinking way too far ahead with this how-to-raise-my-children business but this is just one way i figure things out and process. promise :).

this is also my first year to really think about "the true meaning of christmas" and how to celebrate christmas. i definitely havent figured it out and i even did some fun christmas-y things this year like decorate a tree in 207 and going to trail of lights - which i dont think are completely bad things to do. it's also probably easier for me to do this since i'll be partying it up in EUROPE during christmas this year :)! woohoo!

a 21-days devotional set evfree provided in our bulletin that leads you through passages in the old testament that prophecies Jesus' birth has also been really helpful. i've been reading some pretty neat stuff through these devotionals! if anyone's interested, let me know. i can make a copy for you :).

anyways, i hope everyone has a VERY merry christmas doing whatever it is to celebrate the birth of our savior. merry christmas!