Christmas To Me

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hun by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

Christmas is without a doubt my all time favourite part of the year! I love the decorations, the music, the meaning- and honestly, just the Christmas spirit that everybody you talk to has! Starbuck's cups are red (which is totally enough for me), radio stations are playing joyful happy music, there are lights EVERYWHERE- and children are probably the best behaved they've been all year! I am in love with every single thing about it and so is my family. 

When I was working with my dad after high school we had to drive an hour to and from work everyday- and we listened to Christmas music nonstop VERY early! My mom put the tree up in early November (if we weren't going to Florida for Christmas) and my dad would be playing Christmas hymns on the piano almost every day that he could!

In Canada we have our Thanksgiving in October and it's really not a big deal. Nobody decorates and we only have one day off of school or work. Thanksgiving in Canada is just not as meaningful as Thanksgiving in the States, plus it's over in October! We don't have 'Black Friday' the day after Thanksgiving, we have 'Boxing Day' the day after Christmas! We don't have a Thanksgiving Day parade, we have a Santa Clause Parade/Christmas Parade and guess what, it's November 15th!

My first semester at BYU-I I was amazed that people would literally fly back to their state to be with their family for Thanksgiving. I couldn't believe we got three days off of school or that people cared this much! Thanksgiving is like a big deal in America and that was weird for me, just like it's weird to all of the American's around me that I put my tree up as early as possible and I'm seriously jamming out to Christmas music at work.

That being said I have no problem honouring Thanksgiving while I'm living here! We are driving all the way down to Texas for a week for Thanksgiving! I love this holiday and how amazing and important it is in America, and I'm grateful for it! I love the atmosphere surrounding it too whether I have my Christmas tree up or not! 

To me, having my Christmas tree up just reminds me of how wonderful this season is! It does not directly signify Christ, but it does remind me of Him and this season! Having songs like Mary, Did You Know?, Come All Ye Faithful, and Joy to the World playing remind me of the amazing miracle of Christ's birth! Listening to these songs and having these decorations up do not take away from the honor and respect I have for Veterans on Veteran's Day/Remembrance Day. It does not take away my gratitude for my family and the blessings I have for Thanksgiving and does not make me less likely to celebrate that holiday as well! 

To me, Christmas has always been something we celebrate as long as we possibly can and whether I am living in America or Canada I will continue to celebrate it the same way! My husband knows that it's a huge deal to me and I know that Thanksgiving is important to him and we compromise and make sacrifices for each other to honour those Holidays!

He went out and bought me the Christmas tree I wanted and more decorations than we already had because it was important to me and that's what Christmas is! Christmas is about happiness and seeing the look on somebody's face when you give them something that means so much to them!