As of last year, I started dreading the holiday season not because of the typical stresses that is normally included with it but mainly because since I am on the Winter-Spring track at BYU-Idaho, that means I start school as soon as the holidays are over. So naturally, I'm a little reluctant to leave the comforts of home... The one silver lining about that is I already have a year of college done so I know what and what-not to do this time around. Plus, I still have relatives close by (and they're always happy to take me in! Benefits!).
But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the holidays. Christmas time for my family at least is pretty low key; we got the tree and some decorations out so at least we were attempting to show some holiday spirit. But surprisingly, this year I found it a little difficult to have that spirit; I can't pinpoint on an explanation as to why... Some of us were a little under the weather unfortunately, and that probably contributed to it. I also tried to listen to Christmas music at home and while driving around town but that seemed to do little to remedy the lack of Christmas spirit. Of course we're one short in our family this year, with my younger sister currently serving her mission in Singapore; she was pretty good at bringing in the Christmas spirit at home in the past.
But we tried to have a good time and all. We're low key because well, we're poor. But that's okay because we realized a few years back that we don't really need a lot of material objects. The holidays officially start at Thanksgiving. The Friday after Thanksgiving is Black Friday; I am still appalled at how people would be celebrating a day meant to have a heart full of gratitude and then get all materialistic afterwards all in an attempt to get their shopping done with some of the lowest discounted prices around. The holidays have become overly commercialized; some places worse than others.
For the last couple Christmases since moving to Oregon, we've been so poor that what we would get for Christmas couldn't even compare with what a lot of people usually get. Again, we were alright with that; my sisters and I are old enough and grown to understand the true meanings of the holidays and we're okay with very little material things received on Christmas morning. For our family, the Christmas season is where if we find something for somebody that we know they're going to enjoy and use, get it but don't overdo it. The first time around was actually pretty sad because my dad was unemployed at the time and we didn't get any Christmas decorations out; we lacked any real motivation due to the fact we had just moved across the country and a list of other reasons I can't think off the top of my head. We even went to have lunch at Burger King on Christmas Day (mainly because it was the only place even open). That's sad, isn't it? But believe it or not, that has become a tradition for us to repeat. Again, we were fine with that because we were just grateful to be together as a family.
I wish I could say the same of this year with my sister currently serving a mission but I'll say it again: she is where she needs to be. Speaking of my missionary sister, of course we would get to talk to her on Christmas via Skype (technology is amazing). It was just nice to see her face and know that she's doing well and she's finding joy in the service of the Lord. We also tried to find time to play games as a family and that's always pretty fun. We had a lot of fun playing rounds of Rummy, something my parents taught us all to play years ago.
From a Church standpoint, I found time to meet new friends and get to spend time with them, which I am also grateful for...
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| All great people! |
Truth is, I haven't even heard from or seen a lot of my old friends from high school so I went out and made new friends to do fun things with. Most of them are in the YSA Branch I attend while at home so I spent time with them at Church activities and Family Home Evenings regardless. And then there's always the annual YSA New Years party to close out the year. For me the holidays have become much more than just traditions and materialism. For me, it's about the quality of it from different aspects and going the extra mile a little bit more, year by year. "Going the extra mile" meaning trying something new and spending time with different people when opportunity allows.
With school around the corner, it's time to enjoy the opportunities at hand and make preparations for greater opportunities packaged with the new year. With an attitude like that, the possibilities are endless. As one of my favorite Reno Air Races t-shirts say:
Happy New Years everyone!
