Holly Jolly

The Fun of Christmas

I know that Christmas is over and passed, however, this is my Christmas is the Reason for the Season post! This Christmas was no doubt one for the books in every good way possible. Filled with the love of my family, the joy of my friends, the hope of seeing the next step in life coming true and the determination of my creativity, happiness was all around. Let's start in the most simplest of forms. The wrapping paper!! Usually, Ryan and I purchase different kinds of wrapping paper that represent each person in our families. We find one that reminds us of them or perhaps has a celebrity or character that the person is into ... sometimes we even find one that is the complete opposite of who they admire just to poke fun. This year, I wanted to take it to the next level for myself. I wanted to keep it personal and fun but make it unique to who they are.

Utilizing a simple technique that I learned in the past, I ventured to Asel Art and pick up some handy speedy carve blocks. Really considering what everyone was into in terms of style and culture, I decided to choose a symbol for each member of my family. Ryan, being the sweet nerd he is, got a Darth Vader inspired wrapping paper design. Cindy and Stella both received flora inspired symbols, common to Christmas ... a poinsettia and holly (which I must say were probably two of my favorites). Zach, being the wonderfully inspiring fitness guru of the family, received a kettebell (yes, the 100 is backwards, oops). Our current teenage terror of the family, Noah, received CC which is the symbol of his high school. For Ron, I carved a deer's silhouette. I thought it appropriate, him being our dad and all. The deer just symbolizes strength and masculinity for me. Moe, being truly in love with her little dachshund, got just that! Modeled to look like Shorty, it definitely was a great choice. Shelby, Zach's girlfriend, one of the sweetest and kindest people ever, was the simplest carve I had ... a little arrow. Finally, this year, us cousins decided to do a gift exchange between us. I chose Chris who is a star at lacrosse! So, of course, fittingly, I carved a lacrosse stick. It was fun and kept me quite busy during the already slightly hectic season. I will no doubt be experimenting with this process in the future.

When it comes to our Christmas tree, I believe it is safe to say, that we all prefer a fresh-cut tree to an artificial one any day. Lucky for us, Devine Acres Farm is not very far and a wonderfully friendly, welcoming place that allows us to choose our tree and cut it down ourselves. We were fortunate enough to have chosen a beautiful sunny day to drive out and roam around the tree farm in search of the perfect tree. Finally coming across ideal pickins. Noah spotted a splendidly shaped tree. With wispy branches but still strong and strongly saturated in pure pine color, Zach and Noah got right to work sawing down the tree. The photo below is of them carrying the tree to the edge of the rows so that we could load it onto one of the trucks. We loaded up and really the kind people at Devine Acres did the rest for us. They shook the tree getting rid of loose branches and pine needles, "bagged" it up and loaded it into our truck. Such a fun time and definitely a tradition that will stick!

With all holiday and celebration seasons come tons of food and parties. This year was no exception! Let's begin with saying that I have some of the most wonderful of people as my friends (as close as family). We began last year a challenging tradition of picking names and getting gifts ... but that isn't all ... the gift MUST be handmade! You can purchase supplies to create whatever you choose to make, but your hands must have a part in deciding the end result! It is really a coin toss as to who loves this idea and who absolutely hates it but goes through with it because they end up having fun by the end. This year I was assigned to design something for my friend ET. Truly a challenging present hunt indeed! I finally came up with the idea of carving his name into a pair of beer mugs and wine glasses. They turned out pretty wonderfully for the price and lack of experience I had with the materials. Funny enough, ET chose me and with his incredible talent, got me a personalized, one of a kind leather, hand-stamped, completely awesome koozie. Everyone out did themselves this year. We also had some beautiful wall art, name plaque, wine bottle and glass wall hangar, wooden beer/tool holder, and personalized business cards. PLUS! The best dress attire you could possibly have ... ONESIES! The party couldn't have been more of a success.

Every year there are two major Christmas parties that we, as a family, look forward to. The Christmas Eve celebration with my mom's mom's family and a smaller, immediate family celebration with my dad's side of the family. This year, it was my grandmother's turn to host the Christmas Eve celebration at her home. We decorated the house beautifully, handed out food assignments and planned out seating, games, and fun for everyone! Christmas Eve went smoothly with delicious food, white elephant and left right center awarding my sweet great aunt Josie with the pot. We exchanged gifts and enjoyed the company of each other, especially since we see each other once a year for the most part. Then Christmas day rolled around and it was time to head over to Ron's to celebrate with the Salinas family! Travelling out to Spring Branch, we spend the day eating lots of great food, opening present, playing card games, singing and dancing, and remembering how special spending time with family is.