December 22nd -- Sneaking a peek at the tree in the middle of the night
For some reason, for as long as I can remember I have always loved waking up in the middle of the night to go downstairs and look at the Christmas tree by myself. I used to wake up a naturally in the middle of the night when I was younger, but as I've gotten older I sometimes will actually set an alarm to wake me up around 4/5am to get my tree time. This year I actually woke up naturally in the middle of the night last night, I was so excited! Of course I woke up because I needed to use the bathroom, but it turned into something much better. There is something so beautiful about being surrounded by silence for once, by myself, staring at a beautifully lit tree decorated with memories. It is one of my absolute favorite little things to do every year and I know that it's a tradition I will carry with me throughout my life. In all the hustle and bustle and chaos of the season, this is my own little moment of peace, serenity, and happiness. December 21st -- Family time
I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this, but my family is extremely tight knit. By family I mean my immediate family, extended family, and my boyfriend's family. I am incredibly blessed to not only have a huge family, but one that is so close, loving, and supportive. I thank God every single day for all of my family, and they will always be one of the most important things in my life. Let's start with my immediate family. If you've been following along you know my family consists of my parents, sister, brother-in-law, brother, three loving dogs, and myself. My family is sometimes messy, loud, and sarcastic sometimes but we are also always supportive, filled with humor, passionate, and caring toward one another. I would not trade them for anything in the world. Some of my favorite moments with my family are our Christmas traditions -- whether it's decorating the tree together, watching Christmas movies at least once every day of December together, having our big Christmas breakfast all together before we open presents -- my family time is my favorite time because no matter how old we all get that will never change. Onto my extended family. Every year on Christmas day my entire mom's side of the family -- it's about 40 of us spread through 4 different generations -- get together and celebrate. One thing you will never forget if you've been to one of my family parties is that we are amazing in the kitchen, especially when it comes to dessert! Sure, the appetizers and sangria are a pretty close second but dessert is something my family really has a gift for. Whether it's dad's cheesecake, Aunt Sandra's chocolate chip triangles, Aunt Lucille's krischickies or my grandma's apple pie -- everything is a special family recipe and everything is to die for. Finishing up with my boyfriend's family. Antonio's family has always made me feel like a part of their family since early on in our friendship before we started dating years ago. They have truly become family, and are some of the kindest and most generous people I know. I love getting together with them around Christmas because it is always so much fun and filled with coffee, coquito, and amazing Puerto Rican food made by his mom -- seriously she is the best when it comes to seasoning literally anything. No matter what branch of my family I am with at any given time I am always so filled with genuine happiness and love. I am very fortunate to have such a wonderful family that is always so welcoming and accepting of everyone. I know this is something not a lot of people have which makes me cherish it all the more. I love every single part of my family, and spending time with them around Christmas is all the more special. December 20th -- Songs about the birth of Jesus
I know I'm a little behind with this post, but I'm staying up late to catch up! These past few days have been so hectic with my latest pop-up shop and I needed to make sure I was taking care of myself by getting enough sleep beforehand. Now that it's passed we can focus on today's theme. It has been established time and time again that I love Christmas music, especially the songs that relate to the bible and true meaning of Christmas. While I have already gone into detail about the songs from Mary and Joseph's perspective's, now it's time to talk about my favorite songs about the birth of Jesus. First up is the classic, Silent Night. This has always, even since I was 4 years old, been one of my favorite Christmas songs. Every time I listen to it I am filled with a deep sense of peace. This is also one of my favorite Christmas songs to sing -- fun fact, I love to sing and wish I pursued it more as I grew up. Silent Night is such a beautiful, calming song and really shows me what an incredibly impactful and serene moment it must have been to witness the birth of Jesus. Second up is one of the most difficult Christmas songs to sing beautifully but when it's done right I cannot get enough of it, O Holy Night. When I hear someone sing this song and slay it -- truly slay it -- I honestly want to throw up my hands in praise. What an insanely powerful song, not only because of how the music is written, but because of the depth of the meaning. Let me first throw in the definition of the word divine -- described as excellent, delightful, from/like God (in this case literally God). "Fall on your knees. O hear the angel voices. O night divine. O night when Christ was born. O night, O night, O night divine." This songs is so relatable no matter what the time period -- the person singing is so astounded by the night Jesus was born they keep repeating how truly divine this night was. Both of these songs are so very powerful, honest, and peaceful. Of course there are a lot of other beautiful songs about the birth of Jesus, these are just some of my favorites. December 19th -- Sending Christmas cards to some special friends
The past two years I have made Christmas cards for my immediate family and boyfriends family, but this year I decided to do things a bit differently. Since I have a lot of friends that live far away I don't get to see them very frequently, so this year I decided to send Christmas cards to the special people in my life -- some that I see often and some I wish I could see more. I designed a special illustration for this year of a cute little reindeer in a birch forest that I'll post down below. I am so excited for some of the people I love most to receive them in the mail! I spent the day yesterday printing, cutting, folding, and writing notes inside each card, as well as addressing the envelopes. Today I am going to mail them on my way to work and it has honestly put me in such a wonderful mood all day. I am a huge fan of handwritten notes, I think they are much more heartfelt and meaningful -- which is also why none of the cards I've designed so far have anything written inside. I don't know about anyone else, but especially as an adult it's such a treat to receive a card or handwritten letter in the mail instead of just bills all the time. Sure it's easy to text, but a card or note is so much more personal and it's a little keepsake too. Although this is my first year I am sending out cards for the holidays it truly has become one of my favorite things about the Christms season. December 18th -- Baking with my boyfriend
One of my favorite hobbies is baking and I find it especially fun throughout the Christmas season. I enjoy baking by myself, but my boyfriend Antonio makes a great assistant in the kitchen. Throughout the year (but even more at Christmas) Antonio and I bake cookies, pies, cakes, brownies -- pretty much anything that's relatively easy but sometimes we do like to get a little crazy. He is my absolute favorite person to bake with, even though his job is usually preheating the oven, helping with decorating sometimes and doing the dishes after. Specifically around the holidays my favorite thing to bake is Christmas cookies -- what a surprise! I love the classic Pillsbury slice and bake ones with the little trees, snowmen, and reindeer on them and chocolate chip of course, but when the holidays come around I have some really special favorites. I always used to bake with my mom and grandma when I was younger and grandma had specific cookies she had to make each year -- chocolate chip, cherry winx, Italian Christmas cookies, oatmeal raisin, and thumb prints were the main ones, but sometimes she threw in some others. Even though I never made them growing up I absolutely love snickerdoodles and gingerbread cookies too, and they are truly the flavors of Christmas. Tonight in fact, Antonio and I baked sugar cookies and I always modify the recipe to kind of make it my own. I'll let you in on a hint -- I really love cinnamon. Baking has always brought me great joy and the fact that I get to do it all the time with my boyfriend makes it all the more special. It's a way for us to carry on a tradition that I had when I was a kid and we always share all the treats we bake together with loved ones. His mom actually started buying mixes for cakes, cookies, and brownies and leaves them out for when I come over, which I absolutely love. Especially during Christmas baking is one of my favorite times to slow down, enjoy the moment, and spend time with the ones I love. December 17th -- The power of prayer
All throughout the year the power of prayer amazes me, but at Christmas time the impact praying has is astonishing. No matter what religious or spiritual beliefs you have, I believe that worship and prayer are an amazing way to cleanse and refresh your soul. Throughout my life I have personally witnessed a great deal of prayer being an incredible saving grace, and I've heard numerous stories from others that testify the same. Most people don't know this about me, but I keep a prayer journal. I've always loved to write -- probably part of why I'm in the children's book industry -- and writing has always been the best way for me to channel my innermost thoughts and feelings. It wasn't until my freshman year of college when I gathered with an empowering group of ladies at my school that I decided to give prayer journaling a try -- what a difference it has made on my life. My routines with prayer journaling have changed and fluctuated over time, which I have come to accept as perfectly normal and okay. Just because I don't write in my prayer journal every day doesn't mean my mental or verbal prayers don't count -- in fact any kind of praying, I believe, is very well received. Most of the time I pray to God, but since my grandfather passed I pray to him very frequently as well because it makes me feel close to him still. That is just one instance where prayer is so powerful, it can continue a connection with someone you love even when they aren't physically here anymore. Prayer has also gotten me and my family through a lot of tough times. Whenever something bad or troubling happens the first thing I do is pray, then contact a few people I am close to asking for prayers as well. I am a firm believer that the more people that pray for something, the faster or more powerful that prayer can be received. One of the most awe-defining experiences I've had with a prayer chain performing miracles was back when I was in high school -- my Junior year to be exact. My youth minister, mother, best friend, and I attended the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis that year for the first time. The first day my mom and I went to a workshop led by Sara Hart (a well-known Christian singer/songwriter). After the workshop my mom checked the messages on her phone only to find out that her oldest sister had a severe brain aneurysm. Of course my mom panicked, after all our extended family is extremely close and she couldn't be there for her since we were several states away. My mom and I went into the bathroom where my mom tried to hold back her tears -- which isn't an easy task, she is very emotional. While I was comforting my mom Sara Hart came over to us and asked what was wrong -- we explained and she asked if she could pray with us. There we were, the three of us, praying in a bathroom for my aunt. Sara hugged us both after and promised us that she would ask everyone she knew at the conference to pray for my aunt as well. I have never been a part of a more powerful moment. By the time we were coming home from the four day conference, my mom got word that my aunt was recovering at a miraculous rate -- and I don't believe it was any coincidence. Prayer, as simple as it is, can do some truly amazing things. Especially during this Christmas season I make certain to pray for those who are sick, homeless, hungry, poor, going through mental hardships, those in the military, people in countries that are not safe to live or be themselves, those who are experiencing loss, anyone who is struggling and feels like they may not make it through another day. A few moments of prayer or positive thoughts of love, kindness, healing, and well wishes can do so much more than you may realize -- and at Christmas, prayer is a way to give selflessly to someone who truly needs it. December 16th -- Lighting the Advent candles in church
One of my favorite things about Christmas is watching the priest light the advent candles during mass. In my home church sometimes it's the priest that lights them each week, and sometimes they call up families to do it. I think it's quite nice to include some of the parishes families to take part in something so important. One of my favorite memories of lighting the advent candles in church was back from high school. My youth group had it's Christmas Retreat at an old convent and when it was time for us to go to mass Saturday night, we walked to the church a block away. When we got outside it was snowing which made everything feel all the more magical. This was a different church with different traditions than our home church, but it was one of my favorite masses of advent. Before the mass even started the priest had the alter serves let down a giant advent wreath that was suspended in the air above the altar -- and I mean it was giant. It was such a different and beautiful way of lighting the advent candles and showing the congregation what the advent wreath symbolizes. For those of you who don't know, there are four candles -- three purple and one pink. The purple candles are meant to symbolize penitence and fasting -- the color is often a symbol of royalty to show that the new King, Jesus, is coming. The pink candle is meant to symbolize joy which is ever present especially during the Christmas season. These four candles sit in a wreath, which is round in shape to symbolize the eternity of God. Watching someone at church light the Advent candles is another way that the true meaning of Christmas shines through during the chaos of people mainly focusing on what gifts to get for others. December 15th -- Songs from Mary and Joseph's perspective
As you have come to know if you've been following along with my posts, I love Christmas music and some of my favorite Christmas songs are about the true meaning of Christmas -- Jesus. I enjoy many religious Christmas songs, but particularly the ones that put you in the perspective of Mary and Jesus throughout the story of Jesus' birth. Some people may know these songs already, more so the one's about Mary because it took forever for me to find a song from Joseph's perspective -- this only made it even more powerful when I finally found one. As a Catholic, we believe that Mary holds a very important role -- after all she did give birth to the child of God -- but Joseph is often overlooked for some reason. I'm not too sure why, but Joseph had it pretty rough too, he stayed with a woman (who probably seemed insane) when she told him that an angel came to her and said she would conceive the son of God. Not for nothing but Joseph is what many would call #goals today. My two favorite songs from Mary and Joseph's perspective are: Joseph's Lullaby by MercyMe, and Be Born in Me by Francesca Battistelli. For those of you who aren't familiar with the lyrics I'll paste them at the end, but I highly recommend plugging them into Youtube because both of their voices are amazing and it is so much more powerful to hear them. These songs are so important to fully understand the true meaning of the Christmas season. Mary's song shows how she is an ordinary girl who doesn't feel worthy of such an event and how scared she was throughout but how she believed and trusted God in the hardest time of her life. Joseph's song is him holding his son in his arms and singing to him about the joy of being a father and how Jesus will go on to do the most amazing things in His life. These songs are so powerful to me they brought me to tears the first time I heard them, and they almost always still do. I believe that it's important to understand -- at least try to understand -- things from different angles and these songs help to fully understand the important and awe-defining story of Jesus' birth. Here are the lyrics for both songs -- definitely look into them if you want to have a different understanding of the story. "Be Born in Me" - Francesca Battistelli Everything inside me cries for order Everything inside me wants to hide Is this shadow of an angel or a warrior? If God is pleased with me, why am I so terrified? Someone tell me I am only dreaming Somehow help me see with Heaven's eyes And before my head agrees, my heart is on its knees Holy is He; blessed am I. Be born in me, be born in me Trembling heart, somehow I believe that You chose me I'll hold You in the beginning, You will hold me in the end Every moment in the middle, make my heart Your Bethlehem Be born in me All this time we've waited for the promise All this time You've waited for my arms Did You wrap yourself inside the unexpected So we might know that Love would go that far? Be born in me, be born in me Trembling heart, somehow I believe that You chose me I'll hold You in the beginning, You will hold me in the end Every moment in the middle, make my heart Your Bethlehem Be born in me I am not brave I'll never be The only thing my heart can offer is a vacancy I'm just a girl Nothing more But I am willing, I am Yours Be born in me, be born in me I'll hold You in the beginning, You will hold me in the end Every moment in the middle, make my heart Your Bethlehem Be born in me "Joseph's Lullaby" - MercyMe Go to sleep my Son This manger for your bed You have a long road before You Rest Your little head Can You feel the weight of Your glory? Do You understand the price? Or does the Father guard Your heart for now So You can sleep tonight? Go to sleep my Son Go and chase Your dreams This world can wait for one more moment Go and sleep in peace I believe the glory of Heaven Is lying in my arms tonight But Lord, I ask that He for just this moment Simply be my child Go to sleep my Son Baby, close Your eyes Soon enough You'll save the day But for now, dear Child of mine Oh my Jesus, Sleep tight December 14th -- STAR WARS
I'm making today's post all in bold because I feel like this is the only way to convey my excitement. Anyone who has even only met me once most likely knows how much I LOVE Star Wars. My dad has always loved it, and passed it on to me when I was a kid. As I've grown up my love for the films and characters has only gotten stronger -- much like the force. With the third trilogy and all of the stand alone films from the Star Wars universe coming out the last few years, this is not only my favorite time of year for Christmas, but also for Star Wars! Tonight is the night that Star Wars: Episode VIII hits theaters and based on the reviews my dad and I have read so far, it has been compared to being as great as The Empire Strikes Back -- WHAAAAT?! As if I wasn't already excited enough! As much as I am excited to see this movie with my dad (like we always do), we always make sure we don't go opening weekend because of the crowds -- it is too much for both of us, and we can't stand when people talk and cheer during movies. We have this tradition now that every Christmas season when a new Star Wars film comes out we see it together a day or two after Christmas -- it's kind of become like a Christmas gift for us both, plus a way for us to have father-daughter time. Honestly, there is so much I could say about this movie and Star Wars in general because I love it so much -- I mean, I have one Star Wars tattoo already and I know there will be more -- but I don't think I'd ever stop if I got really into my theories and such about this film and future ones. One thing is for certain -- the Christmas season wouldn't be complete without going to see the new Star Wars movie with my dad. These last few years have brought even more joy to me during the holidays because I have these memories and experiences to look forward to each year. (Thanks George Lucas and Disney!) |