"When people say 'Christmas' you immediately think..."
..about how simple I want to keep things. At this point in my life I'm just not into a lot of decorating or entertaining. I'm more interested in focusing on Advent - preparing for Christmas spiritually. As we have had more children I wait for my husband to get out our tree (yes, we have an artificial tree!) and I put off decorating it as long as I can. We try to wait as close to Christmas Day to decorate it as we can.
"Favourite Christmas memory..."
This is a tough one to answer because I have so many happy memories to choose from. Christmas time was always a lot of fun in my family. Among my favorite memories are going to see my parents once I was an adult. They left the area that I was living in, Virginia Beach, and I had some great times travelling to Pittsburgh, Colorado, and Michigan to see them and my siblings. It was great to get away from my routine of working two jobs and attending college part time and being able to see my parents.
"Favourite Christmas song/carol..."
I don't know that this was written as a Christmas song, but I love "Sheep May Safely Graze" by J.S. Bach. This is on a favorite CD I have of James Galway entitled "A Christmas Carol." I love all the music on this CD, and am partial to it because I am a flutist. I chose it as the processional music in our wedding.
"Favourite Christmas movie..."
.. is A Christmas Story. This movie is a timeless depiction of all the craziness in the life of a child as they anticipate Christmas. It's set in the '30s (or maybe the '40s) and I grew up decades after that, but it really brings back memories of my childhood!
"Favourite Christmas character..."
I'm having trouble recalling from the stories and legends I know.... I'll fill this in later. I will say that I try to focus on the one who is the reason for Christmas, Baby Jesus!
"Favourite Christmas ornament/object..."
.. the various homemade ornaments that I have from my childhood and that my children are now making!
"Plans for this Christmas..."
I'll be spending Christmas with my immediate family and the godparents of my two youngest children. I'm sad that we won't be seeing my parents and siblings like we did last year. I'll see my parents within a few weeks after that though, so that helps.
"Is Christmas your favourite holiday?"
I think because of how far-reaching it is, yes, Christmas is my favorite holiday.
The universal joy of Christmas is certainly wonderful. We ring the bells when
princes are born, or toll a mournful dirge when great men pass away. Nations
have their red-letter days, their carnivals and festivals, but once in the year
and only once, the whole world stands still to celebrate the advent of a life.
Only Jesus of Nazareth claims this world-wide, undying remembrance. You cannot cut Christmas out of the Calendar, nor out of the heart of the
world. - Anonymous
I'll tag others soon.
5 comments:
Our decorating has been very simple this year and because of the simplicity it is so much more beautiful. We have lots of branches covered in bells and snowflakes hanging from the ceiling and lots of white paper chains that Fiona and I made-all very Scandinavian.
I love A Christmas Story, too. It always cracks me up!
I would be hard pressed to pick a favorite Christmas song or carol . . . too many from which to choose. As I sing in the choir, I am familiar with even more than most!
A - Your decorations sound lovely! Greens make up most of the little I have decorating the house too. I have a centerpiece on our dining room table (that I'm trying to keep watered and misted!), a door swag (that has yet to be hung because I can't find our wreath hanger, but it's decorating our wood pile on the front porch nicely!). Other than that it's just the Advent wreath, which is pewter, and some candles.
T - Choosing a favorite song/carol was hard for me too because of my experience in choir. I sang on and off for 7 years in the choir at St. Gregory the Great Church in Virginia Beach and we sang a wonderful variety of traditional and more contemporary songs. My involvement singing at Christmas time made all the Christmasses (how do you pluralize that word!?) I couldn't go see my parents less lonesome.
Thanks again A for tagging me, I'm starting to get a bit more in the Christmas spirit now after thinking about all these things!
I love the last quote. I never heard of it before.
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