Honesty Hour: (Home) For the Holidays
This is supposed to be an Honesty Hour all about Christmas & the New Year & being home for the holidays. But I’ll be honest and say that the only words I have for this blog post as I’m typing it is “Merry Christmas & Happy New Year”.
That’s it.
All I’ve got.
And this blog post goes live in less than 48 hours.
Yikes.
Holiday Celebrations
Back when this pandemic started, I (and a lot of others I’m sure), thought it’d be over by the holidays. Life would go back to “normal”. We’d celebrate the holidays how we always have, a.k.a. with our families.
But here we are.
Still in a pandemic and the holidays definitely aren’t looking how they have in years past, at least not for us.
We had a whole big Thanksgiving planned so that way we could celebrate with everyone. I didn’t talk about it but we ended up pretty much cancelling Thanksgiving this year. We ended up getting together with some of our family that lives close & has been in a small bubble of sorts like we’ve been.
It was good. We had a good time with plenty of laughs & I’m glad we ended up doing it. Even if the roast that we made wasn’t ready in time & I had to run up to Shane’s Rib Shack at the last minute to get us some BBQ & ribs. (Honestly, those ribs were the best thing on the plate so that really worked out I guess. Haha!)
Christmas is going to be pretty much the same way. We had hopes for celebrating Christmas with everyone but for us right now, it’s just not smart to do that. So we’re having a smaller gathering with the same family as Thanksgiving.
It’s not what we want but it’s what we need to do.
I’m sure there will be plenty of laughs and good times. It’s just not exactly what we were all envisioning.
I doubt our family is the only one that isn’t celebrating how they would like to be celebrating this year.
This year has looked completely different than any of us were prepared for and I think we’re all just trying to adapt and do the best we can. Give your family and friends grace as they’re trying to make the best decisions for how to celebrate this year.
New Year
I saw this quote/meme floating around on Facebook the other day that said “No one say 2021 is your year. Let’s walk in quietly & don’t touch anything.” Amen.
I was going to write a few paragraphs about the New Year but I have even less to say about that. I don’t really think a date on the calendar is going to change how things are right now. It’s not that simple. But boy do I wish it was.
I said that 2020 was going to be my year. Let me tell you: it was not. I looked back to the very beginning of this year’s journal to see what my word was for this so I could have a good laugh about how that definitely didn’t happen. But it was worse. I wrote what I was hoping for this year. I’m not even going to write it here but I’ll just say that there were a handful of things I was hoping for in all aspects of my life and I sounded very optimistic about this year.
If only I knew! Hahaha
At the end of the year I write a list of things that I learned this year. They range from funny to more serious & profound. I’m thinking this year’s list will be quite interesting. And probably short.
So, I will not be claiming 2021 as my year. I’m just going to walk in quietly & not touch anything. That sounds a little bit safer given the current state of affairs. 🙂
Let’s end on a happier note, shall we?
I feel like this needs to end on the merry & happy side of things so let’s talk about some things that I’m loving & have to look forward to this Christmas. I’m a big proponent of finding joy wherever you can & this year that feels more important than ever.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my Hallmark movies. They have been really good this year & I’ve been watching them all. I usually watch them after they’ve aired but watching them live just feels different & more special in a way. That’s weird, I know, but I guess it feels different because I very rarely watch them live…? Regardless, I’ve been soaking up ALL the Hallmark Christmas movies this year. I don’t discriminate between the regular channel & the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries one.
Gift-Giving
Not to brag but I picked out some really good gifts this year. I am super excited to have everyone open them. For a long time I never considered myself a good gift giver. A lot of my gifts were actually ideas from my mom or sister or were just bought by them & thankfully they just added my name to the gift tag. And if I was in charge of wrapping? They went in bags. Wrapping was not my forte.
The last year or two I have gotten better at wrapping. I actually am really loving it & do not want to put any gifts in bags. But my gift-giving skills are also on point. It’s true that giving feels better than receiving. I can’t wait for everyone to open their gifts & I wish I could tell you what I’m getting everyone so I can just gush about it but most of them read my blog so I cannot. But they’re good & I’m excited!
Food (no surprise here!)
We’re mixing things up for Christmas lunch this year & I’m also very excited about that! Our long time tradition was Honey Baked Ham. Even going to pick up the ham on Christmas Eve & going to eat breakfast after was a part of our traditions. We’re ready for something new though so this year we’re having….drumroll please…..
Slow Cooker Saucy Sunday Bolognese Pasta & Pull-Apart Garlic Butter Bread Wreath (both from Half Baked Harvest) and we’re having my aunt’s salad with it (which everyone loooooves. No idea how she makes her salad & why it’s a million times better than any salad we make but it’s so good!). Dessert is currently unclear but I am very excited for new dishes to eat this year. Pasta & bread just feels warm & cozy & holiday-like and that’s what I’m going for this year.
Decorating!
All of my spaces are decorated for Christmas so even when I’m working out or waking up in the morning, there’s Christmas right there for me. I usually just put a tree in my room but this year I added a wreath to the back of my door & changed the pictures in my room for more Christmas. Plus, I decorated the basement with a little tree & a wreath too. The very first picture is actually the tree that I put up downstairs. It has all of our sentimental ornaments on it.
Our living room tree is so cute & is one of my favorites that we’ve ever had. It’s all red, gold, and silver with cute little snowman ornaments on it. Plus a star at the top. It makes my heart happy.
Speaking of ornaments, last year I wanted to get an ornament that felt summed up me/my year and I wanted to continue that this year. Last year I got a pink stand mixer because I did a lot of baking. This year, I chose a sewing machine. I did a LOT of sewing this year. I sewed two quilts & one I practically did twice so does that mean I sewed 3 quilts? Anyway, 2020 was the year of sewing so this ornament felt perfect.
That’s all I’ve got! Comment below & tell me what you’ve loved about this season even if it’s looked different than usual. I want to hear what you’re finding joy in.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! I hope it’s a great one for you & your family.
Love,
P.S. This is my last post for this year! I’m taking the holidays off & I’ll see you January 7. 🙂
P.P.S. If you’re struggling with traditions this year (the loss of them) + traditions & loss of loved ones, then this Honesty Hour is for you.
