The one with the Holiday Spirit

Oh boy! Am I in the holiday spirit early or what?? Yesterday, I woke up with a mental craving for Christmas! Christmas everything. I turned on pandora.com to my Christmas station. My roommates that were home, Caitlin and Taylor quickly changed from not-quite appreciating my holiday cheer to singing right with me! We talked for only a few minutes about some of our favorite memories before deciding to go to Hobby Lobby in search of decorations for our apartment for the upcoming season :] So much fun! We went from Hobby Lobby to Big Lots, back to our apartment and made one more trip to

each store. Before 2:00 pm, we had completely transformed our apartment - including rearranging most of the furniture. Some of our additinons:

Six stockings :] One for each roommate

Christmas tree! Lit with white lights and different colored balls

A total of six mistletoes hanging throughout the apartment and outside the front door

Front door wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper

Green runner with snowflakes on our coffee table with candles, peppermints and snowmen

Santa hats for our African masks

We have a few more additions like a Christmas message board above our dinner table, red and white lights inside and on our balcony and red and gold tinsel around the apartment. My favorite addition is the fragrance spray that smells just like Christmas!

It is so much fun to have such a festive apartment. I love it! We might be early, but since most of us won't even be here for Thanksgiving and leaving before Christmas even comes, I figure it's okay :] One thing that would really help bring the

spirit of the holidays is snow! I'm not really excited to drive in it, but it's worth it for a month or two :]

I really love the Christmas season. I've been telling Austin how excited I am for at least a month now. Everyone is so nice to each other and it feels like the world is at one. There is definitely no feeling like it in the world.

Some of my favorite memories from home are probably the most simple ones. I remember my mom's potpourri. I always thought she was so funny for buying it. But, now when I smell a certain smell like those she used to buy, memories come flooding back. I miss that so much.

I miss making cookies. I know it was an effort for my mom and took a lot of time. I really appreciate her doing that for us. Usually, we would end up taking most of them to neighbors and friends. I thought that was really cool. Erin and I would pick certain ones we wanted to bring to certain people. We used to get so excited about that!

Here is a picture of Erin and me, last year. Just like old times! She got super artistic with the cookies.

I remember riding in the car to "see the lights." haha. The Christmas lights in Mattoon, Illinois through Peterson Park were definitely not the best in the world. But, I remember my dad talking about them and getting us so excited to go. It was definitely a highlight seeing those and eating our mini candy canes on the way home. We would drive around some of the 'more wealthy' neighborhoods, too. They usually had really cool lights on their houses.

Oh, the Christmas music we'd listen to was the best! Harry Connick Jr. and the Osmonds. The favorites were definitely the Very Special Christmas cd's. Oh my gosh. Such good times. Erin and my specialty was Pine Cones and Holly Berries/It's Beginning to look a Lot Like Christmas on the Osmond Family Christmas cd. We would pick parts and sing that at least three times over.

Trimming the tree consisted of Erin and me looking through the ornaments and decorations while my mom put the lights on. Afterward, we got to do the ornaments. I'm sure my mom was disgusted when we put them on (at least when we were little) but I feel like she never moved them - I'm sure I would have noticed. haha. My favorites were always the while snowflakes my Great Grandma Fife made for every family on the Emmett side of my family. I hope, when I get married, I can have some of those snowflakes. Our trees were always a little shorter but round. That's how like like them! Who wants a skinny tree? haha. And, we were all too short to try to decorate an 8 foot tree!

Those are all just a few memories. I posted a few more random pictures that really help bring Christmas to life for me.

My Grandma and Grandpa Emmett have always hosted Christmas at their house. We have amazing food and the perfect Christmas program including everyone singing, a talent show, younger grandkids acting out the nativity and maybe a few gifts.

One of my very favorite things about my Grandpa is his homemade peach ice cream. Yum! Polly has always enjoyed it too :]

Pictures in front of the Christmas tree(s) is a true tradition. These snowflakes are the ones I was talking about - that my Great Grandma made for everyone. I love them! They're so detailed :]

Like, I said, tradition. Cute Polly and Bruce in their moose pj's last year :]

My cute mom and dad! :] Their pj's matched pretty well (and unintentionally) all the way to their toes!

Everyone two years ago in their new Christmas pajama pants.

Now, last year. New pajamas again :] Boys got black (and grey for Bruce) and girls got green. As you can see on Paige's left leg, they said "Be Good and Don't Hit - Christmas 2009"

(BGADH is an Emmett family saying)

Last picture (for now). I know it's not the best picture, but I had to write about the ebelskivers we eat for breakfast every Christmas :] We have them with maple syrup, powdered sugar, oranges and pomegranates. So good!

As you can tell, I am so excited for this season! I can't wait to make new traditions and carry on the old ones. This season, I'm going to try extra hard not to forget the real meaning of Christmas :] More posts to come...