As I have gotten older, I have found myself not really wanting, needing, or asking for much for Christmas. And the things that I do ask for seem rather boring. Some of which are more of a necessity than a want. I guess this is what happens when you get older. I have also found myself getting more sentimental during the holiday season. Next, I will be asking for no more lives torn apart, that wars would never start, that time would heal all hearts....that everyone would have a friend, that right would always win, and love would never end...
Speaking of having a friend, this past weekend, I made the trek to Dallas for Christmas with my posse! It was a fun-filled weekend of all girl time and laughter! Jess was so kind to open up her home to us, and Kyle was so nice to leave for the weekend to allow us to have our girl weekend! When we all got into Dallas late Friday evening, this is what we arrived to:
This puts the term "Winter Wonderland" to shame. I thought that Jess and Kyle decorated their porch and went all out for Posse Christmas reunion. When Lauren and I arrived at Jess and Kyle's apartment, we were awestruck. We literally sat in the car outside her apartment staring for at least five minutes. First question was: "Is that Jess and Kyle's?" Next question was: "What the heck?!?" It seriously looked like something straight out of A Christmas Story, complete with a giant stuffed holiday penguin, lights, and bubbles. Only Jess. We quickly found out that there was a competition amongst the apartment complex for money off January rent. Needless to say, Jess and Kyle won! And it did make for a perfect picture opportunity! Posse Christmas card? Quite possibly.....
After hauling all of our stuff into a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment (which was interesting with 6 high maintenance girls), we opened presents. The posse decided that we would start a new tradition of getting each other ornaments each year instead of drawing names. This is such a timeless idea. In a few years, it will be fun to see all of the ornaments that we have accumulated and the meaning behind them. It will be interesting to see if we can keep up our creativity and sense of humor about this situation as well. Although, I do not foresee a problem with this! Ever since the posse has known each other, we have given each other the label of a Disney princess, since there are six princesses and six posse members. These assignments are based on personality and appearance, of course. In honor of this fun posse memory, I gave each posse member a Disney princess ornament straight from the home of the princesses-none other than Disney World! I received ornaments in the following order:
Meredith: a beautiful letter "A" from Anthropologie
Amanda: three chocolate chip cookies (because I always call her asking for help, distraught when my cookies do not turn out quite like hers)
Lauren: sparkly cupcakes (because she knows of my love for sweets)
Sarah: a big gold cross (very funny accountability partner)
Jessica: the letter "A" that looks like a Christmas cookie, which looks like I could bite into it!
Luckily, my sisters and I have decorated our tree in the upstairs "apartment," so I had a tree to put my new ornaments on. I thought I would share a picture of this beautiful tree with all of you. The theme is immensely girly, complete with Winter Barbie, which we made into a tree topper holding an ornament. The tree is mostly dead since we bought it around Thanksgiving, but my new ornaments are a lovely addition to the decorum of this tree!
The next part of the weekend schedule was where I realized how sentimental and sappy I have become. We went to see Prestonwood's Christmas musical "Gloria." I cried during the second song before it hardly even started. Maybe it was the music, the fact that I was tired, or the fact that at that moment, I felt immensely blessed. Whatever the reason, I was trying to hide the fact that I was tearing up. This became harder as the tears started pouring down my face. Needless to say, word spread down the row, and everyone started laughing. Only Amy. It was quite humorous. Besides the few tears, this musical was an experience in and of itself. I often refer to Prestonwood as "Six Flags Over Jesus," and this was only proven to be true when angels ascended from the sky, drummers were in cages doing the drum line, dancers danced down the aisles, and confetti shot from the ceiling...twice. Yes, it was a production! John Tesh even made an appearance. As I sit here and jest, it was incredibly well put on and very moving (hence the tears). The choir really did sound like angels. So, yes Sarah, "Six Flags over Jesus" is furthering the Kingdom of God! Here are some pictures of us enjoying the show!
In addition to giving each other ornaments, we have decided to start adopting a Christmas Tree Child to help someone else that needs it during this joyous time of year. Again, adding to our grown up Christmas list. Plus, it goes with our theme of Christmas trees! This year, it worked out well that the children's ministry that Jess is a part of at her church was doing this the Sunday that we were in town. So, we all headed up to the church to help her have a Christmas party for the leaders and the kids. I will just say that this was CRAZY! There was much chaos, but the posse tried to add a little order! It was fun mingling with the kids. We have some crazy stories to come away from this such as a second grader singing a song about the Nutcracker (which may or may not have been appropriate), a kid spilling red soda all over the new girl's face (and white shirt), and a girl named Ashley that highly offended Sarah (Sarah kept calling her Ash-the girl yelled at Sarah that that was not her name ran away). Only Sarah. The posse also may or may not have picked out which child would be ours based on appearance, but mostly personality. This was highly entertaining, and hilarious, I might add. An example is as follows: Jessica's kid had on a purple dress, black tights, silver shoes, two braces on her two front teeth only, and crazy hair with a crab clippie in the front...nuf said! This is only one example of six. Funny to say the least. While the morning was kind of crazy, we did manage to get some pictures in front of the tree!
So, as you can tell, there was not a dull moment at Posse Christmas. I am so blessed to have such great friends. This was a posse Christmas to remember! So, I guess I don't need to add wonderful, God-seeking, beautiful, talented, well-rounded, life-long friends to my grown up Christmas list! I have already been blessed in that category! So, this is a shout out to my posse! Now back to the reality of my life. I am trying to find a time to make the trip to Virginia to see if this is a move that I indeed need to make. I am also currently in the process of gathering household items to take to Virginia with me. So far, I have a kitchen table, some red plates, a desk, and a bed. I am in the process of getting a Kitchen Aid. Maybe that should be on the Santa list...You know you are a grown up when, you add things like a mixer to your Christmas list...
I hope that everyone is enjoying this holiday season. I love everything about the holidays. I love the warm drinks, cold weather, music selection, winter fashion, Christmas trees, seasonal decorating, baking holiday goodies, lots of good food, the spirit of giving, memories made, and time with friends and family! I also like the excuse to shop often and for it to be okay! Although, I have not bought a single Christmas present yet. I should probably get on this, considering Christmas is just a little over a week away.
Work is going well for those of you wondering. Although, today, I had a blond moment. For those of you that know me, you know that this is not uncommon in the life of Amy D. Unfortunately, the people at work are just now figuring this out. Today, I was going from one office to the other (I have offices at separate locations and spend half a day at one and half a day at the other). So, I had my hands very full and was going to run a stack of mail by the mailbox to be sent out. My boss handed my paycheck to me, along with another employee's that works at the other office. I dropped the mail off and proceeded to grab some lunch and go to the second location. As I was approaching Pflugerville (where the new office is located), I realized I had made a horrible mistake: I had put the paychecks in with the pile of mail and mailed it! Needless to say, she had to print up new checks. This is the consequence of living with my head in the clouds. Oh Amy.....
I guess that is all the excitement in my life right now.
I hope that everyone is enjoying the holiday season and that you get everything on your Christmas wish list! I hope that during this holiday season you will take some time think beyond yourself and indulge in the season of giving! Create your own grown up Christmas list! Also, be sure to enjoy this cold winter weather and stop by for some Starbucks to keep you warm!
Happy Holidays and Until next time be blessed!
