I absolutely love New Year's celebrations. I love everything about reflecting and thinking about the past year, thanking God for his faithfulness. I love planning and dreaming for the coming year, "what can it possibly hold!?". That being said, I am SO excited for this new year! Especially after 2010...
I sat with a friend the other night and she said, "You've had a pretty disheartening year, haven't you?" Yes. And Christmas seemed to follow suit in typical 2010 style...tough, but meaningful. We had just a few slight changes to flow with this year!:
- The synthetic tree (don't judge) which we've used since I can remember was replaced by a "real" tree.
- Our "real" tree was ornament-less because I flew in just two days before Christmas and Mom worked until the that exact moment.
- We're pretty famous for our massive Christmas Eve celebration - house overflowing with people, noise, craziness. This year, it was just me, Mom, Dad and my 84 year old Uncle.
- Most of all, we missed our Grandmother. And all of the flair and fabulousness she brought to Christmas. I wish I could post this picture of her: She's in her floor-length nightgown, circa 1980, standing in the middle of the living room with all the Christmas chaos. Wrapping paper is strewn everywhere and she is smiling broadly, stylishly holding her glasses in her thumb and forefinger, her other hand on her hip, laughing at all the kids going crazy over their gifts. Classic.
We dubbed this year "survival Christmas" and made fun of all our holiday shortcomings. Upon surveying the tree Christmas morning, Mom said, "Oh guys, the tree...smells so beautiful. This is the first time I've ever paid $36 for a 5 foot tall air freshener. I don't regret it."
We gave each other frivolous gifts and laughed at our overreactions. "Oh my! A new calendar! THANK YOU!" "No problem. I know you've been having trouble remembering your months." The best part of me giving Dad a calendar was that when my Brother and Sister-in-Law's box of goodness arrived (Monday), they had, in fact, gifted him with another calendar. (If he misses any appointments he's got no one to blame but himself.)
It was a very different Bock Christmas. But we did manage to hold to two traditions. Our enchilada dinner on Christmas Eve was fabulous and we did squeeze in a Christmas fire, something we were accustomed to doing surrounded by frost and snow, but sand didn't make it any less magical and soul-filling.
And all was well. We were reminded of what's really important. (Yes, Jesus. We were reminded of Jesus. Soapbox moment: we should probably be a little more concerned that we often forget Jesus every other day of the year because of our general, having nothing to do with Christmas, busyness and materialism. He's to be celebrated every day. Ok, done with soapbox.)
We were reminded of family...
We didn't realize how few Christmasses we'd have with Gramma, standing regally in the middle of the living room directing the festivities. So we celebrated each other, from West Virginia to Arizona to Hawaii. And the rest was comedic material...
Onto 2011! A brand new start. 365 new mercies. Who knows what the year holds! I started writing my goals down (and even some dreams) to post soon...
HAPPY NEW YEAR dear friends. So glad we get to walk it together (at least in some way)!
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