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The days are getting darker, it’s freezing cold outside, and I’m starting to see twinkle lights up in my neighborhood. This can only mean one thing…Christmas is almost here!!! In fact, it’s only 38 days away…how did that even happen?! While I can’t say that this is my absolute most favorite time of the year, fall is my absolute favorite plus I hate cold weather, it brings back sooooo many happy memories!!
Let me preface this story by explaining the terrible quality of this picture…my Mom passed away in 2001 right after I graduated from high school and this is one of the very last pictures I took with her. We didn’t have fancy phones with cameras or even a digital camera at this time so this is all that I have. I made it black and white so it wasn’t so pixelated.
My Mom was the unofficial Queen of Christmas. She would always order Trans-Siberian Orchestra on pay-per-view and we would always watch/listen to that while we decorated our trees. That’s right, trees, plural. We always had two trees growing up, one with all of our homemade decorations on it that was in the kitchen/dining room, and one with the fancy ornaments on it in the living room. We thought we were so cool with our two trees and now that’s pretty common…LOL!!
I’m are that if my Mom were still alive she would totally be all Christmased out by now!! However, I’m sure my Mom would be more into this amazing song by Pentataonix instead of TSO…
Not that I don’t like TSO, I am just way obsessed with Pentatonix right now!! This song really makes me want to drag all of my Christmas decor out of the attic right now!!
We had a lot of traditions around Christmas time and one of them was shopping!! I was always in my school’s Christmas pageant and each year my Mom would pick a weekend and we would have a total girls day!! We would go dress shopping at our favorite boutiques and then head to the mall for my interview outfit and sportswear. Yes, I was a “pageant girl” growing up. But it was only one a year so does that even count?!
And there I am in all of my pageant glory…HA!! From left to right I am in 7th grade, 8th grade, 10th grade, and 12th grade. I never won, but I placed every year!
I’m so glad I have those sweet memories of spending whole days with my Mom, just the two of us. I miss her!! One thing that really helps when I miss my Mom is to talk to someone who understands. Sweet Rebekah also lost her Mom and it’s nice to have someone who she just gets me and Rebekah definitely does!! I get to see her on Thursday and I can’t wait!! We are both going to Dazzle Daze in Conway to get our shop on!!
If you are in central Arkansas and will be in the Conway area this coming weekend I highly suggest you get yourself to Dazzle Daze!! Dazzle Daze is an annual fundraiser for the Conway Regional Women’s Council with proceeds benefiting the Conway Regional Health System, Conway Regional Health & Fitness Center scholarships, and the John and Janice Robbins scholarship for area healthcare students. Working in healthcare I fully support Dazzle Daze and can’t wait to get out and show my support!!
I can’t wait to start my Christmas shopping, sample yummy food, and enter to win some fabulous prizes!! If you really want to go check out their website HERE and their Facebook page HERE so you can see the schedule of events and make plans to get yourself out there!!
What are some of your favorite Christmas memories?? Do you LOVE to shop as much as I do?? What can I say…gift giving is my love language!! At least that’s what I keep telling myself…
I love the fact that you have great memories to remember with your mom.
My boss’s wife is a Christmas fanatic and has 15 trees in her home!!!!! CRAZY!
My favorite memories of Christmas is when my family takes our annual end of the year trip to Florida.
I’m not much of a shopper during the holidays, but I’m definitely a BAKER. Cookies, cakes, pies, everything! I always associate the holidays with great food and family! :)
I have so many favorite memories from Christmas. One of them was around the time my son was three years old. Every morning leading up to Christmas we would wake with my husband playing Stevie Wonder’s Christmas album. So we could all dance to it each morning. It was a great way to start each day.
I love Christmas! It is my favorite time of year. The decor, shopping, yummy foods~ EVERYTHING! Sign me up! As a former TSO fan to now a Pentatonix fan, I am sure your Mom would agree with you.
It sounds like you had an amazing Mom. I love this time of year simply because of all the time that we get to spend with family. I’m also trying to start new traditions in our home with my husband and daughter and that’s exciting. I will say my tree isn’t up yet. Does no one decorate for Thanksgiving??