christmas eve

Happy Holidays, everyone!

christmas presents on a budget!

So it's a rough time for everyone- especially us college kids. So Christmastime is always stressful- you want to buy the perfect presents for the perfect people. Here are some suggestions for a money little Christmas.

*Make your presents. Knit, crochet, draw- whatever! People will appreciate this.
*Buy local/small business. Support your local economy. It'll help you in the long run.
*Buy books! Books are cheaper than video games or movies, and they last longer.
*Make your own wrapping paper. I did this in Tucson when I was too poor to buy my own wrapping paper and couldn't borrow my parents.

What you'll need:
*Computer paper. As a college kid, I have an abundance.
*A pen. Pencils work well too, but the lead will smudge onto your fingers and your recipients.
*Scotch tape. I need a LOT of this because I'm terrible at wrapping presents!
*Now you draw. I like to write lists on them. For my roommates, I wrote the 10 reasons why I loved them. For the person for this present, I wrote the ten reasons she will be a great mother, as well as a timeline of our friendship. Her present was a somewhat larger book, so I used three sheets of computer paper. Here are the ones I did for my roommates:
*Then you wrap! It is more difficult than normal wrapping paper because it's firmer, but with enough tape, anything is possible.


Naturally, they look a little... rougher than a "real" wrapped gift, but I like this a lot. I like that gives them something else besides a present + trash!

What do you do to save during this season?

12 wonderful things about Christmas

(source)

My darling friend Rachel visited me tonight and gave me a beautiful charm bracelet with the 12 days of Christmas on it- you know, on the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... and that got me thinking. What are my 12 favorite things about Christmas?

12. the lights

I personally love the Christmas lights. They're beautiful and make the night seem so magical. I recently spent time with a friend and her young nephew, and during the day, he sadly pointed to the unlit string lights and told me, "the pretties are sleeping." Isn't that sweet?

11. the food
Christmas cookies! The best. There's a reason Santa eats them. And for my family, we make dinner every year for the whole family. The last couple years, we did a Mexican Christmas as my mother's side is Mexican. We eat enchiladas and salsa and it is just amazing. Mmm.

10. the gifts
Of course! Getting presents from loved ones is always a treat, no matter what

9. the break
It's not just a break from school. It often seems like a break from life. A little slice of Christmastime, where the world becomes different for a few days.

8. the weather
In Arizona, we don't get very much snow. None at all, where my parents live. But it is still chilly, still so much colder than usual. There is nothing better than waking up on a cold morning and being warm and toasty in your bed!

7. giving the perfect gift
Now, getting the presents are awesome. But there's something about giving the right person the right gift that makes Christmas so special.

6. the tree
Okay, so decorating the tree can sometimes be a pain. I usually love it- my family does it together and we drink egg nog and play Christmas music. And taking down the tree is the worst chore of the year. But late at night, when I'm up to get a glass of water, and the tree is shining in the living room... Magic.

5. the TV specials and movies
There were some good ones this year! Modern Family and the Office were both hysterical with theirs. And then there's the old staples- Charlie Brown and his sweet tree. Even if you hate Christmas, there's always movies like Silent Night, Deadly Night where there is a serial killer dressed up as Santa, or Bad Santa with Billy Bob Thorton. There's something for everyone!

4. the toys
Oh man. It is toy season. Not just for cool new Barbies or beautiful Transformers, but for grown ups too. The movies come out in full force, the music is released. It's playtime.

3. christmas eve
there's always something, when it's dark on Christmas Eve. It's special somehow. I always read some of Little Women under a blanket.

2. santa
yes, virginia.

1. familytime
My favorite morning of the year, sitting around and opening presents with my favorite people in the world.

simply having a wonderful christmas time

I love Christmastime. I especially love Christmas movies, from Die Hard to Gremlins to a Muppet Christmas Carol, I love Christmas movies! Every time I watch one about Santa Claus, I think, just for a minute, that maybe, just maybe...

Dear Editor—

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O’Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.