Tis the season

It is Christmas Eve and I am at home...thank the lord :) waiting on my mom and sister to get home from work so my family can begin our Christmas Eve traditions of first watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas (we watch both version usually alternating each year) the Jim Carey version this year, and then every year right before we all go to bed we each open one present. Ashley and I usually get movies, my dad always gets something Grinch (we own more Grinch collectors stuff then anyone else I know) , and my mom gets a cd or movie. It's just something fun we have always done. One of my favorite family traditions it the present under the couch, lol. It sounds really random and it is :). One year my mom forgot a present for me and my sister when we were really young, so she quickly had dad distract us while she ran and got them and then hid them under our family couch. Every year since there is always one small present under the couch that is unwrapped that my sister and I get last. Each it varies one year it was a cd, another year it was a t-shirt, and last year it was tickets to see Micheal Buble in concert :). Last year I was really really sick Christmas eve and Christmas day. I had strep and my fever didn't break until late Christmas morning so I was miserable all day which really sucked because I wanted to really enjoy Christmas but I couldn't because I felt so bad. I am so happy this year I am not sick and can really enjoy my time with my family. Speaking of, tomorrow is all about family for me. My family unlike most of my friends and people I know do not stay home all day for Christmas. Our Christmas day goes as follows....wake up, open presents and goof around with the pets, mom, dad, and sister. Then get dressed and pack up the family presents and on the road we go. Normally we go straight to Newport News where my great Aunt Joanne lives. There is were I see my dad's side of the family my Grandma,Grandpa, Uncle Mark, Aunt Kathy, Aunt Jeanette, and Cousins Tealor and Britney. This year how ever we are going to Mechanicsville first to see my sister and her now fiance! That's right Nick proposed to my sister!!!! I am super excited!!! Nick will be my brother-in-law and Annie will be my sister-in-law and I will officially be Anthony's Aunt! :) Austyn will be born soon and I am so excited for my sister it's just amazing :). Also something else that is different this year is that my uncle Mark, Aunt Kathy, and cousin Britney will not be coming to Aunt Joanne's, because my uncle is in the hospital :( . He has a severe blood clot in his leg that will not dissolve. They have worked on it and worked on it, but this one will not go away like the other one. I don't really know what is going to happen next, so I just pray that he is not in any pain and it will be fixed quickly. He hasn't had the best care at this hospital either from what I have been told, and that angers me, especially since my mom and dad know what is suppose to happen for him and it isn't happening...it's extremely frustrating. Anyway after the hospital visit we will got o Newport News and have Christmas lunch with my dad's family. Then we will drive to Ivor and have Christmas dinner with my Gangee, Grandaddy, my 2nd cousins Lynn, Glenn, Lynn(the other Lynn's wife), Sheryl (Glenn's wife), Frankie, Gerald, Roland (and the list just keeps going with 2nd cousins), my3rd cousins Austin , Nathan, Jordan, ect, Ant Alice, and lord all the other relatives on my mom's side and whoever else shows up. There used to be more, but sadly the past fews years have not been to great for my mom's family and quite a few relatives have passed on like Uncle Finnin, Aunt Bernice, Uncle Lenord, Nellie, Dimsey, and Novey. I love them and miss them a lot especially Aunt Bernice, this was her favorite time of year and she would always make her fruit cake and bring it Gangee's house along with some strawberries if she had any left in her freezer just for me. I love you Aunt Bernice and hope you can see your sons and granddaughters and how they are just growing up so fast :). I hope that my Aunt Leah is there this year....things have been.....rough for her since Uncle Lenord died. Her Alzheimer's is getting worse and worse even though its still in its early stages. She constantly thinks I am in middle school still, but still remembers my name and who I am and that whats important. I know one day her mind will be completely gone and she won't remember me at all anymore, but I will hold on to what I have while I can. She lives in a nursing home now, because no one can treat her on their own. It sounds terrible, but my Aunt Becky works at the nursing home and looks out for her and checks up on her everyday. Anyway we have Christmas dinner with my mom's giant family and a few more gifts are exchanged, but eventually we have to leave and head back to Charlottesville. Normally that would our entire Christmas travels, but not this year, because on the 26th mom, dad, and I are going to Pittsburgh to see my Grandpa John, Grandma Estelle, Great Aunt Annie, Great Great Aunt Paulie, and hopefully my cousins Olivia, and Chris and their mom Paulia-Jean :). It will be really cold, but so worth it. The last time I went over Christmas break it was just dad and I when I was a junior in high school. It takes about six hours to get there so I will be catching up on my reading that I have been neglecting due this thing called college....lol.
Now that I have talked about what I do on Christmas I just have a few things....I feel I need to say. This has been....a roller coaster year for me with many ups and downs. 2008 did not start off well at all, but as the year progressed I came to realize many things about me, my life, and my beliefs. I grew up to put it bluntly. I graduated high school, began to really become an adult, and have really begun the transition to adult life. I gained new friends and lost friends both physically and mentally. I re-establish my relationship with God. I am coming back to MY faith I had as child, and do not want to cast it aside again. I believe in the Lord and Jesus Christ. I believe in God's message of Love, Honesty, and Trust. Those are three things are so vitally important to me and my life. I value my friends and family more than ever before and strive to do all I can for those I love and care about. I strive to become a better person. I strive to not put myself down so much, to be okay with imperfection, to give myself seconds chances and know it is okay to not get something the first time. I strive for kindness, love and forgiveness for myself for whatever wrongs I have done. I am so content with my life and ready for 2009. I have a huge family that loves me and supports me no matter what, I have friends that protect me, and help me whenever I can't stand on my own. I have a loving boy-friend that supports me and pushes me to be and do all I can. What more can I ask for? I don't need anything else. All the material gifts will break, or get thrown away at some point, because thats all they are material. What I have can't disappear, and can't be measured. It is what really matters in life and what Christmas is really all about. Those you love and holding them close. It gives you the chance to say " I love you" if you haven't said it enough. The chance to show kindness to those you might have been cruel too. The to spread love and kindness instead of hate and greed. With that I will say Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year.