What do the lonely do…at Christmas?

“A silent night
I know it’s gonna be
Joy to the world
But it’s gonna be sad for me…”

this is one of my favorite holiday songs. I know its kinda sad. but I like sad songs.

this song makes me think of the one and only time I have ever spent Christmas alone. It was the first year I moved to FL and I went home for Thanksgiving and decided I couldn’t or wouldn’t do both–it was just too expensive. I figured I’d get in the kitchen, cook some of my favorite non traditional holiday meals, watch movies and tv marathons all day and weekend and it wouldn’t be so bad. I mean its just ONE DAY RIGHT?

wrong.

so the steak was super succulent and the shrimp and cheddar twice baked potatoes were delish–as all Paula Deen dishes are! The asparagus was just okay. But I was, well lonely. all the tv and good food in the world didn’t matter. I was away from my family. As an only child and currently living far away from fam and friends, I spend  A LOT  of time alone. I’m used to it, but something about a holiday being alone just made me a bit sadder than I anticipated. And it was still a few months fresh from the move so, yeah it was pretty rough.  I vowed that I would NEVER do that again. If I couldn’t spend Christmas with family, I’d spend it with friends, a significant other and/or doing some sort of service activity. I just need to be around people.

I’m blessed and thankful for every day my God allows me to greet, but something about celebrating the birth of Jesus makes me want to be around those that I love and love me. Those that appreciate the season the way that I do.

So thats what one lonely person did, and decided it wasn’t worth a repeat. I haven’t blogged regularly in awhile and its because I am moving. Closer to my family and I am EXTREMELY grateful for this. I get to actually drive to my parents house and even though gifts will be sparse this year–the gift of family is enough. and I am extremely thankful for that. I hope to also be able to drive down to see my cousins especially the little kids. I’m hopeful to be able to have more of a presence in their lives by being closer.

my gift to you all (if you don’t follow me on twitter and already have it) is a Christmas mix of some of my favorite songs. it includes the song included in the post. Download it here.

Happy Holidays and God bless you all. I’ve been busy but I’ll try to post again before the New Year.

Someday at Christmas

Hello!

I have been REALLY busy at work and since I’ll be traveling later this week I wanted to send my holiday well wishes to you now. If you didn’t know, I’m a Christian so Jesus is the reason for the season, to me. I’ve seen a few blog posts about favorite holiday songs and I’ve commented on those so I won’t do that here. I’ll just share with you one of my favorite holiday songs. And in true Reecie fashion it is pretty somber, but I tend to get reflective during these times. Just as my Thanksgiving post–I’ll keep it short and sweet. I hope everyone takes the time out to do whatever it is to bring you closer to those you love the most. You may not be a Jesus freak, and that’s okay…you may not believe in running up your credit cards buying all the latest toys, clothes, sneakers and gadgets either. I’m letting you know that’s REALLY okay–the season isn’t about debt. But it is about LOVE.

Remember that, be blessed. Merry Christmas.

Someday at Christmas there’ll be no wars
When we have learned what Christmas is for
When we have found what life’s really worth
There’ll be peace on earth…

Someday all our dreams will come to be
Someday in a world where men are free
Maybe not in time for you and me
But someday at Christmastime

Someday at Christmas there’ll be no tears
All men are equal and no man has fears
One shining moment, my heart ran away
From our world today…