Finding the holiday spirit
Confession – I have been struggling to find the holiday spirit this year.
Data has been too, despite dressing up in his favorite new costume from Tori. Please excuse the rude thought bubble from Data, Tori. He actually didn’t mind the hat when I was holding him.
It’s frustrating. It usually comes so naturally to me. But this year, I’ve been having many ups and downs and been feeling very anxious in general. My head just hasn’t been in the game with anything – work, running, relationships, life – I feel like I am living in a fog sometimes. Going through the motions, blah blah blah. We’ve been living in an unstable state of limbo and it’s hard.
Anyway.
I think I finally started to find the holiday spirit over Thanksgiving and the weekend. I felt it when:
- Drinking a Soy Chai Tea Latte at Panera and seeing the restaurant decorated for the holidays. Festive!
- Talking to my mom and sister about their crazy Black Friday adventures. Emphasis on the crazy.
- Talking to Steven about getting a real holiday tree. Yay!
- Eating “holiday” food with loved ones. No need for a belt.
- Laughing uncontrollably with loved ones. Making ridiculous* (mostly inappropriate) jokes.
- (Before this weekend) Buying gifts for family and friends. Can’t wait to gift them!
- (Before this weekend) Working on the family holiday card.
Well, that was a photo fail. We took about 30 photos and we are screwing around in all of them. From left to right, my younger brother’s fiancee, Amber, my older brother’s wife, Courtney, my sister Christina, and me. I think Amber is still getting used to the crazy.
Does the “holiday spirit” come naturally to you? What makes you feel festive/helps you find the holiday spirit?
Hopefully I can continue to snap out of this funk I have been in. But if you see less of me here, know that I am okay, just keeping my “grinchy-ness” to myself!
*That’s ridic, with an “i,” Chris.
Themocracy
It doesn’t come very easily to me at all. But the funny thing is, over the years, I’ve learned that it’s quieter for me. I still have that spirit, but without the hype. I just have to look a little further for it deep inside of me.
Thank fo th clarificay Kim.
Data’s hat is hilarious! What a good sport.
I usually get the holiday spirit mid-December which is inconvenient because then it all feels rushed. I am hoping that if we get a tree this weekend it will get me more in the mood.
I have been feeling more festive already this year and I don’t know why!
I love your matching shirts. 😉
I had been hoping everything was alright with you since you haven’t blogged in a bit. Thought maybe you took a break for the holiday week. Hope your funk passes.
I listen to holiday music and usually put up the Christmas decorations and that always helps!
I have some very, very bad memories from Christmas when I was a teenager. One boy pretty much ruined the holiday for me for YEARS. Fortunately, a few years ago I decided that was enough of that and forced myself to love it. I went out, bought some Christmas CD’s and about a million decorations and went to town. Now I LOVE it!! 🙂
It always takes me a while to get into it every year. It’s hard for it not to feel like a chore. Plus for me, Christmas has always been a rather introspective personal time of year, and many times I feel like the chaos and stress ruin it for me. But then I see the kids get all amped up and I’m back in the game…
(Data is awesome – love the hat!)
I can see how it would take awhile to get into the holiday spirit if you were feeling generally blah. It’s a lot to take in and do all at once, and I think it really stresses people out sometimes.
I’m pretty much looking for any excuse and distraction from grad school and finals, so I’m all about embracing the holidays right now.
I LOVE the photo of you guys laughing. And the matching shirts. And Data’s antlers. And the soy chai latte 🙂
I’m hoping that this weekend will put me in the mood. The Santa 5K, putting up my tree with my mom, and wrapping presents usually helps. If I could only figure out how to make dinner happen for my family’s celebration I think my stress level would decrease.
Thanks 🙂
I think I need a weekend similar to yours! We may actually get a real tree this year, and I do have presents to wrap. And am running that race (obviously – hey, did you see – 60% chance of snow that day?).
What are your plans for the dinner? I was so happy we weren’t in charge of food for Thanksgiving. The planning stresses me out.
Aw,the photo of you and your sister/sisters in law is too cute!
I really don’t like Christmas music. I feel like that makes me anti-holiday for some reason, which I’m not!
Love the family photos 🙂 I have some similar ones with my cousins over Thanksgiving 🙂 I’m not really a big holiday person. Since I got married, I’ve found it exceedingly stressful to please EVERYONE. Too many family members! I try not to be a grinch, but I’d really love to just hole up and watch “Scrooged” and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” with some cookies and hot chocolate. There are always obligations though…
The photos are adorable. 🙂
I’m completely the opposite. I am usually totally psychotic/stressed/crabby around the holidays, but for some reason this year I’m really pretty mellow.
I hope you feel better, but there’s no law that says we all have to be happy and sunshine around the holidays. We can be grateful and jolly any other day we want.
I don’t have the holiday spirit that much, either. Since I’m getting over being sick, everything seems like a chore. Like Diane said, you don’t have to automatically feel cheery because it’s the holidays. You can always fake it… everyone else will be too stressed out to notice!
I’m not a traditionalist when it comes to the holidays. I feel the holiday spirit in fleeting moments spent over hot chocolate or evenings sitting in front of a fire or warm meals spent with loved ones. I certainly don’t feel the holiday spirit when every store I walk into has decorations thrown up everywhere (modesty, please), holiday music is blaring entirely too loud and check-out lines are wrapped around the store!
I love the matching shirts!!
It admittedly doesn’t feel like the holidays unless the usual traditions are present. I had none of those on Thanksgiving, and it basically feels like I didn’t have a Thanksgiving this year. Last year, we did “Christmas” on December 22nd (or 23rd?) since I had to work on the actual eve/day, complete with all our family traditions, and it felt just like Christmas even though it wasn’t the actual day. When the 24th/25th rolled around, it felt like Christmas was over! I’m hoping that seeing all the Christmas decorations around the city will help get me into the spirit this year….along with maybe putting up a little tree in the apartment!
That being said, I’m not ready for it yet!! The Christmas music in the stores is a bit too much for me right now…
Where did you get those cute shirts?
Tar-jay! (Target). They are normally $10 each, but they were $5 each Sunday the 21st. Maybe they are still on sale! You getting one? 🙂
Cute pictures! And I liked your video even though I could tell you were irritated – it was fun to hear your voice. I know what you mean about the Christmas spirit – I am feeling stressed about all I have to do before we leave for Texas in three weeks. The good thing is, since we’ll be gone I don’t have to put up any decorations here or a tree, so that makes things a bit easier. Hope you feel better soon!
Thanks 🙂
I think not doing the decorations definitely cuts back on the stress! I am excited you are going to TX this year! Do you usually?
Your pictures are cute, even if there’s not a ‘good’ one in the bunch 🙂
I feel like I’m kind of a grinch this year while I’m in AZ because I’m not planning on setting up my tree or decorating. I won’t be home very much over the next month, and there are no plans for anyone to be at my house. I feel that there’s a mix of it’s not needed to be up for practical reasons, and if I wait until next year, I’ll have another year of distance on all of the decorations that Nik and I had accumulated together over the last several years. Might make fewer rash decisions of just throwing them all out.
I think I’ll feel the spirit once I start to pack to head back east for the holidays 🙂 it’ll be hard to not be happy then.
Thanks 🙂
I think it’s good to wait a year to use those decorations! How long until you go back east?
I love the picture of you guys laughing!
I think I got that shirt for my oldest daughter for Christmas. I know I had it in my hands, but I can’t remember if I bought it or put it back.
Data looks adorable!
I’m trying to get in the spirit myslef, hopefully an evening of Christmas tv specials will do the trick.
Thanks so much for the shirt!!! Can’t wait to try it out : )
We watched Scrooged last night. Love it!
Let me know how you like the shirt! 🙂
i planned a holiday party for dec 19th and sent out the evite, so that put me in the holiday spirit FAST… since now i have lots of planning and decorating to do and think about before the 19th!
I’m squeezing Data from here! Now your turn. Squeeeze. Its hard to just automatically flip the festive switch. I try and slow down and take notice of all the fun holiday stuff around me. All those fun, smiling pictures made me smile! Good stuff!
living in miami it never feels like the holidays, so D and I have a VERY hard time with this. I am headed to KC now and seeing my mom’s decorations will help
I am in the holiday spirit, and I have been for a couple of weeks now. Definitely was in the spirit on Turkey day. We put a tree up last week – Tavo went high and low to find a good deal on a fake tree. We listen to Christmas music at home in the evenings. I haven’t done any shopping yet, but I’m totally starting to think about baking to create plates of cookies and treats for colleagues, friend and neighbors. 🙂
I hope the holiday joy embraces you fully, soon!
I think it really varies. On Thursday, I was SO excited about Thanksgiving – it was a crisp, clear day and we headed out of town to see friends and I totally had that “holiday feeling”. But… Now that the work week is here, and I have a jallion things to do, I don’t feel so excited. In fact, news that our department holiday party was cancelled actually made me HAPPY. Talk about a Grinch! But I do think that the lead-up can be stressful, which can take away some of the enjoyment.
I struggled last year, since it was my first year away from family for the holidays. This year is going much better, and it probably has something to do with the fact that my parents and brother are flying to WA to spend Christmas with us.
I absolutely love that first picture of you guys. It’s adorable!
I am such a kid when it comes to Christmas. We’re decorating this weekend and I just can’t wait for it all. I love everything about this season and I like to soak it all in because it goes so fast! 🙂