Something to Celebrate!

I've always loved Holidays. Getting together with friends and family, eating, drinking, etc. is always a blast. However, I've never made that big of a deal out of most holidays because they always seem to stress me out a little bit. It seems like there is always a holiday, birthday, or anniversary every time I turn around. Most holidays revolve around presents and parties, and to be quite honest, I get caught up in the expense and time it takes to make the day special which stresses me out a bit. As a result I think I have lost the excitement and true meaning of most celebrations, because it is truly just that. It isn't about a party or presents or making the most delicious meal. It is about celebrating.

There are certain people in my life that can put things into perspective for me without even trying. This girl is one of them.

We were having a casual conversation about how big our kids are all getting and how it is unbelievable that her daughter is the very age we were when we became best friends. How she has been married for almost 13 years and me almost 8, and how when you are only 30 that is about 1/3rd of your life!!! :) This led us to mention that, considering staying married for a lifetime is really hard work, celebrating anniversaries should really be a bigger deal.

This got me thinking about all holidays in general. The hustle and bustle of life can sometimes get in the way of remembering what is really important. From now on I am going to make it a point to really celebrate everything that deserves celebrating. This does not mean having the biggest, best birthday parties for my kids, or going crazy buying Christmas presents. This doesn't mean that I will be expecting diamonds from Scott on our anniversary (don't tell him I said this just in case he feels led to do that one of these days! :D), or even phone calls from all my friends on my birthday. This means I am going to try and really remember what that particular day is special for and celebrate just that. To remember on the kid's birthdays just how unbelievably lucky I am that they were born, and not get caught up in the party or the presents. On Thanksgiving, I will try my best this year to not get stressed about making the most perfect side dish and making it to all the places we need to be, but to be thankful for the fact that I have family to share the day with and food to eat. I won't even get started on Christmas. I spend more time thinking up/stressing over the perfect gift for everyone than anything else, which is obviously so irreverent. And next year on my anniversary I am going to try and remember that being married for 8 years is no small feat, and hopefully to be married for 60 more, I will need to nurture and care for my marriage just like I do for my children.

Since I have had children I have been trying to think of the perfect holiday traditions to make the day special for my kids. I think just celebrating the day together, as a family, and embracing the meaning of the day could possibly be the best tradition yet!