Savouring The Season

Savour: to truly enjoy something…..

The last few days of hustle and bustle are before us. “Are you ready for Christmas?” Appears to be the most frequently asked question to friends and acquaintances, sometimes starting as early as November. What!? Who’s ready for Christmas in November? This, in a way, makes December 25th a bit of a deadline, (I guess it is in a way) there may be some disappointment in Situs Slot Gacor if there are no gifts wrapped and ready to be ripped open under the tree.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I can get caught up in the stress, and feeling of rushing to get everything done and ready, just as well as the next person. But the last few years, this one especially, I’ve made a conscious effort to thoroughly enjoy every little bit of the prep and fuss it takes to “get ready for Christmas” and to stress less about having everything perfect! I’ve always enjoyed the whole holiday scene, but sometimes everything feels like a “to do” list…..shopping, meat pies, baking, wrapping, groceries, delivering gifts, the list goes on and on. All of that can lead to a feeling of being rushed, leading up to what I feel, are the two most magical days of the year, December 24th and 25th. And who wants to feel stressed about what should be a wonderful time of year?!

Now, I wanted this post to be ready a bit earlier than today but I also wanted to include the fun cookie decorating we did in the photos below. So I’m just able to finish it now. But I hope you can gather ideas and maybe make a bit of a mental/mind shift for the remaining days leading up to Christmas, with everything left on your own to do list.

My plan this year was to make just a little bit of a mind shift, from seeing the holiday prep and everything that goes along with it (this actually isn’t much of a stretch for me, but it may be for some of you) all a part of savouring every little bit of all things Christmas. Christmas, to me, is about memories, traditions, fun, family and friends, feeling thankful and grateful, blessed . And to me, all those wonderful things are something stress has no part in. It’s about making new memories, maybe new traditions to include family and friends in some of the prep that goes along with the holidays to make tasks more enjoyable, and make many new memories for years to come!

This year part of my shopping was an annual shopping trip and overnight stay in a hotel with some of my Dads sisters, as well as extended family and friends. I don’t always get to participate because of work, but this year I was free. It’s something I look forward to every year. We shop, have an evening meal all together in a restaurant then have a “show and tell” of all our purchases that night in the hotel. Always a late night but so fun!

Every year year I also make a handful of meat pies for my husband and I to enjoy over the holidays. It’s usually something I do alone, but this year my aunt wanted to see how they were made, so she joined me in my kitchen for a day filled with Christmas music blasting from the google speaker, while we chatted and baked the day away, starting what we plan to be a new tradition. Making something that is essentially a “task” into something so fun, and something to look forward to next year.

I also have a wonderful group of work girlfriends, who are actually now more of a “we know where the bodies are buried” kind of a group. Haha. If you know what I mean. Anyway, we get together many many times through the year and do super fun things. Sometimes it’s because one of us need a stress free day or something fun to take our minds off of “life” even if it’s just for a few hours. Sometimes it really is just for fun or because we want to try or visit somewhere new. The effect of this on a persons mental health is profound! Even though I don’t work with them at the moment, they are all so very important in my life! Love you girls 😉 .

The month of December is busy, but we did manage to have a get together with some cookie decorating and had a few snacks and a fancy festive drink. I’ll share the recipe for the drink below as well. I believe we also started a new tradition.

Dirty Snowman Drink

• 3 scoops of ice cream (put into a mug)
• pour hot chocolate over the top of the ice cream
• add baileys (to your taste)
• whip cream for a topping
• sprinkles (we had peppermint candy canes)

Also this year, my husband had suggested we try a real tree instead of artificial. Now, I am kind of a fussy person. Hahah. But he picked it out himself, in the woods, and in my attempt to truly embrace savouring the season, I put it up and decorated it (it took me half a day to try and make it look “good” ) but it’s perfectly imperfect! Even when it fell on top of me spilling my morning coffee the next morning at 7am I tried (hard) haha, not to let it be something to stress about. 😉

The last few years I’ve had my 2 little nieces over and we’ve decorated gingerbread houses. Something we all enjoy and look forward to now as well. Maybe I can get them to finish wrapping my last few gifts when they come on Monday 😉

What are some traditions you have in your holiday prep? Or maybe a new idea you want to try in order to start a new tradition. It’s never too late!

If you enjoyed reading this post and would like to read future posts, be sure to add your email to the option at the bottom.

My thoughts are also always with anyone who is missing someone special over the holidays. I hope you find peace and maybe even a new tradition with something to honour their memory.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope that everyone reading this has many blessings throughout this holiday season.