"Light the Lamp! Not the Rat!"

This is the third holiday season since I moved away from my family and friends in Connecticut. Because Christmastime is the single busiest time of year at Disney, as a Cast Member, they own my soul from Oct. 31st to Jan. 7th. Literally, we're not even allowed to request any days off during that time frame. Anyway, since I have very little seniority with the company, I have not been able to travel home for the holidays since moving here. I always miss my home and family during this time, but especially my sister.

I was blessed with one sibling. A younger sister born about two and half years after me. Although after joining a sorority, I've been lucky enough to have many wonderful women to call my sisters, I only have one true, flesh and blood sister. I'm sure many of you share your most treasured holiday traditions with your family as well. But being that we lived 3 hours away from our closest relatives, I usually spent the holidays with my immediate family only. We created many traditions and memories over the years but the ones I remember most fondly are those I created with my sister.

She is the only person who understands that it is an absolute requirement that we not only watch, but quote and sing every word of The Muppet Christmas Carol on Christmas eve and she knows my exact favorite part of the movie and that I fall over laughing every time.

She knows that on Christmas eve we'll try to make a fire in our fireplace which usually ends in a lot of smoke and a sad little flame while we open our 1 present.

She's knows that Jeff (who is a tree and not a person) spent every Christmas in our kitchen sitting atop the (unused!) wood stove. And she remembers the first Jeff and how he came to be in our house.

She is the only one who knows all the melody parts of which I know the harmony on the Amy Grant Home for Christmas CD that we sing along to while driving around looking for the craziest Christmas houses after church on Christmas eve.

She is the only person I've gotten trouble with during the Christmas eve service at Church. She also lets me freak out every year about her lighting my hair on fire during the candle lighting even though she's never come close.

She is really the only other person who understands my mom's love for A Christmas Story movie and will leave the marathon on, all day Christmas day.

She knows that although our dad loved How the Grinch Stole Christmas and pretended he felt the way the Grinch did about Christmas, he really loved making it magical for us and our mom.

And she is the only person who will drag her mattress across the hall into my bedroom so we can wake up together Christmas morning. <3

 And I could go on and on. My sister and I are very different people and have never been the closest of siblings but I always miss her so much during the holidays. I hope that my children create holiday traditions and memories together that they will cherish as much as I cherish the ones I have with my sister.

Here we are at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party in 2005

Thanks for reading.

So this one time I got married

For those readers who personally know me (aka. all of you) you know that I started dating my husband eight years ago at the tender age of 18. We did have a teenage whirlwind romance but came back down to earth as the years trudged on. We always knew that we'd get married someday. As the years went by, I built engagement and marriage up in my mind to a somewhat ridiculous level. I realized my guilt in doing this to myself after a few years and wondered if I'd feel a sense of disappointment once the engagement and impending marriage finally took place.

Engagement was more difficult than I expected but not a disappointment. No matter how many people tell you or many many silly wedding tv shows you watch, it doesn't prepare you for the stress and pressure of planning a wedding. And I had a lot of help. But I am happy to report that marriage is so far from a disappointment compared to what I had built it up to be. In fact, marriage has exceeded my expectations (which I honestly didn't think was possible). Eight years of build up is a lot. I will say, it is different than I expected but in positive ways. The level of comfort I feel with my husband is something I haven't really experienced with a person before. Also, marriage (so far) is much simpler than our dating relationship ever was. Of course I'm still very much a newlywed and only have about 3 months of marriage under my belt. But I believe marrying Duncan was truly one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life. And I'm confident that we'll run into struggles, road blocks and tough times but I really do have faith in our love and our marriage.

Thanks for reading.

(Apologies for the terrible grammar and bad writing in this post. This is what happens when one does not practice their craft...I'm working on it. But as promised I am posting a piece that I am not very happy with because the more I write, the better I'll get, right?)