There was something special in the air this Christmas. Yes it was my first year with a husband, and that in and of itself gave me so much to look forward to, but it was more than that.
This year I was in the East Valley Millennial Chorus, something I never wanted to be in, but needed some sort of music in my life so I joined.
Soon after my first rehearsal I knew this was something special. I knew I was LUCKY to be a part of this choir.
We had our Christmas Concert on December 5th and 6th. My parents flew down for it and stayed with us for the weekend. We had 4 concerts each one better than the last. I have been singing and performing consistently since I was a teenager. I have sang with groups and solos all over the country (and Malaysia) I have been a part of some amazing shows, but nothing, NOTHING was like this concert.
In a world today where saying "Merry Christmas" is taboo, and the holiday is more about Santa and elves than Christ, it was so nice to be a part of something that was so centered on that miraculous birth.
At one point in the concert the conductor talked about how these days you'd be hard pressed to find a song over 3 and a half minutes long. One of our songs was 9 and a half minutes of repeating the word Allelujah. I had told my husband and my parents about it, and the reaction was always the same, "Ugh... 9 minutes..." but several people, those three included said it was one of their favorites, if not the favorite. The conductor talked about the angels singing for the Saviors birth and how they probably sang longer than 9 minutes, if not the whole night through. Each time I was in that concert I was overwhelmed and often brought to tears knowing that is the closest I will ever get to knowing what it felt like to be in that choir of angels.
After the shows I'd walk out to the lobby and listen to people talk about it, I saw one man hugging, what I can only assume was his daughter (who was in the choir) and just weeping. My parents LOVED it and are already making arrangements to come to the April concerts. My dad said (they were in the front section, right in the middle, and at some points surrounded with the music) he woudl just close his eyes and let the music wash over him. Even now I get emotional thinking about it. To think, I didn't want to do it. I thought I was better than that, I "didn't want to be lost in a crowd" How humbling to be a part of that. It started off my Christmas season better than anything else could have, and it stayed with me the whole time.
This Christmas was bigger than any other because of the spirit that concert brought into my life.
This Christmas was a lot of fun. Sunday night we had "Friendsmas" with our friends Ben and Breann, we got together and had dinner then exchanged gifts. These two friends are the people Matt and I spend the most of our time with. Ben is Matt's best friend from when they were 12 years old. Ben and Breann got married about 4 and a half years ago and when Matt and I started dating more seriously he said, "I feel like I'm getting my best friend back" because now he wasn't a third wheel anymore and we could be a foursome.
I feel like we are really lucky that all four of us get along so well. Anyway "Friendsmas" was really jsut an excuse to have dinner and exchange gifts early, because we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas night with Ben and Breann.
Tuesday we had Matt's family party, the cousin and sibling gift exchange, and a big feast. Matt's parents go all out. There are 30 grandkids and 18 kids (spouses included) and they get individual gifts for each person, not to mention the stuff we got in the stockings and on Christmas day.
Wednesday, Christmas Eve, Matt and I got off work early. We cleaned up the apartment a bit, then we went and visited another one of our good friends, Neela, who Matt met on his mission and. She has been such an amazing friend to Matt, and I am lucky to have gotten her as a friend as well.
After a short visit with her we went to dinner and had an opportunity to be secret Santa's for a family, which was an amazing experience for us.
We then went to Ben and Breann's and watched Christmas Vacation.
We got home around 10:30 and went to bed. It's been a long time since I was too excited to sleep and I was sure I'd want to sleep in, but around 5:30 I woke up (really because I needed to go to the bathroom) I stayed in bed until about 7:30 (when I couldn't hold it anymore) and then was just awake. I woke Matt up and we had our little Christmas. We were both so happy and excited to give our gifts. I took pictures, but went to look at my phone last night and none of them actually took :(
We are going to be in Utah for New Years, so we'll exchange gifts with my family, then, but when my parents were here for the concert they brought our gifts; a new charm for my bracelet and Matt got a Visa gift card.
After our gifts were all unwrapped (I got a new purse [nicest purse I've ever owned], some chairs for our dining room table and some stocking stuffers) we went to Matt's parents house where we had hot chocolate, biscuits and gravy and waffles, we got our stockings there and hung out with the family until about 1. Then we went to see Unbroken with some family and friends, (of course, Ben, breann and Neela)
We then came home had some dinner, Matt put our chairs together and got his toys out (camping stove, lantern, walkie-talkies and other things) and was trying to figure them all out. Then we went to Ben's parent's house and played games and ate more food.
We had a white elephant gift exchange, and I won (got stuck with) some homemade fire works. we decided to take them outside and light them up. Matt was holding one and Ben lit it up. We thought it was just going to be like those flower things that light up and spin around. Matt threw it up and as we were mid yell of "Don't throw it over the grass" (which sounded like "Don't throw it o...") it EXPLODED with a bang so loud my left ear went deaf for a while. We all started laughing and ran inside. Good thing Matt threw it when he did, he for sure would have lost a hand. So yeah, real glad I have the rest of those.
After a few games and chit chatting, we came home. I got ready for bed and Matt came in and said, "Don't you want to come hang out with me and watch TV?" I said, "Aren't you tired?" His words, "I am, but I'm not ready for Christmas to be over" So I got out of bed and we watched some TV until I couldn't keep my eyes open (about 45 minutes later) and we went to bed.
It was such a happy, loving day. Best Christmas I have had in years.
I did miss my family and was a little sad to miss seeing it snow on Christmas day, but having Matt and his family definitely helped. It was a very happy day.
