This is a girl who is officially on holiday break for the next 11 days. I’ll be spending some quality time with my family, and taking some time to recharge and relax. I love finishing up a year with the anticipation and excitement of a new year just around the corner. Taking time to pause and reflect at the end of a big year for us feels appropriate. But, before I completely enter to vacation mode, I am sharing some of my favorite Christmas traditions on the blog!
Ornament Exchange
I have two girlfriends from college. In fact, one of them lived on the same floor as me when we were freshman in the dorms. We went on to be in the same sorority, roommates and lifelong friends in Houston. My bestie lived in the same dorm our freshman year, was also in the same sorority, and we are still besties in Houston to this day. Several years ago, we began a tradition to exchange Baylor ornaments with one another each year. So, you buy three of the same ornament. It can be something with Baylor on it, something with a bear on it – or something green and gold. You buy one for yourself, and one for the other two.
And, we always try to do our ornament exchange by doing something festive and fun. We’ve celebrated at The Nutcracker, we’ve done brunch, and it’s just one of my favorite things. I start thinking about my ornament in the fall. I always decorate my big tree with all of my Baylor ornaments. We have so many at this point that I’m going to need a larger tree. Here are a couple of my favorites:
There’s no spending limit – you just buy whichever ornament you want for the year.
Taking out my bear ornaments each Christmas is one of my favorite traditions. It brings back so many fond memories about how far each of us have come in our lives – and in our friendship. It’s a reminder of how thankful I am for these two ladies and their friendship over the years.
Family Christmas
Now that I’m married, Aaron and I switch off the big holidays (thanksgiving and Christmas). So, one year, we will do Christmas at my family’s house and Thanksgiving at his. The next year, we do Thanksgiving with my family and Christmas with Aaron’s parents. That way, no one feels left out. But, my family has a tradition of getting together on Christmas Eve, and I’ve got a large extended family. We each draw a name, so you are only buying for one person, and we rotate who hosts every year.
That picture was taken at the 2019 Christmas – and little did we know that the world would shut down shortly thereafter. I haven’t seen most of these people since that Christmas, and I can’t wait to hug them and see them in person this year. We always try to do something fun, and 2019 was the year of the matching family pj’s.
That’s me and my mom in our matching pj’s. This year, we are all coming as we are – no matching pj’s – just bring yourself and your gift. I’m Sure there will be a game of Left, Right, Center, and some delicious food (like my Uncle Mike’s pie)!
Ho Family Christmas
I’ve talked about the Ho Family before, but it’s a group of college friends who all ended up in Houston. We get together for all the major holidays like the 4th of July, Friendsgiving and the big Ho Family Christmas party. The rules are as follows: everyone brings a $30 real gift that anyone could actually like and use. Then, each person also brings at $5 gag gift of their choice – whatever you want. One year, I ended up with an adopted cat, which luckily, already had a home in case the recipient didn’t want it.
We laugh, we drink, we eat – and we just have ourselves a good little time. This tradition has been going strong since about 2011. We have done tacky Christmas over the years, classy Christmas and more. It’s one of my favorites over the years, and we’ve walked away with some fun gifts.
So, I’ll leave you with this – we’ve got a flight to catch this afternoon, and I haven’t packed yet. Any other last minute packers in the house?
