Tis the Season?

This was the oddest Christmas season I have experienced in that I didn't really get into it what-so-ever. I think I always associate Christmas with family time and a nice break from school. The lack of this break and family time allowed Christmas to sneak up on me. I'll definitely need to make some adjustments next year to have a real world esque Christmas season on my own. Now to discuss what little bit of a Christmas I did experience.

Saturday my family took a very short trip over to Vestavia Hills to my cousin Ashley's house for our gift exchange with my mother's side of the family. Ashley made her chicken enchilada stew with rice and black beans that I have come to love. Typing about it is making me hungry. After lunch we opened presents with football ever present in the background. Nanny, as always, was able to find some pretty nice clothes, and Tammy, my aunt, pulled through with getting the whole Hunger Games series to me. Everyone else was driving back to Guin, so we didn't stay around too long after present time was over.

That afternoon my dad made Will and me go take pictures at Ross Bridge for an unknown reason. Christmas Eve is a little late for Christmas cards. Regardless, we took some pretty stellar pictures. My dad is such a doofus and made us do things like this.
 

My parents forgot that our church service was at 5, so we missed that. This is probably another reason I didn't feel too Christmasy. We did, however, have a wonderful dinner of steak, salad, and cheddar cheese soup as imitated from EPCOT's Le Cellier. It was a beautiful Christmas feast after which Will and i opened our joint present. Traditionally, it has been a larger Lego set. This year's selection was the Rebel Base from Hoth. We built that pretty quickly and went to bed because Will set his alarm for 6...

As I tried to go to sleep, I watched some holiday themed episodes of television shows that Netflix recommended and read The Hunger Games. I got within 80 pages of finishing at around 5 but had to go to the bathroom before I got some sleep. My mother heard me leave my room and was under the impression I was going to look downstairs at the gifts, so she woke everyone up to just go ahead and open presents. This was of course fun, and I was grateful for the lack of candy purchased. I didn't need to eat anymore than I already did. My dad chronicled the entire thing if you want to look. Please don't.

Will received Lego Harry Potter years 5-7 on Wii, and I was so excited to play it. I just wanted to finish my book first. Well, I fell asleep and woke up at lunch just in time to pack up and leave to go to Granny's house in Chattanooga. This was our first Christmas there, and it definitely felt different. Luckily, we had all of the same food items: chicken casserole, English peas, field peas, and mashed potatoes. I also got to watch my first Doctor Who Christmas special live. They've been some of my favorite episodes, so i was glad to see one in the context of the season. I definitely shed a tear or two during it.
 
Well, that was my Christmas season. I only got one day off, but I am looking forward to New Year's in Atlanta with Karissa and Jenae. Then it'll be time for the National Championship in New Orleans!