Mistletoe Monday

"...it's the most wonderful time of the year..." has been stuck in my head all morning.  but it seriously is the most wonderful time of the year! this morning it has been flurrying (one of my friday favorites) and there's so much excitement in the air! i'm sitting in starbucks listening to Christmas music as i type this thinking about what a great time of year this really is! 
before i tell you all the reasons this is most wonderful time of the year i have to tell you all about my fabulous night last night. my roommate, kayla, some of our other girlfriends, and i were made an incredible dinner last night by our oh so great guy friends. they really outdid themselves! we had our dinner in hoffman hall (a newly renovated dorm on campus) and we made our own little dining room table using some coffee tables already there. we walked in and of course, none other but michael buble (my future husband) is playing in the background. such great music! the guys were cooking away as us girls did absolutely nothing. NOTHING! the guys were so sweet and didn't let us do a thing, even when we tried cleaning the dishes afterwards.  we started off by sipping on our Welch's sparkling grape juice and chowing down on our mozzarella, tomato, and fresh basil (otherwise called a caprese salad) appetizer.  then we moved on to our side salad and shrimp scampi which was delicious!! lastly, we had dessert which was a shortcake with mixed berries and cool whip on top. yummm! everything was just so good! and our entertainment was fabulous as well. i felt like i was watching the circus. we can't stop talking about how awesome you guys are and how thankful we are to have you as friends! thanks so much sam, brandon, micah, james, and john! 
ok Christmas time...
i have 3 reasons for today why Christmas is so great. are you ready for them?
1. Christmas tree decorating. i actually got to do it twice this year; once while i was at home and another when i got back to school. it's a family tradition to put up our tree while having all of our favorite junk food and listening to christmas music. pina coladas, sugar cookies, queso dip, and so much more are what we get to nibble on during the decorating. i know what you're thinking...YUM! because that's exactly what i think every year! after snacking, we all assume our positions. mom, the boss and perfectionist, starts decorating and makes sure every ornament is perfectly placed.  dad, the scrooge, sits there and hands us the ornaments to put up. and morgan, the complainer, acts like she's helping while she really just eats and wanders around. i love admiring all the meaningful ornaments like "just married" and "baby's first Christmas," laughing at all the homemade ornaments from when we were little, and remembering all the vacations we've been on from looking at the ornaments we bought there. at school, kayla and i decorated a little, lime green tree. we hope to get more ornaments throughout the year, but for now, our scarce tree will have to do. at first we didn't have anything to put on top so kayla stuck a rolled up poster on top. that was not going to work for me. so, on saturday i bought a cute silver, glittery star from wal-mart to put on top. it works perfectly! (pictures to come tomorrow!)
2. Christmas music.  it's everywhere! i'm not going to lie, but i started listening to Christmas music on November 1st. i was just so excited i had to start! and it's like drugs because once you start you can't stop! what are some of my favorites this year? well first, my friend laura introduced me to the mariah carey pandora station and it's simply fantastic. it's such a great mix of everything! from frank sinatra (if he was still alive he would be a future husband too) to backstreet boys, it's just marvelous! another favorite is the michael buble (i know, i'm obsessed) christmas cd titled Let it Snow. i play it over and over again and never get sick of it, but i think kayla does.  
3. most importantly, Christmas is so great because it's the biggest celebration of the year! we get to celebrate the birth of God's son! how great is that?! the whole Christmas story just blows my mind. one of my favorite Christmas songs is "A Baby Changes Everything" by faith hill and if you think about it how much did God sending his son to earth change everything?! Because of Jesus and his death on the cross later in life we are able to be in a relationship with the God of the Universe! That just gives me chills every time. When i hear the story of the birth of Jesus i think about Mary a lot. i like to think about what I would do if i was told by an angel that i was to give birth to God's son? How crazy would that be?! what would i do? well i know i'd probably let out one of my high pitched squeals in utter shock, but once i settled down, what exactly would my reaction be? just something to think about. 


well, hope you enjoyed my reasons for this great season and that you're enjoying the "most wonderful time of the year" today. :)
xoxo,
erin with a p and a double r