"Positive Christmas Ideas"

 

Although I've been a bit "under the weather" this past week, and I'm running a little late with my blog post, I'm just thankful to be feeling a lot better, and that I'm gradually catching up on everything.

I wanted to make sure that I got to share with you some positive Christmas ideas that I have since Christmas is right around the corner.

~"There's something about Christmas time, Something about Christmas time, That makes you wish it was Christmas every day" -From "Christmas Time," a song by Bryan Adams

Christmas songs and carols are a big part of Christmas, of course.

A couple of my favorite groups, especially for Christmas are these-

~Home Free is an American country a cappella group with beautiful harmony. I was amazed when I found out that they sing with no musical accompaniment. They do an especially nice job with "O Holy Night." (And so does Josh Groban.)

Greg and I really love the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Our favorite song of theirs is "Christmas Canon."

Also, another idea for Christmas music is to go caroling yourself, along with some other people. 

At the Welcome Center in Abingdon, Virginia 

While out, enjoy the decorations, like at the welcome center (above) and at the-

Abingdon Commons (above) which houses a health food store, a coffee shop with goodies, and a brick oven pizza shop, as well as other businesses.

While in Abingdon, you might want to check out-

the Barter Theatre that is now featuring professional live performances of "A Christmas Carol."

Also, there have already been Christmas parades, "The Nutcracker" ballet, and Christmas craft shows, as well as others, but there are still other places to go, other things to see and do, like going to the Appalachian Caverns for their Christmas tour to see the underground caverns beautifully decorated with Christmas lights, as well as other decorations. You can view the caverns through the end of December, with the exception of Christmas Day.

Also, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville are all celebrating Winterfest with beautiful displays of lights now through mid-February.

Here are some positive, unique Christmas gift suggestions-

~Give someone something you have made yourself, to someone who would really appreciate it.

(Not all gifts need, or have to be wrapped, however.) For example-

~Give someone who needs one, a smile. (I feel such a positive connection with humanity when I'm out, in a store, for example, and someone smiles at me.)

~Volunteer your time for a good cause.

~Donate food. supplies. or money to your local animal shelter. 

~Even better, adopt one or more animals to take home with you.

We adopted our Mitzi and Kallie at the same time. They have brought real joy into our lives.

Also...

 our Kit-Cat came to us as a stray, a feral cat. She is our outdoor cat, and she seems to love it that way.

Pets can make a really positive difference in our lives. We help them, and they help us.

Besides the above ideas, you might want to check out this website, not only for this Christmas, but even for next year, etc, as well-

https://www.minted.com/lp/christmas-traditions

On the above website, they had a really interesting  article, "25+ Christmas Traditions in the US and Around the World." One of the Christmas traditions was "Spread Joy With Random Acts of Christmas Kindness." A couple of their suggestions are to pay "for a stranger's coffee," and to tape "dollar bills to items in a dollar store." Fun ideas, fun reading!

"During this season of religious services, majestic music, festive gatherings with family and friends, and sharing with souls in need, living from the heart is especially evident." -www.matthewbooks.com

~Positive thought -"Money doesn't bring happiness, but happiness brings money!" "...if you want to attract money to you, the fastest way to do that is to be happy first." -Rhonda Byrne

Thanks for visiting! Until around Saturday, January 4, 2025, Becky

Celebrate Life!

 

February is a really busy month for us. Besides Valentine's Day, this is also my birthday month. Another busy month for us is August since it's when we celebrate Greg's birthday and our wedding anniversary.

For my birthday this year, we invited the part of our family that lives nearby to our house for a meal. The party wasn't just for me, but it was also for my cousin whose birthday is also in February. To make the get-together more fun, we called the celebration a "Winterfest Birthday Celebration." We got the idea of  "Winterfest" from the celebration in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee that lasts from mid-November to mid-February every year. Having something like this helps to counteract the starkness of this time of the year.

"Life should not only be lived, it should be celebrated." ~Osho (In short, celebrate life!)

We decorated our house with a wintery...

Christmassy theme.

We had a pizza meal ready for everyone to enjoy.

The three guys patiently waited to get their food...

while the ladies filled up their plates. (Ladies first!)

Dessert was a festive birthday cake, along with ice cream.

Then, it was time to open birthday gifts-

My gift was wrapped in paper with a cute snowman design.

My cousin seemed to like his birthday gifts.

Our outdoor cat, Kit-Cat, kept everybody entertained.

It was time for everyone to leave, but we made plans for future times to be together.

Greg and I celebrated Valentine's Day with little gifts to each other.

A couple of days later, we went to Rogersville, Tennessee to celebrate my birthday some more.

(We don't celebrate our birthdays just one day. We stretch it out few several days! The more, the better!)

The reason I wanted to go to Rogersville was to go to the Hale Springs Inn...

to have lunch at...

the Sweet Tooth Cafe which is located inside the inn.

The food there is delicious! Each dish is named after either a local person or place. I had "The American Hotel Bacon Melt,' along with a "Simpson House Strawberry Salad."

Our terrific waitress, Jalyn, pleasantly surprised me when she said that since I was celebrating my birthday that I got my choice of a free dessert even though it wasn't the exact day of my birthday. I ordered the salted caramel cheesecake which was absolutely delicious! I told the owner, Jo, that it was one of the best desserts I'd ever had, which was the truth! I shared part of my dessert with Greg and he liked it although he usually doesn't like caramel.

After our wonderful lunch, we looked around downtown Rogersville which has some nice little shops-

We enjoyed this pretty shop which has a message on a sign outside that we think is really important for all of us to follow-"It's a beautiful day to shop local."

The next day, we met part of Greg's family for lunch at Freiberg's German Restaurant in Johnson City, Tennessee since they were in our area on personal business.

Greg, Outside of Freiberg's with One of  His Brothers

The food is great! I had schnitzel which was something new to me.

Enjoying Being Together

Afterwards, since we were in a celebratory mood, we went to Bass Pro Shops in Bristol, Tennessee since we've never been to that one before. Greg and I are not into sports at all, but Greg wanted to go check out their coffee, and I was interested in seeing the beautiful wildlife displays and scenes that they have.

Bass Pro Shops

For our final stop in our several-days birthday/Valentine's Day celebration, we decided to go by the...

Blackbird Bakery in Bristol, Virginia to get a couple of goodies which we enjoyed at home with warm drinks where we rested and made plans for our next adventures. (No more sweets for a while, though!)

"Every day of your life is a special occasion." ~Thomas S. Monson

Positive thought: "A good life is a collection of happy moments." ~Denis Waitley

Thanks for visiting! Until Sunday, March 6, 2022, Becky