Christmas 2012

 
Christmas this year is very special to me. Since I have been away from my family in such a long time after graduating high school, I haven't spent Christmas with them due to the fact that my family lived in Japan and I lived in Virginia. The flight would have been about 15 hours long and I didn't have the time to travel for that long because I was in college and working part time. Now that I am back in Japan, I feel that my family is complete again. I got to spend Thanksgiving with my family and now it's time for Christmas. Christmas is the time of the year that I have always wished to be with my family and now I feel really happy that this year has finally come. 
Being away from my family throughout the holidays is really hard as spending christmas without them isn't complete. When I went Christmas shopping last year, it just didn't feel the same. Of course I had my friends and my fiance at the time and it was fun to buy them gifts, however I just missed how my family would buy me lots and lots of presents and I didn't have any clue what they bought me. It was such a joy to open their presents because I knew that even though I didn't tell them what I wanted, they would always know what I liked. Being a college student, I had a Christmas tree, but only a small one and being back here at my parent's house, we have a big tree so it was fun to decorate them with lots of lights and ornaments. I feel that it really is the holidays here at my parents house because I didn't care so much about them while I was in college. Now that I have a son, it makes me look forward to holidays now because I can buy gifts for my little one. Even though he is still a little toddler, I want to make sure he gets the best of each holiday and it gives him a smile on his face. The only thing that I miss about Christmas in the states is that Christmas day can be a White Christmas, meaning it can snow on Christmas day. 
Japan rarely snows at all and if it did snow, it would just be a little bit and it would melt on the ground so it never would feel like Christmas or like a day in winter. Part of Christmas that I do enjoy is when it snows and I can wear my boots outside and make a snowman or play snowball fights. However I'm still happy that I get to spend Christmas with my family this year, even if it won't snow. I'm looking forward to Christmas and spending this holiday with my loved ones. Hope everyone has a good holiday!!