Christmas this year was pretty great actually. I was nervous I would have a very difficult time, being that it was the first Christmas away from my family. I was proud of how well I did (though there were some moments of home-sickness and some "I wish I was there" tears) and how much fun Dereck and I were able to have despite the differences to what is usually done for the holiday.
A few days before Christmas we went to see some lights down in Harajuku. Usually we drive around the town to see lights on houses, but since homes here don't do that much, we went to where we knew there was some pretty ones to see! Harajuku is one of my favorite neighborhoods, and it was fun to just be with friends in the cold air, walking down a street that just sparkled!
Christmas Eve we were the hosts of a party for our friends. A lot of the people from the squadron went skiing over Christmas, but we wanted to stay home. There were about 15 people that were able to come spend the holiday at our house. We made frybread tacos, or Oof-da tacos as Dereck's family calls them, which is a tradition at Dereck's grandmother's house for Christmas Eve. We also had plenty of drinks to warm us up (including a hot cocoa bar! mmmm) and did a gift exchange. We ended up with a blue fleece Snuggie and a reading light, so we were happy! It was fun to share the holiday with our friends here that sometimes act so much like family. It was great to open our home to those who have no family here, so nobody was alone on Christmas Eve.
After everybody left, Dereck and I decided to open one gift each. He picked the one for me to open- which was the teeniest, tiniest present under the tree. Turns out it was an iPod Shuffle from my parents! I guess good things DO come in small packages! The next morning we slept in late, then got up to open our presents. We both loved all our gifts. Our family is so generous and it was fun to see everything they thought to send us. We just wished we could've shared this time with them... but we know that there will be other Christmases when we'll be back home. After presents, we decided to make our big holiday brunch. Neither of us wanted to cook a big Christmas dinner so we decided to do a brunch instead. Dereck made biscuits and homemade sausage gravy, and we also had french toast sticks, scrambled eggs, hash-browns, toast, and coffee. It was delicious and just perfect for Christmas morning. We think we might have a new tradition!
The rest of the day we spent visiting some friends who were unable to make it to our party due to sick children (sad... kids shouldn't be allowed to get sick on a holiday!) and then just lounging around the house. We had leftover taco salad for dinner while we watched some of the DVDs we were given.
It was a really great and relaxed holiday, and honestly, it was a nice break from fighting with the Minnesotan weather while trying to get from point A to point B and back to Point A in time to spend Christmas with every part of the family. Of course, all that is worth it to be with the ones you love :-)
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