Part 1 of 2

We waited as patiently as possible.  In my book, the Christmas season DOES NOT begin until the day after Thanksgiving.  I don't care what the decision makers at Haywood Mall say.  We did listen to a little Christmas music before Thanksgiving, but that is the only concession I allowed us.  In Yeongju, South Korea Thanksgiving Day was like any other day.  We both got up earlier than we'd like.  We both went to work.  We both had regular classes.  Jessica told the little girl to either stop picking her nose or eat the boogers.  I dealt with that little punk in the third grade.  The usual stuff.  So when Thursday evening finally rolled around, the fact that it was now morally acceptable to transition to Christmas mode did not automatically become apparent to me.  We were on a regular trip to Homeplus when we saw the aisles of Christmas decorations.  And it hit me: IT'S TIME!  No more waiting.  Green light.  We bought our little Christmas tree, a couple strings of lights, and headed home to decorate.

It's now Sunday, and Jessica and I are putting the Christmas ornaments, garland, and star on the tree.  We decided to make homemade ornaments this year, not because we had to, but because we want to...and because we are both crafty creative people.  We took our bottle cap collection and attached hemp string to each one to make ornaments.  This is by far my favorite tree I've ever had.  But I started thinking while we were decorating about all of the Christmas traditions that we'll miss this year, and with this being our first Christmas as husband and wife, the thought of being so far from home is especially heavy on my heart.  Not sad, just very apparent.  I won't get to attend the annual Christmas party at Jessica's uncle Calvin's house.  She looks forward to it every year.  Jessica won't get to meet my cousins for the first time at our annual Christmas Eve get-together that has been growing with new children every time.  We both won't get to experience the busyness that comes with being married and having to attend multiple Christmas dinners and parties on the same day, and eating way too much at each stop.  This is an excellent way to experience our first year together as a married couple, and we'll learn many valuable lessons having no one to depend on but each other, but it's just not the same.  Perhaps most dissappointing of all, Jessica will miss the annual Hollingsworth trip up the mountain to Hendersonville, NC.  Or maybe, just maybe, she lucked out this year.  Let me explain....