i like christmas, but i don't love it
and
i envy you if you do.
~
i'm not sure when i started only liking it, because i remember loving christmas when the kids were little and it was all about them and the mystery of santa claus. but then something gradually changed.
if i could put it all into words, i would, but i can't. and even if i could, i'd probably offend someone and i don't want that to happen. so, all i can say is that if you love all the shopping and
decorating and baking and parties. i envy you.
~
did you notice i didn't add in gift wrapping. that's because i LOVE gift wrapping.
i'm still editing photos in LR3 and loving it. here are a few i recently did.
the first two are from a recent walk with my hubby, at an amazing conservancy.
some people might think that since i'm in wisconsin, we're covered up in snow "around these parts."
lucky for us, not yet. but lord knows, it's coming.
*
Christmas magic. I'm going to search hard for it this year. I want me some of that!
ReplyDeleteThe pics look great. I've been wishing for LR3 since you have been sharing its magic. Think I'll ask Santa.
Hi Beth,
ReplyDeleteYour images a wonderful (as always). The little face is angelic...I really must check into LR3. I think my only drawback is I don't think my photography is 'worthy' of such an elaborate and expensive tool. Its not like I am a professional or anything. Its not like I even know what I am doing when I take a photo...I just know I love to do it. In the meantime I will just enjoy your talent.
As far as Christmas...I am with you...I lost it when the kids left for college and never got it back. Last year was the first time I had a Christmas tree in eight years! I do celebrate the twelve days of Christmas with the grandkids...but soon they will have out grown that...I think the final straw was when on Black Friday this year a woman pepper sprayed a crowd of people to get some XBox or some stupid game at Wal Mart out here...hospitalized I don't know how many people...can you IMAGINE? It has turned CRAZY! So sunggle up in your warm house and try and enjoy the time before the winter white hits.
J
Look at that face, so beautiful! I love parts of Christmas, but the over-done stress stuff - I'm not a fan either.
ReplyDeleteI think the magic of Christmas wore off when our youngest moved out. I still like it but love would be too strong a word. Absolutely love that cute little face!
ReplyDeleteOh, that child has the wonder of the season in those eyes.
ReplyDeleteThere's no snow here yet either. Makes the winter so much shorter!
I totally get how you feel about Christmas. I thinks it may have something to do with the kids growing up. Yeah, I'm sure of it.
ReplyDeleteI am still waiting for the snow... I like Christmas too...trying this year to like it more...not sure if I will ever love it...but lord knows I am trying. Gorgeous shots of the shrooms...and the eyes...wow.
ReplyDeleteI must admit that I love Christmas ... and I tried Lightroom based on your recommendation, but it wasn't quite right for me. Although the presets were wonderful, the creamy black and white ... and although the image clarity was fabulous, I found I can do more, or at least more easily, with my Picnik account. But I guess its just about the way my brain works.
ReplyDeleteI love the last photograph. Beautiful.
i know very little about the US, but I know two things about wisconsin since i started blogging. 1. it gets really cold in winter. and 2. beth lives there. not bad huh?
ReplyDeleteYou've expressed it very well. I was thinking that I didn't like Christmas, but it isn't that. I just don't love it! Christmas shopping etc in the heat! More than that though - all the emotional stuff and expectations that everything must be wonderful and jolly.... There's a lot of pressure!
ReplyDeleteChristmas is all about the children and about the fun they're having. I am having a giant sleepover with 4 families (total of about 20) and I love that part.
ReplyDeleteThe shopping and all the commercialization of it I really despise.
Your photographs are amazing the love you have for LR3 makes me want to take a look :-)
I so get it, Beth....so much.
ReplyDeleteAnd needed this grin.
Yeah, kind of digging the peace of giving myself permission to not get
excited about whatever parts of the hullabaloo
that don't turn me on
at any given time.
Some years I'm liking something.
Other times, not so much.
Nice to have a pass....it's okay either way.
Your words helped give me that "pass" this morning.
BIG quiet, unrushed thanks:)
-Jennifer
Last year I wasn't in Texas for Christmas and near my family. Christmas for me is being with them. I'm not enamored by shopping and stay away from stores if I can help it. Five grandchildren make that impossible but the fun of the holidays is being with my family. xo Jenny
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to sort out Christmas this year. I love it -- not the shopping, not the frenzy, but the colors, the lights, the memories that tumble out of the boxes I open. This year is different, and I'm not sure if it is because I've been unwell or older. Pretty everyone I know has what they need -- or what they want is more than I can manage, so I'm rethinking how best to give (because like you, I love the wrapping part and you have to have things to wrap!) My house is usually overdone by this time of year. I've managed to bbring only a few things up from the basement and I wonder how much will stay in the boxes, as I hunt for the "special" things. A different Christmas, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteNo snow here yet, either. Love those bright baby eyes.
ReplyDeleteDear Beth, I am so feeling your energy about Christmas.... just because we call it a Joyful season ~ does not really make it all joyful just because.
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy it now because I have a little kid and it's all about her. However it was a little overwhelming after we got married and we had about 20 people on the list to buy gifts for - being young and broke was really hard to 'enjoy' those times.
Actually, the ridiculousness ended for us when we had a family meeting once between my sisters and I just said - you know what guys - let's not do gifts! And it worked ~ we only do gifts that come from Santa for the kids only and me and hubby exchange gifts. A week before Christmas the girls of the family get together and we bake cookies ;) and then everyone brings something to the table.
Going against the grain made us breathe again and really enjoy the holidays ;) There's just less pressure, less hurrying, less shopping, less trips to the mall, less money spent.
I definitely feel you about Christmas...our kids are grown and gone so it's not as magical as it once was. But I try to remember what the season is really about, trying to show more charity and kindness and love to those I come into contact with. It's definitely an effort, though. Hope your Christmas spirit returns. Happy wrapping! :)
ReplyDeletep.s. The pics are gorgeous; the baby, especially.
i know what you mean about christmas. i think my illness has a lot to do with my "blahness" about it, and that makes me sad. but your photos makes me happy, especially the first two. i'd love to walk in that place, but your photos are the next best thing!
ReplyDeleteYou don't like CHRISTmas because you are not seeing the first part of the word.
ReplyDeleteNice blog...nice pictures but we sure don't agree about "food for thought" either.
This baby picture is one of the most beautiful photos I have seen in all my born days!!!!! Stunning!
ReplyDeleteI love Christmas, sometimes I find when it's all said and done it can be a bit of a let down. My expectations are always pretty high for it. Now that I have a little one I'm able to get caught up in his excitement.
ReplyDeleteWhat I love of the holidays is the magic of it. The music that I can sing along to and that makes me smile. Seeing a child get excited with seeing Santa. Watching old holiday movies at home with the family. Decorating.
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't like is the shopping, the advertising, the rush...I would much rather sit by a fire with my family and remember Christmas times in the past.
The baby photo was incredible....
Beth:
ReplyDeleteI understand what you are saying about Christmas. And, while I've tried to learn new ways of seeing the holiday since Michael and I moved here and are away from my Maryland family, it's not the same for me.
I was the Christmas Eve house and friends and family gathered there. Now, it's just Michael and me and well, the dogs and the love is there....I wouldn't trade it...but it's just not the same.
And, I miss it.
BIG HUGS!
I used to be a crazy Martha Stewart wanna-be, trying to create that perfect Christmas that somebody somehwere has convinced us it what is perfect. Now, wiser, and so much more aware of what is truly important, I stress so much less. Show love where I can, give little tokens that make my loved ones smile and enjoy the together time. That does it for me !
ReplyDeleteHope your find the peace in the season that you love and deserve, Beth !
HUgs !
I love love love Christmas. It takes all that I love and believe in and magnifies it and makes it better. I love how much my kids love it. But I still have a houseful. But honestly I can not imagine ever not loving it. Crazy.
ReplyDeleteWhat is LR3?? Im interested. Your photos are always amazing!
I took some recently that I think you will like. Will try to post by the end of the day! :) You are my photographer idol! :)
BTW, I need more socks... is our store still in business??
I seriously dislike wrapping. Anything. Wrapping brings me down. Let's get together.
ReplyDelete....and I loathe gift wrapping so that leaves me only sort of liking Christmas and that is sad b/c I want to love Christmas b/c of the true meaning of it....
ReplyDeletesweet, sweet baby face! I still enjoy Christmas, but not having children around does make a difference. I don't shop much, but do like just one time during the season walking through the mall to see others shop. Love the twinkling lights. Oh your mushroom picture reminds me their must be fairies nearby. Are they hiding underneath the mushrooms? Did you see them on your walk?
ReplyDeleteI used to love Christmas, but then things happened to sadden me on the holiday. But this year, so far so good, although I haven't any desire to do any decorating.
ReplyDeleteI love Christmas. I do. It's not my fault, I seem to have inherited it from my mother, Mrs. Claus.
ReplyDeleteI do admit that it is not quite as much fun without any young children around. But somehow, I still find myself smiling all the way through December.
And today, it was almost 60 degrees here. A bit crazy, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts!
I am on the fence about Christmas...some things I love about it and some things just distress me. I find I miss my sister more than ever during the holidays...
ReplyDeleteChristmas for me is a feeling. It is just being in the spirit and enjoying the simple things -- music, food, friends, family...it's not about the decorations or the tree or the gifts. Too many years were spent driving myself into a mental case with just "so" and how it would be and the meal and the gifts and trying to get to the mall before it got nuts. Now if I can do it online, that's great. If my kids who are in their 20s want cash -- it's good for me! I miss those who are no longer with us at the holidays and think about wonderful memories. I love to watch my favourite films and it's even better when the 4 of us are doing that together and sharing laughter at the same spots year after year. It's a feeling I try and carry with me all year.
ReplyDeleteBut I don't love the mall or shopping or spending hours in the kitchen. I did when my children were little and it was for them which they loved. Just as my mother did for me. I think when we come to the point in our lives where we know less is more and gifts are the important part it does change how we feel about Christmas.
Enjoy it for what it is and what it means to you Beth! &hearts'
and I meant gifts aren't the important part -- was that a freudian slip?!?! lol!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's not a Hallmark card and I wish the media would stop trying to tell us that it is!! :)
i didn't like christmas for a while... for years, really. but i got excited about it once again last year while waiting for isaac. and this year, i love it even more.
ReplyDeleteummm... interesting comment from anonymous person... i don't agree. i think you can know what christmas is all about and still not enjoy the christmas festivities... especially when the commercialism of the world we live in has made christmas all about gifts and getting the latest and greatest thing, and not about quiet reflection and enjoyment of family and what we already have... something we can do any time of year and not have to have a "holiday" be the reason we do it.
people who say stuff like that make me want to laugh, because what they don't realize is that Christ's birth was probably in april, and it was the "pagans" who wanted to marry winter celebrations and festivities with the celebration and remembrance of Christ's birth, thus giving us the traditions we know and celebrate as christmas today. so to not love christmas is not to not know what the meaning of it is. that was just an ignorant comment. and it drives me crazy when people can't put their name with the things they say... if they are so bold to say it, be bold enough to put your name with it!
okay... i'm off my soap box now.
anyway, love that photo of the little guy. so sweet.
p.s.
ReplyDeletei love your new blog banner!
That little face is precious! Such a beautiful job, especially on his eyes! I do love Christmas itself, but not all the rush, rush, rush. I'm determined to keep it simple this year. I don't even have my tree up yet! (But that's just because I've been crazy busy with other stuff. Sigh.)
ReplyDeleteHe is sweet Sweet.
ReplyDeleteHappy your liking Lightroom . So many do.