Have I ever mentioned that I love Christmas?

Pinterest and I, together with a severe case of "Christmas in July" daydreaming, teamed up to explain to you all why the yuletide is actually the most wonderful time of the year.  This is the result.

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First things first:  Jesus is literally the reason for the season, and none of this would be so nice if He had not come to us.

This post will mainly be about the more "shallow" side of Christmas, and hence the above "disclaimer," if you will.

For one thing, the holidays give you kind of the best of everything.  (Except weather, I suppose.  But then again to some people winter weather IS the best kind of weather.  So.  There you are.) 

Decorations and such go without saying, so I shall provide examples of other things.

Movies

• The Nativity Story 

[I know I've mentioned my extreme love for this movie before, and I know I've mentioned Oscar Isaac's Joseph before . . . but seriously Oscar Isaac's Joseph, though.  ALL THE HEARTS IN THE WHOLE WORLD. <3 <3 <3]

• While You Were Sleeping
• Elf   [It's entertaining and it's a lot of fun to quote, if nothing else. :-P]
• Little Women   [Hey, the beginning is Christmas-y.  It can count.]
• A Christmas Story

[This movie is legit hilarious. XD  I had heard a lot about it and had actually watched some of it several years ago, but I didn't get all the love for it that I kept hearing a lot of people express.  But then I watched the whole thing last year and I got it, dontcha know. ;)  It's seriously awesome.]

Music  (titles are linked to YouTube where possible)

I might go a little bit overboard in this section.  Just warning you. :-P

ALBUMS

• Joy: An Irish Christmas  (Keith & Kristyn Getty)

Favorite tracks:  "Magnificat" ~ "O Savior of Our Fallen Race" ~ "How Suddenly a Baby Cries" (GUUUYYYYYS) ~ "Fullness of Grace" ~ "Joy to the World" ~  REALLY ALLZ OF THEM <3 <3 <3

• Christmas  (Francesca Battistelli)

Favorite tracks:  "Go, Tell It on the Mountain" {BEST VERSION EVER.  (Maybe.)  I love how unbelievably relaxed and chill it is.  And the finger-snaps?!} ~ "Christmas Dreams" ~ "Heaven Everywhere" ~ "Christmas Is" ~ "You're Here" ~ "Be Born in Me" ~ "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" (I am SUUUUPER picky about renditions of certain traditional carols, and this one isn't EXACTLY what I want from a version of this particular carol -- more on that later -- but I like it.)

• Christmas Blessings  (Sandi Patty)

Favorite tracks:  "Angels We Have Heard on High" ~ "Auld Lang Syne" ~ "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" ~ "The Little Things" ~ "Some Children See Him" ~ "Mary, Did You Know?"

SINGLE TRACKS

• "O Holy Night" (Celtic Woman)
• "Little Drummer Boy" (Peter Hollens & Mike Tompkins)
• "Last Christmas" (Brooke White)
• "Noel" (Chris Tomlin feat. Lauren Daigle)
• "Light of the World" (Lauren Daigle)
• "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (Gaby Moreno)   [If you prefer HYAMLC more upbeat, this wouldn't be the version for you.  I've discovered that I personally prefer it more melancholic.]
• "Veni Veni Emmanuel" ("The Nativity Story" soundtrack)  << THIS!  THIS IS HOW "O COME O COME EMMANUEL" IS MEANT TO BE SUNG AND EXPERIENCED!  (Some times.  Other times it's meant to be sung and experienced a different way.  Also, it's only really the first 1:20 that's the actual song part of the track -- the rest goes into the opening score.)  *blissful sigh*  (Have I mentioned that I really love this movie?)
• "Silens Nox" ("The Nativity Story" soundtrack)  I'M GOING TO CRY I KID YOU NOT.  If you only listen to one of the tracks that I mention in this post, please make it this one. <3

Aesthetics

I mean. 

Headers

I love seeing how most of us change our headers for the winter!  (I'm not remotely suggesting that there's anything wrong with NOT changing your headers with the seasons, though, just to be clear.)  It makes me happy to explore all the new looks. :)

I've loved ever so many of y'all's headers, but one of the winter ones that has really stuck in my memory is this one, made by zee lovely Naomi:

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

I seem to remember she paired it with a lovely background that was soft, deep blue, and it was awesome. :D

Books

Y'all have a collection of special Christmas picture books, right?  Because THEY ARE THE BEST. <333  I love One Wintry Night (that's a little more than a picture book, actually), The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, and The Boy with a Wish particularly. <3

The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker deserves its own category.  I grew up going to see it every year, and I still love it very muchly. <3

The music (have y'all listened to "Pas de Deux" lately?!), the dancing, the aesthetic, the actual story itself . . . gahh, it's beautiful.

I love basically everything about Christmas, is the point.

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."

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Are you a huge fan of Christmas, too?

P.S.  Oh, and by the way, I'M DONE WITH FINALS AAAAGGGHHHH!!!  I'm very happy. :D  How are my fellow college peeps doing?