When Lauren asked me to blog this month about celebrating Christmas in our new home, I knew it would not be an article about where we put the tree or the versatility of decorating with nutcrackers. As many of you know, my family moved from San Antonio, Texas to Ashland, Oregon this past summer…not just around the corner, but two thousand miles away from our families, friends, and life as we knew it. It was probably the biggest decision of our lives, and one we as a family, made a conscious decision to embrace—hiking, rafting, new schools, new friends, new job, and exploring the beauty of our new home.

Until Christmas, that is. Suddenly, it wasn’t new experiences I was craving, but the old and familiar—Christmas lunch at The Argyle with dear friends, a gift exchange with my Recipe Club, the Christmas Pageant at Abby’s old preschool. When the picture of my Uncle John arrived at the annual Perkins Family Christmas gathering, his plate loaded down as though it were his last meal, my tears fell in earnest. Home. I just wanted to go home for Christmas. I quickly shook off the pangs of homesickness and set to work on my article. The title would be:

A Christmas Adventure

This was just another step in our Oregon adventure, and I would chronicle all the new experiences and traditions we were creating. Decorating a new home is always fun, and fortunately, Lauren was here to work her magic. Abby and I attended The Nutcracker with friends, and we were invited to a Christmas Open House. Things were looking up! Until the first Christmas card from Texas arrived, and I angrily changed the title of my article:

I Wont Be Home for Christmas, and It Stinks!

Throughout month, the title and slant of my article went through a variety of changes, right along with my mood. My bouts of homesickness were intermixed with true joy, as our family experienced an outpouring of love from our new friends and many special, new adventures.

Here are a few titles I tried out this month:

Oh, Snowy Night in Oregon

Christmas in the Wet, Rainy Fog

Oh Little Town of Ashland

Jingle Hell in Oregon

I’m Dreaming of an 80 degree Christmas in Texas

A White Christmas in Oregon…Take that Texas!

Tis The Season for Christmas Joy

A Christmas Tale of Loneliness and Despair

Fortunately, none of those titles stuck. This Christmas season has been a combination of poignant memories of Christmases past and beautiful moments creating new traditions. Santa will still bring new pajamas on Christmas eve, and we will still sing the beautiful songs of praise celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We will prepare our traditional favorite foods as we gather around a new table. We will wish our friends—old and new—a merry Christmas, and thank God for bringing each of them into our lives. Because isn’t that what Christmas is really all about? So, it’s clear that there is really only one possible title for this article, and here it is:

Bloom Where Your Poinsettia is Planted

-ciao for now-

lala and coco

visiting Courtney in Oregon over Thanksgiving.