A Christmas Story

Or two. Okay, maybe a few.

I may not love Christmas as a whole, but there are definitely parts of it that I do love. Christmas stories are definitely something I love about the holiday. So, I thought I'd highlight a few of my favorite Christmas stories. If you haven't read them, I obviously highly recommend you do! (They are not in any particular order, by the way.)

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg:

This is a great story that details the anticipation of waiting for Santa to come. And it helps me remember to believe in the magic of Christmas.

The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Elwell Hunt:

Not necessarily a Christmas story, but there is a beautiful spirit in this story, and one of the trees is there when the Savior is born! It's one of the stories I like to read on Christmas Eve, and if I'm reading it out loud, I have a hard time finishing because I get so choked up.

The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell:

Along with Luke 2, this was the story that my mom read to us every Christmas Eve. In fact I think this is the copy we had, but I'm not sure, since the cover had been lost off of our copy way before I can remember. (Was this the one, Mom? The illustration looks right.) This is the sweetest story about a little boy angel who is trying to figure out what gift he can give to the baby Jesus. It's another one that chokes me up.

The Last Straw by Paula McDonald:

This story really hits home for me. As someone who got frustrated with my siblings, I can truly empathize with the boy in the story. The Last Straw is a great reminder of how we should celebrate the Christmas season. And yes, it too makes me cry.

Trouble at the Inn by Dina Donohue:
This is the only book I could find this story listed in, although I know I have it in a couple of Christmas compilations somewhere. It was originally published in an issue of Guideposts Magazine in 1966, but can be found in the Chicken Soup book pictured here, or the story is all over the Internet. This story touches my heart, because it makes me wonder what I would have done, had I lived at the time of Christ's birth. I hope that I would have had a heart like Wallace Purling's in the story. It too makes me cry. I cry more on Christmas Eve reading these stories than I do the whole rest of the year.


What are your favorite Christmas stories? I'm always looking for more good books!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

I don't love Christmas.

Now, please put down the torches and pitchforks and read on.

Seriously. Put. Them. Down.

That's better. Now, there are a multitude of reasons that I don't love Christmas, and I'll admit some of them are directly related to the fact that I worked in retail for about eight years. And some of them are because of the season in which Christmas is embedded. And then there are others. But I don't want to focus on that.

I'm on a quest to get into the Christmas spirit, and I want to know why YOU like Christmas, or what helps you to get into the Christmas spirit.

Come on, blog readers. Your mission is to help me like Christmas (or at least like it more). So let's hear it.

What Was He Thinking?

In case some of you don't watch the news, listen to the radio, or read the newspaper, here's the story. Gary Coleman was at a bowling alley in Payson when a "fan" tried to take a picture of him with a camera phone. Gary got really upset, and ended up hitting the guy with his truck as he was trying to get out of the parking lot. I'm sure the guy was tormenting Gary a little, and I feel bad that Gary's life appears to be so ridiculously depressing, but it also sounds like he lost his temper. He's an angry elf. (First one to comment on which movie that is gets 50 points!) He ended up with reckless driving and disorderly conduct charges.

Now here is the reason for this post...
He showed up to court yesterday wearing this:

Just in case you missed it, he's wearing a cowboy hat, a flannel shirt, bibbed snow pants, and snow boots. I didn't realize that was on his list of court approved apparel. And it was 55 degrees yesterday. I didn't even wear a jacket! I'm not sure what he was going for with that look. WHAT WAS HE THINKING?