Christmas Bucket List

I do quite well with lists and checking things off (and yes, sometimes checking it twice. Me and Santa, you know.). I decided to make a list for Christmas, things I want to make sure to do and see and experience, and to help me remember that many of the seemingly so important, frantic parts of the season are not for me. And that’s okay. This probably isn’t one of those lists that people will print out and share, or Pinterestize, or whatever, and that’s okay too. This is for me. And maybe you’ll get a good idea or two from it as well, and that would be a huge bonus.

Last year at this time I had *just* unpacked our moving truck in Arizona, but was back in Salt Lake for a few more weeks, then to Arizona for a few days, and then BACK to Utah for the holidays. I didn’t decorate. No tree, no lights, no holiday baking, just hanging up the lovely assortment of received Christmas cards. This year feels brand new and fresh in almost every way, I hope I can start a few new traditions, and also somehow remove the mental block of needing snow and fragrant piney trees and bitter cold weather for it to really be Christmas.

Harriet’s Christmas Bucket List:

  1. Find Christmas decorations…what closet/corner are they in!?
  2. Figure out tree situation & decorate (Should I get two trees?)(I’d LOVE two trees!)
  3. Lights up outside! (The first time for me!! A HOUSE with LIGHTS ON IT!)
  4. Luminarias on Christmas Eve (White bags and candles are ordered!)
  5. Christmas Card (family photo, order cards & stamps, address, send)
  6. Angel tree or other donation project for a needy family
  7. Make Christmas play list, play constantly: I just loaded my huge stack of CDs into iTunes!
  8. Pull out all Christmas movies: watch on repeat!
  9. Read Jesus’ birth story in all four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
  10. Make gingerbread houses, one of my favorite family traditions
  11. Christmas cookies: gingersnaps & frosted sugar cookies
  12. Desert Botanical Gardens: Los Noches de Las Luminarias
  13. Go see some really great Christmas lights
  14. Church Christmas party, this is a Saturday morning breakfast. Brilliant!
  15. Christmas manicures (with these!!!!)
  16. Christmas orchestra concert at the kids’ elementary school
  17. Blue Eyes work holiday party
  18. Hang up all the Christmas cards!
  19. Wrap all the presents!!! (This is one of my favorite parts!)

What about you? What’s on your Christmas bucket list!? What are you trying to avoid over the next month?

harriet-sig