I am FINALLY home for Christmas

For those who used to read this blog, I apologize greatly for my absence, as I decided to travel the world for a few months and create a different blog for that. However, I am back and am hoping to keep this one updated a little bit better than I did before.

I have named my blog as the title of my online column I will be writing for The Post during winter quarter. I will update this blog when I have a new column posted so you are able to read those, as well.

As you may notice, today is Christmas. This is officially my 22nd Christmas. Hard to believe, right? My parents and I have been watching the Disney parade all morning and I can't help but remember what it was like to watch the Disney parade when I was younger. Usually, I would have been awake for a few hours before it started and by the time Santa came down Main St. in front of the castle, I had been passed out for about a half hour. But this morning, my body clock woke me up around 9am and my parents were still asleep. We made it downstairs around 9:30 and began by opening the presents "Santa" brought for the dog and the cats. We played with them for a few minutes and then I opened my stocking full of random gadgets and silly toys. We all felt the sting of the credit crunch as opening our presents only took about 10 minutes.

Had I been a few years younger, this would have been a huge thing for me. I would have been really upset that Santa didn't bring me everything that I wanted and more. But this year, I didn't really want much of anything. When mom initially asked me, I joked, saying, "I want you to pay off all of my student loans. I want a new car that gets excellent gas mileage. I want a house in California and I want you to somehow slip enough 20's under the table so that I can get my dream job." She laughed and said she, too, wanted all of those things. But in all actuality, I told her I wanted a hot pot or an electric tea kettle so I could quickly boil water to make my tea in the mornings. And perhaps a backup hard drive so I could make sure all of my work that I have on my laptop didn't get lost on the day my laptop decides to call it quits. But it really wasn't essential for me to have either of these things.

This year, I realized the true meaning of Christmas...finally. After being away from home for 3 months, I saw just how much my family means to me and just how much I love being with them.

***

I must say that the adjustment to American culture, especially American culture at Christmastime, has been a really tough thing for me this past week and a half. I arrived back in the States very late on December 14th after just short of 24 hours of travel. I was so excited to see my parents, my dog, and of course my American cell phone - and all the texting that came with it. My parents drove me back to my hometown where we quickly brought in my suitcases and got ready for bed. I talked to them for a bit about my travels and then decided it was WAY past time to go to bed.

The next day, mom and I set off to Mansfield to do a little shopping and so I could get my hair cut. We came home and had my birthday dinner and then I finished packing up a few more things to go back to school. The next day, the 16th, was my birthday. My friends and I had planned a little reunion/birthday celebration in Columbus and so I headed down there to see everyone. We celebrated at Cheesecake Factory and then at a bar downtown before calling it a night. The next day, I woke up, went to have lunch with my Grandma and then drove the hour and a half down to Athens. My landlord had left early so I had to fight with maintenence to let me into my apartment. I finally made it inside and found that my subleaser had left it quite a mess. I unloaded all of my stuff into the foyer and then planted myself on the couch for the rest of the night - watching the Cavs and then napping.

I started work on Friday and could not have been happier to enter my little retail bubble. I worked all weekend and Monday and Tuesday, too.

I decided to take off work Christmas Eve due to a winter storm that was threatening the northern areas of Ohio and decided it would be a great opportunity to surprise my parents. I left Athens after packing up my clothes for the 5 day break and bringing home a hamperfull of laundry. I drove for about 45 minutes before realizing I had left my mom's Christmas present back at my apartment. After cursing myself and making a violent cut across traffic to turn around, I headed back south to good old Athens.

I burst through the door of my apartment and ran up the stairs to retrieve mom's present. I grabbed a few more things I'd realized I'd forgotten and then headed back out the door. I got a call from a friend who had left Athens just a little bit before I originally had telling me to hold off on driving up because the roads north of Lancaster were coated with about 1/4" of ice. He said people were sliding and crashing all over the place and that he had pulled off at a gas station to wait for the salt trucks to come out.

I decided it would be a better idea to just stay in Athens for the night and took the leaving of the Christmas present as a major sign from God that Athens was exactly the place I was supposed to be that night. I finished up my Christmas shopping and watched the Cavs before going to bed.

I left early yesterday morning to head home. I got back into Crestline around 11:30 and spent the rest of the day hanging out with my parents. Our church's Christmas Eve service started at 10pm and my mom and I went to enjoy our time with our neighbors, friends and the Holy Spirit. I got teary-eyed a few times, noticing how much it meant to me to be sitting in that congregation with so many familiar faces, and of course, my lovely mother sitting right next to me.

It is amazing how much God can bless you. He is so amazing and it has taken me such a long time to fully accept that. I'm not a particularly religious person, but I absolutely adore my relationship with God. It has come such a long way over the last several years and I am truly happy with where I am right now. I have a great life, and although not everything goes exactly as planned, all of it is simply a part of God's plan and my inevitable destiny.