Newlywed Christmas by Taylor Reeves

This week we have a post done by one of my awesome friends, Taylor. Taylor and I met in Provo and we became friends through visiting teaching. Taylor is one of the nicest, coolest, and most interesting girls I have ever met. She has stories and experiences that are so amazing. She is a newlywed, and she married Lance, (another friend of mine from Provo) they are the CUTEST couple ever. She writes a blog over HERE. Make sure to check it out! Thanks for the post Taylor!

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Last year Lance & I were engaged but we couldn't spend Christmas together. I went thousands of miles home to plan the wedding & Lance stayed here to work & work & work.

We're so excited for our First Christmas together!

Here are just a few things (5 to be exact) that we love about Christmas.

1. Christmas trees. This year we bought ourselves a real live Christmas tree! It's the most perfect tree in the whole world. One--because it's live & two--because it's 6 feet tall & didn't break the bank! I lovingly call it our "Charlie Brown Christmas tree" because it has those two planks of wood nailed to the bottom. It looks so magical with the lights & ornaments. It just makes the whole house seem so cozy & Christmas-y. Lance rearranged the whole living room so the tree would have the most ideal location. Le sigh.

2. Christmas lights. We love Christmas lights so much that they are strung around our bedroom all year long. I love walking around neighborhoods & shopping centers & Temple Square in SLC admiring all the lights. There is something so peaceful about the lights; so hopeful. Magic, magic, magic. Lance & I have made many December date plans that revolve around Christmas lights. We love to drive to the snazzier neighborhoods & admire their bling. I always request a hot chocolate run before/during/afterwards.

3. Giving gifts. Lance is in for a surprise this year. I love giving gifts--thinking about what to get for people, imagining how much they'll like it, wrapping it up & putting under the tree; just waiting for the 25th to roll around so I can see their face as they open their gifts. Yes, I am intense. It takes a good while to open gifts when I am around. 

4. Hot chocolate.  [See reason #2 for an example.] I know that hot chocolate isn't strictly a Christmas thing but it's one of my favorite parts. Back home my mom used to crank up the air con to make it "cold" so we could all sit around in blankets drinking hot chocolate & watching What a Wonderful Life. Lance has this fancy schmancy hot chocolate maker that heats up the milk perfectly. It's hard not to guzzle down a whole gallon in one sitting. Yes, that may have happened at one point. No, we do not regret it.

5. Family traditions. Lance & I are excited to combine our family traditions & make up some of our own. I made us stockings. We're planning a delicious, romantic Christmas dinner. We plan to stay up late Christmas Eve watching classic Christmas movies & sleep in Christmas day. We are looking forward to spending the holiday together doing whatever we want. It's exciting to have the freedom to make this holiday totally our own. It is also nice to incorporate the traditions we had growing up. There'll be the Reeves Family Christmas Eve dinner & the Smith Family Christmas Eve pajamas. There might even be a gift from Santa. Fingers crossed!