christmas

When the Holidays Don’t Feel Like the Holidays

When the Holidays Don’t Feel Like the Holidays The holidays are here, and with this season comes decorating for Christmas, Hanukkah, or whatever holiday you celebrate. This season means parties, and gift wrapping and baking yummy holiday treats. This season means being together with family, and being thankful for everything in your life. But what do you do when your spouse is deployed? When they are off in Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa, or some other part of the world too many miles from where you are? What do you do when you just don’t feel like doing Christmas? When you just …

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What Military Spouses Want For Christmas

What Military Spouses Want For Christmas

What Military Spouses Want For Christmas Sometimes the holidays are a bit difficult for the military spouse. You could be going through a deployment, you could be getting ready to PCS, or you could be in a state of not knowing what is going to happen in the new year and it is driving you crazy. The holidays are a crazy time of year and military stress just adds to everything else you are trying to get done. But what would make things better? What would help the military spouse, over the holidays and into the new year to come…? …

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5 Benefits of Not Going Home For Christmas

5 Benefits of Not Going Home For Christmas

5 Benefits of Not Going Home For Christmas I live precisely 1,996.1 miles from my family in California. Going home for Christmas doesn’t happen very often, in fact, the last time it did was 2007, ten years ago. Since then, we have spent every Christmas in our own home. My boys are so used to being in our own home for Christmas that I think it would be weird for them to be somewhere else on Christmas day. I do hope that sometime in the future, going home for Christmas is something we can do. With my husband’s work schedule, the …

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What You Need to Do When You Are Overseas for the Holidays

What You Need to Do When You Are Overseas for the Holidays

What You Need to Do When You Are Overseas for the Holidays Christmas 2008, my friend and I took our kids out to the local Christmas Market. We lived in a small village and even they had a small Christmas market. I love how the Germans do Christmas. They go big. Every town square is decorated. Most towns and villages have their own Christmas markets and you can tell the whole country is ready to celebrate. We spent 4 holiday seasons in Germany and each one was so magical. If you are lucky enough to be overseas for the holidays, …

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For the Military Spouse Who Can’t Go Home For Christmas

For the Military Spouse Who Can't Go Home For Christmas

For the Military Spouse Who Can’t Go Home For Christmas When I was in college, I went home every Christmas break. I loved that. A break from the college routine, a time to see my family and friends from high school. A time to be a “kid” again, if only for a few weeks. I can still remember going back to my apartment after my last final, finishing packing and getting ready to head to the airport. When we first got married we decided that we would switch off each holiday. So one year we would spend Thanksgiving with my …

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How To Make Your Holidays Special When Your Heart Is An Ocean Away

How To Make Your Holidays Special When Your Heart Is An Ocean Away

How To Make Your Holidays Special When Your Heart Is An Ocean Away He left in November of that year for his 2nd deployment. That meant he was going to miss Christmas that year. We also were not going to be going home as we were in Germany and the idea of traveling with a 2-year-old and 4-year-old over the holidays was a little too much. Plus, my parents were coming to visit around my birthday in January. As I looked ahead to Christmas day I couldn’t help but be sad about my husband missing the holiday. Our boys were …

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Amy Grant’s Tennessee Christmas CD Review and Giveaway

Tennessee Christmas

Amy Grant’s Tennessee Christmas CD Review and Giveaway Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255:  “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”):  Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway.  Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation.  I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. I was about 12 years old when I discovered Amy Grant’s Christmas albums. I had them on cassette tape and used to listen to them all season long. This was …

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For the Military Spouse Going Through a Deployment Over Christmas

For the Military Spouse Going Through a Deployment Over Christmas

For the Military Spouse Going Through a Deployment Over Christmas… Christmas music on the radio, trees going up, presents being bought and travel arrangements being finalized. December is almost here, Christmas is right around the corner. This is a great time of year, right? For the military spouse going through a deployment over Christmas, this time of year is one to be gotten through. One to be survived. The rest of the world can be excited but for this military spouse, Christmas is not going to be Christmas this year. Her husband, the father of her children will not be …

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On Buying Christmas Gifts For Your Children

On Buying Christmas Gifts For Your Children

On Buying Christmas Gifts For Your Children Tis the season for buying Christmas gifts for your children. The stores are having sales, your kids are making Christmas lists and it is easy to feel overwhelmed by it all. You remember Christmas as a kid and you want to make Christmas for your kid just as special as you remember your childhood Christmases being. In some cases you might want to be doing more since you might not have the best memories when you were growing up. How do you decide what to give your kids? How do you make Christmas …

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