Its All Relative

Quickly approaching is another holiday here. This will be our first Christmas in America. We've got our tree up and the stockings are hung. I've begun Christmas shopping. But, I must admit I'm a little behind and don't quite have everything yet.

This time of year always makes us think about time with our families. When we were in China we missed it, but made the holidays great by spending time with amazing friends. Its crazy though, we moved to the other side of the world and I actually feel like I see my family less. When I would visit, I would squeeze in as much family time as possible. Now, I barely see them outside of the holidays. I think I had a very distorted picture of what moving closer to them would be. Its not like life stops and everyone can quit work and just hang out all the time. 

Then there's my husbands family, which I consider my family as well. They are still half way around the world. We FaceTime them as often as possible. But, we don't know exactly when we will see them again. Its tough. When we were in China, we had two paid breaks (of over a month long) in which we could visit our families. 

In many ways, living abroad in a neutral area was actually easier. 

We've got a busy few days coming up... Three Christmas gatherings in two days. We also hope to FaceTime family abroad during Christmas as well. Plus, we have a busy work schedule leading up to and following Christmas. It's not a time we would have off when we were working in China. But, the lifestyle we lived there allowed for a lot more free time with friends. So, it wasn't something we thought too much of. And of course we knew the Chinese New Year was coming up and we'd soon have a whole month off of work. Its crazy that even though we were in a totally foreign culture. The holiday times were actually less stressful! 

Despite the challenges life is currently presenting, I'm happy and grateful that I get to see some of my family this Christmas. Christmas is one of or is possibly my favorite holiday. Everyone is more cheerful this time of year. You see so much kindness this time of year. It really is lovely. 

I hope you all have a wonderful time with whomever you love. ♡♡