Traditions

Noisemakers at New Years, candy hearts, Easter eggs, fireworks, BBQ's, parades, turkey, and anything Christmas! October, November, and December are my favorite months of the year. I love the fall season, the leaves, the pumpkins, the apples, and eventually the turkey, the trees, and the lights. They really are an amazing three months. Truth be told my husband and I actually have mini-Christmas celebrations several times throughout the year when we're in need of a little spice where we prepare a holiday'esque meal, listen to Christmas music, watch a Christmas movie, and maybe even exchange a gift depending on the reason for needing a "Christmas night" in July. Nothing beats the real thing though, and it's finally November so we can start celebrating the real thing!

Today we put up Christmas lights on our house for our first time ever (our previous apartments haven't exactly been the ideal setup to hang lights outside, the neighbors would have likely complained). The picture doesn't do it justice, we'll try another shot or two tomorrow before the sun has completely set. We've been warned not to actually turn them on until Thanksgiving but at least they're up and ready for the switch to be flipped! After the carpet installers leave tomorrow and we've put all of our furniture back into place (or into place for the first time, as will be the case with the crib!) I may break out the Christmas decorations, but we'll see how the day goes. If I know me though those Christmas decorations are as good as up!

The Ethiopian calendar is made up of 12 months of 30 days each and a 13th month of 5 days (6 in a leap year), so Ethiopian Christmas is celebrated on January 6th or 7th each year. I guess that means we'll just have to start extending our Christmas festivities...I could definitely think of worse!