Christmas Day

They say as you get older, Christmas loses it's magic. I haven't found that to be true.

As I've gotten older, there have been a few Christmases that have been disappointing and heart-wrenching because my expectations were too high or there wasn't as much suspense and childlike wonder.

As I've gotten older, though, I've appreciated the little things so much more. I appreciate giving gifts rather than receiving. This year, I bought presents for everyone and didn't tell anyone what I wanted. Because I truly don't desire anything. I've found that when I really get a good prospective on what Christmas is, the celebration of Jesus' birth and family traditions, receiving presents is not as exciting. I appreciate the love and bonds my family shares. I appreciate a warm house, cozy blankets, a good book, and peace and quiet to enjoy myself. I appreciate family games and fighting over rules. I appreciate not having to be anywhere, but setting my own schedule. I appreciate sleeping in rather than waking up early just to see how many presents are under the tree and count how many I got compared to how many my siblings got.

This year, we spent the morning opening our stockings and eating the treats inside, and opening presents. I got the book 'Wonder' from my brother, who was my secret Santa. I have read this book and really wanted to own it, because it's amazing! I also got a pair of boots and sweatshirt/shirt from my parents.

I spent the day pretty chill, played a new game my brother got with my siblings, read Little Women (which I finally finished), and watched the movie, watched New Girl, brought some baby bunnies inside for snuggles, and after our Christmas dinner of ham, potatoes and Brussels sprouts, we watched Christmas Vacation as a family.

It was a nice Christmas. It was very calm, snowy, and peaceful. I couldn't have asked for a better holiday. I hope you all spent time with the ones you love and had a great day.

Happy New Year,

Holly be Jolly

Christmas Eve Traditions

The Wisniew family has many traditions. We have some with my more extended family, my dad's brother and sister and their spouses and kids, and with our immediate Big Wisniew clan. We are called the Big Wisniews and my dad's brother's family is called the Little Wisniews. My dad's sister's family are the Currahs. Our Grandma Dawnee, my dad's mom, lives in a nursing home in Shoreline (Crista). The Currahs live in Tacoma, and us Wisniews live in Everett. We are separated by Big and Little because not only is my dad the oldest brother, making him bigger by default, our family is larger as well. We have 5 kids and so far the Little Wisniews only have 3. Anyway.

Our Wisniew-Currah tradition is to celebrate and exchange gifts on Christmas eve. I guess this is what my dad's family did as kids. So we hold to the tradition. This year, we drove to Tacoma for the party. We did a secret Santa gift exchange and chose names on Thanksgiving, which the Little Wisniews hosted. So since Thanksgiving we've been getting things ready for our secret person. I had my little 2 year old cousin Helena, of the Little Wisniew clan, and I got her a monkey board game.

As soon as all three families arrived, we ate a late lunch/early dinner (around 3pm), and did the gift exchange after that.

During the gift exchange, it started snowing!!

After the presents, all us kids went outside to play in the snow and we ate our dessert (brownies), in the snow. Eventually we left and braved the snowstorm back to our warm cozy house where apple cider and Christmas music was waiting.

Our close family traditions also include a secret Santa. We do a SS between the siblings every year and once or twice we've opened the SS gifts on Christmas eve. I had my sister, and I got her a journal (she's been letting us all know she needs a new one), and a Dutch Bros gift card because coffee is her favorite thing. If you buy her coffee, you win her heart. This year, we're saving all the presents for Christmas day. On the night of Christmas eve, my mom, sister and I ususally watch a Christmas movie and make goodies and wrap presents. This year, my mom and I watched New Girl while I wrapped my brothers' presents and my mom made her sunflower seed butter cups and peppermint cups. They are basically like Reese's peanut butter cups but dairy, gluten, nut and everything free.

Then I went to bed, excited for presents and chill family time and bunny snuggles on Christmas day.

Merry Christmas to all,

Holls be Jolls

Color Blindness Is The New Racism

My class this quarter on culture and equity in the classroom focused a lot on race and we learned a little bit about why colorblindness, when we're talking about race, is harmful in the classroom and in life. I had the opportunity to talk to my uncle about it over Thanksgiving. His original thought was that color blindness was something that was good, and meant that you saw everyone as the name and looked past their skin color and just saw the person they are.

If you are unfamiliar with the term of colorblindness, when it refers to race and the color of your skin, it basically means that you don't see the color of people. In theory, this seems great. It seems that if you can do this, you have overcome racial differences and race in general - and see only people and who they are inside.

But, it is actually detrimental to the goal of eliminating racism and segregation. If you claim that you see everyone the same, and you don't see race, you are claiming that you see everyone as of the same race: yours.

Colorblindness seeks to eliminate racism but it in fact creates more separation. Most white people can very easily ignore racism in our culture and call themselves "colorblind" meaning that they don't see race. This means they are ignoring the racial tensions that do still exist, and the only thing they are doing to combat that is saying that everyone is the same. Just calling everyone the same doesn't make them all the same.

Minorities experience racial tension very differently than most white people do. Since they are typically on the receiving end of the racism, it's nearly completely impossible to ignore. You will never hear a person of color calling themselves "colorblind". However, it's becoming increasingly popular among the language of many white people. Trying to ignore color is not going to get us anything but more racial tension.

When you think deeper about colorblindness, it suggests that there is something wrong with being "of color". If colorblindness equals peace, than people of color do not equal peace. It suggests that there is something wrong with having colored skin or being another nationality besides Caucasian. Colorblindness says that because you're not white, your race doesn't matter. A black person would never say to someone who is white, "I don't see color, I only see people for who they are on the inside." I'm sure there are exceptions, but just think about it. 

To call yourself colorblind, you are imposing that race doesn't matter. That if everyone was the SAME, we could all get along. That if we don't see race, we can live more peaceful lives and eliminate racism. However, any person of a minority nationality will tell you that race DOES matter. Even as a white female, I know my race matters. My race has to do partly with who I am as a person, due to my culture, family tree, and experiences I have due to my race. Because I'm white, I do see and experience things in a different way than minority races do. That's just the way it is.

Race can separate or bring together cultures. It doesn't have to be bad, just because it's there. We like to ignore it because talking about racial inequalities and things of this sort are awkward and uncomfortable. We can't ignore it just because it doesn't make us feel nice and bubbly inside. Differences in cultures - such as race, ethnicity, holidays celebrated, etc., should be CELEBRATED, not ignored. They should be viewed as SPECIAL, not scary, just because they're different. The only way different races and ethnicities will be totally unified, is when everyone treats every race as important, special, and worthy. We won't get anywhere by ignoring these differences.

How about instead of not seeing culture, we don't see the stereotypes and messages that are attached to the skin color. How about we see people for who they ARE - their whole person, on the inside and what is on the outside, because what is on the outside influences the inside. Our race, color, gender, etc., all influences how we see and perceive the world and our culture and experiences are adapted from this. Let's celebrate differences between individuals. Let's find similarities. Let's not ignore important aspects of who we are as people. We were created with these differences for a reason.

I did some research to prepare for this topic and I encourage you to do your own if you want to learn more. There are some amazing websites out there that have way more information than I can give.

Stay cool, stay you, stay beautiful,

H.L.W


P.S. The quote above is not my own, I found it on Google :)

Favorite Christmas Songs

My mom is very strict about Christmas music, and the Christmas season in general. We are not able to listen to Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving. Even if we SING Christmas music before Thanksgiving, or on Thanksgiving day, we must stop. This year, I needed it. Christmas music gives me peace. It makes me feel quiet, like the world has slowed down, kind of like snow does itself. So this year I listened to it in secret the week before Thanksgiving, at school while I was doing homework, or in my bunny shed where no one but me and the rabbits could hear. That way I could enjoy it and my mom's Thanksgiving holiday wouldn't be tainted.

My friend Connie told me the other day, as we were listening to Christmas music at work, that when people ask her why she's so happy, her answer is, "Because I listen to Christmas music all year long."

Christmas music is special. Some specific songs or artists are more special to me than others, but all Christmas music becomes an anthem for the season.

Winter Snow by Chris Tomlin ft. Audrey Assad


All of Bing Crosby's Christmas songs!


Silver Bells


Love Came Down at Christmas by Jars of Clay


It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year


Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! by Dean Martin

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel by Fracesca Battestelli


A Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives


The Christmas Songs album by Jars of Clay


The Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting) by Celine Dion


All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey


Go Tell it on the Mountain by Tenth Avenue North


Michael Buble Christmas album


Deck the Halls


Jingle Bells


Have a Holly Jolly Christmas,

H.L.W

I don't need to be Rescued.

One day my prince will come. One day I'll be rescued by a knight in shining armor. These are all the stories we hear growing up, all the things we're told about our future husband. Well I have news for you.

I don't need to be rescued.

I am rescued.

As a Christian, I know that the man I marry someday won't be my everything. He won't save me and solve all my problems. We will fight, we won't get along all the time, and that'll be okay. He's not supposed to complete me. He's not supposed to be perfect. Without a husband, I am not a lesser being. I'm not half of a whole.

I'm a whole human being, and he's a whole human being, and someday, miraculously, we'll find each other and when we marry, if that's God's will, it'll be a covenant to Him that we will represent Jesus and his Bride - the Church - and then, from that moment on, after we've made the covenant, we'll be one flesh.

Until then, I'm not waiting in my high tower for him to find me.

And I'm not searching for him either.

Sometimes, in Christian circles, marriage can seem like the ultimate goal. Sometimes, it feels as if people feel bad for older women who aren't married. And as a 19 year old, people assume marriage is right around the corner, right? Oh, you're not in a relationship yet? ...Why?... Don't you want to get married? Your mom was married and pregnant when she was your age...you have to catch up.

Yes, I desire to be married. No, it's not my ultimate goal.

If marriage happens for me, that is God's will and I will rejoice and be so glad and thankful for that.

But if it doesn't, I will not be any less joyful or any less thankful. Because that is also God's plan for me.

In the place I'm at right now, I am so thankful I don't have a significant other. I am doing well in college and working a lot, and that's already hard enough. Adding a relationship into the mix would be overwhelming. But if it happened, and God made it clear to me that's what He wanted, I wouldn't reject it. It would just be hard, and I'm thankful that God has me here without a relationship for now.

My entire family, my parents, aunts and uncles, were married and had their first child by the time they were 20. As a little girl, the only thing I wanted was to be a mom and a wife. I wanted to be married when I was 18. I hated the idea of college and there was no point to that for me.

God took me down a very different path. I'm 19 years old, I've still never been in a relationship, and I'm not afraid to admit that.

Today's society wants to put a lot of pressure on women to look a certain way, live their lives a certain way, and start dating at a young age. Some people might think I'm weird or odd for still being single, or for never being on a date.

If you think that way about me, that's okay. I've never been scared of looking weird or odd.

As a Christian teen, yes, I desire a Godly marriage to the "man of my dreams". But do you know what I desire even more?

A fulfilling and passionate relationship with my Maker. This is ultimately what God wants for every single one of us, married or single, man or woman.

A Godly marriage is indeed a gift. But not everyone receives that gift. And that isn't because of anything they have done or haven't done. And, for the record, singleness is a gift as well.

I can be complete, joyful, and sustained without a man. And I am.

Yes, I do desire to be married. I want to have babies of my own and raise them to love Jesus. But I am fully confident in the fact that the Lord, the maker of my heart and the keeper of my passions, will let me know when the time has come.

And I'm constantly learning to be okay with that, and to fully rejoice in the season that I'm in.

Three articles that I love that I encourage you to read to better understand my viewpoint:

http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/five-questions-to-ask-before-you-start-dating 

http://www.stewardship.com/articles/3-ways-you-can-serve-god-because-you-re-single?ectid=10.16.6289 

http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/wait-to-date-until-you-can-marry

On December 1st

Wow, guys. Just wow.

It's almost 2018.

December is here. I feel like this year has gone by very quickly, but parts of it felt very long. I wonder what this new year will bring.

December never lasts long enough. Christmastime is my favorite time of the year, and yet it feels the shortest (much like summer). Can I just slow it down a bit this Christmas and take each day as it comes, instead of rushing around and being busy and making each day feel 2 seconds long?

I'm so grateful because I get 5 weeks and 2 days of Christmas break, the longest I've ever had before. I don't start classes again until December 9th.

I'm looking forward to such a long break, but already the days are filling up fast. My sister and I will spend a week in California (less than 2 weeks from now!!). Of course, I will be working, hopefully a little more than usual, especially because of the trip I'm taking. Tomorrow I'm going to my friend and coworker Josh's Beauty and the Beast play. He's the Beast! He's incredibly talented and I'm so excited to see this play. Next week I'm going to the Nutcracker at the Everett Performing Arts center with my aunt and cousins and some friends, and I'm so excited!

Christmas is in full force at this point. We have a Christmas party tomorrow night, and one for work on Tuesday night. Our church's family Christmas night is the 10th. Unfortunately, because my sister and I will be out of town, we will miss our youth group Christmas party on the 20th. But I'm sure we'll be doing something fun in California!

What are you looking forward to this month?

I hope you get to relax & be jolly this Christmas season,

Holls