Happy New Year, friends!
With 2020 over, it’s time to wrap up the last month and move on into the new year. Here’s how my December went.
to create
Due to school wrapping up for the semester and two weeks of break, I didn’t get to work on writing much this month. However, I do have a blog post reflection for November. And I even posted a new video about my writing process–my Christmas present to myself was uploading for the first time in 4 months.
to work
Like I mentioned, the semester ended in mid-December, which meant wrapping up class projects and helping kids get their missing work turned in. They best part of the last two weeks of school were the three early release days, during which all of the elementary classes had fun little parties. I got to build gingerbread houses, make a lot of hot cocoa, watch movies, and learn about holidays around the world. We also had a staff holiday celebration, which featured Olive Garden catering. Then the last two weeks of the month, we had winter break, which meant I got to relax finally. It was a much-needed reprieve.
to live
December 13: Universal Studios holiday balloons
Since the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade didn’t happen this year, Universal decided to put their parade balloons and floats on display in a sound stage at the park. They even had some characters come out and stand near their related balloons. I had lots of fun seeing how enormous the balloons were in real life.
December 13: Night of a Million Lights at Give Kids the World Village
On the same day, I also visited the Give Kids the World Village for their Night of a Million Lights display. The village works with wish-granting programs to give kids with life-threatening illnesses and their families a resort to stay at and visit theme parks for free. Because of Covid, the village is currently empty. So to raise some money for the organization, the village had sponsors decorate the whole village in Christmas lights. Companies ranging from Disney, Universal, and Kennedy Space Center to Home Depot, Crayola, and Margaritaville sponsored different buildings and adorned them in themed decorations. It was really a beautiful spectacle and all for a good cause.
December 24 & 25: Christmas
For Christmas Eve, Ray and I stayed over with her mom and sister, even though they only live half an hour away. We built gingerbread houses, watched Christmas movies, and opened our presents at midnight, a new favorite tradition. On Christmas day, we opened stockings and went Disney resort hopping to see the decorations. At least, we tried. We really only saw two and a half resorts because the transportation system is all kinds of messy, between negotiating the buses and Skyliner and everything. It was also so incredibly cold. But the Grand Floridian decorations were pretty nice, and nothing brings the family together like collective suffering.
December 26-31: Holiday Travels
The day after Christmas, we met up with Ray’s dad for brunch and presents, then packed our bags and headed to Tallahassee. This was Ray’s first time visiting my hometown! In addition to seeing my family (who has not seen anyone but each other during quarantine), we had to see all three sights Tallahassee has to offer. We shared some meals and saw some friends (outdoors). We visited Maclay Gardens State Park and the Tallahassee Museum (the guest animal was a Fennec fox), and viewed the capitol building from afar. It was really exciting to take Ray around Tallahassee and show her where the first 18 years of my life happened.
Bonus – January 1: New Christmas
Technically, this happened in January, but since it relates to Christmas, it will be included. Because Ray’s grandparents were in the hospital (surgery and pancreatitis, not Covid) on Christmas, we had New Christmas with her grandma and extended family on New Years Day. We wore masks and ate at separate tables outside, exchanged gifts, struggled through Yankee Swap, and watched the infamous Snowball Express. It was a nice way to end the holidays and kick off the new year.
And with that, we bid farewell to 2020 and welcome the new year. Because I’m posting this a week into January, we already know 2021 isn’t going to be perfect. But instead of waiting on an arbitrary calendar number to determine how the year is going to go, I encourage everyone to greet each day with the resolve of New Years. Start over as often as you need to and make every day count.
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year!
Jayda Louise 
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