From the moment we hit the road in January of 2017, I was so excited for my favorite holiday to get here so I could experience Christmas in our camper. By the time Halloween rolled around, I was already dragging Jon to the Christmas isles in Walmart to snag some simple decorations. $30 later, we had enough to transfer the entire inside of our camper…a welcomed change from a regular sized house.
Growing up in Pennsylvania, our Christmases were always cold, if not also white with a fresh blanket of snow. This year, however, our Christmas holiday was a balmy 65* with palm tress swaying in our backyard. We’re calling Beaufort, South Carolina our home for the winter, and it’s been a wonderful spot to escape from the cold.
Christmas morning, I woke up to Jon belting out all the popular Christmas songs, but mostly playing DJ as he streamed his music through a bluetooth radio that could be heard throughout the camper. By the time I got up, he had Christmas Spirit essential oil diffusing. The whole camper smelled like Christmas pie baking in the oven.
We opened up our gifts one-by-one. Just the two of us. It was a little strange…not having family around. We had spent Christmas alone before, but this was the first time we had spent Christmas away from home and everything familiar.
We quickly got through all the presents. The girls even got stuffed toys as a gift from Jon’s parents. They were so happy. It was almost as if they were human children the way they played with their new toys.
Even making a Christmas dinner for two was a bit strange. We cooked all of Jon’s favorites: ham, mac ‘n’ cheese, stuffing, and gravy. Leftovers didn’t last long. In fact, we had eaten up everything but a few slices of ham by the time we went to bed that same day.
We spent most of the day binge-watching all of our favorite Christmas movies. Elf and A Christmas Story were non-negotiables. It was probably one of the most relaxing Christmases we have ever had. Growing up, my family had big get-togethers. The house would be loud; noisy from all the kids running around playing with their new toys. Inevitably, a game of Setback would be started at the card table. Mom and dad would be slumped over on a couch somewhere in a sleepy food coma, and somewhere there would be a TV playing A Christmas Story marathon all day long.
Yeah, Christmases in a big family were always crazy. But this Christmas was quiet. Perfectly quiet. It was a wonderful, relaxing, humbling, and perfectly quiet kind of day. And now, we’re gearing up for 2018. Gosh, I can’t believe how quickly a year on the road has gone. It’s kind of crazy to say out loud.
Welp, there you have it! Christmas 2017 in a nutshell. Nothing extraordinary, but yet perfect in its own way. We hope you had a Christmas just a perfect with your families. May you stay well and safe through the new year, and we’ll see you in 2018!