A "Back to the Future" Holiday and My Resolution for the New Year

Every year, we do a themed Christmas card. We started with Christmas jammy photos, then moved on to costumes. Over the years, we have been the Tooth Fairy, a Leprechaun, and a Christmas Elf; an alien, spaceship, and Earth; Bigfoot, a tree, and a forest ranger; and the circus Strong Man, Lion Tamer, and Ring Master. 

This year, in honor of the 1985 movie Back to the Future, we decided to dress up like Doc, Marty McFly, and Lorraine Baines McFly. (The movie celebrated its 40th anniversary!) Lew and I loved the movie when we were growing up, and Lewie enjoyed watching it a few years back at a unique drive-in movie theater in Utah. It's tough getting these two to agree on a theme, but this one was a homerun. No one objected!

On our card, we listed quotes like, "I'm from the future," "That's Calvin Klein. He's an absolute dream!" and "Great Scott!"  We had fun wishing everyone a holiday filled with laughter, cheer, and a little time travel. (Yes, sometimes I'd like to go back in time, too...)

On another note, each year I write a New Year's post about resolutions. Like our holiday cards, my New Year's resolution posts have transformed over the years — they have been about everything from exercising more, saving money, and spending more time with friends and family to being kinder and gentler with myself.

This year, I am making my resolution the title of one of my go-to self-help books: Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway by Dr. Susan Jeffers. Last year, I was afraid of starting my Ed.D. program, and now I love it. I'm not saying I'm about to go skydiving or rock climbing, but I want to approach this year with a "can-do" attitude.  Before I tell myself "no" or procrastinate because I'm afraid of failing, I'm going to jump in, knowing that I'll always have a lifepreserver if I make a wrong decision...

I typically don't like leaving my comfort zone, but I find that some of my most amazing life experiences have happened when I took a chance--from studying abroad by myself in Spain, to planning National Park trips, to accepting high-level work positions, to paying for an in-ground swimming pool when I didn't have much money in savings... I don't regret any of these decisions. They have made life fuller and richer because of them.

I don't know what 2026 has in store for us, but with Lewie looking at colleges and Lew and I celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary, I know change and celebrations are on the horizon...

Happy 2026!

A Christmas by Candlelight

This year, my sister-in-law, Missy, surprised us with tickets to see "A Christmas by Candlelight" at Old Sturbridge Village. I laughed at the serendipity as this was something I wanted to do for a while--in fact, we just had a family trip to Old Sturbridge Village during the summer with my cousins Billy, Vincent, Jamie, and Crystal!

Christmas by Candlelight takes us back in time to a festive 1830s New England village, with glowing lanterns, costumed interpreters and storytellers, Christmas music, and delicious treats (from mulled cider and hot cocoa to maple and gingerbread cookies).

When we first arrived, they gave us a map and an itinerary. For example, in the church, they played festive music on a romantic guitar, harp, and flute; in another building, they hosted a magic show; and still, in another building, they offered miniature train displays. Other structures, such as individual residences or the general store, featured themed storytellers who taught us how to make crafts or handed out homemade, tasty treats. (I enjoyed the baked treats the most--I wondered if they would mind if I kept on visiting the same house over and over again to continue getting those yummy gingerbread cookies. My family wouldn't let me find out. In fact, one thing I learned is that when you're sightseeing with a bunch of teenagers, be prepared to walk quickly. This was not a group interested in quiet, peaceful strolling.)

It was a chilly night, but not nearly as cold as when we would take the kiddos to Santa's Village in New Hampshire. Most of us wore hats, scarves, and gloves with handwarmers tucked inside. My son, who feels perpetually warm, just wore a lined jacket. I was amazed at how warm his hands were without any gloves!

Overall, it was a special holiday outing with all of Lewie's cousins — the kind we used to have when they were younger and still believed in Santa. Nowadays, with Sarah in college and Lewie and Brooklynn in high school, it is hard to align everyone's schedules for a short trip. (We are discovering this with Lewie's friends, who now have jobs after school.) Instead of holding our kiddos' hands, making them wait in line to get a picture with Santa, our kiddos were leading the pack, chatting a mile per minute while we struggled to keep up. There was a line for Santa, but they unanimously decided to skip it. Conversations were no longer about Christmas and wondering what Santa might leave under the tree; instead, they were about internet memes, Netflix shows, or previous or current high school teachers. 

At one point, I fell behind the group, purposely wanting to take in this new era. I remember being a teenager, but my teenage years were so different from this generation, which was so different from the generation before, and the generation before that...  Indeed, we were trying to capture Christmas in the 1830s — a time before the internet, TV, phones, or even modern electricity. I just finished studying the history of higher education in the United States and learned that only two colleges existed in Connecticut at the time—Yale and Trinity—both established to expand their Congregational and Episcopal religious denominations, which were rivals. Residents of Old Sturbridge Village would have been Puritan (Congregational), and slavery would have been outlawed in their region by this time; however, in another 30 years, some residents would join the Union Army to fight the bloodiest and deadliest conflict in U.S. History, the Civil War.

My mind eventually returns to our present. The quieter, humbler Christmas of the 1830s has been replaced by one of haste, materialism, and capitalism. Instead of receiving a homemade wooden toy or an orange in a stocking, our children dream of plastic Lego sets or cell phones. Life is less physically taxing for us (few of us labor on farms or cook over stone hearths), but it is still as mentally taxing, perhaps more so, as we are constantly bombarded by advertisements and opinions across social media, the internet, TV, and everyday life. Yes, each generation has its own traditions and its own problems. Living in the 1830s was simpler but no easier with war looming. 

Today, I look back on our family time from a week ago and am so grateful for the unique experience of this generation. Life evolves, but memories exist, no matter the era.

Our Three-Ring Christmas

Since Little Lewie was born, family photos have been a thing. We used our local JCPenney Portrait Studio for baby pictures during Lewie's first two years and then for holiday photos (in 2017) when Lewie was nine. (I'll be taking a trip down memory lane at the end of this post.)

In 2019, we started dressing up for these photoshoots to make "funny" holiday cards with each one (I think) being sillier than the last.

This year, we all decided on a circus theme since, in many ways, 2024 felt a little nuts. Our family had multiple health scares, surgeries, a career change, perpetual car trouble (my husband's motor blew), and a few nerve-wracking trips. Then, in November, Hubby lost his older sister to Cancer and had to go in for knee replacement surgery two days later (at the same hospital)!

We thought this year's holiday card would be foiled, but as they say in the circus (particularly if an animal got loose or a performer was injured), "the show must go on!" Thus, even though hubby still needed a cane to get around, and our family's spirits were a little battered and bruised, we managed to create our annual card.

Here are our Christmas jammie pictures from 2018--because I couldn't resist!

As we say on this year's holiday card, "From our crazy, Three-Ring Circus to Yours...Wishing you the GREATEST HOLIDAY ON EARTH!" 

A Christmas in the Woods

This August, I embarked on a new journey, which took me quite literally "in the woods." I went from being a higher education administrator (for over 21 years) to becoming an executive director at a local land trust. I had neither executive director nor land trust experience, but what I did have was an eagerness to learn the position and a passion for conserving forest, farmland, waterways, and wilderness corridors.

Since this was a monumental change in my life, and both Daddy Lew and Little Lewie have been dragged into helping me out with a few functions, I told them that our Christmas card should be "wilderness" themed this year. I had already picked out the cutest safari outfit with red and white knee-high stockings (for Christmas flair). My husband, always wanting to make people laugh, immediately wanted to be Sasquatch or Big Foot. (The role suits him since he has size 14 feet!) For Lewie, I proposed a gnome, Boy Scout, animal, or tree of some sort. When his teenage self shuddered at the idea of doing any of them, I looked up "tree costume" on Amazon and found the most adorable "Pretend I'm a Tree" T-shirt. That was it! I knew I wouldn't be able to force him to dress up in a full costume, but I could, at least, make him wear a funny shirt. (I must say, he did get into his tree character very well--he stood proud, tall, and still.)

Most of the pictures were meant to seem as if I was lost (i.e., trying to figure out directions) without knowing Sasquatch was just a foot away behind "the tree." I'm not sure if we fully captured that motif in our images, but it sure was fun! Of course, we had to have a few smiling family photos, too, including one where my husband reveals his face. (He was so reluctant to do it, but I insisted. Otherwise, how would anyone, then, truly know it was him?)

Our card read, "Wishing you PEACE this holiday from our neck of the woods to yours." 

It then said, "Wishing you love, laughter, & happy trails in 2024."

I personally don't know if my land trust journey will be my final career destination, but it's something that definitely made an impact in 2023. In the meantime, I'm enjoying my work commute into the woods and can see myself wanting to be a National Park tour guide in my retirement years...

Since my husband is a jokester, there was one more photo that only made it into ten of our Christmas cards--of course, the two Lews thought it was hilarious... I hope this incites a chuckle... Poor tree!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy 2024 to All!

Wishes for an 80s Christmas!

My husband and I are both children of the 80s.  We have slightly different memories of the decade since he is five years older than me, but nonetheless, we find ourselves reminiscing about everything from music, movies, fashion, and toys to even commercials--(Where's the beef?!)  For the longest, Little Lewie has been bored with our "tales" of wearing parachute pants (or a pleather skirt with feather earrings) to school, our addiction to MTV music videos, or our Christmas wishlist of toys like Cabbage Patch Kids, Barbie Corvettes, Atari, and boomboxes.  We've also made him suffer through songs by Madonna, Michael Jackson, Boy George, Journey, The Police, Van Halen, Twisted Sister, and Tom Petty, to name a few.  

Then, Stranger Things came out, and the 80s became cool again.  All of a sudden, Little Lewie didn't roll his eyes when I told him I used to rollerskate to the "Ghostbusters" theme song, or Daddy spent countless hours as a teenager learning how to play songs from Metallica's Master of Puppets album.  In other words, Hubby and I became downright "rad," "gnarly," "totally tubular," and "wicked awesome!"

I know fads don't last long, so I decided it would be fun to buy 80s Halloween costumes this year to celebrate the return of our favorite decade.  Lewie liked his 80s jumpsuit but was too embarrassed to actually wear it on Halloween--ahh teenagers!  Still, I did make him promise to wear it for this year's JC Penny's photoshoot.  (We've been going there for Christmas portraits since 2017...)

For the last photo, the photographer thought it'd be fun to have the boys actually pick me up! 
That was a little nerve-wracking.

In all, we had a blast getting dressed for the pictures and hope we managed to capture people's nostalgia for the 80s.  (I wish I still owned a hair crimper!)  I still plan on putting my neon blue tights and fanny pack to good use. ;-)

Wishing everyone a "totally righteous" holiday and an "amped" 2023!!