#15 | It's the most wonderful time of the year

Christmas is literally my favorite time of the year. I always enjoy the feeling of the holiday season when it begins in late September (after my birthday hahaha) until the first week of January. After the Halloween season, my mom and I begin to decorate our home with Christmas ornaments. Although we live in a very small apartment, every corner--and I mean every corner--of our house has a Christmas item.

One of my mom's favorite Christmas traditions is getting these amazing little houses (with detail that you cannot ignore, mind you) and form them into a Christmas village. The photo above is how it looks like this year. Hopefully next year, we get to move into a bigger home so our collection will grow even bigger!

This is our Christmas tree--or, a creative way of looking at it. It's basically pink and red-themed; I don't know why, but for some reason those were the available decorations we had. And the lovely wrapped gifts. I really like this shot, by the way. Probably because of the angle.

These are my gifts from my parents. Pretty much you can tell that I'm a tennis fan. And also a former frustrated tennis player. Anyway, I asked for an iPad mini, but it's alright. I knew from the start they weren't able to afford it at this point in time so I didn't mind. The koala is adorable, isn't it? :) 

However, I felt really sad because a few weeks ago, my uncle was promising to buy me a pair of Nike tennis shoes. I was totally expecting that and I was bragging it to all my friends and I was really excited. I guess this was because my first and only tennis shoes (until now) aren't, you know, that nice nor is it branded. I know it sounds a bit materialistic (are you kidding it sounds very materialistic) but it was the one gift I was expecting very much. Anyway, I let it pass because I thought about it: Christmas isn't about the gifts. Trying to look on the positive side, I just kept in mind that I should be thankful because 2014 was the year I reconciled with a lot of people I hurt in 2013, including myself. I got a lot of blessings this year and I'm more than thankful for them.

Lastly, this is my favorite present (next to the koala hehe) because one, it came from my boyfriend and two, there's probably something wrong with you if you don't know why I love this present.

- M