• Alexandra (who also goes by Alex) explains that sometimes in her life of being a mom of four girls, she sometimes just feels like a taxi driver.
• Alex is the cohost of  The Open Door Sisterhood Podcast
• Why do we feel so much extra pressure around Christmas? Well, Alex and I tackle this question. Alex took a totally different approach to trying to figure out a solution to simplify her Christmas. 
• The plan had been for her to write a book about her doing an experiment in relishing the season. However, when Alex's stepfather passed away the year she planned to do the experiment, it ended up adding so much more extra meaning to the experiment. 
• Each week of the “Loving My Actual Christmas” experiment, Alex focused on a different theme surrounding Advent: Love, joy, peace, and hope. She also taught me what “Christmastide” was. I'd never heard that name for the 12 days following Christmas before. 
• Thankfully Alex explained what a Liturgical calendar was. I was unfamiliar with the term having grown up in a Protestant church.
• Being in the moment was one of the major lessons that Alex learned during her experiment. 
• Family traditions are fun, but can be create extra busyness. It's good to figure out what's most important to you and your family, so you know what to say “no” to.
• I loved hearing about some of her family's traditions while celebrating God's arrival 12 days after Christmas during Christmastide. One thing she shared was to celebrate “Boxing Day” with a twist by “sending” people love in their “boxes”: email boxes, voicemail boxes, and so forth. Very creative. I loved this idea!
• After the experiment last year, I was curious about what Christmas looks like in Alex's home this year.

 Resources:

* A Few of my fun Christmas posts:

• Savoring the Season — & Not Blowing Your Budget
• How to Simplify the Season — as first seen on the IEW blog!

* A Few other things mentioned:

• IEW Podcast Episode. This was such a fun episode. We recorded while I was visiting Tulsa earlier this year!
• Andrew Pudewa on the Simply Joyful Podcast
• Joanna Weavers 25 Days of Advent
• Providence Network
• Loving My Actual Christmas
• Loving My Actual Life
• The Artist's Daughter 

Be Sure to Connect with Alexandra Online:

Website | Books

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