Virginia + Destination Fine Art Wedding Photographers

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Today is St. Nikolaus Day!!! In Germany (and as far as I know pretty much all across Europe), children anxiously await a visit from St. Nikolaus, who rewards good kids with presents and candies. (Well,…and the bad kids get taken away in a sac by Nikolaus’ evil companion, Krampus. More about that here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krampus)

St. Nikolaus Day was quite a big deal for my family. We all go together to have dinner (fish and potatoes traditionally) and hoped for St. Nikolaus to come and tell us how good we’ve been all yearAfter that, we’d all eat way too much chocolate and mandarines. So, Happy St. Nikolaus Tag, guys!!!
I guess remembering St. Nikolaus Day today made me feel a bit nostalgic…so I thought I’d share some personal thoughts about Christmas far away from home with you guys…

It is the time to be happy…and for the most part I am. I love the holidays! I love the Christmas carols and snuggling on the sofa with my baby and my other baby (August, our chihuahua). And I love good food. Looking back on the past 1,5 years, I can only be so thankful for how far we have come since moving to Virginia from Germany. We are doing what we love, together. We meet the most amazing people and we get to capture love stories. I am also doing well at college. SO we really have a lot to celebrate!

But sometimes, especially this time of year, I miss my home. And I am sure many of you can identify with this. If you live far away from where you grew up and your family, this feeling of homesickness just catches up with you sometimes.
I was always a big fan of German Christmas – the sweet little Christmas markets, the smell of Christmas punch (Gluehwein), homemade honey bread and roasted almonds seemed to be everywhere. In fact that is one of the things that Michael remembers a lot from visiting me in Germany around Christmas time many years ago…the lovely smell. And all the lights…and music.

Within the past weeks we have been receiving lots of packages from Germany…all filled with the most thoughtful Christmas and pre-Christmas gifts (haha, my favorite!) from my family in Germany. You can smell the homemade Christmas cookies and spiced chocolates even before opening the boxes!
We have already set up dates to have a “skype-Christmas” together…that is really neat. But it is not the same.
I love remembering Christmas eve at my parents’ house when I was a kid. My mom would light sparklers on the Christmas tree and ring a bell (as a sign from an “angel”) telling my little brother and I that we were now allowed to come downstairs to see the presents under the tree. The Christmas bells from the main church in Munich, the Frauenkirche (right by the Christmas market in the pictures), were playing on a CD. It was truly magical.

Michael and I haven’t decided yet how we will celebrate Christmas this year. But we sure love cuddling on the sofa with our pup and share some popcornOr my most recent discovery: macaroons! haha
We are so happy to know that we will never spend another Christmas apart. “All I want for Christmas is you” became true for us. We are our own little family now and we can create our own little traditions that maybe one day our future children will hold dear.
This is where we are right now, living the moment, loving life and each other. And it is wonderful to know that my family back home is just a phone call away.

xoxo, Carina

PS: The pictures were all taken in 2009 <3