Flight of a Byrd

Tomorrow I leave for Seattle. I am SO excited. I've had a hard time getting excited the past few weeks because I was so stressed. But I am feeling better and am antsy to fly. It's been a long time since I last flew. Flying was so normal for me growing up that I get stir crazy if I go a year without flying somewhere.
Complete change of subject.
When I started going to Seattle Pacific University, I wrote a paper on William Byrd and this is the piece it was on. I remember absolutely loving this piece and I still do. It always reminds me of Christmas and speaks of the divinity of God to me.

For many of you, this may be a surprise. I haven't talked too much about classical music but I grew up on a LOT of classical music. My dad was a music theory major and used to be a complete musical snob (he'll tell you that himself) and would listen to nothing but classics. He was then introduced to the Beatles and everything changed. He exposed my brother and I to classical music all our lives. We've never been bored by it because...it's magnificent. When you haven't been brought up on it, it's hard to accept and adjust to. But when it's always been a part of you, it's easier to see its magnificence.
On Saturday, I am hanging out with my best friend Jenna and her brother (my friend) Jesse as well as Jenna's friend Natalie and my brother. Then in the evening we're going to see Handel's Messiah. I've never seen it live and am very, very excited because it's an amazing piece. Especially since we ALL appreciate classical music so it'll be that much more enjoyable. There's nothing more annoying than going to a concert and being completely into the music while the people you went with are bored out of their minds.
These are the things that make Christmas feel like Christmas to me: musical traditional classics we always listen to around this time of year, family, friends, the cold, twinkly lights, admiring (or gagging at) overly decorated houses and yards, Christmas cookies, Glögg, hot buttered rum, peppermint and candy cane shapes, peppermint mochas, cheese fondue and Hawaiian meatballs, reading A Child's Christmas in Wales...and of course the birth of a baby a long time ago who saved the world.