Think back as far as you can to Christmas Eve. For some it’s easy; for it’s not that long ago. For others things start to cloud along the way. I am the latter. I have been trying to remember my favorite Christmas tradition through the years and whether it was when I was a child or now that I have children of my own my favorite tradition is the same. I remember as a child almost like it was yesterday. I had a scratchy red and green Christmas sweater on, there was a chill in the air and I still had platinum blonde and really curly hair. We were a family of three at that time, Mom, Dad and little me. We went to the evening Christmas Eve Service at the Presbyterian Church we were members of. The choir sang like angels from the choir loft in the back of the church. Someone lit the advent candle. (We had our own at home and we read the passages that went with each Sunday and I really enjoyed having our own advent candle.) They passed out the candles and we all lit our candle from the glow of the advent candle. Now here is the part that I remember the most, the part that sparks the Christmas spirit in me. We did not extinguish our candles as we walked outside. We took our lit candles outside, gathered on the lawn of the church and sang Silent Night, no piano, no organ, no guitar. We then quietly left to our own Christmas at home where I got to open ONE gift and it just happened to be a warm pair of pajamas. My traditions as a family on Christmas Eve are a little different as now I have lots more family to include, but the Christmas Eve Service at the Church and the giving of the Christmas pajamas are still my favorite.

So, what’s your favorite Christmas Eve tradition?

This REALTORS Perspective: The folks that write the books say that if you do something five times it becomes a habit. But they don’t talk about when something becomes a tradition. Down the road at Texas A&M, College Station, Texas the traditions of the Aggies reign supreme. It seems as though the number of traditions on campus have no signs of stopping. Let’s face the true facts you cannot have a tradition unless you do it at least twice. Three times and it’s not a fluke now the habit is starting to form. Maybe a tradition and a habit are the same thing. When searching for a home you have to work with your REALTOR to find what kind of “habit” you want to get into. What are your priorities and list them in order from top to bottom. Set your list and stick to it. Location should always be your number one priority, it is after all going to be the number one priority of the person buying your home…unless you have a really awesome reason your house can trump the number one, two and three reason for buying a home and yes it’s location , location, location. Putting your priorities in writing is the same as putting sales goals in writing. Do you want a home in Spring, Tomball, Cypress or Magnolia, Texas? These are four very different areas that are not so far apart in mileage. Are you looking for proximity to work, to be close to relatives, to be far from relatives? What is your driving force to pick the city you’ll call home? Is it schools, parks, shopping, country living? What is going to be the make up of your list, your habit, your home buying tradition? Look for a Real Estate partner that will take the time to HEAR what’s important to you.

So what’s your favorite Christmas Eve tradition?

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and may you always…..

Live Life to the Fullest,

S.C.