Christmas Day 2022 started much like every other day in recent memory. I got up early and fed the horses, who were all dressed in toasty blankets because of the bitter cold snap pounding Florida. I sent a few texts to friends and family. I colored my hair, read my book, surfed social media, DIY’d some lotion bars to give as gifts, and took care of random housekeeping tasks.
Later, I drove to the Villages to bake cookies and hang out with my mom and family friend, Bev, who whipped up a late lunch of fettuccine alfredo. My sister, Megan, who was in town Christmasing with her in-laws, popped by with her kids for awhile, which was fun. I can’t believe I didn’t take any photos at my only Christmas event!
Tony and I generally try to talk most days, but our Christmas Facetime call was especially fun. He dug out old passports, and I slogged through photos, Facebook posts, emails, and even old Christmas letters (written by hand on paper!) to figure out how we spent our 30 years of Christmases since we got married. Of course, there’s no digital footprint from those early days. Photos taken with film cameras and printed at an actual Fotomat are buried in our storage unit. Maybe someday, I’ll unearth them to finish our list.
Here’s the rundown (with some additional travel notes).
1992: Newly married and living in Lawrence, Kansas, we most likely split Christmas with my family at our house and Tony’s family in Sedalia, Missouri. Not sure.
1993: Again, not sure. Probably Lawrence and Sedalia? At some point during the holidays, we traveled to Weston, MO, and visited friends in St. Louis.
1994: My parents and sisters moved to Saudi Arabia this year, where my father worked as a contractor with General Dynamics. We all met up for Christmas in Germany and Austria.
1995: My parents bought a house in Lawrence to use as home base while they were abroad, and Tony and I moved in. No record of Christmas. Lawrence and Sedalia?
1996: My family came back from Saudi Arabia for Christmas, so I’m assuming we spent some time with them at our house in Lawrence and some time with Tony’s family in Olathe. I traveled to Switzerland for my sister, Kate’s, graduation from high school earlier that year.
1997: Tony and I joined my family and Dickinson grandparents for Christmas at Disney World in Orlando. Also that year, I traveled to the former Soviet republic of Georgia with my job at the American Academy of Family Physicians.
1998: Tony’s mother, Catherene Ann, died this year, so maybe we spent Christmas with his family in Olathe, or maybe we went to Michigan, where my parents were living after moving back from Saudi Arabia. We bought the house in Lawrence from my parents, and I went back to school to get my teaching certification. We traveled to Italy in the spring after my sister, Megan, graduated from high school in Switzerland.
1999: I spent Christmas with my parents and sisters in Michigan, where they were playing host to the daughter of their Sri Lankan driver from the Saudi days. I can’t remember if Tony was there. Maybe he spent the holidays with his family?
2000: Another Christmas mystery. I finished my teaching certification, so we prepared to move overseas.
2001: After landing jobs in Istanbul, we sold our house and moved to Turkey. During our four years there, we didn’t get a Christmas vacation, so we spent Christmas with our friends from school.
2002: Another Istanbul Christmas. We spent the summer in Germany, where my brother was stationed with the Air Force.
2003: Another Istanbul Christmas, but we traveled to Thailand in February.
2004: Another Istanbul Christmas. However, we made a weekend pork run to Cologne, Germany, in early December; traveled to Egypt in January; and enjoyed a Carnival Cruise and time in Miami before the February job fair at the University of Northern Iowa.
2005: We moved to China and celebrated Christmas in Phuket, Thailand. Tony also started work on his master’s degree this year.
2006: We traveled to Malaysian Borneo with our friends, Scott and Amy.
2007: My family met in Germany and gathered at the home of my brother, who was deployed in Qatar. He surprised us by returning for the holidays. Other fun trips that winter were to the ice festival in Harbin, China, and Bangkok for my 40th birthday.
2008: We spent Christmas in Yangshuo, China, followed by the Search Associates international educator job fair in Bangkok, and Chinese New Year in Cambodia.
I started my blog the year we left China, so I’ll add links to my old stories from here on.
2009: We moved to Laos this year. Tony and I spent Christmas in Krabi, Thailand, followed by a visit from my sister Megan, who traveled with me to Cambodia and Luang Prabang, Laos.
2010: Our friends, the Hossacks, spent Christmas in Laos with us, and then Tony and I took off for the Search job fair in Bangkok.
2011: We moved to India this year. We met up with my family for Christmas in Garmisch, Germany. Really, there’s no place like Germany at Christmas! It was my dad’s favorite place to spend the holidays.
2012: For the first time since moving abroad, we spent Christmas in the States, specifically to meet my new little nephew, William, at my parents’ house in Michigan. On our way back to India, we celebrated New Year’s Eve in Amsterdam.
2013: Tony and I traveled to Korea for Christmas with my sister, Megan, and her family. Her husband was stationed there with the Air Force. This was the visit when baby William called me Shasha for the first time, melting my heart, and giving me my forever auntie name. On our way back to India, we enjoyed a little downtime in Koh Chang, Thailand.
2014: One of my all-time favorite trips took us to Jordan for Christmas.
2015: We traveled to Florida for Christmas to hang out with my parents and my sister, Kate’s, family. On our way back to India, we explored Dubai.
2016: This year, we moved to Chile, where winter was summer and summer was winter, meaning our long “summer” break from school occurred from December to February. Rather than head to North America for Christmas, we spent the “summer” holidays discovering our new host city of Santiago in the warm sunshine.
2017: Just a red-eye flight away, we traveled to my parents’ place in Florida for Christmas. This year, my sister, Kate, drove from Michigan with her family to celebrate with us. Tony then flew to Kansas to visit his family, and I went to Del Rio, Texas, to see my sister, Megan, and her gang. We returned to Santiago for the rest of our long semester break.
2018: This was a very busy seven-week break from school! My family gathered at Megan’s house near Destin, Florida. Then Tony and I spent a few days in Chicago before preparing our Michigan lakehouse to go on the market. We sorted, packed, gave stuff away, and cleaned. Back in Chile, Tony played tourguide for his two sisters.
2019: My father died this November, so Christmas felt a bit melancholy at times. The family (minus my brother, who was living in Abu Dhabi) met at Megan’s house, where Tony and I stuck around for an extended vacation. After a short time back in Santiago, we flew to Ilha Grande, a fabulous tropical island in Brazil.
2020: Deep in the bowels of the pandemic, Tony and I spent Christmas alone at the Villages in Florida. My mom went to a party, but after experiencing strict social-distancing rules in Chile, we weren’t ready to risk it. After a short visit with Megan, we returned to Chile for the rest of our break.
2021: We spent Christmas in Michigan with my sisters and mom, and then Tony traveled to Kansas to celebrate with his family. Later, we headed to Florida for some beach time, followed by a few petsitting gigs, including at the farm where I’m spending this gap year.
2022: That brings us to this year. I’m in Ocala, Florida, attending Equine Studies classes and caring for 15 animals at a little farm, and Tony is in Bangkok, Thailand, teaching middle school English at KIS International School. Here we are Christmas morning my time, Christmas evening his time.
After compiling this list from scratch, I discovered that we had already done this twice before in 2012 and 2017. See why I need to document my life? I can’t even remember stuff that I already blogged, much less parts of my life that I failed to record. Sigh… note to self: Next time you want to remember all your Christmases, just open The Guide Hog and search “Christmas.”
