The Holidays as Newlyweds

Oh, the holidays...a time of joy, a time when you gather with your family...until you suddenly have two families. When people ask if Nathan and I are spending Thanksgiving with his family or my family, I almost feel like they're asking which one of us won the battle. We live an hour away from both sets of parents, so it's not a matter of going to the place that's closet. And since they're in opposite directions, it's difficult to visit both the same day.
 
For Thanksgiving last year (when we were together but not "officially" engaged), we lucked out because my family had the Thanksgiving meal on Thursday and Nathan's family got together on Friday. This year, both of our families are having Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving. Can you believe it? Our moms both said "whatever you decide to do is fine," but that didn't really help our decision. Ultimately, we decided to spend Thanksgiving with my family on Thursday, then go hang out and eat leftovers with his family on Friday.

Now we just have to figure out Christmas!

Nathan and me at Christmas last year. I'm holding tinsel.

The main reason we decided to go see my family for Thanksgiving was that more of Nathan's relatives will be in town for Christmas. But of course, I want to be able to see my family for Christmas too. Last year we were at my parents' house for Christmas morning since that's when my family always opens gifts. Then we went to Nathan's parents' for Christmas evening, when his family opens gifts. As nice as it was to see both our families, Christmas becomes a lot more stressful when you drive two hours in the middle of the day. A part of me just wants to spend Christmas in our apartment and wear pajamas all day! I do consider it a huge blessing though that we both have parents that live nearby and with whom we want to spend the holidays.

What are you doing for the holidays?