Amy Rose Designs: Christmas In America

Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year. I have so many reasons to love it. The colder weather, the cozy feeling of home, spending time with my family, church, Christmas morning, but what always has been a big part of my love for Christmas has been my mother's spirit and what she made life like for us during this time of the year.

When I was growing up my family didn't have a lot of money, especially at Christmas time, to spend on presents between six children. We never really noticed it because of my mother. Christmas was more about the things we did with each other than the gifts we received. Decorating the tree was an all day affair in which everyone took part. The outside of the house was no different. When we would pull into our driveway at night our house was always so beautiful to me. I would sit on the sofa and stare out of our big picture window and gaze at our Christmas lights. I would do it for hours. I still do it now. It brings me back to a time in my childhood and all the feelings that come along with it. I too, like my mother, will take days to decorate my home from top to bottom. I am exhausted when I'm done, but I love the end result.

Candy Cane Lane, Woodland Hills, California

One of the many things we did every year was go to Candy Cane Lane. It was an eight block area in California where every house on the block was decorated with lights and ornaments and every street had a theme. My mother would announce to the family when we were going to see the lights and the anticipation of all of us going was so thick you could cut with a knife. We would eat dinner, take our bath, slip into our pajamas with the feet (who didn't have these as a kid), grab our "blankies" and hop into the car.

Candy Cane Lane, Woodland Hills, California

If you've ever decorated your house with the simplest strands of lights or if you have over 20,000 lights on your house, I say thank you! Thank you, for being a memory for me, thank you for taking your precious time to decorate your home for others to enjoy and thank you for keeping a long time tradition in America alive to light our world at Christmas time!