Easter

 Easter is one of the few holidays out of the year for which I get pretty excited. The other ones are

Flag Day ~ June 14th

Kansas Day ~ January 29th

Fourth of July

My birthday

Apparently I'm super patriotic.

I personally can't figure out why we have to celebrate so many holidays in the middle of winter. Christmas, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day (well, this year it was 80 degrees. Holla, climate change!), Thanksgiving...I like to imagine what Christmas would be like if it were usually 70 degrees instead of 7, and what I imagine is awesome. It'd basically be like Independence Day, but bunting would be red and green instead of red, white, and blue. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph weren't in 2 feet of snow, so why should we be? I suppose I could move to California, but....no.

{via Oh, Joy!}

 Anyway, I love Easter. For most of my life we've spent the day with close family friends. Their son and I met in a pre-preschool playgroup when we spent the day painting a cardbord box purple, and the rest is history. 20+ years later we've moved beyond egg hunts, but the day is still spent together, only now we drink lots of champagne and eat lots of amazing cheese and chocolate. And salmon. Did I mention cheese? 

{Martha Stewart}

One of my jobs through college was singing in the Episcopal Cathedral Choir in Topeka, KS. The Easter hymns are some of my all-time favorites. Alleluia, alleluia, give thanks to the ris'n Lord/alleluia, alleluia, give thanks to His name! In 2008 I was in Paris and I went by myself to the American Cathedral. Communion was port instead of wine! Since there's a cathedral in Kansas, there was a Kansas flag hung in the church. It was like going home, except for all the French sermon-ing. My throat was raspy from not singing for months, but my voice came back toute suite. Two French men in the pew in front of me even turned around and told me how glad they were that I was sitting behind them!  I might have even sung the descants. Afterward my friends and I  went to Angelina's by the Louvre and drank pitchers (literally) of hot chocolate. I doubt I will ever experience anything so decadent again in my life.  Church to me is about the music and people in it. I admit, I don't really think someone rose from the dead and all of a sudden all my "sins" are forgiven, but that's just me. I love how Easter isn't as much about presents as Christmas is and that the music doesn't get overplayed on the radio. Easter is also maybe one of the most kid-friendly holidays, and I can't wait to share it with mine. They can have all the chocolate they want.