Happy Holidays!!

Hey everyone!! Hope all of you enjoyed Christmas and those of you who don't celebrate, I hope you had a great day!! Although we're not Christian, we celebrated it as well! :) I personally love the holiday spirit: the fun, the laughter, the joy in the air. To me, Christmas is really the most wonderful time of the year. It's a great time to show your family, friends, and loved ones how much you care about each other. And of course, leading up to Christmas, not only did we shop for each other, we heard Christmas music everywhere we went!! Even my teachers put up decorations, wore Santa hats, and played music in class about a month before Christmas!! :)

Growing up, I remember singing in Christmas/holiday concerts at school, where the whole grade would get together and sing favorites like "Rudolph the red-nosed Reindeer" and "Deck the Halls," as well as some others that weren't necessarily as popular. Needless to say, those are still a part of my favorites and I love singing them. It helps to get me in the holiday spirit...and to enjoy and be thankful for what I have.

We've all heard songs like "Silent Night" and "Jingle Bells," but did you know that a lot of artists have recorded these traditional songs, and have added their own touch? Some even record a separate Christmas/holiday album to release. I haven't listened to all of them, but I love Aly & AJ's (they're now known as 78violet) Acoustic Hearts of Winter album that was released a couple years back. Recently, I've heard David Archuleta perform songs off of his album, Christmas From the Heart, and they're all really great too. Also, if you're a big Taylor Swift fan, and haven't checked hers out yet, check it out. I haven't checked it out yet, but I'm sure it's great. It's called Sounds of the Season. Check them out if you get the chance to :)

And lastly, there are a lot of "remixed" songs that I absolutely love to listen to around this time of the year. For example, "Do you hear what I hear" has been performed by Carrie Underwood, Copeland, Whitney Houston, and a lot of other great artists. The Copeland version is on my favorites right now!! :)

Alright guys, I'll talk to you later!! Enjoy your week!! Have a happy new year!!

-Labanya <3