Christmas Corner Guest Post: What Christmas Means to Me, by Jenny Hale

When I think of Christmastime, I think of friends and family. They’re all around me during this season. Christmas Eve church services, big dinners with grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, making and receiving treats for our neighbors, decorating with my children—I am surrounded by loved ones. For me, it’s the people in my life that make this season special. I have a million different memories of Christmas, but I thought I’d share a few of the good ones—the ones that shaped my view of the holiday!

When I was around eight, my mother put my dad’s military boots into the soot of our fireplace and made two sooty boot prints on the hearth. I thought Santa had done it and my mom scolded him playfully for messing up her house.

At the age of 16, while my youngest brother (only 6 years old) lay in his bed with his eyes squeezed shut, I sneaked outside and ran around the house in the dark, ringing giant jingle bells so he’d think Santa was coming.

I got married at Christmastime.

I once visited the Williamsburg Inn with my husband, parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We all got rooms at the inn there in Colonial Williamsburg and had a big, family celebration.

With my own children, I try to do my very best to give them the quality memories that I have of the season. We have many traditions in our family, like making gingerbread houses and decorating the tree together, but my favorite is cookie baking for Santa. (Santa has a particular favorite that he asks for every year.) My recipe card is already spotted, smudged, and bent—just the way I like it! It’s evidence of the years of making memories with my children.

My latest novel, A Christmas to Remember, is about the importance of family, and I hope you will feel a little bit of my love of family coming through as you read it. An early Merry Christmas to you!

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If you follow my blog, you’ll know I’m a huge, huge fan of Jenny, so I’m so, so thrilled to have her on the blog today! Jenny’s books are just stunning, and with such lovely Christmas memories, it’s no wonder she can write such beautiful Christmas books! Any one else think the running around with sleigh bells one is just the cutest thing you’ve ever heard?!

Thanks again, Jenny, for visiting the Book Nook! It’s been a pleasure having you here. Xxxx

Jenny’s Bio

When I graduated college, one of my friends said, “Look out for this one; she’s going to be an author one day.” Despite being an avid reader and a natural storyteller, it wasn’t until that very moment that the idea of writing novels occurred to me.

Sometimes our friends can see the things that we can’t.

While I didn’t start straight away, that comment sowed a seed and several years, two children, and hundreds of thousands of words later, I completed a novel that I felt was worthy of publication. The result is Coming Home for Christmas, a heart-warming story about friends, family, and the magic of love at Christmas.

I released my second book, Love Me for Me, this past summer, and my next novel, A Christmas to Remember is out now.

When I’m not writing, I’m a District Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages, a mother of two boys, and a wife to a very supportive husband.

Jenny’s Books

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Reviews

Love Me For Me

A Christmas To Remember