Fear not, friends, I'm alive! By my count I haven't posted in almost two weeks. Two weeks! But I promise, it's with good reason. A ton has been going on! In the past two weeks, Jason has sold the rights to his last name to a company called Headsets.com (and, as a result, was featured in major press like USA Today, CNN Money, and CNBC... what?!), we've taken a last minute trip to San Francisco (don't worry, that post to come...) AND Christmas has come and gone. As you can imagine, it's all kept me more than a little busy, but happily so.
Now, though, I've managed to make it through the food comas and the crowded stores and the frenzied gift-opening, and I've emerged victorious. Christmas this year was a fantastic success, I have to say. It was my personal goal to infuse as much purposeful joy and holiday spirit as I could into our hectic lives. I wanted to create new Christmas traditions for our little family and to have memories of the holidays that were completely our own. From my ribbon wreath, to our personalized stockings, to my gilded T-rex ornaments, I wanted it all to feel whimsical and personal. I even added a handmade touch to our wrapping paper by taking a note from Bonnie of Going Home To Roost and drawing some holiday illustrations on plain brown paper packages. Love how they turned out!
But aside from the oodles and oodles of Christmas crafting, of course the highlight has certainly been enjoying time with my family. Tonight, I was driving home from the movie theatre where my dad plus my three brothers and sisters and I saw an evening showing of Skyfall (my second time, still amazing) and I was suddenly overcome with such an amazing sense of gratitude. Family means not just those folks, but my mom and stepdad, my step brothers and their families, Jason and his family... just everyone. I can't believe sometimes how lucky I am to be surrounded by such an army of support and love. Not only that, but I also feel so happy that they're a bunch of fun-loving kooks. There's never a shortage of laughter or goofiness, and it always makes for such a warm and comfortable environment.
I know that there are some out there who traveled long distances to be with their families, or used Skype to connect with those who couldn't be with them in person. My family, luckily, is just about all in one place, which I've come to fully appreciate as well. Sure, bopping around between homes and different family groups has its logistical challenges at times, but the fact that I can see my mom's side of the family, my dad's side, my brothers and sisters AND Jason's whole family in one single day is pretty amazing. I'm grateful that geography has been on our side for that.
This is also the first year I've truly had an absolute blast buying gifts for everyone. Maybe it's because I started early so I wasn't stressed, or because I had put a little extra money away to be able to cover everyone, but this year I had so much fun picking out gifts for everyone. I didn't necessarily hit every nail on the head, but I'd like to think every recipient knew how much thought and love had gone into each gift.
Don't get me wrong though, giving may be great, but I won't pretend the receiving wasn't fun this year either! I got spoiled BIG time, and some of my favorites in case anyone is wondering include a subscription to Olive Box, a perfectly precious whale ring and Eisley necklace (from your wishcake's Etsy shop!) from Jason, and this amazing canvas tote from Anthro that I would curl up and sleep with if I thought it was appropriate. And these are just a few. I feel so completely grateful for ALL my new toys. I still can't believe how spoiled I feel! Thank you to my entire family (eh hem.. and Santa!) for completely overdoing it this year. Your extravagance may be undeserved but it's unbelievably appreciated.
All in all it was a pretty perfect Christmas filled with family, laughter, great food, and a lot of reflection on what a crazy year it has been. Hoping that you all had a fabulous holiday as well, no matter what you do to celebrate the season. I'm grateful for family just as I'm grateful for all of you - thank you from the bottom of my heart for dropping by from time to time and happy holidays!
No comments:
Post a Comment