Merry Christmas!

This was definitely one of the nicest Christmases I've had in a loooong time. I started off feeling very non-festive. I didn't really want to listen to the music or watch the traditional movies or do any of that stuff. And it pretty much lasted the whole 'season,' but in the end, it was still really wonderful.

I didn't stress about presents or anything. I made a bunch of homemade Christmas cards (most of which still haven't been sent out...whoops, not stressing about things can be counterproductive.) and cookies for co-workers and friends.


We drew names for each other in our family and only bought our person a gift. I would recommend this for anyone in a larger family who is on a budget. The lower stress (that is key here) and ability to spend more on one person and all was a lot more fun than trying to buy everyone something. The only problem with this system was that every time I went out I could never find stuff that my person (Matt) would like and always found tons of stuff that every other family member would have loved. But in the end I was able to find stuff for him and I even got it wrapped in time for the big day.
I got to meet up with Courteney to do some shopping on Tuesday. We bought Christmas earrings! Hers were Christmas lights that blinked. Mine had bells that jingled. They were totally gaudy and totally fun. And they were appropriate for Christmas. You gotta have some fun!

We spent a few hours on Christmas at Harper's Ferry. You know, my happy place. :)




I pointed the camera their way and Adam said, " on 3, we'll make funny faces! 1...2...3!" and he made this goofy face and Holly just smiled normally.
Dad asked me to take this picture of him and Solomon. This reminds me of the pictures of couples in front of some grand scenery hugging or kissing...only it's Dad and the dog. It made me laugh. So very dramatic these two.

And they can be thoughtful sometimes.She's just so cute. She wasn't ready for me to snap the picture and Adam distracted her and she started laughing. I like candid shots.

All in all, it was a lovely day. We came home and had Christmas dinner (indian curry, we balk at tradition!) and watched the end of The Christmas Story and a Dogs 101 marathon (they had an episode about Newfoundlands but it came on late so we watched all the episodes leading up to it while we were waiting.) and I fell asleep. I also watched a (slightly creepy) version of the Nutcracker and it made me sad because I miss dancing so much! And I miss being skinny so much! I'm not going to think about it. :) Maybe someday I'll get into some dance class again and it will be so much fun!

I made a new bag on Christmas Eve, but I didn't take any pictures of it. So I'll do that sometime and post about it! Until then, this will probably be my last post of the year because on Sunday I'm leaving for DC. I'm going to RADIATE! Wish me luck. Have a great New Years!

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!