Woo Hoo!

I love Christmas shopping online, because the packages are rolling in daily, so it's like Christmas every day! Josh's stocking is stuffed to the gills (it's dangerously close to falling and taking the hook off with it - I literally can't fit another thing in it!) and I'm really looking forward to doing the wrapping of everything this year. I am going to use kraft paper, maybe some twine, and some Christmas stamps in one corner. Going for a very simple, homemade look. I got some great bags and twine from http://www.thinkgarnish.com/ to put my baked and canned good gifts in, too!

Yesterday our Christmas cards from Shutterfly arrived. I love them. They were free, just for blogging about them! When I put them in the cart (before I applied the code to make them free), the total was over $100! They are so high quality. They are actual stationery cards, not just the glossy photo cards you normally see. I was pleasantly surprised, and so was the Bip. He doesn't normally get excited about such things, but even he said "Daaaang, these are nice."



We got the matching address labels, too. Can't wait to actually sit down and address them and send them out, but I think that will have to wait until this weekend. Also, I need to buy stamps!

The photo book I made for Josh's momma also arrived. Josh is not easily excitable about those types of things, either, but he couldn't stop smiling as he paged through it. I think that means she's going to love it, too. I can't wait to surprise her with it and the framed family photo we did - she has no idea that the photos were even taken.



We had the best time with Karla taking our pictures, and so many great photos were taken, that I knew I had to somehow give his mom more than just the family photo, and I didn't want to just give her a stack of prints. I think the photobook was a great option, and I can't wait until she opens it. I am so grateful to Karla for being our photographer. We all had such a wonderful time and are so pleased with the results.

It is such a busy time of year right now, both at work and outside of it... so much going on that I can barely keep the days of the week straight. But still, I am just feeling so much thankfulness and gratitude lately. Not sure if it's just the Holiday spirit or what (maybe it's just the relief of having the shopping done), but those feelings - and contentment - are just overflowing in me right now. You know, I think we all have some sort of idea of how we want our lives to be, thinking that when we get there, we'll feel a little more at peace, have things a bit more 'under control'. I'm getting to that place, and the feeling is every bit as wonderful as I thought it would be. Now to just keep life moving in this direction!