Giving In ...

Who on earth waits until the last day you can possibly mail packages for them to "hopefully" arrive by Christmas Day? You guessed it ... ME!! I was up until 4:30 this morning finishing up some gifts so I could get them packaged up and off in the mail this morning. Ashton wanted to go with me so we got to spend about 30 minutes with a lot of others who had waited to mail their packages just like me. I stood there thinking "I should have brought my camera so THIS could be my photo for today!!" But, since I didn't have my camera you will simply have to picture it in your head ;)

I spent the better part of the day shopping. To be honest we've been "mostly" done for weeks but there are always the last few random things that wait until the end. I had a few friends ask if I was getting my last minute shopping done ... I told them it was only the 20th and I wouldn't be doing any last minute shopping until the 24th!! The biggest task was shopping for Steve because he never WANTS anything (unless it costs at least $20,000 - think cars, houses, BIG toys) and since I used my yearly surprise for his birthday I'm kinda of tapped for good ideas this year. I'm also trying to watch our budget more closely ... as is everyone ... so I don't want to buy things just to have "stuff" under the tree. I know whatever I get he will appreciate and enjoy because he is that kind of guy :) I'm happy with what I decided on and can now say I REALLY am done - for today.

Since my day was spent doing lots of mundane things like going to the post office, eating, and shopping, I decided to give into the request of my sister-in-law, Anna Marie, and post some photos of my holiday decor. You must understand ... her house is always perfectly adorned - regardless of the season - but she has a definite passion for Christmas. She studied design in college and has an amazing talent for decorating. That, coupled with her gift of photography, produce photos of her home that look straight out of a magazine ... really. The other day she posted photos of her holiday decor and issued a challenge for others to do the same. I commented that there was NO WAY I would post photos of my decor and that I needed some serious design intervention. It is one area (of many) that I *WISH* I could visualize and bring to reality but I can look at magazines and websites, watch HGTV and TLC until I am cross-eyed and it just doesn't seem to click for me. That being said I have humbled myself and am giving in to her request ... lucky for her I didn't have anything better to post today ;) ** Note the tags still on the stockings ... I can't decide if I like them or not so I haven't "committed" to them yet. Comments?!?!