Christmas 2011 wrap-up

 I've just been easing myself into this new year this past week. Would it shock you to know that my Christmas tree is still up? Oh, all the ornaments are off and it's shoved into the corner instead of in the middle of the window, but still. I worked hard on it on Friday, making approximately 452 trips up and down the basement stairs to put things away, but it wore me out and I had to take a break for the weekend. I'm determined to get it DONE today! I'm almost there, just one more box of ornaments to put away and the tree, so I'm ready to just get it over with. I am sorry to see the tree come down--it really was beautiful. I'm not quite ready to put up my Valentine's just yet, but I might put out a few winter-themed decorations in the meantime.

I did want to make a few notes about our Christmas. Last year, I was a mess. A stressed-out, unhappy mess and Christmas was not nearly the fun time it should have been. Really, I couldn't wait for it to be over so that I could just rest. Having Maren out of school from Thanksgiving until New Year's was a large part of that, as were The Mister going out of town, being involved in a swap, and a few other things in addition to the normal Christmas activities.

This year, I knew things had to be different. I started thinking about it in October, and trying to identify ways that I could make this year better and not turn into a crazy Christmas-hating shrew. I can't say that I made any major changes this year, but I can tell you that this Christmas season was SO much better than last year!

Things that were different this year: The Mister didn't go out of town, and Maren was only out of school for the traditional 2 weeks instead of 6. I tried to get gift ideas early and order things early, though I wasn't as successful at this as I would have liked. I didn't participate in any swaps, I did New Year's treats for our neighbor gifts so those could wait until after Christmas, and I didn't stress that I didn't get our family cards done until after New Year's (heck, they're still not here yet!). I did have one moment of minor freak-out when I started to panic about getting it all done, but it was averted by a kind husband who ran to the store and bought cookies at 9 pm when the homemade ones didn't turn out. But there were no locking-myself-in-the-bathroom sobbing fits like last year (or the year before), so I'm counting it as a victory!

Christmas Day itself was so much fun! The Mister and I kept looking at each other and commenting on how GREAT the day was. Even though we had to get the kids dressed and haul everyone to church at 11:00 a.m. this year because the day fell on a Sunday, the meeting was full of beautiful music and only added to the celebration of the day. The kids loved their gifts, and the gifts we got each other were thoughtful and surprising and much appreciated.

Our dinner was simple--I procrastinated until Christmas Eve morning so I had to take what I could find at the grocery store. I ended up with a ribeye roast (on 50% clearance, woo-hoo!) and it was delicious! Because I was only cooking for the four of us, two of whom hardly eat anything, I just made the things we like best: the meat, mashed potatoes, crab legs, and sparkling cider. I bought rolls and didn't even bother with veggies or Jello or anything else, including dessert. It was absolutely delicious and it was wonderful to not be stuck in the kitchen for hours.

Truly, on Christmas Day my heart was filled with JOY. I remember standing in the shower that morning before Church and thinking how blessed and lucky I am to have so much, and a family that loves each other, and a dear husband. I felt JOY in the reason we celebrate that day, that the Savior came to earth as a sweet baby.

Christmas 2011 was so wonderful that I'm determined to make Christmas 2012 even better! I didn't get to do much crafting and I didn't get as much listed in my Etsy shop this December as I had wanted. I think the key to making those things happen this next year is to get my gift shopping done by December 1. The coming up with ideas/shopping is absolutely the most stressful part of Christmas for me.

I have never been able to be one of those people who shops all year long and then is done by Thanksgiving. I'd like to, but I have birthdays, Mother's and Father's Day spread throughout the year so I feel like those take up any gift ideas I might come across. I don't know, maybe I just have really difficult people to shop for. I try really hard to come up with thoughtful, unique gifts for the people I love--I'm sorry, but I view gift cards as a cop-out so unless the circumstance is extreme, I'm loathe to go that route. This year I did put The Mister in charge of buying gifts for his own family, and that helped a ton as far as taking the stress off of me. I'm going to really make an effort this year to hunt down ideas and get them executed early! I truly do think that will give me less to worry and more time to enjoy the season.