fa la la la la...

Christmas this year was sweet. We spent the day with my dad and stepmom and basically ate our way through the day. There were presents - I will say that for as much as I loved opening up my presents (an Old Navy gift card, a new bicycle and helmet, a fuzzy blanket), I especially enjoyed watching everyone else open up the gifts I got for them. Jason finally got an iPod nano, plus an armband (a not-so-subtle hint that I like him to join me when I run) and the entire CD library of Waterdeep, a Christian jam band. He was also really psyched about the frostable beer steins I got him - an extremely worthwhile $10 investment!

My dad and stepmom got pictures, pictures, pictures: a set of two picture frames with pictures of my dad and I from our wedding, and then the piece de resistance, a wedding photo coffee table book.


Dad and Judy viewing the coffee table book

They loved it. I loved that they loved it. I also got them two framed pictures of my dad and I, ones that I absolutely loved and captured the two of us, serious and goofy.


My dad laughed so much when he saw these photos - he just loved them

Christmas with my mom was this morning, actually, though I completely forgot to bring our camera, so you'll just have to go on my lovely descriptions of everything. It wasn't quite the orgy of greed as it was at my dad's house: Don was in Miami today with friends, and since Jason and I had already opened our gifts to each other, it was just the gift exchange between my mom and us. Still, there was no lack of generosity, and the same photo gifts I gave my dad, I gave to Mom, only of course her book was personalized to her, and the three photos I got her were of me and her. Jason got a new John Eldredge book he's been wanting, I got a book called "Simple Living" on creating your home to be the home God designed for us to have (welcoming, inviting, not stressful because you haven't maximized all your space or have too much clutter), and we both got Willow Tree Ornaments, a yearly tradition from my mom, only these were the first Willow Tree ones we got and I LOVED them. Love, love, love them. Thank you, Mom!

And so, a New Year begins, and in so many ways, I know this year will have such dramatic impact on our lives. I graduate nursing school, Jason graduates seminary, and (gasp) I turn thirty years old. Actually, I'm delighted: the older I get, the more "street cred" I seem to have - I'm starting to hear less of my least-favorite phrase, "Oh, you're such a baby - you're too young [to understand that]." Though I am sure I will have many years to come where I wish to hear those words, right now, I'm enjoying embracing being a real adult, and I am so positive for the future and what God holds for me.



May you all have a wonderful, blessed, joyous, Christ-filled New Year.