Christmas Break!

Christmas break is finally upon us! I am so excited to have some time off and be able to unpack and relax. In fact, I can't wait to go home, vacuum, and finish things up for Christmas. Phil is coming over after work and we are having dinner with some friends tonight. We're pretty much done with our shopping, except for a couple of little things, and I can't wait to give Phil his present!

New Traditions

This year will be the only Christmas that Phil and I will be engaged. The last two Christmases, we were dating and next year we will be married! With this said, I've decided that it's time we start our own traditions.

Last year, on Christmas Eve, we exchanged the stockings that we filled for each other. We also went to our church's Christmas Eve service. This year, we decided not to do stockings (because of the move). We will still go to the Christmas Eve service, but I am hoping that we can watch a Christmas movie or something together.

Christmas day will be a little different this year. The past two years I have stayed with Phil's family and had Christmas morning at their house. Every year I get frustrated because they don't do anything in the mornings, in fact, they don't open Christmas presents until Noon! Oh the horror! Since they don't really do much in the mornings, I figured that Phil and I could spend the morning together and I would start the tradition of making this for breakfast...

Don't these just look so good?!

After breakfast, we'll head back to his parents house, open gifts, and have Christmas dinner.

This year will be awesome, but I can't wait until next year when we'll be Mr. & Mrs!

How Much Is Too Much?

Every year Phil and I really make sure to do Christmas "right." We get each other great gifts and really put a lot of time and effort into picking gifts for our friends and family. Usually, we have a loose budget when it comes to giving gifts around the holiday season (mainly because I just have to get everyone the.perfect.gift), but this year we are sticking to a budget.

I must admit that it makes me happy to not go "overboard" this year with gifts. I love Phil and I don't really feel the need to buy him something extravagant. I would, honestly, rather give him a couple of small gifts and focus on spending time with him. After all, this will be our only Christmas being engaged :)

As for friends, I think a smaller budget than what we usually do will work out well too. It's more about the company and friendship anyways, so why should we insist on spending more than necessary? You can be just as thoughtful getting something small that means a lot to that person.

I guess what it comes down to isn't about just finances. It's about showing people other ways that you care. Sure, Phil still wants us to have a Christmas tree at the new apartment and I still want to put up our decorations there when I move in, but I'm not going to go all out buying new things every season.

This year, I would like to focus on the company of friends and family instead of seeing how much it will cost us to make them "happy."

In the Spirit of Giving...50 Free Christmas Photo Cards!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I can now, officially say that with Thanksgiving behind us. What I love about Christmas is the spirit of giving. Who doesn’t like the joy they get from giving something to someone and seeing how happy it makes them? Well, this year Shutterfly is offering 50 free photo Christmas cards to every blogger! How cool is that? I mean, I love free things and the fact that this is happening so close to a major spending time (you know, Christmas, moving, the wedding…) that I am so thankful to have this opportunity.


Here are a few of the photo cards I love…

I love the fact that they have so many different cards to choose from. I literally searched through pages and pages of cards…the options are endless! I’m looking forward to sending out Christmas cards this year with one of our engagement pictures on it. I think it will be a nice way for everyone to be able to share in this special time for me and Phil.

Shutterfly also has a lot of other great things that can be personalized. They have wall calendars, thank you cards (great for after Christmas), and birthday cards. To check these out you can click on the bold words :)

If you would like 50 free Christmas cards, it’s easy! All you have to do is click here: http://bit.ly/sfly2010 and follow the directions. Go…like, now and do it!