I'm a huge believer that a lovely holiday season doesn't happen completely by accident. The time between Thanksgiving and New Year's is wonderful and joyous, but it can also be filled with obligations and deadlines and pressure. For me, maintaining that joy is all about having a plan and allowing myself to let go of certain things. This year I am choosing to focus on the things that are meaningful, that bring us happiness, and that are about relationships...
My grandma with my cousin's new baby - Christmas 2008
This Christmas I'd like to:
- Sing Christmas songs loudly around the house, all month long.
- Make our Christmas cards more meaningful by including a letter from us.
- Hand-craft a few of our Christmas gifts; already have ideas for my mother and brother that I wish I could post because I'm so excited!
- Carry on the tradition we started last year with our siblings; we all create scrapbook layouts recapping the year to share and place in our family scrapbooks.
- Create some type of daily December scrapbook album.
Things I won't be doing:
- Going to the malls in December; aside from the decorations, the malls in December drive me absolutely crazy! I'm going to continue the shopping we've already started and hopefully be done by December 1st.
- Begging my husband to wrap Christmas presents on December 23rd; must try wrapping as we go.
- Hand-making a hundred Christmas cards from scratch. I have a solution I tried last year that I loved; I'll be posting the details for you soon!
If you're a list-lover like me and want to feel more organized, check out Organized Christmas. A lot of bloggers have posted links to this site. If you haven't already visited, consider taking a look to see if there's anything you'd find helpful this holiday.
And today is the last day to sign up for Jessica Sprague's free class: Holidays in Hand. It's a free class that runs today through November 23rd and we'll be creating a December album project. Although Jessica is known for digi-scrapping, you don't have to have or know Photoshop Elements for this course. I love the tagline for this course: capturing the hope, memories, and wonderment of the holidays.
Now that I've recorded my goals, I think it's time to scrap and watch a Christmas movie. I think I'll be putting on White Christmas. I love Christmas movies old and new so very much. What's your favorite holiday movie?