It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

     It's almost Christmas!  Such an exciting time of the year!  It can also be a very stressful time of year.   All of the decorating, shopping, preparing for visitors, and so much more.  I'm doing my best to stay relaxed and not let the stresses get to me this year.

     I took my Christmas tree out last Monday night and got it all set up and plugged it in to find that the entire middle and part of the top no longer work.  I tried everything I could think of and it still wouldn't work so I went out the next morning and bought a new one!  It is now all set up and my house is slowly starting to look like Christmas!  I have been working on a few Christmas crafts/decorations to put around the house too!  It's kind of a stress reliever for me.  I love getting crafty!

Here's my Living Room Tree 

My Family Room decorations

One of my Christmas crafts

Another Christmas Craft

     I was hoping to get some more painting in this week but Chloe ended up having some major issues at school and then the poor thing ended up with a horrible stomach virus!  I'll have to write a whole separate blog post about the school drama some other time!  But anyways,  she is starting to feel better today so maybe I'll get to paint a little tonight.  If not, no biggie! I'll get to it next week!

     I did some online Christmas shopping yesterday!  I love checking things off of my list!  However, I still have so much to do!  There are so many people to buy for but I know it will come together.  It always does.  It does seem to get a little harder every year though.  Things get more and more expensive with each year and people seem to be harder to buy for too!  I love thoughtful, unique gifts but not everyone on my list of people to buy for feels the same.  People tend to ask for gift cards or money nowadays but I prefer giving actual gifts.  It's different if you won't actually get to see the person so you have to send something (Cards are cheaper to send than a big box), but if you are actually getting together and exchanging gifts, I like giving real presents.  There are some neat boutiques here in town that have unique things so I'm hoping to find some good gifts at those places.  

     Well, I hope everyone gets to enjoy this wonderful time of the year!  Get your decorating, shopping, and preparing done and make sure you don't forget the real reason for this awesome season!