Merry Christmas!

We're enjoying our time here in sunny Folsom, CA..

We wish you all happy holidays!

Oh, and we celebrated our 2nd anniversary on Monday..

Flashback to our Portland reception on January of 2008..



I like this one because it looks like I'm rockin out..

What do the holidays mean to you?

I've said before that our finances have been pretty tight living off my salary alone.. We just DON'T have extra money floating around. We had to buy a new set of tires for the XTerra, which unfortunately were not cheap, and Graham's student loans haven't come through yet for last quarter. We had to take out money from his 401K to pay for his tuition last quarter. Graham DID get a job, but we don't know when his first paycheck will arrive.

It's been rough with so many events this month: my birthday, our anniversary, my dad's birthday, my nephew's birthday, a baby shower, a wedding, etc... I coud literally spend half of my paycheck on other people. So, this has been our plan for the holidays this year: prioritize gift giving (sorry friends who got married over the summer--your invitations are still on our fridge with the hope of buying you something someday.. Tyler.. this means you), buy my birthday gift late, celebrate our 2nd anniversary when our tax refund hopefully comes next year, buy small gifts only for the other people in our life, and perhaps celebrating Christmas in a different way.

And faced with a giftless Christmas, I started feeling really down and I started investigating exactly WHY the thought of no gifts depresses me.

Buying something I know someone wants brings me joy. Not being able to afford anything brings me sadness.

The holidays are about giving.. Does it have to mean giving gifts?

Maybe it's about spending time with family and giving your time to be with them.

Maybe it's about appreciating what you have and not agonizing over the things you don't have. I guess it could be about giving thanks..

I guess this year, Christmas is all about hope. When Christ was born, people all around the world could feel the hope that His birth would somehow change the world..

I can feel hope for the future, but it's just hard right now.

Old

I don't know why, but this birthday really really makes me feel old.

27

I feel ancient!!

Oh, and thanks if you wished me a happy birthday. I definitely felt loved.

I feel like an idiot

So yesterday, I was in the public bathroom innocently bending over to pick up some papers, when


WHAMMMM

I slammed my head into the tampon/pad metal box on the wall while standing back up at full force


I literally saw stars and thought I was going to black out

I have a massive bump on my head to prove it

Oh, and there were 2 witnesses to my stupidity

One can only hope I get some kind of compensation from Workers' Comp... Or at least a helmet.