That was easy!

Anyone else love online shopping? Amazon.com is my favorite and this year, I was able to get all our Christmas gifts from there. I ordered last week, they came this week and I'm finished! Too easy, especially with the free shipping.

Granted, things have gotten really simple gift-wise for us and I didn't have much to buy at all, but still-- nice to have that taken care of. Will probably buy a few stocking stuffers later on and Matt and I haven't really decided if we'll get each other anything, but for the most part, my Christmas duties are finished.

I know a lot of people almost dread the holidays and talk about how stressful it is. It's never been that way for us and I think if it's in your power to make some changes that will make the season less hectic, you should go for it! I'm thankful that in both Matt's family and mine, we enjoy getting together but don't spend tons of money getting gifts for every member. And since I regularly update so many people through email/blog, mailing out a big Christmas letter doesn't seem needed. Some people to do a professional picture every year, but if you know me, I always find that to be more trouble than it's worth! (The boys each had their pictures made at 6 months and that is it! I just don't like to spend the money and get all flustered about it when I can take pictures at my convenience at home.) And then there's the decorating. I can see how that could make people a little stressed. In fact we don't have that many decorations, but I did buy wreaths for each window of our house during the after-Christmas clearance last year, and now that I think about it, I'm not exactly excited about putting them up. But hey, I bet one year I'll want to and if I don't feel up to it this year, so what? I suppose some people's lives get hectic from so many holiday parties, but we must not be that popular because that's never been an issue either! Anyway, I'm just glad, especially now that we are settled here, that I can look forward to the Christmas season and all of our new family traditions that make it fun and not stressful! I'm hoping we all have a joy-filled, Jesus-celebrating, un-hectic holiday season!!