For me, one of the best parts of Christmas is watching people unwrap the gift you picked out for them. I love seeing their reactions – and inside I always say a quick prayer that it’s not a, “What on earth – oh she’s looking at me – ‘Thanks so much, I love it!’ “reaction.

I spend hours (and I mean hours) online looking for the perfect gift. I can’t go to malls to do shopping – bless those of you that can but to me that’s like going into the pits of hell to find a needle in a, well, burning haystack.

I go through Facebook statuses to see what that person talked about over the past few months. I think back to conversations, things I’ve seen in their home, things they’ve mentioned they wished they had. And then when I find it, inevitably it comes in 24 different colors/patterns. Which means more contemplating. 

We had a Christmas budget this year, but we went over. Like every year. Both Sam and I get into thinking about what everyone would want – I show him my computer screen about 50 times a night saying, “This one? This one? That one? Um, no. How about…”

And we don’t always find the “perfect” one – it’s hard sometimes to pinpoint what someone might want or like, but we try to think in that case, “Well, what would we like as a woman/man/adult/parent?”

Christmas, to me, is a time when your gift says, “Hey, I thought about you. I knew a little something about you and tried to put that into this present.” And yes, even a gift card  can totally say that.

I can’t wait till Bella really *gets* Christmas. Even though she seemed to enjoy it. And enjoy pointing at things.

Hoping you all had a wonderful holiday (and secretly hating everyone that got snow).

Tags: Family, Things that make me smile, Worth every penny