Wow, time flies! I can’t believe it’s the end of the year already and that we’re going to be ushering in the New Year next week! I am spending Christmas at my in-laws in Chicago this year and we’re having a blast so far. I hope everyone is staying warm!

This is my first time actually designing our own holiday card, and I was able to mail them all out a few days before Christmas, phew! Here’s how they turned out (they were printed on a flat card front and back) and the photo is from our anniversary shoot with Shang Chen Photography.

I saw this cute penguin photo ornament at Michael’s on sale after Christmas last year and I had to get it. I love buying ornaments after Christmas but you have to wait a whole year before you can use them! I get so excited about the holidays that I put the tree up the day after Thanksgiving…I would feel wrong putting it up any earlier. Yes, we have a fake tree. While I love the smell of a real tree, the air is so dry in the desert here that I’m afraid that a real tree wouldn’t last very long. My dream is to one day go to visit a Christmas tree farm and actually pick out a tree!

My husband and I are making another rare appearance on this blog! He doesn’t like getting his picture taken but I was able to convince him to take a photo with me after a Christmas party we attended. I hardly ever get my hair done for a special occasion (thanks to Daileny for my fabulous updo!) so I needed to document this! I bought a new Manfrotto tripod a few weeks ago and I finally had a chance to use it. I am seriously in love with it and taking pictures with it is a breeze!