It's December and I am getting really tired of living out of boxes... or better yet - tired of NOT using my own things which includes wedding presents.
I have always been the sibling in charge of organizing presents for any occasion. Christmas was no different, but I loved it. Picking out gifts for people is probably my favorite thing. December is always a whirlwind. I've always said that once my birthday is over, it might as well be New Year's because the rest of the year is going to fly by. This year was no different.
By now, every time our realtor sends us an update, it is usually something along the lines of 'nothing new guys... hang in there!' Boo.
Our clean out project took up the majority of our time. It was time to go up into the attic. There was the typical holiday decorations, old furniture, boxes filled with junk. But this time things were different. We were faced with 20-30 small filing cabinets. Some were small and disposable, some tall and metal - all filled with the same thing. Commemorative plates. Collector's items! Papa was probably not unlike some of your grandparents; looking for an inside deal to invest in. Well, my dear Papa, catalog plates were not it. We counted over 250 plates (mostly still in boxes) along with hundreds of strings of Christmas lights (also in boxes). Once the 20 year old magazines were moved out and the boxes to every VCR they had ever owned were thrown out, it was very easy to get the attic cleaned up. Keep in mind, this took us probably 5 or 6 days of working during every free minute.
By mid-month, we were not into putting up a Christmas tree. It didn't feel right. This house has had the same tree since I could remember, and I didn't want to put it up wrong and hear the criticism. Not really something I wanted to add to our plate.
Christmas parties were starting and it was getting really hard to not drink socially. As someone who doesn't usually turn down a glass of wine at a party, my excuses were getting really lame. We didn't want people to know where we were in our process because we didn't want the questions. With the exception of my sister, no one really knew what was going on and only the immediate family knew we were having trouble, but we weren't really sharing much else.
The week of Christmas, Ryan went in to be retested. If his numbers went up, we were ready to prepare for our first IUI treatment. IntraUterine Insemination. Basically this means that they would put his best guys in the same room with my egg(s) and hope that they get together.
When we saw the right results - we were ecstatic! But kept to ourselves and had Christmas as usual. Christmas Eve at my dad's, Christmas day at my mom's Christmas evening with my in-laws. A new tradition this year that my brother adopted from stories was The Magic of Christmas. When my dad was a kid, Papa would set up everything Christmas related (tree, stockings, presents, etc) on Christmas Eve, so that the kids would wake up and everything would be there from Santa! This year, we were going to try and do that same event for my 2 year old niece. It worked like a charm.
I have always been the sibling in charge of organizing presents for any occasion. Christmas was no different, but I loved it. Picking out gifts for people is probably my favorite thing. December is always a whirlwind. I've always said that once my birthday is over, it might as well be New Year's because the rest of the year is going to fly by. This year was no different.
By now, every time our realtor sends us an update, it is usually something along the lines of 'nothing new guys... hang in there!' Boo.
Our clean out project took up the majority of our time. It was time to go up into the attic. There was the typical holiday decorations, old furniture, boxes filled with junk. But this time things were different. We were faced with 20-30 small filing cabinets. Some were small and disposable, some tall and metal - all filled with the same thing. Commemorative plates. Collector's items! Papa was probably not unlike some of your grandparents; looking for an inside deal to invest in. Well, my dear Papa, catalog plates were not it. We counted over 250 plates (mostly still in boxes) along with hundreds of strings of Christmas lights (also in boxes). Once the 20 year old magazines were moved out and the boxes to every VCR they had ever owned were thrown out, it was very easy to get the attic cleaned up. Keep in mind, this took us probably 5 or 6 days of working during every free minute.
By mid-month, we were not into putting up a Christmas tree. It didn't feel right. This house has had the same tree since I could remember, and I didn't want to put it up wrong and hear the criticism. Not really something I wanted to add to our plate.
Christmas parties were starting and it was getting really hard to not drink socially. As someone who doesn't usually turn down a glass of wine at a party, my excuses were getting really lame. We didn't want people to know where we were in our process because we didn't want the questions. With the exception of my sister, no one really knew what was going on and only the immediate family knew we were having trouble, but we weren't really sharing much else.
The week of Christmas, Ryan went in to be retested. If his numbers went up, we were ready to prepare for our first IUI treatment. IntraUterine Insemination. Basically this means that they would put his best guys in the same room with my egg(s) and hope that they get together.
When we saw the right results - we were ecstatic! But kept to ourselves and had Christmas as usual. Christmas Eve at my dad's, Christmas day at my mom's Christmas evening with my in-laws. A new tradition this year that my brother adopted from stories was The Magic of Christmas. When my dad was a kid, Papa would set up everything Christmas related (tree, stockings, presents, etc) on Christmas Eve, so that the kids would wake up and everything would be there from Santa! This year, we were going to try and do that same event for my 2 year old niece. It worked like a charm.
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| Our Tree from 2012 - let's all take a second to stare at it... |
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| Ready for Christmas - Thanks Mom! |
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| Oh also, it has been the snowiest season of my lifetime. |
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