i had this brilliant gift idea once. i convinced my siblings that we should go and get a professional picture done for my parents' christmas gift. we'd make an appointment, put on our best complementary outfits and let the camera man work his magic.

only his magic left me wishing he had cropped yours truly out. i had my hair down that day. the photographer asked me to tuck it behind my ears so i did, which in turn made me look like a big eared (insert anything that has big ears here.) i looked hideous. so you can imagine my excitement every christmas when my dad would wrap it like a present and hang it on the wall. it was the most wonderful time of the year after all.

and it still is (okay, okay, next to thanksgiving and baseball season) and i've been intentional about celebrating it more than any other year this year. so far i'm doing good; i've rocked an elf's sweater and had breakfast with santa, bought myself a week's worth of christmas socks, written close to 40 christmas cards, helped decorate a tree, bought some presents, belted out some christmas tunes, drank a few glasses of egg nog and a few christmas lattes, and as of today, wrapped the one picture i have hanging on my wall in my bedroom just like my dad used to do. in a small way, it helps me be intentional about celebrating him, too.

next up: conquering my mom's butterball cookie recipe.