Does this Christmas letter make me look old?

I'm currently working on a writing project that is guaranteed to pay me NOTHING but I still find very valuable:  our annual Christmas letter.  I skipped it last year, and I was going to skip it again this year (things have just been way too crazy) but I had a change of heart.  Being military, and 20-somethings, there's been a lot of changes in our lives over the past 12 months, and there's some important folks out there who haven't got a clue (particularly older family members who don't use Facebook and Gtalk and Blogger and Twitter on a regular basis).  Also, one of the things I have promised myself as a military wife is to always make an effort to stay in touch with important people, no matter where the Air Force or life takes us.

But as I started typing the first sentences, it occurred to me: I don't recall ever getting a Christmas *letter* from anyone under the age of 40 or so.  Cards, yes, letters, no.  And maybe my memory is failing me here- it's possible.  But now I'm wondering: does Christmas update letter make me look middle-aged at the ripe old age of 26?

Regardless of the answer to that question, I'm going to send it.  Ever since I could comprehend the written word, reading the Christmas letters coming to my family each day was one of my favorite parts of the holiday season.  As a minister, my dad has always been on a lot of Christmas card lists.  I loved getting updates on even the most obscure of family acquaintances and seeing updated family photos each year.  My parents had friends who I'd never met whose children I watched grow up through Christmas portraits.  Even as an adult, when I go home for Christmas, one of the first things I do, after setting down my luggage and hugging the family, is to gravitate to the tray where all the Christmas letters are deposited and start leafing through them.  It's a tradition that I love.

So, even if it makes me look 20 years older than I am, and makes all my 20-something friends wonder if I've lost it, I'll be sending out a typed Christmas update.  And since I have always loved Christmas cards with an enclosed photo the MOST, I'm planning on sending a picture as well.  In October I hired a local freelance photographer to do some photography for my website (you can see I've finally added the pictures here) and I thought it would be fun to do some couple portraits while we were at it (Justin and I have never had formal pictures together before, outside of our wedding day).  I'm going to let Justin have a say on which picture we send (I'm such a nice wife!) and since I suspect he is not going to choose any of the pictures that I like, I thought I would post a few here.  This is my Christmas card to anyone who reads my blog!

 

 

No one ever accused me of having good taste, but . . .

I've decided to try my hand at some amateur interior decorating anyhow. I may not always be able to match my shoes to my shirt, but I have a secret fantasy life where I could, if unleased on a blank canvas of a room with unlimited resources, make something beautiful. (Thank you, HGTV, for giving my generation of women an overinflated security in our own taste, and an underestimation of the difficulties inherent in decorating and home improvement!)

I've had some hits and misses. Let's say that what design sense I have is . . . erratic. Still, I'm not one to let a few mistakes stop me, and today, I hit the Forum with a goal: find a clear glass container and some festive ornaments and make a beautiful centerpiece for my table. My inspiration was the pretty centerpiece on my friend Sarah's (not a typo- we have the same name) table at our post Thanksgiving/birthday potluck dinner in Virginia:

(It's not actually centered on the table, but you know what I'm referring to, right?)

While out shopping, I didn't find any suitable clear glass thingies (what is that thing? A hurricane lamp cover?) but I did find these really cool gold wire present boxes at Pier One Imports, and they were 20% off. I headed over to Hobby Lobby for some half off Xmas ornaments, choosing a darker, more non-traditional color scheme, and voila:

And just in case that's not enough for you, here's a few more views:

And finally, a close up:

I'm so pleased with my new centerpiece that I might unplug the laptop and set up office at the dining room table for the next few days, so I can gaze adoringly at it in moments of writer's block. Also, I probably need to stay close to it at all times so that the cat brigade doesn't bring it crashing to the ground during one of their high speed chases. This is the only Christmas decor I've put up so far, and while I plan on following with the rest in the next few days, I'm predicting at least one cat-related breakage before the end of the year.

So, what do you think? Don't worry about hurting my feelings if the arrangement doesn't fit your design aesthetic. I'm so enamored of my own creation that I will immediately file any negative comments under "totally joking."