What We Gave, What We Got: Christmas 2014

The Christmas posts are coming to an end… but we’ve got one more for ya today 🙂

I thought it’d be fun to share some of the goodies we enjoyed this Christmas… not cookies (although we enjoyed PLENTY of those too!), but a little gift giving! Mitch and I recently started a Google doc between the two of us with a running “wish list” that we can both add to and edit throughout the year. This makes it easier when birthdays, Christmas, and other gift-giving occasions come around. It’s a neat way to have an inside scoop on what the other has had their eye on. If you’re like me, you have tons of ideas of things you’d love to get as gifts all the way up until the exact moment that someone asks you what you want. My mind goes completely blank. It’s so frustrating! This system is great because it’s ongoing and can be tweaked at any point in time… it also allows us to include an element of surprise (we pick and choose from the list), but also get things that the other really wants or needs. SO, without further ado, let’s check out some of the goods!

Mitch asked for mostly clothes this year and some of his favorites were a new watch (which he picked out) and a new pair of shoes (which were a surprise). I also got him two Pentatonix Christmas albums, which were a hit.

As for what he got me, Mitch knocked it out of the park this year. My favorites included two decorating books that I had been wanting and a few items for storing jewelry! My jewelry-storing system is a nightmare and I had asked for a new necklace holder and a different way to store earrings (rather than having to hook them onto a holder). Mitch got me this neat coral-looking necklace holder and a ceramic egg carton for my earrings. I love them both. 🙂

As for our families, we got some awesome games (Corn Hole, tennis rackets and balls, and a mini version of Can Jam!) along with a few nice things for the house.

The biggest surprise was this light fixture from Shades of Light… this is has been on my wishlist for quite some time now and we can’t wait to hang it up!

Now, onto the good part… what we gave! We were really excited to give our families the things that we had gotten them because we really worked hard this year to come up with some good gifts. The most exciting thing was a copy of our wedding album! It’s been a looooooong process, but we finally got all of our wedding photos back from our photographer and were able to create an album for ourselves (you can see it here). We were thrilled to be able to gift a smaller version of it to each of our parents (we actually gifted it to them last year, so I guess it was more like an I.O.U.). They all really loved it and it was priceless to watch them look through all the memories of the special day.

We got Mitch’s dad and stepmom each a few things that we thought they would enjoy (Earth, Wind, and Fire Christmas album, the movie Gravity, and some home decor stuff). Our nephew, Ayden got a new game (Basket Head) and a lava lamp for his new room! For his Mitch’s mom, step dad and sister, Kylie, we created a mini adventure for them to enjoy (later in the week)- there were three parts to it (complete with riddles and poems, of course!) and they got to open each part as the adventure progressed.

First, we took them ice skating (as a throwback to Thanksgiving, when we skated on the back deck).

From there, we took Kylie to Hibachi for dinner and gifted his mom and step dad with a dinner out, just the two of them. After dinner, we met back at the house, where they opened a board game that we played that night. Fun!

For my parents, we got them each something we thought they would enjoy (Pentatonix CDs for my dad, a book on Longwood Gardens for my mom). In addition to that, we had their wedding album repaired and rebound. This was really important to us because it was our fault that it got ruined in the first place (that’s a story for another day) and we wanted to restore it for them.

It turned out beautifully and it was neat for them to get to open their album and our album for Christmas this year.

My brothers both received Pryex glass storage container sets- not super glamorous, but extremely useful! We actually refer to them as the MVPs of our kitchen and the boys were both thrilled to get good quality sets, as they both have their own places now and it’s something they won’t have to purchase on their own. It’s amazing what makes you excited as you go through each season of life. 🙂

Clint (my brother) and Ally (his girlfriend) gifted Mitch with a hoodie from the boys’ new media company, Philamedia. Beau (also my brother) and Summer (his fiance) gave him a huge portion of seasoned beef from Reading Terminal Market to cook. He was thrilled. 🙂

Clint and Ally gave me a beautiful necklace (which I loooooooove), a new Starbucks cup (that ironically made my New Year’s Resolutions list), and a cozy/adorable new blanket for the couch. That blanket is a HIT and Mitch and I fight over who gets it every. single. night.

From Beau and Summer, I got the most hysterical and well-thought-out gift of the season. Beau took it upon himself to go thrifting for a variety of items he thought I would enjoy and with them, included a can of spray paint so I can DIY my little heart out. I just about died of laughter when I opened the box. Cannot WAIT to get started. I don’t know if I’m more thrilled to know that he would go thrifting for me or that he had to have read some of the blog to know that I like spray painting things. Either way, it was a great gift.

So, long story short, it was a great Christmas and we came home with a car-full of fun to enjoy for many years to come. Can’t wait to break out those tennis rackets and lawn games. And to hang the light fixture. And snuggle in the blanket and spray paint things. 🙂

But the BEST gift of all, of course, is that little baby boy that came to save the world. He rocks. Waaaaaaay better than cool new shoes and decorating books. Happy Birthday, Jesus! Thanks for loving the world!