Keeping Christmas Humble

Rather than dread the effect of a bad economy on Christmas in our home, I have enjoyed it. Something remarkable has happened due to the reduced income we are all experiencing. Even though there are fewer gifts under the tree, the quality of those gifts has been impressive.

I'm not complaining about gifts I've received in the past. It's just better now that people have to think more about what gifts to give. That careful thought has made each gift very meaningful and has made the past couple of Christmases very sweet.

Some of my favorite gifts over the years were the ornaments my sister made. I love those ornaments so much that I place each of them carefully on the tree and my kids (even now that they're grown up) know not to touch them. These aren't fancy or expensive ornaments. They just have incredible sentimental value.

A couple of years ago, my husband paid attention to comments I made about wishing I had a really nice photo of my puppy. While I was at work, he set up a photo location in our house and took a series of photos of Shadow, my beagle. On Christmas morning, I was thrilled to receive a framed photo of Shadow.

This year, I worked hard to surprise my husband. He is a teacher at a local high school and absolutely loves working there. When we were college students, we paid a friend to make a beaded version of the school mascot.  I was determined to make him a beaded version of the high school logo. This was no easy thing since we were both at home at the same time. I didn't want to use his beading supplies since that might tip him off. After ordering beads and needles, I got right to work on beading.  It was a lot tougher than I had imagined. The work wasn't done until midnight Christmas Eve. It was far from perfect - they don't call me Spirit Bead for nothing - but it was a good effort and he loved it.

I'm sure we would all love to have more money to work with, but I am very grateful for times like these that keep us humble. What gift touched your heart this year?

Welcome to My New Blog

Spidey likes Christmas

Thanks for stopping by. I'm not new to blogging, but I felt I needed a new blog to share things that didn't fit into the others.

• I work at Heritage School, a nonprofit residential treatment center for adolescents with severe emotional and mental health issues. In addition to setting up and posting on their blog, I also handle the Facebook page and Twitter account. My official job title is Development Coordinator and I am involved in fundraising and grantsmanship. I also help with other odds and ends of projects, including Heritage's performing arts program.
• As part of the Board for the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce's Women's Business Network, I regularly contribute to their blog and Facebook page.
• My husband and I started our own handmade business on Etsy called Native and Pilgrim. Partially as therapy for my experiences, I started a blog called Surviving the Etsy Madness. Blogging about the adventures of small business, crafts and handmade, online selling, etc. has helped me to meet other people and even help a few as they venture into selling on Etsy.

As I have been blogging, I have had experiences that I wanted to share but that didn't really fit my other blog. Sure, there are no rules that say I can't post whatever the heck I want to (it's my blog, dang it!), but I prefer not to stray too far from what people expect on Etsy Madness.

This will be my blog for sharing cool local finds (like my recent adventures at El Pollo Loco), commenting on life as a working woman/wife/mom, venting about having grown children still living at home, and whatever else comes my way. Feel free to leave comments and questions and influence future posts.

Backstage at Heritage School's production of "A Christmas Carol"