Almost caught up on a Sunday!

HOlly Hannah! It's the eleventh-- or the twelfth? Lazy blogger or just not inspired? Honestly, it's been a whirlwind in my little world and I won't even go to details here. Let's go straight to our JYC posts, shall we?

My Christmas stories are always about two lives in different countries that I lived over the years of my travel. One is about my life in the Philippines, then the other is my present one which at this moment and hopefully for a very long time will be in Canada. Since I moved to the Island and got married, Christmas became more of a new tradition that I get so excited about and embrace. I guess because part of the Christmas preparation is now shared and not just mine that ends up more of a chore although I still love the end result of both. One was when I used to be called Santa because I used to hide in my room till midnight and would come out with gifts for everybody- exhausted!

Thank God for partnerships! And did I warn you about my recycled products-- Starbucks et al!?

For my Holiday Lists this Year:

1. Shopping List: On-line and the good ol fashion mall. If you ask me, I would prefer going on-line than  shoving with the crowd and hurting my feet! This year, I'm doing both just because I still find good deals at the mall and despite the pain, I still enjoy window shopping (for myself :).

2. Things to do, still... have you found yourself running out of time once this holiday season strikes to one? I do and I haven't done much neither.

3. At a glance, Christmas Calendar: thought I'd include a list of the JYC prompts bec. I find myself going into my email all the time when it's time to craft. How convenient is a list at a glance!

Thanks honey for holding that for me.....

Decorations are bright......
For this post, I will pass. I have so many photos that I would like to include in my album and I am going to have them printed in tiny sizes to make a collage. This will be photos of the decorations I've seen around places we've been this year and some from our home last year. And some of them I have already posted here and some are the following. I do hope you are not falling asleep because there are some more posts to go. I only have this Sunday off and then another one this week so I'd like to include everything I finished here. Although some of my posts are still missing the journaling and more photos......

Aaahhh... pretty things everywhere.....

Traditions: love them all. This year I would like to talk about more of mom's tradition. Since it's my 5th Christmas being a Johnson, this tradition is one of my favorites. Mom would usually get the Turkey fr the grocery store thru her rewards points (smart huh!) then, the Christmas begins! I'd say that this marks the beginning because this is what brings us altogether, working with each other like a real team and enjoying the fruits of our labor together. The only change is the venue: since we bought our house last year, I think dinner preparation is done here and the rest of it. Mom stays with us overnight so we can all enjoy our Christmas evening together. I have two more photos to post along with this one but later......

Have you done all your wrapping yet? Do you usually use the same type of wrapper for all your gifts? Or do you use one type for each person you are giving? Or maybe you are the type who likes variety or recycle whatever you rescued from the previous years? Do you use ribbons and/or tags or doesn't really matter? Is it the wrapper or is it the gift that matters to you most? This year, I found this paper tissue from Pier1 on our early Christmas shopping. I will definitely use this for the most part but I will keep some for later as part of my hoarding addiction..... Tags were from Michael's and got them on good deals last year.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree.....

It's a fold for this post which I've always wanted to make and I love it!

Last but not the least, whew! Our Christmas past, anyone? Again, this will be another one of the good ol' memories I have back home. I miss home, I miss the times when my mom would come home every year for Christmas. I remember one Christmas day when my Uncle Freddy arrived from work with this vintage long car ( had no idea about cars at all back then!) and as soon as he parked at the garage, we were all outside waiting for him. Little did we know that we were in for a surprise. His trunk popped-up and there she was, all smiles with very short hair. Turned out that my mom and my uncle were on a conspiracy. My grandparents almost had a heart attack! Seriously, I still can't figure out how they did it up to this writing.....

I will always miss home and our Christmas together......

Your turn!