A Note from an Elf

Here is our real, live tree!! His name is Douglas.

This Wednesday, I will be taking my very first picture with Santa Claus. Ever. We've selected our outfits and checked the schedule for my favorite of the 4 Santas at my mall. This will be the third time Rush and I have planned on taking this picture but something always seems to go wrong. I think it's because I want everything to be perfect. We refer to it as "our first picture as a Christmas couple" but truthfully, I think of it as "my first picture as a Christmas child."

I thought this holiday season would be lonely and depressing. We get very little time with our families because I work all but 6 days of the month, which is a lot when you're used to being finished by the third week of December until February... My days as one of Santa's helpers make it up completely. Helping hundreds of children find their smile and laughter is the most satisfying job in the world!

Also, this is the first year in the past 12 that I will not be participating in The Living Christmas Tree. I miss it terribly but I could not be more excited to sit in the congregation like I did so long ago, this time with my new husband. So I guess it's a bitter sweet Christmas but from all I can tell, that's how life becomes the more you grow up. I just hope to always focus on the sweet.