Ever green? You decide.

I’ve been thinking a lot about our Christmas tree this year.  Seems that every year I cannot simply unpack the ornaments and hang them up.  The tree must have a concept, it seems.  The concept isn’t really like a theme, it’s more like a different “look” each year.  In my previous posting you’ll see a picture of last year’s tree.

I have a few ideas so far but nothing usually comes together until I start doing it.  I have the usual Charlie Brown style of tree, the Western Douglas fir.  It’s not very full and is short and narrow.  I’m thinking PURPLE this year.  I know.  It may be a passing thought.  I love love love tinsel so that’ll be in for sure.  I’ve never tried fake snow….er, maybe not.  Who knows, really.  When it’s done, I’ll post a pic to share.  Until then…

So, in all this thinking and, really, lack of creativity right now, I came across two interesting Christmas tree things in the same hour today:  1) these fake trees:

and, 2) a friend’s facebook status that said, “…fake trees are DUMB”.

Funny, my knee-jerk reaction was to #1 was, “Wow!  How much is this fake tree?  Can I afford this?” By the way, the immediate answer was NO! And, my reaction to #2 was “of course, they are dumb!”  As you can see, I’m all sorts of conflicted today on the issue.  My heart of heart tells me one thing and my simplify-your-life side of me says something different.  So, I thought I’d see what YOU thought.  I have been wanting to create a poll for some time now and haven’t had the just right thing to poll until now.  Let’s see what we come up!

Oh, and do you have any links to cool Christmas Tree ideas of your own? Maybe you found some somewhere that you’ll share with everyone? Link it up!

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The Christmas Season, Part 2: What are my goals?

Welcome to Part 2 of my Christmas Season prep.  Join in!  If you missed Part 1, it’s easy to find!

You know, I’m really happy I took a few minutes to brainstorm what is really important.  Already, I can see a few things that will be trimmed from my list of activities this year because, well, they don’t really matter to me.  I see that now.  But, more about activities later….for now let’s set some goals.

I’m going to look at it like this:  By the time Christmas is over, I want to look back over the month of December and know that we (or I) were able to ________________.

What would you fill in here?  Try to make it something you can measure so you’ll know if you meet the goal.  Here’s an example of a measurable goal that would fit in the above blank would be:

Have three small and simple get-togethers in December.

I don’t know if this is one of my goals yet or not, but I chose it because it reflects several of my values.  Likewise, it does not highlight anything that is not important to me.  Your goals can be anything ranging from handmade Christmas cards to at least 1/3 of the list, to using gift wrapping time as family time at least 2 times to reaching out to others in service or gift 3 times. I especially like goals that reflect more than two or three of my values.

Assignment 2: Set goals to ensure that your values are met this Christmas Season. Make them measurable.  One to three goals should be sufficient; we’re not going for overwhelmed, remember!

Here goes:

My Goals for the 2009 Christmas Season

1.  Create a piece of memorabilia (like a simple digital scrapbook) that showcases what we did this month.

2.  Have two small, simple get-togethers with friends and their families that have been on the “want-to-hang-out-with” list.

3.  Trim down my Christmastime activities to only those that reflect at least two of my family’s values.

Ok, it’s your turn!  What did you come up with?

Part three will help us get a plan so everything that is important can fit into our lives without becoming overwhelmed.

–Jen

P.S.  Sorry for all the Christmas images BEFORE Thanksgiving!  I’m a believer in waiting until after T-day to enjoy Christmas but since this was “planning” and all…I thought I could break my own rule.  After all, we’re not really celebrating yet.  :o)

The Christmas Season, Part 1: What’s really important?

I am committed to enjoying this Christmas Season thoroughly.  For me, this means I need to give some real thought to what is most important during this time.  I’ve learned that cramming in lots of great Christmas-y things (even if I am organized in doing so) results in a me feeling tasked and pooped out each day with very little ‘white space’ in my life to simply ‘soak it all in’.

So, I’m not doing that anymore.

I’m making cuts.  Not because I don’t enjoy (in theory) all the things I normally do this time of year but because I want to extract more joy out of each thing we choose to take part in.

In order to know what to cut (or what to add), I need to first evaluate what is really important.  What are my values?  What do I treasure?

I’m going on a three-part blog journey.  Please come along.  Let’s share our ideas in the comment section.  It will be like “putting our heads together!”  What you see here from me is literally my working draft.  Why use notebook paper when I have a blog? :o)  If you blog about this, link up!

Assignment 1:  During Christmastime, what are your values? What do you treasure?  Write a list.

Here goes (in random order):

• Quality Family Time
• Reflecting on God’s gift of Jesus to us
• Gift giving
• Serving others
• Quality time with with Family and friends
• Traditions and Memories
• Being Creative
• Sights and smells of Christmas
• Hospitality
• Teaching my kids

Up next:  Goal setting.

December will be here in one week! Let’s get a move on!

(I’m taking part in an online digital scrapbooking class that has inspired this process. Do you remember me telling you about it a couple of weeks ago? The instructor gifted this class to all and it has been such a wonderful introspection and creative outlet for me. I cannot wait to take a PAID class.  Such great marketing, don’t you think?! ;o)

–Jen