the countdown begins.

Listening to: the Veggie Tales theme song. (don't ask.) 
Quote love: "It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all-in which case, you fail by default." J.K. Rowling
 

I just finished up my best friend's Christmas gift today. It left me feeling all inspired and Christmasy. I also made the gift tag for her gift (third picture) that I'm quite pleased with.

We've been counting down like crazy: eleven days until Christmas! Three days until we leave until Colorado! I'm so excited about it. My mom's family will all be there, most of whom I haven't seen in a few years.

Last month I won a gift card from I Heart Faces to the Vintage Pearl. The necklace that I wanted, and got, was only about half the amount of the card, so I bought my mom and sister each a pair of earrings. The order got here yesterday and I'm in love with it.

And last but not least, here is my entry for Olivia's Words for Snow contest:

I asked them all the same question: what does snow remind you of? The answers? Radically different.

Snow reminds him of Christmas and winter, the boy with rust tinted hair admitted. He says it is generic, I say there is nothing wrong with that.

She is short and light, with a bright smile. The snow brings images of dark night, the clear star crusted sky, the long shadows stretching across the foot packed snow.

The smallest girl is swallowed by the big yellow chair. Her answer is simple: when Jesus was born. I double-checked her question again. She confirms. Snow shivering from cold gray clouds makes her think of a hot little town in the Middle East and a newborn boy.

The girl with the mismatched socks and sister status said pillows, light and fluffy. She said snow reminds her of clay, soft, buildable and moldable. Hot chocolate and Starbucks holiday cups, topped with mountains of whipped cream.

Then there's the girl who started it all. Tiny marshmallows floating in hot chocolate, she said. Shoveling snow when you're so cold at the beginning and the realization halfway through how warm you’ve become. My favorite, tunnels, a childhood memory, the kind that we all have that makes no sense if you weren't there.

My best friend said Eskimos. And I laughed, because how typical this is of her.

The readers: the new, the old, and the occasional commenters. They said purity, white and glistening. They said fear: avalanche and blizzard. They said glitter, sparkling magical wonderland. They said the quiet, the hush and the peaceful moments when the snow muffles everything, when there’s nowhere to be.

And me? When I think of snow, I think of Christmas lights, sledding for hours with my family, impromptu Starbucks trips with my two best friends and an assortment of sisters, and the first day they bring back the cherry red holiday cups. I think my boots and my old red beret. I think of fellowship, of the family I never see during the rest of the year, of the laughter and the time we spend together.

Let me know what you think!