7 Quick Takes Friday (Take 40)

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What a blessed Christmas we had with my family this year!  This Christmas was less about presents than ever and more about spending time together with the new little addition to our family!  And of course, it was about Christ.  I really enjoyed attending Mass on Christmas day – it took the emphasis off presents, especially since we didn’t open them until afterward.  I definitely think this is a tradition we are going to keep, especially when we have children old enough to be excited by gifts.

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One of my favorite family moments on Christmas was taking pictures in front of the Christmas tree.  My dad got a really nice SLR camera last year and was able to set it up on a tripod with the autotimer so that all of us – my grandparents, parents, brother, husband, baby and I - could be in the picture.  I don’t remember the last time we’ve all been in a picture together, at least one person is always left out to take the picture.  With my grandparents advanced age and declining health, these pictures and memories are especially important.

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One of my love languages is gifts, but I love giving much more than receiving.  This year, I feel like I found the perfect gifts for each family member and it was so rewarding to see that they each were genuinely excited to receive them.  I don’t know about you, but I really dislike giving “filler” gifts when I can’t think of something personalized for each person.  I was a little bummed that with the baby I wasn’t able to spend the time to make homemade gifts, but sometimes the perfect gift just can’t be homemade (for example, the flexible tripod we bought for my dad).  Next year, I am going to attempt some homemade gifts though.

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I was able to see my best friend three days this week before she flew back to Atlanta!  She was so excited to meet my baby girl and we got to spend a lot of time just chatting and catching up.  We are very different in some very obvious ways (I’m a devout Catholic, she’s agnostic, I’m married with a child and she is very unattached, she’s in grad school and very career driven while I’m a stay-at-home-mom), but we are very similar in other ways and never run out of things to talk about.  We were acquaintances in high school and didn’t become best friends until we went on a school-led trip to Europe right after we graduated from high school.  She went to school out of state at the end of that summer and we’ve never lived near each other since.  In fact, the past few months have marked the first time we’ve lived in the same time zone since we’ve become best friends.  While we are able to maintain our friendship with phone calls and emails, nothing can replace seeing her in person and getting a hug from my dearest friend! 

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We went to dinner last night with my brother-in-law and his fiancée.  They just adored their little niece and soon-to-be goddaughter (she’ll be baptized this Sunday!).  I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but my soon-to-be sister-in-law asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding!  I’ve never been a bridesmaid before and I am so very thrilled to be a part of their wedding.  My husband and I are so happy to have a sister and she is such a blessing to our family, a very thoughtful and kind woman of God!

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Did you see the post about the Baby on a Budget Series I’m planning?  I am looking for guest bloggers to write posts about how they are raising/have raised babies/children on limited means.  If you are interested in writing something, email me at catholicnewlywed@gmail.com.  I want this series to be helpful to couples who are contemplating having children despite not being as financially stable as our society suggests is necessary for starting a family and for those couples who are currently expecting a baby or have a young child and are looking for some ways to be more thrifty.  If you have any suggestions of topics you’d like to read about, let me know by commenting or emailing me!

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I haven’t written anything in my On Marrying Young Series in a while, but I do plan on continuing it.  I have some more ideas for posts, including incorporating it with the Baby on a Budget Series by writing about the decision to start a family (or not) when you marry young.  Again, I’d also love some more perspectives on the topic (especially some by people who haven’t married young – I’d like to present both sides of the issue!), so if you are interested in writing a guest post, email me.  I think the best posts in the series so far were by guest bloggers who gave their personal experience. 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!