Thursday

HOLIDAY PREPS



Ok, ok so I took an extra week off from what I expected to do but I'm glad I did. I am finished with all my Christmas shopping (except for my husband) and have almost everything wrapped and shipped. What a relief that is! Now I can use the next couple of weeks to do other fun Christmas stuff like baking cookies. Yum... christmas cookies is the one thing I make for myself every Christmas. I can do without everything else if I have to, but those frosted cookies are a must have!

I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't done a lick of writing since before Thanksgiving. I've been too busy with other things and decided I needed this break. I'm jealous of all the other writers out there that continue to write, shop, wrap, ship, bake, decorate and don't even take a break. I've been able to fit all of that into my schedule except the writing part!! But I'll get back to writing full speed after the holidays. I want to be able to write again with a fresh, rested mind, and be more creative than ever!
At least that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Thanksgiving was great for us this year. My parents came down to visit the week before and then we drove them up to Texas for our actual Thanksgiving. My two oldest nieces live there and their parents came down from Wisconsin so we got to see them as well. So we had lots to be thankful for.

Here's a couple photo's of the decorating I did around our house. Don't ask me why I go to all the trouble since we are having no company and it's going to just be myself, my husband, our two dogs and cat this year but I just have to decorate with all the lights or it just isn't Christmas to me.

This is our tree. The photo doesnt do it justice. It really is gorgeous but it looks a little skinny and needing more presents here!!



Here is the fireplace mantel.


This is a the top of a cabinet I decorated.


And here is a photo of my christmas village. You can't really see it well but the house you see is a Children's Book house!


And here is a full view of the village.


My village isn't very big but I just love looking at it. We don't get much snow down here so looking at my village covered in fake snow, kind of brings me back to home in Ohio.

Ok, that's it! I have other spots decorated but these are my favorite. How about you, have you finished your decorating?

Next week, I'll be posting an interview with my sister and mom about their newly released book Twist of Fate. The ebook is available now at amazon http://www.amazon.com/Twist-of-Fate-ebook/dp/B00AFRSZYG/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1354805198&sr=8-7&keywords=twist+of+fate and the print book should be available any day now. Stay tuned!



12 comments:

  1. Allyn, I love your village! I have one, too, it's a Victorian village and I place it every year on my 150 year old English china cabinet. As for shopping etc., I did most of it online this year. The madhouse of store shopping just gets me upset and frustrated,with so many rude and pushy people out, so I did very little in the stores. As for writing, have done very little in months due to serious family problems, but I'm hoping 2013 starts out on a good note and I can get back to it. But like you, I don't know how people can do all they do this time of year and still have time for writing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree with the shopping madhouse this time of the year, that's why I try to get as much done as possible before Thanksgiving! Sorry about your serious family problems in 2012. I hope your 2012 is much much better and problem free!

      Delete
  2. Beautiful pictures! I'm hoping to finish my shopping tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Goodluck with that, Kelly. It feels great to have mine 99% done!

      Delete
  3. Beautiful. Even though there will only be the two of you with your animals, you can still have a lovely day. Enjoy it and I hope you can go back to writing refreshed and creatively filled.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Believe it or not, my dogs act like real kids on Christmas so they make it fun.

      Delete
  4. We have a shop so we usually put things up early. We are in a tourist area, most of them will not be here closer to Christmas, so we have to start early. We make most of the yard art we put out and it is all for sale. Inside, we decorate our Christmas trees with pieces that are for sale. We live upstairs at the shop so I like to joke about having a $2000.00 Christmas tree! Talk about going all out...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, you are a busy guy during the holidays. I bet you have the best tree in town!

      Delete
  5. You did a wonderful job decorating, Allyn. I love the village and Children's Book House (how magical)!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Claudine. It was fun but I'm so glad it's done!

      Delete