Making Spirits Bright

I sent the bulk of our holiday cards out earlier this week - I'm still waiting on addresses from two friends who have recently moved - but other than that, they are on their way. I've been sending Christmas cards for years - I try to drop them in the outgoing mail the day after Thanksgiving. This year, however, that didn't happen. But, they are out, and it's not quite mid-December, so I feel good about that!

The first year I sent a card with a photo was right before Greg and I were engaged - it was Christmas 2006, so this is the fifth card from us with our photo. Next year, maybe Greg and I will be able to bow out of the photo and just include a photo of Baby VanderMaas.

I'm a HUGE fan of photo cards - they definitely get more attention when I open the mail to see smiling faces back at me. Of course, the non-photo ones get their own spot in the house as well. I have a cute card holder on the sofa table that displays them nicely, while the photo cards go on the wall.

This photo is a snapshot taken at our friend's wedding this past July. I was a bridesmaid for the second time in my life, and Greg was my cute date. This wasn't Greg's first photo choice, but the one he liked, I wasn't in love with. And since I do the work of ordering, addressing & stamping them, of course I picked my favorite photo of the two of us from 2010.

Happy Holidays to our friends & family - thank you ALL for reading along on Life on Louise!