Christmas Cards

(Disclaimer…I’m writing this at 4:30am because I was laying in bed thinking about this. Please ignore any missed words or non-complete thoughts. I thought if I just write the blog now that I might get back to sleep once I am done. Here’s to hoping! )

We all get them, but we all don’t send them. Interesting right? When and why does someone choose to send a Christmas card? I ask this because this day in age with social media we all pretty much know what is going on in our “friends” lives on a monthly/daily basis, right? Our parents and our grandparents sent out Christmas cards because that was the one time in the year they could update their friends they didn’t talk to on a regular basis of what had happened in the past year and share pictures. But now with Facebook, twitter (I don’t have a twitter account but so many of my friends do), and blogging we know what is going on our people’s lives all the time and in a lot of cases the moment something happens. We post pictures along with status updates the moment something happens. So my thoughts as I write this blog are why do we still send Christmas cards?

Now, let me be the first to admit that I LOVE getting Christmas cards! Absolutely love this time of the year and receiving “snail mail” from a friend(s) that thought of me when they were sending out Christmas cards. It means so much to me! Those Christmas cards take over my refrigerator and I love seeing them on a daily basis and seeing how happy my friends are. And between you and me, those pictures stay up on my refrigerator more than one year, along with all the “Save the Dates” I have received.  Yes, I have a lot going on my refrigerator, but I love it! Life is all about relationships and I love seeing my happy friends on my refrigerator.

Ok…back to Christmas cards and when and why people decide to send them. Here are my thoughts. I’m single as you all know. Think about all the Christmas cards you receive and how many of them come from someone that is single? Not many, if any at all, right? Why do you think that is?

Here are my thoughts as a 30 year old Single Woman.

One of my dear friends in Denver (who will remain nameless, is also single, and was on her period when this happened…got love those emotional days!) told me she felt ridiculous because she started crying when looking at one of Christmas cards she had received this year from a good friend of hers. When this friend tried (key word here because sometimes we can’t explain our tears…right ladies?) told me why she was crying about the Christmas card, I could immediately relate and understood her tears even though it was hard for her to explain. As single woman we have created a bond that is so tight that no explanation was needed from my friend and I just told her I loved her and that she was my family. Then of course we joked that we should send Christmas cards out with pictures of us throughout the year and all our adventurous we get to do because we are without children. Then we finish our conversation by saying “our friends with husbands and kids would be jealous, right?” We like to think so since we are sometimes (yes, only sometimes) we get jealous seeing our friends become wives and moms, because we want that, someday. Though we wonder when that “someday” will be.

(Gosh, I go off on tangents when I write my blogs. I’m sorry. Lots of thoughts going on in my head and I want to get them all down on paper and that involves tangents and getting off track sometimes. Deal with it J )

Back to my thoughts on Christmas cards…

This is when I see most people, CORRECTION, let’s be honest…This is when I see most WOMEN send out Christmas cards. I would imagine most men probably could careless and a lot of times don’t even know when their wives send out Christmas cards. Am I right married ladies? Ok…maybe I’m not, but I like to think I’m a little right. After all, I did grow up with a dad and brother. See tangent…focus Alli.

I see most women start sending out Christmas cards either the year they get married and if not then, the year they have their first child. Why is this? Honestly, I never really thought about it until now.

Each year I am receiving more and more Christmas cards because more of my friends are getting married or having babies. As women, do we send these cards out to prove to our friends that we are happy and are FINALLY living the dream we dreamt about when we were little girls?

Speaking from experience, my dream as a little girl was to someday find my prince charming, get married, and have babies. Does this mean when I finally find that I will join the Christmas card club? 

Only time will tell. Who really knows what will happen when (if) I get married and/or have kids. Until then, you can keep up with me as much as you choose through this blog and/or Facebook, because you won’t be receiving a Christmas card from this single lady this year. J

Given that, to all my friends and family that read my blog, I wish you a Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukah and a very Happy New Year! I can only imagine 2012 will be that much better than 2011. I believe what they say is true…each year only gets better! BUT why does it have to go so much quicker? I finally understand why my mother says time goes so fast. It’s so true!

Much love,

Alli

Canvas and Cocktails

Canvas and Cocktails

What a great idea! I had the opportunity to go two nights in a row. The first night I took my Aunt Kristy for her birthday present. We had fun painting skis! I thought this was a the perfect night to take her since she owns a beautiful cabin in Winter Park and the skis painting would/will fit perfectly in her cabin. Here are pictures of the evening.

Here is what we start with...

 And this is what we are suppose to create...

Here goes nothing....

Mountains...Check!

 Skis...check!

And our finish products...

Then I went with some amazing ladies to celebrate my friend Diana’s birthday! What a fun idea! We had a wonderful time.

Here is the example painting of what were going to create...

Here are the pictures I got from the night.

It’s amazing how different each of our pictures’s turned out. The wonderful thing about art is that they are each truly their own master pieces. Look how different and beautiful each of our paintings are?!?!

This is an activity I will be doing on a more regular basis. It's a great activity to do with friends, especially in the winter when it's cold and dark outside after work.

5:37pm

Back in November I took a trip to Texas to see two of my best friends from Baylor! I decided I wanted to go on my first hunting trip as a 30^th birthday gift to myself. Of course, I had to call my best friend Natalie and her sweet hubby Travis (T-Rye) to plan this trip. They are my hunting friends! After one phone call and a few text messages and emails the trip was booked for the weekend of November 11^th since I had the 11^th off of work for Veteran’s day. I flew into San Antonio on Thursday, November 10^th and Natalie was the best and knew exactly what I wanted…GOOD Mexican food! Off we went to this delicious place in Boerne, TX called Sammies. We proceeded to drink and EAT! EAT! EAT! It was delicious!

Here are some pictures of Natalie & Travis's beautiful home in Borne, TX. And there sweet horse Sloan.

Friday we slept in a bit and took off for Ilano, TX to the Riley Ranch. Along the way we stop at this whole in the wall place for another Texas classic…Chicken Fried Steak! Natalie and I split this amazing meal.

Then Friday afternoon my dad & Brother met us at the Ranch. We did a couple hours of hunting that night, but didn’t get anything. I did gain a whole new respect for hunting. Even though we saw a several does and bucks we didn’t shoot any that night because the ones we saw were too young. We still had fun!

Oops shouldn't be holding the gun right in front of my brother. Totally a rookie hunter move on my part.

Then Friday night, Jaran (my other bestie from Baylor) and her sweet hubby Michael made it to the ranch and then Mr. Riley himself made it! We had a wonderful night with a lot of drinking and catching up! And I am pretty sure my dad & Michael solves all the world’s problems. ;)

Jaran & Natalie mean the world to me and it was so fun just sitting around until 2am, drinking wine, and catching up! It’s amazing how we can pick up right where we had left off. It had been a little over a year since we had seen each other, but that didn’t stop us at all. I’m FOREVER grateful for these beautiful women! They are definitely FOREVER friends and I love being a part of their lives. J

Saturday morning Travis and I were in the deer stand by 6:15am. Thanks Natalie for making us coffee! That was my life saver after Friday night.

Though by 8:15am Travis took this picture of me…

Oops…not the best hunter I guess. But hey, at least I am not a snorer and didn’t scare any deer away. The coolest thing about this morning is that right at dusk Travis and I saw two baby bucks fight only 10 feet away from the deer stand. It was amazing to watch! And they were there for at least 30 minutes. It was absolutely the coolest thing!

Then Saturday “late” morning we walked around the property. Which is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS! Here are some pictures of all us.

They are funny guys!

 I helped set the hog trap!

Then Saturday for lunch we headed to Coopers. OMG! Talk about Texas SIZE and Texas taste for BBQ! Here are a few pictures of our lunch. HOLY COW!!!

 MW with a tray of meat...literally!

 Two of my favorite couples

 Jarany drinking out of a beer bottle...of course I needed a picture of this!

 And a quick stop at the drive thru liquor store.

Then Saturday afternoon around 4:15ish, Travis and I were back in the deer stand.

We saw two does that would have been perfect for me to shoot, but they ran off before I could even get the gun up. Then at 5:30ish the perfect doe came along. She hung out for a bit then at 5:37 BAM…I shot her! (Now you know why this blog title is 5:37pm)

She instantly fell to the grown, but then got up and ran off. L Travis said we needed to wait about 20 minutes or so before we went looking for her. We waited the 20 minutes, went back to the house because it was dark by this point, and got everyone else and went looking for my doe.

Sorry to report…we could not find her. Travis assured me that this does happen to hunters. It made me feel a little bit better.

On Sunday morning we all said our good-byes and went our separate ways. I headed back to Natalie & Travi’s home in Boerne. Sunday night my best and longest friend, Katy, came over to Natalie & Travis’s house for dinner and a pre-birthday celebration for my now 1 year old niece! Sweet baby Katelynn is already 1 years old! Here are some pictures from the evening. Of course, they are majority of Miss Katelynn whom I think is one of the cutest things around!

I got her this adorable tutu for her birthday along with her very first dog! She LOVED the dog…especially when I ran around the house with it. She was cracking up. So adorable. Oh and the “deal” with the Tutu is that Katy has to let me use it if I have girls! I love love love this tutu!

She is a woman after my own heart when it comes to sweets! Look how adorable she is eating her cupcake. Love her!

Sadly enough, vacation always has to come to an end. On Monday, Natalie and I hit up my favorite joint…Chick-fil-a of course! Then we headed to airport.

Thanks for a wonderful weekend to my dearest friends from Texas. My life is truly blessed with each one of your friendships.