The Letter We {Didn't} End Up Using

No Clever Christmas-y Title Presently Available

Now that Thanksgiving has passed and everyone has "settled" into the hustle and bustle of Christmastime, I'm starting to find a growing sense of gifting apathy in me.  Now, don't get me wrong, I am still very keen on the idea of giving gifts to friends and family (possibly even neighbors, if we ever get to meet them;) however, the apathy applies more to the "essentials" or even the "luxury" gifts that one may jot on an annual exchanged gift idea list.  Rather, I feel like giving humorous, sentimental, or even what one might call "cute" gifts this year.

(Aside: I'm noticing that there are a lot of italicized and "quoted" words here... maybe that I'm past the borderline of appropriate sarcasm. Please forgive.)

Back to the point: I want to fill my Christmas check-off list obligations as soon as possible and with as little headache as possible.  This makes it hard because to do both is a Catch-22... either I spend a ridiculous amount of money on presents which I know everyone would love and worry incessantly about the expense of it all, OR I spend hours upon hours of combing through Pinterest for the not-so-original DIY idea that is bound to be a Christmas tradition in every Mormon home by next year.

What to do? What to do?

Well, I'm just going to type and an idea will form on the page that is beyond brilliance for a memorable, appreciated, and thrifty Christmas 2012.  I know it will happen, just you see.

What if I...

• Gift invitations to a big Chavez Family Christmas Party, and kill about 20 birds with one stone.  No, that would mean no headache until a couple of days before the big day, when all of my plans would then have to produce themselves.  Oh, and I think that it would kill the "budget-friendly" idea. That simply won't fit in with my plan.
• Design and print personalized stationery.  Done that, and sadly, no one was pleased with that gift.
• Scheme up a Winter Date package, including ice skating, hot chocolate and a movie.  Now, maybe I'm onto something here.... (If you wouldn't want a gift like this, please stop me!)
• Compile a book of family Christmas memories for the sentimental recipient. (Pretend you didn't see this, Mom.)
• Offer a Service Coupon Book. Let's be honest, in theory--and even in action--this is a great gift; HOWEVER, I don't know of a single soul who would be thrilled at opening a coupon book.  It screams, "I ran out of time and I am cheap, so Here!  Have a book of homemade coupons you'll feel too awkward to ever cash-in."
• Keep it simple and get everyone socks, some kind of chocolate item, and a gift card.  (I love receiving them, but gift cards are the WORST to have to give someone.  Well, maybe not for everyone, but for ME.  I hate it when people know how much money I spent on their gifts.  It regulates the amount of money I can, in good conscience, spend on each person on my list.)

Well, I'm sure there are a bazillion other ideas on Pinterest, but something inside me tells me that I will just sulk into Christmas despair upon dining on those delightfully picture-perfect webpages, realizing that I can attempt, but never quite achieve an original Christmas 2012.  I'll mull it over and come back to report with a more cheery tone.  Promise.

What the Heck?! (In Other Words: We're in Utah Now)

Well, the last time I wrote here I had a plethora of things to say about rodents, and not too long before that was a post on how to prepare cow tongue tacos; I think it's safe to say that everything gross and disgusting I could write about has been written.  It's out of my system and we're moving on.

Ahem. Do I have your attention?  Good.  Here's the scoop: we moved... again.

You may recall that we just recently moved to Dallas, TX.  That was a great choice for us and we have no regrets whatsoever, but when destiny, serendipity, fate--what have you-- comes knocking telling you to move near your family, Carpe Diem!  After a lot (and I mean A LOT) of these serendipitous moments occurred, Juan and I decided that we better not kick against the pricks.  We started looking into moving back to the ONE PLACE we thought we'd NEVER live.  (Now, to all you Utah-folk reading this: do NOT think that was a knock against your beloved state.  Here's the fortune cookie version of our reasoning for moving out-of-state: living in Utah simply was not in line with our long-term goals for our family for various reasons.)  Since deciding to move and even since we've been here, we've realized that in the short four months that we lived in Texas, our long-term goals started to shift and change.  Things that we thought were issues were not, things that we disregarded certainly started looking more important.  There was never an "A-ha!" moment per se, but there were plenty of things that started to fall into place once we made the choice to move.  Juan was offered not one, but four jobs in a state where the dental population is considered past-saturation levels; personal family issues have reassured us that we need to be near enough to actually lend a hand and be caretakers, if needed; and it was no coincidence that both Juan and I, unbeknownst to each other, had distinct impressions at the same time that we should consider moving back to Utah.

I will be the first to say that at first I was convinced that I was just being a baby and wanted to run back to mommy and daddy at the first sign of struggle (Long story short: we didn't get approved for purchasing a home, after multiple lenders said it was a sure thing.  To this day, there is absolutely no technical reason we should have been denied.)  So I was stubborn and determined to be more independent than ever!  I was an adult, for crying out loud.  I could do hard things!  Two weeks later and after lots of prayers, I started to come around the fact that the hard thing would be to move, not to stay.  Maybe that is why I didn't jump on board the Utah Train at first.  Anyway, we put in our due diligence and put out feelers for job possibilities in Utah.  Job prospects came up and we were reassured that we wouldn't need to act irresponsibly and just jump into the Land of the Unemployed.  So here we are: in Utah with job contracts and possibilities for the future.  It's not to say that we will never move again--after this summer, we have learned to Never Say Never (a nod to JB,) but we know we need to be here right now.

Juan is finishing up the last few days of his job contract in Dallas while the kids and I are living with my parents until the details get ironed out.  It's not the ideal situation yet, but we are grateful for the generosity of our family and have hope we'll get our sea legs soon.  There are still a lot of things we have to figure out but I don't feel like the future is too dim.  The move was the first step leap, and now that that is out of the way, we can get started with the rest of our lives... again.