Today is my little brother’s 16th birthday. It’s kinda depressing, but he’s not so much my baby brother anymore. Being 10 years older than him, we used to be closer than my sister and I were. He’s turned into a teenager the past few years though, and hanging out with his older sister is so uncool now. He’s taking the driver’s test Friday, and it’s scary to think he may be driving on his own by this weekend!

I’ve been looking at DSLR cameras tonight, as I’m really wanting to get more into photography before the baby gets here. I’d really like to get a Canon XSi, but I can’t afford the hefty price tag at the moment. Hopefully by picking up some more writing jobs (which I have yet to do), I can put back a little money here and there to get one before my birthday. That would give me about 4 months to learn how to use one well enough to get pics of my little bean when he/she gets here!

I hope everyone who celebrates had a Merry Christmas yesterday! From all the family events I have had this week, I haven’t had much of a chance to update. We had my step-dad’s family dinner on Wednesday, and then my mom’s family dinner on Christmas Eve. From those, I received Rubbermaid bowls and washclothes (a “together” gift for me and James), as well as a Solitaire handheld game, picture frames, a serving tray, and some family photos, which I have hung on some of my still empty walls.

For Christmas day, I had a wonderful time with my family. We went up to my mom’s for “Santa” gifts and breakfast. I got some clothes, a very comfy fleece blanket, a puzzle of a bridge in Venice that I have been to, Bath and Body Works stuff, a new board game, and some candy. I had bought James an extra gift, a amp for his guitar, that he didn’t get until this morning. He had expected something extra from me because he knew that I had spent more money on him, but he didn’t know it was going to be an amp. He was pretty surprised, and said it was one of the best gifts he’s ever received.

After exchanging, we went up to my step-dad’s mom’s for a finger food lunch/dinner around 3pm. We played board games up there until almost 11pm last night. It was such a fun day, as I absolutely love playing board games. We had so many players since there was a lot of family there. Today will be a more lazy day, though I think we may make a trip out to McKay’s, the used book store that I am in love with. <3

It’s so nice to have a weekend where I didn’t have to worry about doing anything for school. Even half of it was spent just lounging around the house, it was still lovely. Yesterday, we went down to my aunt’s around noon to help set up for last night’s family Christmas dinner. It was the dinner that included my mom’s extended family, which meant there was about 45 people there. My aunt had to work until 3, and the event started at 4, so my sister and I went down and cooked a few things and made sure the house was ready to go. Other than burning the apple pies because my aunt’s oven runs hotter than the temperature you set it to (and I didn’t know this), the night was very successful!

We also got our shopping for our 4 year old Secret Santa child finished last night. We ran by Wal-Mart after leaving my aunt’s house, and picked him up a couple more outfits, socks, and underwear. I am so glad I was able to do this for a child this year. This week, I’m going to be focusing on writing articles to make money to cover some of what we’ve spent on Christmas gifts this month. Plus, James hasn’t finished his shopping for me yet…which means I have to get to making some money!