But this year I knew what I wanted, and promptly told my parents I would like to expand our ranch, and I want to live on the new addition. I was told to either find a way to triple my income, or keep writing. Then I haggled for just a pasture, with a trailer house and no corrals, and got the same response.
sigh. It's what I really want...
Anyhow, I managed to scrape together a list of desired photo equipment, Hobby Lobby gift cards to use for framing photos, gutters for my house, gift cards to such desirable stores as American Eagle, Buckle, Target, etc..
I fully expect to receive one of those gifts, from my mom. The remaining presents will likely be studded snow tires for my car (Kyle has checked out my rims beyond anything that's normal, even for him), or chains for my new car, maybe a shovel or rake, a gun, and other such feminine, resourceful gifts. All of which are useful items I would be happy to receive...with an American Eagle gift card tied to them in the ideal world : )
All joking aside, I will be happy with whatever I receive. The important thing is celebrating Christ's birthday, and remembering that I am blessed to have a wonderful family, and the resources to be able to exchange gifts during the holidays. The actual gift part has always been a fun part for our family, but certainly not the focus of the holidays.
As far as gift giving goes, I am almost done. Waiting on a couple items I ordered off the Internet to arrive, and am planning to finish up a couple photo based gifts this weekend.
I have already given one Christmas present this year...to Holly.
I got Holly tickets to the Carrie Underwood, Billy Currington, Sons of Sylvia concert in Casper in early December. (Please note: if the photographer had removed her finger from the flash, both subjects would be properly lit. Just a little photo tutorial thrown in).While not a huge Carrie Underwood fan myself, and certainly not a person who would normally buy tickets to see someone who is a member of PETA, Holly ranks pretty high.
She also happens to be a HUGE country music aficionado, and Carrie Underwood ranks in her top five, current favorite singers. So I surprised her the day of the event with the tickets, took her to dinner at Pizza Hut, then off we went to the Casper Events Center. We had to buy a t-shirt - of course - which she put on as soon as we got to our second row seats.
Holly also had her new boots on, which are much brighter than the picture does justice. While we are very much alike, one of our more notable differences is that Holly is considerably more "girly" than I am. There is no way I could pull off fuchsia, fake alligator boots, with stitched swirls, skulls and flowers in a variety of bright colors on the black tops.. I'm sticking with plain old brown ostrich for now!
First was Sons of Sylvia, who were more of a rock band...and I didn't get a picture. Second was Billy Currington, who sounded good, and wore his sweatshirt, tennis shoes, and who hadn't shaved in several days. As someone there to look at him as much as hear him, I was slightly disappointed by the outfit.
While not really close to the stage, our seats were ideal for us. Holly and I could both see (we're short), we could sit, and had a clear view. Good seats - check!
Carrie Underwood was definitely the main event, and put on quite a show. Her stage had several lifts in it, and she could swing her band from one side to the other as she did different things, like swing on a rope swing several feet off the stage.
The highlight was when she rode out over the crowd in her Carrie-mobile, which was a fiberglass replica of a 19?? Chevy pickup. She explained she wanted a way to see the back, and involve the entire audience. It worked!
She sang for over 2 hours, and had lights, a movable band, stage lifts, a lot of costume changes, and of of course the pickup. It was cool, we were worn out by the end, and sat in the parking lot for an hour waiting for traffic to clear out. Holly snored in the passenger seat while I just sat there. Overall I think it was a successful Christmas present!
