Oh, Christmas Tree

In honor of the holiday season which will be officially here in a couple of days, my husband put up our tree. We like to have it decorated in time for turkey day.

Four years ago when we had our home built, we decided to purchase a high quality, premium, pre-lit Christmas tree. It was a bit pricey, but year after year we've been really happy with how it looks.

First, I decorated it myself with the base accessories-- pinecones, strands of beads, ribbon and some decorative sprays.

Then, my daughter helped me decorate with our ornaments. She really enjoyed the process, and wanted to know where we obtained each one. So many of our ornaments have special meaning and it's always heartwarming to take that trip down memory lane each year.

Tonight, I'll add the tree skirt and Joe will put the angel on top. We'll then officially light it on Thanksgiving Day.

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving and a fun, well organized holiday season!

Want to Get Organized for the Holidays?

Are you tired of all the chaos, confusion and disorganization that regularly occurs during the holiday season?

There are holiday cards to be sent. Gifts to be purchased or made. Holiday dinners to plan. Church, community and family get-togethers to attend. Holiday treats to bake. Stockings to stuff. Tree trimming, gift wrapping, and getting your house ready for company. The list could go on and on.

It's no wonder so many people are stressed and frustrated this time of the year.

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For hundreds of free organizing tips,
visit Get Organized Now!

Opting for a Professional Family Portrait

Ever since we bought a digital camera quite a few years ago, we hardly ever get our photos taken professionally anymore. Joe and I learn more and more about photography every day, and it has even turned into a bit of a fun hobby for us.

We recently noticed that so many of our photos include either Amanda (our daughter) and Joe, Amanda and me, or just Amanda. We don't have a whole lot of shots with all three of us included at the same time.

Although we've taken photos using our digital camera's automatic timer to get all of us in the shot, and have been pleased with them, it's still difficult for one of us to set up the shot properly, and then have to dash to the other side of the room before the timer's 15 seconds are up and the camera clicks.

For those of you who have toddlers, I'm sure you already know how difficult it is to ask a child to stand in a certain position for more than a few seconds, or to smile at just the right moment.

Joe and I have solved this problem by taking hundreds of shots, and just keeping the one or two we end up truly liking--which is easy with a digital camera, but could be time consuming at times.

This year, we decided to have our family Christmas shot taken by a professional. I'm really glad we went this route.

Stephanie, our photographer, spent over an hour with us to get the shots we wanted just right. She posed us as we wished, she was able to get all of us to smile in a very natural way and she patiently took lots of photos using different props and a variety of backgrounds.

We'll be using some of these photos for our Christmas cards this year (if you do this, you have to get permission from your photographer and sometimes have to pay for the rights to your photos), displaying a few on our walls at home, and sending some to close family members--likely framed as gifts for the upcoming holiday season.

We plan to order our holiday photo cards online, and will share what we ordered and our buying experience shortly.

At any rate, if you haven't had a family portrait taken in awhile, having one done professionally is an option you may want to consider.

For hundreds of free organizing tips,
visit Get Organized Now!

Keeping the Kitchen Counter Clean When Cooking

The other day, I had a friend over for dinner. When she arrived, I was doing some last minute meal preparations. She commented on how clean my kitchen counters were, and shared how her kitchen always looks like a mess when she's cooking.

I shared two very simple secrets with her.

First, I clean as I go. When I'm done using a bowl, mixing spoon or measuring cup, I immediately rinse it and add it to the dishwasher. If it's a pot or pan (I use Teflon which you can't put into the dishwasher), I wash it, dry it and put it back into it's proper home right away.

Second, I almost always lay newspaper on the counter under my cutting boards. This way, the food and packaging scraps are placed on the newspaper, and the newspaper is bunched up and tossed immediately afterwards in one fell swoop. Another bonus of having the newspaper on the counter is it catches any drips or spills.