I am not sure why I thought this year would be different, but it was exactly the same as last year. My Christmas/New Year cards are sitting right next to me on my desk as I type. They are stuffed and addressed, just haven't been sealed, stamped or taken to post office.
You will think I'm kidding when I tell you that I have still been delivering cards from last year. No lie. I actually stuffed one of the 2010 cards in the 2011 envelope that they won't get until sometime in 2012. What the heck?
I am seriously, seriously, seriously thinking about not doing cards next year. Reason #1 is everything I just told you above. I can't get cards out in time to save my life.
Reason #2 the trouble that you go through to pick out a picture, pick out your card, drive to Costco to pick it up, address all the envelopes, trying to decide on who gets a card and who doesn't (more on that later), stuffing the envelopes, licking that awful sticky stuff, buying stamps, putting stamps on, getting them in mailbox. DANG I'm tired just thinking of all that stuff and I'm not even half way into that list.
Reason #3 our list has gotten out of hand. We have lived in 3 different cities since we were married, gone to four different churches, Aaron meets a crazy amount of people on the road that have become great friends of ours, and through our adoptions we have met some amazing people that know our struggles more than anyone … all that to say, we have met a lot of people along the way. Who gets cards? All the family, for sure. Even that cousin on your husband's side you have never met and he hasn't seen since he was 12? What about people that you were super close to when you were 25, but haven't talked to in 8 years. Do they get cards? What about dentist & doctors, do you send them cards? I do. Close family friends, for sure. What about your best friends parents, do they get cards? Or, your close friends now. They see you every day, do they really need a 4×6 picture of your family every year? Or those people that your husband works with. You barely know them, do they need a picture of you? Do you send cards to everyone that sends you cards? I used to.
Reason #4 is money. The cost of this makes my stomach hurt each year, and yet I continue to do it out of some sort of obligation. As if the Ivey family stopped sending Christmas cards people would think we stopped loving Christmas. Crazy. At first I wanted a really cute card and when I set it all up and got the cost I realized I could send 15 cards out and then the drama of Reason #3 started to send me into an anxious cycle, so I went with the cheap ones. I bought half of what I usually buy in cards and when they were addressed they were done. I didn't even look at who sent me cards to make sure I was sending them one. I didn't even look to make sure I was sending all the pastors at our church one. Heck, I'm not even sure my parents got one! I just addressed what I had and when I was done, I was done.
So … all that to say if you didn't get a card from us and you usually do, I still love you. I would apologize, but I'm not sure what to apologize for other than the fact that this Christmas card drama is making my head spin. If you did get a card, you somehow made the list before the envelopes ran out.
Next year, don't be surprised if you don't get a card from us. Maybe I'll take the money I spent this year on cards, photos and postage and donate it. That's an idea I can live with.
post the pic to this blog…. 🙂 I know it is a cute card! 😉
Amen sister. Christmas cards get out of hand! One my best friends mom sends out over 1200 every year! Ridiculous! I had a friend email me her family’s christmas card. It was a super cute newsletter type deal and she had multiple pictures on it..prob took her 30 minutes to make and another 5 to address and send!
No shame in the no card game (at least that is what I tell myself). The only people who got cards from us this year are the friends and family that I baked for this Christmas. The cards were purchased for 90% off at Hobby Lobby…2 years ago. Since I handed out these gifts, I spent $0 on postage. This year has been our craziest yet. I used to feel bad about things like this…not so much anymore.
Thanks for posting! You are not alone…and I know I’m not either!
Oh man, you’ve got to try out just doing them entirely online. Have the picture taken, upload it to your site of choice (I use Hallmark.com), customize on a card and with a note, enter addresses, pay, and you’re done! You can request they come to you, or just have them sent straight to family and friends. I do that and have a few finished ones sent to myself too, just in case I forgot anyone. The biggest hassle in the process is just entering the addresses. But, it’s no worse than having to write them out, and if you make an account, they’ll all be saved for the next holiday to be used again.
This year’s pictures took me less than an hour total, from taking the picture to pressing submit after entering my debit card’s info in. They came out great and our friends/family loved them.
Jamie, that sounds dreamy!!! Someone sending them for me!
and then the crazy thing is people usually throw them away… i mean who really keeps our pictures up until next year!? 🙂
Jamie I actually have kept every picture I”ve received and have them in a book. Well, not the last three years, they are in a pile to go in the book, but they will get there eventually!
We’ve also moved a lot and have a ginormous list of people. I LOVE getting cards so much that I’m not willing to completely give up on the idea, though we don’t do them every year. Last year we did them on email, I actually used MAIL CHIMP and it was free. I designed it, input the email addresses (the only pain was collecting them) and sent them out.
This year we did a postcard. Picture- short message-and only a postcard stamp to send. It was MUCH cheaper than any other option AND I designed and had them printed so that our return addy was already on it.
I do love your idea of donating the money you would spend though-
We’ve always done the Christmas letter every year but the cost annoyed me. Several years ago I just started making it not a PDF and emailing it to people. I keep a text file that has everyone’s email addresses and bcc it to everyone. It’s super easy. You can include pictures and make it as long as you want. Another great option is a Smilebox slides how or something.
oh wow! i’m a crazy thrower.. good job keeping your pics (sorry about making an assumption about that)
Oh girl! We didn’t do cards for two or three years!. We did them for the first time this year only because Samuel came home and we wanted to send to as many people as we could that helped bring him home and prayed for us! The feeling when we decided not to send them was unbelievable! It was so freeing. Very similar to how we felt when we stopped going crazy trying to buy the “perfect” gift for everyone on our list! Oh it just feels so so very good to NOT do it! And it feels so so so wonderful to put that money in much more worthwhile places….I could literally feed a family in another country with milk and eggs from their own goat/cow and chickens for the same cost as sending out Christmas cards!!! And next year, cards are VERY unlikely for our crew!:)