Ohhh...now THAT is sweet!!

I was raised by the champion gift-wrapping mother of all time. She would always (and still does) go to great lengths to make our gifts wrapped in the most beautiful way imaginable: shimmering paper, glistening bows/ribbons, classy tags--you name it. Getting her gorgeous packages has been one of my favorite things about Christmas--it always made me feel so special. Since getting married, I have tried to carry on the tradition (even though I am no where near as good at it as my mom). Andrew, though, has never quite understood what the big deal was about the wrapping paper itself. You just take it off and throw it away, right? But to me, it is a large part of the gift! It sits glowing under the tree for days before opening. Last year, when my mom stayed with us after I had Kate, she had made the house so beautiful with Christmas decorations, treats, and presents--that Andrew really started to get a taste for it all.

Anyway, Andrew has always been just finishing with finals right before Christmas--ever since we got married. He had taken this semester off, though, in case we sold our house and had to move. So he actually had time yesterday to spend the day shopping for me! He came home and then I went out to run some errands of my own.

When I came home, there were four beautifully wrapped presents scattered in the hallway outside of our basement apartment. Andrew was upstairs trying to find tags to put on them. As I went into our apartment, I saw on the computer screen a paused video that was labeled "How to Wrap a Gift." I almost started crying. It is really one of the sweetest things Andrew could have done for me. He did a fantastic job! He's the best!