yup, i'm gonna go there.

i've got the holidays on my mind. i just went for a morning walk and i could see my breath. the grass was frosty white with morning dew, and i was truly cold for about 3 minutes. i welcomed it gladly. not to mention, i've utterly enjoyed this past week of rain and thunderstorms. i got to wear a coat this week.

for josh and i, the holiday season is LONG. always pleasant, but LONG. it starts with the publication of the google docs christmas list. josh's sister, jacqui, never fails to have the template posted by late september, in giddy anticipation of her own mid-october birthday. she's like a loaded gun, cocked and ready to fire HOLIDAY everywhere. low and behold, this year's christmas list was posted in late august. soooo, i've been preparing myself for months already.

we're not huge on halloween, mostly because i'm never creative enough to come up with a good halloween costume, so i always feel lame with my last-minute creation and am ready to go home as soon as we leave the house. but i will say i've enjoyed seeing the pumpkin patches pop up in mall parking lots and strawberry farms. i might buy one this year. a pumpkin, not a parking lot. but i highly doubt we'll carve it. you know what halloween is really great for?? the reece's. yup, reece's figures out a new way to pair peanut butter and chocolate just about every october. and i dig it! so as halloween comes and goes, i'll be more sad to see the creative minds at reece's exhaust their newest heavenly combination than i will to see the 3-foot-6 costumed trick or treaters retire.

thanksgiving will be PURE BLISS this year. not only does it go down in the books as my "favorite holiday", but i truly believe my appetite will be ready for what my eyes choose by then. two dinners in one night usually scares me. this year, though.....BRING IT ON. i love thanksgiving because it's like christmas in the sense that it's cozy and all about family, family, family, but it carries less stress and fewer expectations than christmas strictly because of the no-gifts policy. oh, not to mention, the food comas are incredible!!!

after thanksgiving comes christmas and new years, and that usually wraps it up. but NOOOOO, the johnsons don't stop there. mid january we hit josh's birthday, mid february is valentine's day, late february is our anniversary, and this year, the excitement of the holidays will stretch out to late march, when we welcome baby j. so our holiday season goes from september through march. yup, 7 months of "the holidays".

and i can't wait!! let's do this.