Christmas Shopping- Check!

Usually, I have all of our Christmas shopping done long before November. The key to being done so early is buying throughout the year. The problem with that-- sometimes you forget what you've bought! I've always been really good about keeping four large baskets on the shelf in the spare bedroom closet to house all of the purchases I've made for others. I have to admit that Christmas shopping has thrown me a bit off this year. I had begun my usual process of picking items up as I found them, but then we decided to give our family members albums from our wedding instead. We understand that not everyone wants to see a bunch of pics of us, but we've received so many picture requests from our immediate family that we thought photo books were the best bet.

I started compiling pics on Shutterfly and Kodak Gallery last month-- believe me when I say the process takes quite some time! Putting together an album takes quite a bit of thought. I decided the best layout for us was in a timeline fashion that depicted the wedding week as it took place. After creating a book for my grandparents who weren't able to make it to Colorado, the book for my dad and step-mother was a lot easier to picture. I'm still in the process of putting together the other books, but they're so time consuming that I have to take little breaks here and there. I had the most fun including some pre-wedding festivity pics that ranged from the riding the alpine slide, hiking, rafting, and horseback riding to mani/pedis, J's baseball game and our rehearsal/rodeo night. It was nice to look through all of the pics with fresh eyes and see how much fun everyone had. (I have to post a few just because!)
*Our flower girl/niece had just commented on our matching boots, hence my skirt being pulled up.
We made our first two books through Kodak Gallery because, at the time, the price was a bit better than Shutterfly. Now, the situation is reversed. But, the best part of the deal-- Ebates is offering 15% cash back on Shutterfly purchases and 10% cash back at Kodak Gallery. I seriously do not buy anything online unless I check Ebates first. I'm honestly bummed that I didn't find out about the site until after I purchased my wedding dress on Ebay! That extra moolah would have come in handy.