my perfect saturday: girl christmas, lunch w/ everyone, uk basketball & a party

the longest running christmas tradition that i participate in {outside of family of course} has been a little thing i like to call, girl christmas.  we think we've traced the origin of the celebration back to our sophomore year of high school which means that way back in 2001 this blessed occasion was born.  9 years ago.  i can't even believe that.

our first girl christmas was in our friend nicole's basement and we gave each of our friends ridiculous gifts from a luxurious store called 'the 99 center'.  if you've never been, you've never lived.  i was only able to find old pictures from our second annual girl christmas.  the quality couldn't be more awful but i just had to share.  i can't remember if we drew names for this many girls or if we just bought for anyone we wanted to buy for or what.  we were crazy.

during this time we also introduced boy-girl christmas where we let our guy friends in on the fun.  it was essentially a quarter of the girl christmas girls and whoever we were dating + our dear friend max.  back to our 99 center gifts and the hilarity that it brings.  we essentially tried to get each other the most absurd crap we could find.  aw friends.

shan, the other jen, the other shan, lauren and lyd aren't in the pic...i don't know why.

ps our scanner sucks

things got a bit more tricky after we all parted ways for college.  we tried to get everyone together on their christmas breaks up at home but it became more and more challenging to fit it in everyone's schedules.  some got married, some moved farther away and our group shrunk a little but we kept kicking.  at this time {2004 and 2005} i remember drawing names and picking out sweet presents specifically for the person.  not junk, actual presents. 

some time around there our group windled down to 5.  me, rach, tiff, cory & shan.  girls that had been friends for about 6 years by this time.  besties.  jenna was living with shannon & i and got "grafted" into our girl christmas circle of love.  that's the word we like to use, just like God grafted us into the family.  best friends, roommates, family...it's fitting.  in 2008 {i think} we decided to run with homemade girl christmas.  everything we gave had to be homemade.  we drew names within the 5 of us and crafted our little hearts out.  after this proved to be such a success we decided to do smaller crafts so that we could give them to each person.  that means each girl gets & gives multiple gifts.  that is one of the most fun things about our celebration being small, it is intimate, and personal...and everybody wins big in the craft department.  it is so much fun.  you can see last year's girl christmas {HERE}. 

we had another addition to our clan this year {we tried last year but failed, successfully made it work this time}.  after i went and got hitched, shannon & jenna moved in with another bestie, holly.  being a dear friend to all & a roommate to some, holly then was "grafted" as well. 

in a time that is hurried and stressful and busy, i really cannot imagine one place i'd rather be than enjoying a perfectly calm day with just a few of our closest friends, chatting, sharing life & giving to each other something that we've put our own time & heart into creating. 

i stink and didn't wrap my gifts individually like my sweet friends.  i made a community box to open but i think it turned out pretty sweetly.  i had all the materials lying around.  you may see more of this down the road {wink wink}

here are my beautiful girl christmas friends

{aaand we all have brown hair & a heck of a lot of boots.  treat}

a lot has changed since we started all this. not just to our tradition but to our lives.

three have gotten married, one has had a baby boy, one is pregnant with her own little guy, one marriage on the way, one new relationship, five undergrad graduations, one masters, one grad student, four full time jobs, and each of us passionately love the Lord and knows him more deeply than we did 10 years ago. we are truly blessed!

here are our crafty crafts:

headbands from holly

wristlet from cory:

wreath from rach:

stationery from jenna:

and these little ruffled, zippered pouches are my creation.

.sisters.

to you three girls:  thank you for celebrating NINE years of girl christmases with me.  it's so fun to think about doing this every year until we're old & gray {or dyed back brown}.

the rest of our day was ridiculous.  party visits friends party food friends...on and on and on

couldn't resist getting a christmas pic with my boo!

after a 16 person lunch at cheddars & a belly full of chicken fingers we headed back to our abode for a uk game and so much fun with friends. gosh we love our friends.  which includes a new friend, scott...SHOUT OUT gilly!

here's shan and silas getting to know each other.  he was flirting with all the ladies.  sorry about the red-eye...i know his pupils are black.

oh my little nephew, you are a stud!

we ended up at the poston's for a surprise birthday party for our dear friend kyle and literally laughed our buns off.  and now for your giggling enjoyment:

purdy asked me to to put this on here.  love you!