Finals Week

18 weeks

It's finals week here in the Gilson home. Marcus and I find this week to actually be less stressful than most weeks of school. No classes- just do some studying and go take a test. Then that class is finished forever! It's one of the best feelings to finish a test and know you won't have to ever look at anything dealing with that class again *cough* Physics *cough.*

Last night we had some friends over for a little Christmas party (naturally, I don't have any pictures). I made sugar cookies, Laura and Andrew brought over some delicious peppermint cupcakes, and Kate and Brock brought over hot chocolate with candy canes- Yum! We all just chatted, played some Uno (Laura and Andrew kicked mine and Kate's trash!) and Wii, and ate way too much sugar. It was great! :)

In two days, we get to go home to Washington for the holidays! We are so excited we can barely stand it. Marcus and I are excited to spend time with all of his family, read some books we've been wanting to read but haven't because we've been doing reading for classes, and we're (of course) excited for Christmas! Then it's only one more semester of undergrad and then we have a baby! Life is good :).

A picture for two

I was reading another blog the other day and she was talking about how you could get 50 free Christmas Cards through Shutterfly. I instantly became interested. I haven't actually used Shutterfly before but have heard a lot about it. (Ellen DeGeneres talked about it on her show the other day). I went onto Shutterfly's website to browse all of their Christmas cards in hopes that I would be able to get some free Christmas cards. Marcus isn't huge into Christmas cards- especially since it's still just the two of us. But I'm working on him! I'm sure it'll be easier once we have cute kids to include in the cards.

So it's actually very simple- you just have to be a blogger, fill out a little form, write a blog post about the promotion, and then you get 50 free Christmas cards. Here some of my favorite photo Christmas cards (they have like 800 so there is plenty to choose from!):

I like the simpleness of this card. Plus, those are our wedding colors and I just love the way they look together.

Again, I like the simpleness of this one but I'm not sure it would be my first choice.

This card is also our wedding colors and another one I really like.

I like how cutsie and fun this one is.
But I'm thinking it would be a better one when we also have kids in the picture.

I love the little snowflake border!

And the great thing is that Shutterfly does so much more than just cards! On Ellen's show, she showed a photo calendar she did through Shutterfly and I LOVED it. I love photo calendars. I hope to make one soon! Another cool thing they do that I had no idea about was wall art. You can take a picture, and they'll print it onto a canvas for you! My parents did this with a picture my dad took of the Salt Lake Temple. It's such a cool idea! And then they also have birth announcements. We might be spending some money on these come May :).

Anyways- I'm super excited about this promotion. But which card is your favorite? I need help deciding. Also, if you're a blogger- go here to check out this awesome promotion before it ends! Thank you, Shutterfly.

Now who wants to take a picture of Marcus and I for our Christmas card?

Countdowns!!

I am a terrible blogger. I have decided that the main reason is only about 5 people read my blog and I talk to them on a regular basis so I feel like I have nothing to write. But alas, here is list of countdowns to very exciting events- that I know the 5 of you already know about so sorry for the repetition. :)

15 days until this semester is over!
15 days until Marcus, Brittany, and I drive to Washington for the Christmas break!
23 days until Christmas!
32 days until Marcus' birthday! :) (I love that boy.)
32 days until we (hopefully) find out the gender of our baby!!
142 days until graduation!
164 days until our baby is due! (This means I am 16.5 weeks pregnant- 2.5 weeks into the second trimester. However, I still weigh less than I did before I got pregnant and often feel sick when I try to eat. Thank goodness for anti-nausea medication but I just hope it goes away soon. Also, my doctor is getting mad at me for not gaining weight so I really hope the nausea goes away and I can eat again soon!)

What an exciting time of year! :) Marcus and I have decorated our apartment for the Christmas season and I LOVE IT! It makes finishing up this semester with my awful Physics class a little more bearable.

Happy Holidays!