If you saw my recent Facebook status...you'll know I finished Christmas shopping for my family...and will now be eating like a Victoria's Secret Angel to cut costs.

I'm not one to really get into the gift giving. I find Christmas gifting stressful because it's expected of you. My style is more like this...

Lalalala walking through a cute shop in Snoqualmie, WA on March 3, and I spy a lumberjack teddy bear.

"My my isn't that the cutest lumber jack Moose ever?!" (I'm taking writer's license and making it a moose now)

*Thought bubble pops up over my head with a picture of my tiny nephew Sawyer*

*Light bulb*

*Wips out apple pay (we are soooo 2016) and buys the lumberjack moose*

*puts moose in priority mail box and sends to Glide, OR*

*Sawyer opens package and squeals in glee as he puts the moose's head in his mouth*

Mission successful

Does that make sense y'all? I'd rather see something, think of a person and give it to them without there needing to be a societal validation for the giving. My validation is...I care for this person and would like to be a blessing to them.

I balk and recoil at the obligation that comes with the Holidays and Birthdays that now require a gift or else you don't care at all.

As Dwight Shrute would say. "False"

It's not because I'm cheap or selfish. No, I'd rather recieve a gift mid May because there is no other reason that I am receiving it besides the fact that the giver thought of me randomly and wanted to express it. And I'd rather give a gift without any obligation so the person receiving knows my intention is duty free. (not duty free like in the airport with the no tax on super expensive stuff...you know what I mean)

So as we go into this gift giving extravaganza of a holiday that's been super commercialized...remember to think about and show appreciation for those special ones year round. Maybe don't make such a big deal about presents and who gave what this year. Simply be thankful for what you are given and give gifts from a place of love, not duty.