Gift Wins! Share Yours

Mine is somewhat difficult to explain. The gift itself is a great photo frame with a picture of my friend and me included. The frame is printed with verbiage about best friends. That part is straightforward. But it's the sentiment behind it that melted my heart.

I have known the giver for more than 20 years, and we were just acquaintances for the first several years. Through the years, though the friendship grew, DH and I always felt that we valued the friendship more than our friend and her DH did. But we just kept being there, being the kinds of steady friends we always are to people we love. As we've entered the empty nest stage over the last few years, other friendships (especially those related to our respective kids' activities) have faded a bit and the nature of our friendship has deepened, especially during the COVID era. Our friendship is just priceless to me. And so, receiving such a sweet and sentimental gift completely out of the blue just touched me beyond what I could ever explain.

We had to postpone my family Christmas until later this week, but honestly, it won't matter to me what else is given or received. The framed photo and what it represents will always be one of the dearest gifts I've been given.

I was super happy with the gifts I received.

I’m always cold. Ds23 gave me a heated puffer jacket, it comes with a rechargeable battery that lasts anywhere from 3-10 hours I think, depending on how high you keep it. It uses Bluetooth (I could control it from my phone, though I’m not sure why I would need to since there’s a button on the jacket itself. It’s slim and warm.

I got a cricut joy on Black Friday so I suggested dd give me some supplies. She chose the multi pack of pens and a few rolls of smart vinyl.

Logan gave me soft leopard print pajamas. I had told him I needed new pajamas, he already bought me a pair for my bday on the 15th that said “leopard is my favorite color”. I LOVED those too.

I shared on my own thread that my favorite gift to give was a personalized guitar strap for my new sil. He loved it! Dd was happy with her gifts.

My boys were kind of underwhelmed by their gifts. That’s what happens when you make a list and nothing is a surprise.

Given to me - my mother made a quilt for me using scraps of my dad's old button up shirts. He died 18 years ago and I totally didn't expect it.

Given by me - DH and I are trying to focus on experiences for our kids rather than stuff. We made them custom Hamilton t-shirts to give them a hint for the Hamilton tickets that were their big gift. They were completely surprised. Now to wait until March and hope that Covid doesn't impact it.

My 16 yr old DD made these for me!❤️

19 yr old DD painted our family on these peg dolls!❤️

I request handmade gifts from my daughters every year. 😁

I was totally surprised by SO when I opened a box and found a Barbie Pool…I turned the box over to find a picture of a steel frame pool to replace mine that bit the dust last summer. I also got a TV for my craft room that has Alexa built in. This gift requires me to organize (ie clean up!) my space to find the best spot to set it up. We are big trivia fans here and I received the 2010-2020 decade Trivial Pursuit game. Already had our first game.

I gave my 5 year old niece a V-Tech camera that includes a green screen. We had so much fun together creating videos of us being chased by dinosaurs, swimming with the fish, etc.

DD20 was gifted my 35 year old wool bomber jacket from my alma mater. You know it’s a hit when she immediately put it on and took photos to send to friends.

I made SO a gag t-shirt that he immediately put on as well…he is easily frustrated by people who are ignorant, rude, not following Covid rules etc. The shirt says “I don’t like people.” in large print and then in smaller print underneath “Except for ‘Neisey’. I kinda like her.”

SO and I have been together for years but still maintain our own houses. Each year we gift each other a little something the other doesn’t have that we would like to use when at their house. This year SO got a rolling pin and I got wire cutters 🤣

my husband gave me the laminate flooring i've been wanting to redo our master bedroom. this was big in 2 ways, 1 because he really wanted to replace the carpet with carpet but in the last couple weeks he said he was coming around. 2 because we had a 4 day weekend and he knows i love doing projects, so then i had something to do. had the carpet up and out my christmas night lol, floor all laid the next day. i love it! i haven't finished the transitions yet, because i'm too sore from going gangbusters on the install day lol.