Just a few extra minutes....

    One of favorite Christmas traditions is the sending of Christmas cards. When I married my husband in 1995, I sent my first few Christmas cards and excitedly waited for the ones I would receive. I remember opening even more than I had sent! Over the past 20 years, I have been in WV and PA. I have met some awesome people that reach back to high school and flow through jobs, friends made through my kids' schools, the flea market site I began and people trickling in along the way. I am happy to say that I am now up to 100 cards sent out to people who have had some sort of impact on my life at one time or another. Having such an impact every year of my life, I decided to find out where the first Christmas card originated. Taken from mentalfloss.com, this is what I found :)

   The commercial Christmas card as we know it originated in London in 1843. That winter, Sir Henry Cole, a civil servant who helped organize the Great Exhibition and develop the Victoria and Albert Museum, decided he was too busy to write individual Christmas greetings to his family, friends and business colleagues. He asked his friend, the painter John Callcott Horsley, to design a card with an image and brief greeting that he could mail instead.

   Horsley designed a triptych, with the two side panels depicting good deeds (clothing the naked and feeding the hungry) and the center panel showing a family Christmas party. The inclusion of booze at this party got Cole and Horsley an earful from the British Temperance Movement. At the bottom of the center panel was the inscription "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You."


   The card was lithographed on 5 1/8" X 3 1/4" stiff cardboard in dark sepia and then colored by hand. An edition of 1,000 cards was printed and sold at Felix Summerly's Treasure House in London for a shilling each. Of those cards, twelve exist today in private collections, including the one Cole sent to his grandmother.

   Fascinating!

   The first card I address every year goes to my childhood and lifelong best friend, Mandy. We met at 4 years old when our families moved into houses on our street the same day. We were inseparable for many years through elementary and middle school and then my family moved and I had to attend a different school. Checking in throughout the years, we would see each other at high school games and band concerts. I never forgot to send her a birthday card every year in July and have kept in touch through social media. She will always be the first person on my list and in my heart <3 nbsp="" p="">
   My family comes next. Though they see me a good amount throughout the year, I still love to acknowledge that I think of them at all times.

   I just feel wonderful when I drop that stack of cards into the mail knowing that I may brighten someones day. You know, opening a card nowadays is like a birthday party. Since we are in each others lives so much on social media, not many greeting cards are sent out anymore so when one is received, there is definite excitement. Choosing a card, writing out an address, affixing a stamp and dropping it into the mailbox. So simple yet so meaningful to some. There is nothing I love more than to open that card, read the greeting that that the sender has sent for me, possibly see a photo that was enclosed....just brings a smile to my face :) After sending out 100 cards this year, I received 30.

   Although it isn't close to what I sent....each individual card made me smile as much as 100 in return would have. You see, each card is special. It tells me that someone took that time to think just a little extra about me that day. That they cared enough to choose a card that would bring me a special meaning....

   Take this one for example. When I first opened this card, the 3D snowman and the glittery snow jumped at me! Just by looking at the cover, it said to me...Have a wonderful winter and a sparkly, exciting New Year! It also gave me that "cozy inside the house" feeling knowing that somewhere there is a blustery snow going on I am blessed enough to have a roof over my head.

    This card gave me that soft, warm feeling when I pulled it from the envelope. It reminded me that all is calm and all is bright in this Silent Night :) 

   Who could not just love this one since it bestows the meaning of the whole season? Joseph walking Mary to what would be the birthplace of our Lord Jesus. The first gift that ever came about on this day.

   I could list each individual card one-by-one and have something just as great said about each one!

   I also love the photos sent. One of the many surprises about Christmas cards is finding out just what will come out of that red or green envelope. Will it be a gorgeous card, a wonderful Christmas letter to read up on where a family has been throughout this year or even a photo....all of which, I am proud to display on my "Christmas Card Clothesline"...even better when that clothesline fills and I get to use the ledge above as well!

   To those who took a little extra time this year, thank you! Each of your cards made my day, my month, my Christmas. Hope you had a Merry Christmas....have a wonderful 2016!!!