Advent Calendar

I never had an advent calendar growing up. I can't say that I really even knew what it was. Sure, I knew of the Advent wreath at church and the significance of the weeks leading to Christmas, but I never opened any tiny little doors to reveal part of a jolly Christmas scene and perchance a piece of chocolate.

For a few years now I have toyed with the idea of making an advent calendar, but have never felt sufficiently ambitious. After all, 24 days require a LOT of creativity. Well, this year was the year. Forget the chocolates, forget the cute doors and the Christmas scene. Gabe and I needed something a little more our speed. And so our first advent calendar came to be. OK, so maybe this wasn't the most creative advent calendar, but I think it was pretty good for a start, don't you? We (read I) wanted the focus to be on slowing down and enjoying every day of the season together. There is something so rewarding about opening that envelope in the morning and knowing that something special awaits at the end of the day. Why didn't we start this tradition years ago?