I learned the hard way - so you don't have to!

Yes, I have made big holiday mistakes over the years. For example, I got married at Christmas! No, no! The marriage was not a mistake. It's a keeper. The mistake was having a wedding during the holidays.

But we pulled off our first Christmas as a his-and-hers-stepfamily with six kids, the actual wedding, and moving him and his into my house over the week of Christmas. And, in spite of the chaos - okay, because of the chaos - I learned that year to be very clear on what mattered. It was the beginning of a practice of setting specific intentions about the holiday season. When I do that, something in me relaxes. It's easier to set priorities because I know what I'm after. For me, there's a lot less guilt and a lot more joy.

Twelve years later, we put it to the test when we moved over Christmas - and guess what? The practice paid off. I look back on the year of the move as a really rich, lovely celebration. We even came up with a new streamlined approach to Christmas dinner that we want to keep.

There have been years that I've slid into the holidays with nothing but a big, scary to-do list and multiple wish lists, and those years have been like the nightmare before Christmas. By New Year's Day, I've looked back and wondered how I missed out on the real gifts of the season, which for me are meaningful connections with people, having fun creating a festive atmosphere, spiritual renewal, and sharing treasured rituals.

And because I learned by the necessity of juggling Christmas celebrations around weddings and moves and the challenge of blending two families of kids you dont' have to go it alone! In fact, I'd love to talk with you about what you really want, and how you might create it this year. So, I hope you will invest 30 minutes and $30 to give yourself the gift of less stressful, more meaningful, more fun holidays this year.