Christmas Gifts for Friends

Here are the gifts Eric and I sent out to our friends and family. We really enjoyed spending the holiday with so many people we care about!

Gifts Between Me & Eric

This holiday was inexpressibly special to me, mostly because of Eric. While it was his presence in my life, and sometimes in my home, that made the occasion so wonderful, the presents between the two of us were heartfelt and meaningful as well.

Those were my gifts from Eric, and for my own dear one, I gave this. It's nothing expensive, but it was made with love.

More Christmas Gifts!

Things have been so busy lately, I know I'm late in posting these, but I'm  hoping everyone will forgive me! I'm so grateful for all the gifts from my friends, and all of you were in my thoughts over the holidays.

From Abigale

From Jason and Breana Bik

From Carver and Winnie

From Jason

From JoAnna, Lucian, and Lily

From Kayden

From Mena

From Oscar

Also from Oscar

From Paula

From Niklas & Talia

From TammyJo

Also from TammyJo

From Fangtasia

From Niklas & Talia

From Waylon

Thoughts Before Christmas

Oh goodness, it's been forever since I wrote here! Things have just been so busy. I guess the holiday season does that to people,

Let's see. Since I last updated, Tara had her baby. I can't believe I didn't write about that! Maya's just the sweetest little thing, and she's named after Gran, which is just so thoughtful of Tara. I know Gran thought of her as another grandchild, so it would've meant a lot to her. She'd be so proud of Tara; I know I am. Seeing her with that baby, she's just a natural mother. It's beautiful.

It makes me wonder about having kids of my own one day, but that's a long way off, if it ever happens. I have a feeling telepaths were really never meant to have kids. I've seen Eric with kids though, and he's just so good with them. He's sweet and gentle, and if he knew I said any of that he'd probably throw a fit, but he really is. He must've been such a good father. I wonder what he thinks about the whole thing, but it never seems appropriate to ask. Maybe one day.

The baby shower was beautiful before Tara went into labor though. Jerica was so good about hosting the whole thing, and Claudia catered it wonderfully. Lafayette fainted during the whole birth thing, but Serge stood outside the door the whole time. I think he's being a pretty good father figure, but I still have to wonder who the dad is. Tara seems in no mood to talk about it, so I'll wait until she's ready. Tara's got a good head on her shoulders, but where men are concerned, she's got some serious trust issues… though not without reason.

That was the 9th, and then the 17th, Eric and I had a few people over at his house. It was a real quiet thing, nothing big that could even be called a party, especially when one of the guests hid in a house plant that she tried her hardest to munch on, but the thing of it was, we had them over to invite them to Sweden with us.

That's where Eric and I decided to do our bonding ceremony after all. He hasn't explained too much what the ceremony's like, but bonding, I'm pretty familiar with, and he said it's almost like a wedding. He's been booking the trip and stuff, and we've been looking at locations online. It's a good thing he speaks Swedish, cause I don't understand a word of those webpages, and Google Translator could not be more useless. I'm thinking I've got to get a dress and stuff too, but I don't know what's appropriate to wear for that. I don't think I could do a wedding gown. It'd just seem inappropriate. What kinda outfit says, "I want to be tied in blood to you forever?"

We'll be gone from January 7th to the 14th, and I'm so excited. I think most everyone else is too. So far, Liam, Bianca, Lacey, Jack, Wes, Nolan, Jenny, Pam, Joanna, and Lily are coming, I think. We've been looking to ask Sookeh, but it's like no one's seen her lately. It's pretty weird.

I also know it's weird we're not bringing anyone from Bon Temps, but I don't feel like anyone there would understand. Eric and I didn't want anyone getting all object-y or angry during the whole thing, and I don't want to explain to everyone a billion times why I'm, "getting involved with a vampire," as they always put it. Tara would say I'm outta my darn mind, Jason would swear his sister was only marrying a vamp over his dead body, which Eric would offer to see to, and Lafayette would say vamps are nothing but trouble. Sam would probably have the same reaction, and I really don't want to lose my job, even if I am still on my leave of absence. Claude would throw a fit too and protest about fairies and stuff, and as much as I'd love to have family with me for something more important, none of my family would be real supportive, and I need supportive, not negative, for this.

The next night, we went to Melissa's wedding. That was real nice. It was in  Paris, can you believe it? Thank goodness for Claude and his poofy powers. He got himself all shopped out while we were at the wedding. Joanna was there too, since Lily was the flower girl, and after the beautiful ceremony, we all got to dance till she fell asleep and Claude took us home. It was a really fun break from stuff back home, and it made me even more sure that… well… that I want it to be me and Eric standing up there promising to love each other forever. Is that real sappy? It's pretty sappy, isn't it…

Then our White Elephant Christmas party was last night, and that was so much fun! It was crazy as could be, with guests coming and going and some having some inappropriate fun in my closet, which Eric promised to clean up, but goodness was it a fun time. Everyone got presents, some sentimental, some useful, some hilarious, and some just darn inappropriate, but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. No one left empty-handed, and we were even able to send a few gifts to friends who couldn't make it.

I got a bottle of evil from Sookeh, and I'm kind of looking forward to using that on a special occasion. I'll think of something. Eric got a Swiffer from Jenny, of course. Everything was just… fun. It was all pretty relaxed, and people ate plenty of food, thankfully. My blood cake seemed to be a big hit, which is a relief, since I never know if vampires'll remember to chew or not. They seem to have trouble with the concept.

Lots of people couldn't make it since it's the holiday season and everyone's busy and all that, but I assured everyone that we'll have another party real soon. Eric seems to be starting to grasp that I really like entertaining and stuff, and he doesn't seem to mind it. He's seeming more comfortable spending time around people, though to be completely honest, I don't think he's fully healed yet. It's nothing anyone but me would notice, but once in a while… he's just in pain.I hate to see it, but I'm doing everything I can to make him as comfortable as I can. We'll take it real easy until the trip, despite Joanna's and Lacey's insistence that we have a bunch of shopping to do, and Eric agreeing wholeheartedly. I'm not real sure why, though. How much colder could Sweden be?

Overall, this is turning out to be one of the best holiday seasons so far. It's not even Christmas yet, and I've gotten to spend time with a bunch of friends, and we've welcomed a new one into the world. I've found new family, I have someone who loves me and who I love with all my heart, and what else could someone really want? Even Hundr's getting into the spirit with his new reindeer ears, though I only let him wear them when Eric's asleep, or he'd say I'm coddling the puppy. Despite all the bad stuff like witches and whispers of unhappy fairies or lurking drainers, it's been a really good holiday season so far, and there's still plenty of it left to enjoy.

Christmas Presents

It's still a little early, but Santa made some pre-Christmas deliveries this year, and I wanted to get a jump on posting them. Thank you to everyone, and happy holidays!

From Alyx and Dave

From Amber and Bubba

From Angie

From Arlene

From Bianca

From Chloe and Rylan

From Chloe and Rylan

From Claude

From Dakota

From Anna

From Hooligans

From Renesmee

From Lacey, Jack, and Wes

From Lafayette

From Lucian, Joanna, and Lily

From Melissa

From Pam

From Pixie

From Ryder

From Paula

From Sookeh from the White Elephant Party

White Elephant Party!

Everyone is invited!

*Gifts can be anything: something you have and don't want, something from a second hand store... anything. DM it to one of us, and we'll wrap it up all pretty. Instead of gifts getting name tags, they'll get numbers. At the party, everyone will draw a number, and you'll get the corresponding gift.

He Loves Me

Eric Northman loves me. I've known it for a while now, but I honestly was never sure he'd actually get around to saying it. I wasn't sure he could say it. He's always talking about how he believes vampires can't love, or vampires can't be happy. I wasn't sure he recognized what it is he feels for me, even though I've known he feels it. I can feel he loves me when he holds me, or when he sees me when he wakes up, or even just when I'm heating up a blood for him. I've felt it, but I didn't really know if he'd say it. I didn't think he knew he loved me.

I never wanted to push him on it either. We've been dating since the beginning of June. That's almost six months, now. I wasn't sure about him at first, and our first date was somewhat of a disaster, but now I can't picture my life without him. I love waking up next to him, I love falling asleep while he holds me, I love making love with him, I love making meals with him, I love entertaining with him, and I love how he trusts me, and I love being able to trust him.

Certain things still make me uncomfortable, of course. I don't like when he spends too much on me, but he has gotten better about it. A lot better, really. And he's truly getting a lot more patient with my friends. He let Tara quit her job at the casino without a fuss, and is even agreeing to go to Shreveport with me to help out with the baby and all that. He didn't try to fight with Serge at Thanksgiving, or even insult him when I explained how many times he and Tara were bonded. Actually, he was great with all my friends at Thanksgiving. He seemed pretty relaxed, talking to Waylon while Waylon pigged out on all the wrong foods.

And now the holidays are here, and I've always thought they were completely romantic. Bill never wanted to do anything for them, of course, but to me they've always been about spending time with family and loved ones. I'm sure we'll have Jason over, maybe even Claude, but I'm just excited to spend them with Eric.

Decorating yesterday couldn't have gone better. We got the perfect tree, even if the way we found it was a little unconventional. I wonder if many couples just pick the tree they're standing next to when they stop to kiss for a while. Eric carried it to the car and into the house like it weighed nothing. I could hardly believe it, though I was a little worried about the whole thing. He's still healing, and I'm pretty sure carrying trees around doesn't help with that. Still, I didn't want to ask him about it and risk hurting his pride. He seemed fine with it, so I let him carry the tree. It was impressive. It usually takes Jason, Lafayette, Hoyt, and Terry to get the tree inside, and even then, it's more of a dragging than carrying.

Stringing the lights was so much easier with Eric there too. Not that I ever forget, but I'm always surprised at how tall he is. He reached the top of the tree with no problems at all, and I was pretty pleased with that. I always hate having to climb up on the ladder for that part. Somehow it never goes well.

Hanging the ornaments was a little tougher, only cause Eric kept coming up behind me and whispering dirty things in my ear. Not that I really complained, in fact I encouraged him just a little bit, but it still wasn't terribly productive. Those dirty things led to sweet things, though, and that was when he told me he loved me. I can still hardly believe it, even after he showed me just how much he loved me under the tree once we finished decorating.

Plenty of things are still uncertain. I don't really know what to do about my job. I'm hoping to talk to Sam about that tonight, among other things. Fangtasia still needs to be rebuilt, and Eric still needs to find a base of operations for his area. There are still a bunch of witches running around who need to be stopped.

I do know that Eric loves me, though, and that I love him. The rest we can figure out, but I know that's what matters most. We'll make our bond permanent by bonding again when it's right, and I can't wait for that night, because I really do believe him when he tells me there are many, many more years of decorating Christmas trees in our future.

Decoration Anticipation

Tonight, Eric and I are going to get our Christmas tree and decorate it together. I couldn't be more excited. This is my favorite time of year, and I'm so glad to get to spend it with someone who means so much to me. A year ago, I never would've imagined myself in this situation. Having Eric hear with me, knowing we have a future together... there could be no better present in the world.

November Gifts

Now that it's the new month, I realized I'm so behind on posting gifts from people! Here are some wonderful things people gave me last month:

From my Eric. It's too much, but it's beautiful, and the flowers went to Gran's grave.

From Lacey as a thank you gift for Thanksgiving dinner.

From Alyx as a thank you gift for Thanksgiving dinner.

From Jo on Thanksgiving, brought to the house.

From Sookeh on Thanksgiving. She's one of a kind.

From Lacey, to go on the tree when Eric and I decorate tonight.

I'm so lucky to have such wonderful friends who think of me like this.