I love winter. Sorry, cynics, but it’s true. I know, it lasts forever up here in Grande Prairie, but I decided a long time ago that I could either hate where I live for eight months a year, or I could decide to accept it, and maybe even learn to enjoy it.

So yes, I love winter when it’s not -40 (I have my limits), and I really love the Christmas season. I love the lights, the food, the friends and family…

However, sometimes we struggle with what to give as a gift. We agonize and get all worked up, trying to find the perfect gift, trying to find gifts for everyone.

For me, though, the key part of the holidays is not the stuff, it’s the people I get to spend time with. That’s what it’s really all about; the chance to sit back, relax and spend time with the loved ones.

I don’t really want or need a bunch of stuff (though that new DJI gimbal looks pretty sweet…), and the older I get, the more I realize that what a lot of people are looking for isn’t stuff either. It’s connection.

The joy of Christmas is not opening the presents, but in sharing the experience with family and friends. It’s getting together for supper with the extended family, seeing faces that I might not have seen since last Christmas.

I might be biased, but I bet your significant other? Would love the gift of you this holiday season. Would love to spend time with you, would love to see more of you.

And would love an album full of pictures of you.

Yes, you could knit a pair of socks (my mom used to make my the greatest knit socks, which I still keep in a bag in the basement, well after the bottoms wore out, to remember her by), or make some fudge (my sister would make me some every year, until I realized she was trying to kill me with all that sugar…). Both of these are perfectly valid options.

But an album of photos would be awesome, too.

Because it’s the gift giving time of the year, I will be giving away a 10X10 custom album, valued at over $1500, to one lucky client. In order to be eligible, all you have to do is book a session between now and Christmas.

Because I like to give, too.