No one ever said having a family was cheap, but this holiday it cost me a lot more than I had planned for.

In November, I bought a plane ticket to go to out west and fetch my boyfriend and bring him back east. I was happy and optimistic, and spent the $150 on a one way ticket with a light heart. The plan: relax at home until Christmas Eve, arrive in the desert Christmas morning, drive north to join his family and friends for holiday celebrations, and spend the next week stuffing his car to the gills to drive it across the country for our new life together. How romantic! What fun!

Thanksgiving day, my brother calls. He is engaged! In the same conversation he grills me about my holiday plans and, "oh, when are you free for the wedding in December?" December! Two weeks later he and S. set the date for the weekend before Christmas. I went back to Expedia and typed in my credit card numbers for a ticket to Florida December 21 to 24, $580. This would get me back home just barely in time for my Christmas flight. Last minute holiday tickets are not cheap, but the trip paid off - not only did I get to see my brother marry the woman he loves, I got to see him full-body dunked in a river as he was baptized into the Mormon church. Seeing my brother, wet and cold, fully clothed, shivering on the banks of the a river more than made up for years old childhood injustices and sibling inflicted torture.

After leaving my extended family and S.'s extended family in Florida, I headed out to the wild, wild, west, to the land of scorpions and my boyfriend's extended family. We launched into a packing and shipping frenzy, trips to the post office, (where we stretched our dollar with media mail, still about $160 on books and sheet music alone), trips to UPS ($45), trips to the store for tape ($12) and to beg free boxes form the stock room staff.

We drove to Boston, leaving a trail of credit card receipts in our wake. Gas alone: $40 a tank, every 5 hours of driving, for a grand total of $400. Questionable Microtel Inn in Tocumcari, Mew Mexico, $54.00, no extra charge for the smoky mirrors. United States road atlas, finally purchased in Missouri, $11. About 23 receipts for watery road coffee, $1 to $3 each. First my boyfriend got sick, and I soon caught his sneezes and sniffles, so we added in two boxes of daytime Theraflu and two boxes of nighttime, $28 total. Two bowls of the best ice cream ever to soothe our sore throats at Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams in Columbus, Ohio, $9.00. And then New York, land of tolls! We dropped at least $20 on the beautiful roads of upstate New York.

Once we got to the east coast, we knew we could relax and settle into our new lives together. I began an aggressive strategy to pay off my debt - 25% of my monthly income would go straight to credit cards. In February, we found out we were already expecting a baby! All of the holiday family time rubbed off on us, apparently. After some panic, we quickly adjusted to thinking like a new family. And new parents think about money!

Families are hectic, especially around the holidays with a healthy dose of young love mixed in. My brother got religion and a good long dunk in a cold river for his love. I got credit card debt, traveled across the country to the land of cowboys and scorpions, and am having a baby this fall. We are all the better for our trials and tribulations, and I am happy to be starting a new crazy family of my own.

I have to have all my 2007 debt paid off before I become a 2008 mom. Please help us become debt free new parents!