We Had A Wonderful Christmas This Year

I have to say that Christmas this year wasn't that bad.  Our Christmas's are never really that bad, but sometimes the past year was better than the last.  It actually turned out a lot better than I had anticipated.  Jason and I started our Christmas day off by putting the presents under the tree because good Lord only knows that if we put them under the tree any sooner than when we had intentions of opening them, the cats would have had themselves a field day.  As soon as I finished putting all the presents under the tree, they were already trying to get into them.  So, it wasn't that much later that we found ourselves opening presents.

Of course we started with our fur babies because as any pet owner should know, pets don't tend to have a very long attention span.  They can't speak of course, but I'd like to think that they had a pretty rad Christmas -- they got SPOILED to the hill!  Don't tell my mother-in-law, but I actually let them leave the house a mess for one whole day.  I didn't get many pictures of Christmas mostly because all the people we know hate having their picture taken.

Please excuse the hanger strap from my sweater.  I kind of just threw on my sweater so that we could hurry up and open presents.  I wasn't really worried about pleasing anyone at the time.

Simba is not allowed on our coffee table and Christmas is no exception to that rule.  So, Jason thought it would scare him if he fake shot him with his candy filled plastic looking candy canes.  Obviously he failed.

Seeing what is in my stocking if my favorite part of Christmas!

I thought the reindeer was cute, so I had to take a selfie with it.  On that note, I haven't really had much hot cocoa this winter.  Shame on me!

I wore these earrings all day on Christmas and got so many compliments on them.  I must admit, they really did look nice on me.

Isabelle is one of the most photogenic cats.

She didn't want to wait!

My house was quite a mess with all their cat toys all over the damn place, but they needed to enjoy their holiday as well.  I also bought them the as seen on t.v "The Perfect Arch".

They both love to rub up against things, so I knew that this would be the perfect gift for them!  It also helps them brush their fur where they can't reach.  It came with catnip as well to attract them to it even more.

Fast forward to about noon time.

We finally made it over Jason's parents house.  We originally intended to be over there about a whole hour earlier, but we were dragging ass.  I never really cared for planning out Christmas that much anyway, especially when people try to force an hourly itinerary on you.  You worked really hard to get Christmas ready, so why rush it and it all be over in a matter of minutes?

We all exchanged our presents and enjoyed a light lunch because we were going for dinner at their friends house around 4 p.m.

Fast forward to 4 p.m.

We arrived at Jason's parents friends house.  They had one of their son's over with his wife and kid.  I was a bit shy at first, at least the whole time we were stuffing our faces.  No one probably noticed that I was shy in the first place because we were all too worried about stuffing our faces and respectfully, I'm not one to chew with my mouth open.  So, I refrain from talking while I'm eating.

I later found out that I had a lot in common with their son's wife, Lori.  She is significantly older than me, has children, married, and probably has a house over an apartment which are things that we don't have in common.  However, we both have a love for purses and a significant other that complains on how we have too many, we both went to college, and while she has experienced a divorce (though she is remarried obviously), I'm a child of divorced parents.  So, she totally understood what I went through when we briefly talked about that topic.

Since my injury, I haven't really got out of the house much, so I don't currently have that many contacts to help me get extended resources on advice on how to better my life as far as being a college student goes and trying to find opportunities.  She is an accountant for a water company and she told me that she is only two levels down from the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) and that she works really close with the CFO of her company.  Being a CFO was my first aspiration when I could just barely call myself a college student.

I really enjoyed talking to her because she really did ease some of my fears of being a graduate and of course the fear of the unknown when it comes to trying to learn a new job and not knowing whether or not you're going to be good at it or if it's really even going to be for you as far as enjoying it goes.

We enjoyed a little bit of strawberry shortcake Arbor Mist which was absolutely delicious!

All in all, it was a great holiday.  

Now, I mostly get to enjoy having Jason home for another eight days with the exception of his forklift certification class on the 31st which is usually a full day (eight hours).  It's nice to spend quality time with him.  When I tell people that, they are always so quick to say, "You live with him for crying out loud!  You always spend time with him".  NO!  There is a BIG difference from spending time and then spending quality time with someone.

Usually Jason sleeps during the day and I sleep at night because I'm out of work still for my injury and he continues to work third shift which isn't going to change much when I find a first shift job anyway.  So, the only time we really speak during the week and on most weekends is when he wakes up to eat dinner before he goes to work.  Right now, I actually get to spend time with him where he sleeps at night the same time I do and we get to spend time together during the day where he isn't tired and we can go do things together.

There is a difference.

The only thing that I really have left to comment on is the fact that after looking at myself in the pictures above from Christmas, all I can say is that I gained a lot of weight in the past couple of years.  I really do have to work on losing weight in the upcoming year.  I'm tired of being tired and not feeling good all the time.  I shouldn't feel this way at 23 years old, especially if I ever have plans of becoming pregnant someday which is a soft subject right now in our house.

Our Plans For Christmas

Christmas Eve - I have to finish doing a few things when I wake up in the morning to get my house ready for company.  I also have to paint my nails.  I have decided on doing Santa's belt buckle as my design.  Jason's parents are coming over.  We are going to watch Christmas Vacation like we do every year.  This is our first Christmas where we are the hosts.  It's kind of neat.  I don't have to do that much work because we are ordering out pizza from Papa Johns.  I'll probably have a few drinks.  Jason's father and I are really the only ones who drink.  Jason and his mother don't drink.  Jason will have one here and there, but that's it.  I could buy a 6-pack of Bud Light and it will last him all year.

Oh yes and I made 32 egg nog cookies to be shared over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

Christmas Day - Jason and I are waking up fairly early in the morning to exchange our presents.  After we clean up and get ready, we are going over to visit with Jason's parents and exchanging presents with them.  We will probably be at their house all day until it's time to go over their friends, Gordon and Alison's house.  We are going over there for a small Christmas get together dinner.  We always have a wonderful time whenever we go over there.  We will probably be out late that night.  I also have a big bottle of Arbor Mist waiting for me in Alison's fridge that was left over from our last visit.  I can't wait to enjoy some wine with her.  Her and I are avid wine drinkers.

What are your plans from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?  Feel free to share your plans in the comments below!

I want to take a minute to wish all of my fellow bloggers a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!  Whatever you do, please be safe!  You can still have fun, but do so responsibly!

Thirsty Thursday -- Christmas Edition! (Link-up)

Hey ya'll!  It's getting closer and closer to Christmas with each day that passes and with that being said, it's time for our Thirsty Thursday - Christmas Edition link-up party!  Feel free to link-up below!

If you're anything like me, you believe that holidays should be reserved strictly for family.  So more than likely, I will be setting social media aside for two days to spend quality time with my family for the holidays.  It's the considerate thing to do!  With that being said, I will be hosting this link-up from December 23rd through December 26th, so that everyone has a chance to link up.

Despite the fact that I will be away from social media for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I will have scheduled posts to compensate for my absence.

For those of you who will be engaging in some social drinking this holiday season, this link-up party should be your cup of tea or err...wine or maybe even mixed drink or shot.  Whatever you drink, let us know!

I will be drinking Arbor Mist, their dessert collection.

As a friendly reminder:  Please, always drink responsibly.  While under the influence, either find a designated driver or park your bum!  Never, ever drink and drive!  Lets all be safe this and every holiday season!

Christmas Day Events, But First My Eventful Wednesday Night

So, my Wednesday night was the night from hell and is mostly why I'm posting late this morning and have no posts caught up on.  Anyway, with Christmas coming up and all, I've been trying to decided what I want to wear, how to do my make-up, hair and nails.  Wednesday night my hand was doing well, so I decided to fool around with nail polish.  I tried water marbling and that didn't go over so well.  Most of my nail polish is either old or inexpensive, so it didn't really spread too well when I went to go put droplets in the water.  So, that was a no-go.  However, I got to looking up nail tutorials on YouTube and came across 'How to do nail designs with a tooth pick". . . and the fun began!

So, I first started off with painting all my nails white (two coats to be exact) and then I did one more coat, but with a almost clear shiny white.  I picked out two colors to do leopard print with; pink and black.  After the top coat had dried completely, I put a drip of pink polish on a piece of paper, dipped one end of the toothpick in the pink polish and made little pink dots all over my nails wherever I wanted them.  After that, I put a drip of black polish on the paper, dipped the opposite end of the toothpick in the black polish and made little c's around the pink dots; placing a random black dot wherever I wanted it.  Here are the results of my leopard print nails:

They are a bit sloppy around the edges, but give a girl with a wrist injury some credit!  This design took me a while, especially when trying to do the design on the opposite hand of my dominate hand.  When I threw this picture up on Facebook, it got a lot of likes, so I guess I did alright.  I figured out a couple of designs I want to attempt for Christmas, but can't decide on which one I want to settle for.  However, I won't be doing all my nails with a design, just the ring finger on each hand.  All my nails will be red as the top coat though.  So, the designs I'm tossed up about are a snowflake, a penguin, or Santa's belt buckle.

Real quick (Here is why my Wednesday night was so eventful): after I got done working so hard on my finished product above, I went to go move one of the nail polishes that I was using to practice designs for Christmas on a sheet of paper with (it just so happened to be red, of course) and the cap wasn't screwed shut.  Well, to say the least, a huge strip of red nail polish (about a foot long) went across our APARTMENT carpet.  I panicked and started screaming for Jason.  Nail polish (especially red) and carpets do NOT mix well at all.  However, I'm glad to inform all of you that after an hour of scrubbing, using a mixture of Shout, non-acetone nail polish remover, Dawn dish soap, and warm water, I finally got it completely out.  I wish I would've taken before and after pictures as proof on how well it worked, but I had to work quickly.

Finally, Jason and I got into an argument because he "told" me to do my nails in the kitchen and that I have no one to blame but myself.  He then insisted on telling me that I needed to get back to work, so that I could pay for new carpet.  This all happened before I was able to completely get the stain out of the carpet.  I get it.  He was just mad in the moment.  We are fine now.  However, out of anger (like an idiot), I slammed my injured hand on the coffee table. . .which of course didn't feel so good; that made for an awful last Physical Therapy session yesterday.

Just FYI, I will list what the color names are and where they can be found from left to right.

From left to right: Broadway Nails can be found at any General Dollar store and the color is Natural Bronze.  Sinful Colors can be found at any Walgreen's store and the color is Black on Black. Pure Ice can be found at any Walmart store and the color is Superstar.  Again, Pure Ice can be found at any Walmart store and the color is First Love.  The last two are both Sinful Colors and again, can be found at any Walgreen's store; the colors are Sugar Sugar and Happy Ending. 

The gold glitter eye shadow is by Wet N' Wild and it's called Brass. C352B to be exact and can be found at Walgreen's.  That is part of my Christmas make-up.  The white flower hair piece can be found at Walmart and is part of my Christmas hairdo.

I will be attempting the last hair style, but I will be placing the white flower hair piece over the elastic and curling the hair in the ponytail.  If you're interested, you can find her tutorial here.

For my make-up, I will be attempting this from C-Flower.  Her tutorial on this can be found here.

Lastly for my outfit and accessories, I will be wearing a red, black, and white stripped sweater, with black leggings and a pair of black knock-off UGG boots that I got at Walgreen's for $24.99.  I will be wearing cubic zirconia star burst earrings that I got from Walmart and a cubic zirconia snowflake necklace which can also be found at Walmart.

If you haven't noticed, I shop at Walmart and Walgreen's often.  Also, you don't have to buy the make-up brushes and make-up that she exactly uses in this tutorial.  One of the eye shadow pallets were like $134.00 and the false eyelashes were around $40.00.  That's a bit too expensive for make-up in my opinion, even if you have that find of money to blow.  I will be honest.  I pay no more than $5.00 per a piece of make-up (whatever I decided to buy) and it works just as well.  I can tell you from personal experience that cheap make-up isn't always cheap quality.  I have a lot of cheap make-up that is of great quality.  I also know from experience that not all expensive make-up is of great quality either.

The Outfit 

I only paid $12.50 for this awesome sweater because it was 50% off at Dollar General.  I'm a plus size women and absolutely LOVE their Bobbie Brooks line for plus size women.  This sweater is a 3x (I'm not really a 3x), but I brought it a little big for the purpose of wearing it as a mini dress over my black leggings.  As you can see from the picture, it has two little pockets in the front.

My boots are knock-off UGG boots from Walgreen's.  Cat hair not included.  LOL.  Yes, when you have cats, you tend to also have their fur everywhere.  FYI for cat owners:  Keep lint roller on you at all times . . . makes for great fur removal.

{Insert Black Leggings Here}

My black leggings aren't anything special.  I believe I got them at Walmart, but I really didn't feel the need to post a picture because every women has at least seen black leggings, if not worn them themselves.

Lastly, here is my jewelry choice for Christmas day . . . they are suppose to be apart of my Christmas present, so don't tell Jason I showed ya'll!  Shhh . . .

I also picked up this little beauty in my Walmart travels:

This is their 'Raining Men' pallet, but I liked it because it had most of the colors that I'm using in attempting C-flowers make-up tutorial and they are super shimmery.  Hard Candy is inexpensive and shows up really well.

Gift Cards And Money Are My Best-friend (And They Can Be Yours Too!)

So, I'm rather excited because I usually get spoiled before Christmas. . .typically around this time actually.  Despite whatever directions my family takes off into throughout the years, I'm still and probably will always be the baby in the family until I have kids, of course.  With that being said, I inevitably still get spoiled even at the age of twenty-three.

A lot of people feel awkward when it comes to trying to decide whether or not to just give money and/or a gift card for a Christmas present.  You might feel like you didn't put a lot of thought into it and people will just think that you took the easy way out.  Well, if you're anything like me then heck no, you won't feel that way!  As I stated in my 'Christmas Tips 101' post, I LOVE gift-cards and even more so, I LOVE getting money!  I might sound selfish, but who doesn't like being able to get out of the house and actually have the mula to go shopping?

Besides, I think that you're being very thoughtful when you give a gift card and especially when you give money!  Here is my thought process on this whole dilemma.  First of all, it helps you to avoid feeling embarrassed that there is a chance that they won't like your gift and you save them the disappointment and inconvenience of not liking your gift and having to return or exchange it.  Secondly, if you gift a gift card, you can hardly go wrong.  There is a very small chance that the person you're gifting to won't like your choice of gift card for them.  If you're giving anyone a gift, I would think that you would know them well enough to at least know of one place that they either like to shop or dine.  Even if you are participating in secret Santa at work, through engaging in non-work related conversations, shopping or restaurants has to come up one time or another.  I mean, lets be honest. . .we don't always work at work.   Then again, if you give money, you really can't go wrong at all.  

Most people refuse to give money because they want the money to go toward enjoyment and they know that smart people will use it toward their bills and let me tell you, that's a Christmas present all by itself to know that you can stay where you're living for one more month.  Luckily, that is not the case with Jason and I.  Granted, we're far from wealthy, but we're at least lucky enough to have the luxury of reserving our money from Christmas toward things that we want.

My mother and grandmother are usually always the most generous to me and even though this post has so far made me sound like a spoiled brat, I truly do appreciate it.  I'll be honest though, growing up, I didn't really appreciate everything they did for me.

When I relocated to South Carolina and had to literally work for everything that I wanted and needed is truly when I began to understand and appreciate the things they did and continue to do for me.  When you are in a situation where you literally work for everything that you want and need to the point where you are living nearly pay check to pay check, you learn to understand the true meaning of a dollar and how hard it is to earn that dollar.  Also, when you are given the extra money to finally get out of the house to do something that you enjoy instead of having to put it toward bills, it feels good.  You appreciate it because you know how hard that person had to work in order for you to enjoy yourself at their expense.  To me, giving money isn't thoughtless.  If someone thought enough about me to give me some of their hard earned money, that is enough thought for me.

So far this year for Christmas, I've been blessed with monetary gifts from my mother and grandmother, but out of respect for them, I will refrain from stating the amounts given to me.  Besides, despite whatever amount they give, it's always greatly appreciated.

FYI: Gift cards and money are also great when you're tight on time!

My First Link-up Party -- Thirsty Thursday, Christmas Edition!

Okay, ya'll!  So, I have decided to link up with Helene @ HeleneinBetween next Thursday, December 18th, 2014 as she will be hosting 'The Best Songs of 2014' link up party!  This is my very first link up ever.  Because the link up is music related, I just had to join the party!  I also got so inspired that I have decided to host my first, very own link up party!  So here goes nothing!

With Christmas being nearly less than two weeks away, I thought I would give everyone fair notice that I'm hosting a Christmas link up party!  I understand that many of you choose to stay away from all forms of social media during the holidays out of respect and strict reservation for family and friends which is completely understandable.  I, too, will most likely refrain from blogging on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!  However, I'm here to tell you that I will be hosting this particular link up party from December 23rd through the 26th, so that everyone who wishes to participate has a chance to link up.

Most people have the entire week of Christmas off.  However, some of us aren't that lucky and just have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off.  Despite whichever applies to you, I'm sure we will all share one thing in common -- getting "turnt" up or if you're someone like me, "white girl wasted" on Christmas in a classy way of course.  Yes, please.  No matter how turnt up or white girl wasted you are, always remain as classy as possible.

So, because Christmas day falls on a Thursday, the theme of this link up could NOT be more appropriate -- "Thirsty Thursday -- Christmas Edition".  We want to know what you will be drinking this holiday season!  So, link it up and let us know!

A friendly reminder:  While drinking, please be safe!  If you are under the influence, either find a designated driver or park your bum for the night!  Keep yourself & others safe!  Don't drink and drive.  Always, ALWAYS drink responsibly.  While we are under the influence, we believe that many things are possible like believing that we are invincible and can fly or drink and drive.  I assure you that the reality is the complete opposite of what you think while under the influence.  Besides, only Santa's reindeer can fly, obviously.  Oh, well, and birds too. . .but not you!

Christmas Shenanigans

Okay, ya'll!  I've been a busy little elf today.  I did all my grocery shopping for the week like a good girl and even though I claimed that I had all my Christmas shopping done, I found a couple extra things to pick up today while I was out with my in-laws.  I really did have a semi-productive day today and that makes me super happy.  I kind of forgot what being productive felt like -- it feels amazing.

So, here are some pictures from today:

This stuff ^^ is amazing!  Very, very tasty and I highly recommend!  They also have it in raspberry sorbet and caramel apple which are put away as part of my Christmas present's .. such a pity that I have to wait!

We just LOVE our penguins!  

More Penguin!  Isn't he just the cutest?

I got this candy cane door jinglier at Hobby Lobby for half off -- got it for $9.00

Haven't quite decided if I like it this way or not, but it kind of reminds me of a candy cane.  Do you see my windows in the background with the sticky gel things?  The 'S' and 'N' are backwards, but oh well.  Felt like being special.  I'm too lazy to fix it now anyway because my giant tree is in the way!

Did gold glitter on the stockings -- this one is mine.  It has a Santa belt buckle on it.  You will see them better when I post closer to Christmas time .. this is just a sneak peak.

The camera doesn't do the cats stockings very much justice, but they did come out pretty good.  Think it was just because I used the flash that it didn't come out that well.  This one is Simba's.

Isabelle's stocking -- they have the same stocking, but this one came out a little better with the picture quality.

Jason's stocking!  I had to fold down the lip of the stocking where it's white because his didn't really have a spot like the others to write on.  His is the biggest stocking out of the 4 of us and it has a BIG penguin on the front -- are you surprised?

I also found some Christmasy pictures on Facebook that I wanted to share with ya'll to contribute to the Christmas spirit.

&

Meet Addie Fausett

Everyone, meet Addie Fausett.  Addie is a beautiful 6-year-old girl from Fountain Green, Utah that is likely to be celebrating her last Christmas this year due to an illness that resides in her brain that has left doctors puzzled.  The doctors have come to the conclusion that there is nothing else that they can do for this precious little girl but make her as comfortable as possible.  However, we can make her time left on earth as special as we possibly can.

Addie has a special request to all of you -- She would appreciate it if you would send her a Christmas card this year!  Please, find it in your heart to fulfill her request.  It won't take much effort, but will make all the difference to this little girl.  Money is tight around this time of year. . .believe me, I understand completely.  However, you will be likely to celebrate more holidays whereas she doesn't have much time left.  It doesn't even take much to fold a piece of white paper in half and create your own Christmas card which I read somewhere that she actually prefers.

Addie was only 3-years-old when her mother noticed that she couldn't even really hold objects anymore -- not even a crayon.  Her speech began going downhill and she had stopped growing.  Doctors were able to diagnose her problem, but not the underlying issue of what was causing her problem.  Basically what is wrong with Addie is that her brain is shrinking and filling with fluid which is called Diffuse Atrophy.  Addie, even though she is now 6-years-old, has never weighed an ounce over 25 lbs.

Just last month, doctors broke the saddening news to her family that Addie has less than a year to live and that her mental state would deteriorate before her physical features; inferring that it wouldn't be long before she forgets who and what she knows.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the only bad news that the family had received this year.  Their father had also just passed away the weekend before last.  The picture above from left to right is Shayley (10 years old), Addie (6 years old), and Audrey (7 years old).  Shayley and Audrey are Addie's sisters.

Children and the Earth which is a non-profit charity for children with medical issues, helps contribute to the medical costs that Addie's family endures.  However, they are taking donations as well to help even more with easing the burden of medical expenses.  Addie's family is going through a really tough time as it is, so I'm sure that they would greatly appreciate any additional resources that are offered to them.

I found out about Addie and her story on Facebook.  If you would like to send her a Christmas card this year, you may mail your Christmas card to the above address.  I know that I will definitely be sending this precious little girl a Christmas card this year.

If anything, pray for Addie!

If you have the means to make a monetary donation to Addie and her family to aid in the cost of medical expenses, you can do so either by clicking here or sending a check to:

Children and the Earth

252 W. Cottage Ave.,

Sandy, Utah

84070

Be sure to mark the envelope to the attention of Addie, so that Children and the Earth know who the donation is going to.

Tis' the Season to be Jolly -- Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, LA!

Fill out and mail your Christmas cards -- Some people include their Christmas cards as part of their gift.  However, there are some people that have family and friends that live across the way that they wish to send a Christmas card.  I typically recommend filling out and shipping off your Christmas card at least a week before Christmas to ensure that your family member or friend receives it before Christmas as postal service workers don't work Christmas Eve or Christmas day.

Bake some cookies -- In my recent travels to the store, I came across eggnog cookie mix from Betty Crocker which I'm super excited to try because I do love eggnog.  There are many different cookie flavors that you can bake this season.  Some of these flavors include sugar cookie, salted caramel, gingerbread, peanut butter blossoms, etc.  It's not just a good thing to bake for yourself, but it's a nice gesture for when company comes over.

Drink eggnog -- Not everyone likes eggnog, so this is really for the people that do.  I LOVE eggnog.  Personally, I recommend Southern Comfort eggnog.  It's really rich in flavor.  For all you daredevils out there, you could even add a touch of the real Southern Comfort to warm the soul.  I actually like to add a dash of cinnamon on top of my eggnog for a nice presentation and for a twist of a cinnamon flavor!

Make some pizzelle's --  Pizzelle's are Italian cookies that my family makes around Christmas time every year!  They would almost remind you of a waffle.  They are made from flour, eggs, sugar, vanilla flavoring and either butter or vegetable oil.  My mother in law has a pizzelle maker which is on the same idea of a waffle iron.  So, we never had the struggle of figuring out how to make them without one.  Lastly, you top off the pizzelle's with a dash of powdered sugar.

Watch Christmas movies --  I recommend ABC Family's 25 day count down to Christmas.  They air all the best Christmas movies! Jason's family and I have a Christmas tradition of watching Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story on the day of Christmas while we are opening our presents.  I highly recommend both movies!  Here is the 2014 Christmas schedule for ABC Family's 25 day count down to Christmas:

Go to a Christmas light display --  Our town has a gigantic Christmas light display that charges you a couple of bucks per a car to drive through, but it's well worth it.  It's called The Lights of Hope.  It takes about 10 minutes to drive through and they have a Christmas radio station that you can tune into in your car, so that you can hear Christmas music as you drive through.  It's really neat.  If you don't have Christmas light displays, quite honestly, I like to drive around random neighborhoods to see all the Christmas displays in peoples yards.

Host an ugly sweater party --  I have yet to do this, but I think it really would be fun!  You could have everyone vote on the ugliest sweater and come up with some sort of a prize for them to win!

Participate in secret Santa --  I have done this before at a place I use to work at in the past.  This is really popular in the work places, but there is no reason that you can't host a personalized secret Santa at your own home!

Purchase the Elf on the Shelf -- This is a fun Christmas tradition to do, especially when you have little kids.  Again, I have yet to do this because every time I go to the store, they are always ALL bought out!  I suppose I could order myself one off of Amazon, but I always forget!  Anyway, once you give your adopted elf a name, it possesses the magic to help Santa manage his naughty and nice list by watching how good or bad the people in the household are being.  He takes off to the North Pole to report to Santa and when he comes back, he chooses a different place in the house to observe all the events of the next day.

Do you want to build a snowman? --  Yes, that is a reference to Disney's, Frozen.  If you live in an area that gets enough snow, build your own personalized snowman to give your yard a more Christmasy feel.  I don't believe you are ever too old to do this!  Snow angels are fun as well!

Drink hot cocoa --  This is one of my favorite parts of winter.  I love, love, LOVE hot cocoa.  I recommend Swiss Miss as a brand.  My mother-in-law makes hot cocoa by using Nesquik, but to each their own.  In my opinion, every proper hot cocoa needs whipped cream and marshmallows!

Grab a coffee -- There are so many Christmas flavors that come out this time of year.  I'm too lazy to brew my own usually, so I have Jason make the daily morning coffee run to Dunkin' Donuts.  They have Snickerdoodle and Sugar Cookie.  I actually prefer Sugar Cookie .. Snickerdoodle is WAY too strong for me.

These are just some of the many things that you can do around Christmas time to exercise Christmas cheer!  What do you recommend that people do around  Christmas time?  I would love to hear your thoughts below!

Christmas Tips 101

I thought that I would share with all of you my personal tips for how to handle the whole Christmas process from decorating to the day of Christmas.  It's not mandatory or written anywhere that these are the ways that you have to do Christmas, but perhaps some people might find the way I do things to be of interest to them or even work in their favor.

Decorate at a halfway decent time --  This is Jason and I's first Christmas on our own, so we decorated literally a week before Thanksgiving due to getting a little bit too excited about doing things on our own.  However, next year we have decided to put the tree up the weekend before the first of December along with all the other decorations.  You work SO hard at doing it all up, why not get the most out of it?  Besides, the month of December is the Christmas month!  I would probably say that we will be putting away our Christmas stuff the day after New Years.

Get all of your Christmas shopping done BEFORE Thanksgiving -- I recommend this tip specifically for mainly two reasons.  Number one, things tend to start becoming picked over from Thanksgiving on.  Number two, there is nothing I need THAT bad to risk my life over, especially on Black Friday.  Granted, things will be a little more expensive shopping before Thanksgiving, but that's fine with me.  Money is made to be spent.  Some people like to be out in all that chaos, but I'm not one of those people.

Use gift BAGS instead of GIFT wrap -- This may make me sound cheap, but gift wrap makes a mess and can't be reused.  Some people find it odd or embarrassing to reuse a gift bag for next year.  Nothing is embarrassing about saving money.  While you may think the bag makes all the difference in the world, it doesn't.  People are more concerned about what's in the bag.  If you're gifting to close family and friends, it shouldn't be that awkward to ask for the gift bags back.  However, if you really feel that awkward about asking for them back, just save the gift bags that your presents came in.

Expensive Christmas cards for the close, cheap Christmas cards for the distant -- Believe it or not, it's not that difficult to drop a hefty dime on Christmas cards.  What I do is, I take the time and money to pick out the fancy Christmas cards with the intricate sayings in them that are relatively expensive for close immediate family and friends.  This would include people like: your best-friend, boyfriend/husband, mother and father (on both sides), grandparents (on both sides), brothers and sisters.  For the rest of the people in your life that are not as close, you can get a Christmas card kit that has 50-100 cards with 4-5 different variety of styles.

On that note --

NEVER, EVER put Christmas cards with money or gift card's in your street mailbox --  Out of all the tips I list here, you BETTER listen to this one.  It's a federal offensive to steal mail out of other peoples mailboxes, but as you all know, people don't always follow the law.  I understand that you may have friends or family that live a distance that you would like to send a little something, but take it to secured postal service mail box.  People have stolen postal service mail boxes before by finding a way to rip them out of the ground and mail carriers aren't always so honest as well, but this method is more likely to be secure than a street mail box.

Gift cards can be a gifters BEST-friend --  If you ever become stumped on what to get someone, get them a gift card.  Obviously if you are buying a present for someone, you should know them well enough to know at least one store or restaurant that they like.  Some people believe that not enough thought goes into a gift card.  Heck, I LOVE getting gift cards.  It allows me to get out of the house and enjoy a day to myself shopping and dining out!  Also, it helps out the awkward situation that you could possibly find yourself in if people turn out to not like your gift or have no use for it.  Some people are not so good at hiding their dislike face.  Others may not say anything, but then you don't know whether they have your gift laying around the house being unused or if they throw it out ... hard earned money going to waste in my opinion.  Gift cards are also cheaper to ship out than presents that have a lot of weight.

Please be courteous -- Please, please, PLEASE refrain from shopping on Christmas Eve and Christmas day!  I realize that some stores remain open on these holidays, but it's out of business greed.  The major holidays should be solely reserved to be spent with family and friends, not working.  Get everything you need before the holiday and if there is a chance that you forgot something, please be selfless enough to do without it.  Remember, there are people out there in the world that are happier with less than what you have.

Don't drink and drive --  Unfortunately, I feel like I have to stress this topic because no matter how much it's put out there, people still do it.  Either find a designated driver or park your ass for the night.  Driving drunk, no matter how important your desired destination is, is not worth risking your life or someone else's if ya'll don't make it out alive.

What tips do you think could potentially benefit others for Christmas?  Share your ideas down below!