Weekly Recap #4

This week was definitely spent on Christmas prep! I was so glad that I planned ahead and purchased everything I needed prior to this week, so I basically got to chill at home at the beginning of the week. Cookies were made on Tuesday and Wednesday, while appetizers and a few side dishes were made on Thursday. It was a crazy couple of days, but we made it through.

Christmas was amazing. Spent with people I love the most in the world. Christmas morning is just my immediate family, then my siblings and other in-laws come by for Christmas dinner. Perfection.

Santa arrived!

He is SO into Spongebob right now.

All the kiddos at my house on Christmas.

My husband got me the Garmin Vivoactive Smart Watch - which is exactly what I wanted. Obviously, I can't do much with it now, but I plan to get back on track with my health and fitness once these babies arrive. This watch is going to get a ton of use. It's great!

I spent the rest of the weekend with a little bit of stomach pain, so I rested and didn't leave the house at all. It was just what I needed. I'm thinking that the remainder of my time until the twins get here will be spent this way.

On to goal setting! These were my goals from last week.

• Goal #1: Eliminate soda for 1 more week. Negative on this one this week. I'll admit that I only cheated on Christmas Day with the holiday punch that I made (with ginger ale), and a few cups of Coke. I couldn't help myself!
• Goal #2: Take items for donation to Goodwill. We took 3 contractor's bags and 2 large trash bags full of stuff to Goodwill! Lots more to come in the coming weeks, I hope!
• Goal #3: Spend 30 minutes organizing the basement. Nope. I really wanted to get started on this, but with the stomach pains I was experiencing, it was best to just rest this week.
• Goal #4: Wash baby bouncers and swings. Got it all done. Just waitin' on the babies now.
• Goal #5: Have a Very Merry Christmas!  Of course we did - and I hope you did too!

Three out of five isn't too bad, right? These are the goals I hope to tackle this week.

Goal #1: Eliminate soda for 1 week. Back to square one. Let's see if I can make it through this week with no soda.

Goal #2: Purchase gifts. My nephew's birthday party is this weekend, as well as "Christmas" with my dad's family. I need gifts for BOTH occasions. Why oh why didn't I purchase these gifts earlier?!?!

Goal #3: Spend 30 minutes organizing the basement. I hope to try and start this project this week. It's long overdue! I started doing this a couple of weeks ago and made a lot of progress, then just stopped going down there. I'm sure I could get a lot more done in 30 minutes.

Goal #4: Purchase and install blackout blinds for the twins. I've been meaning to get these for awhile because they really helped my son stay asleep when he was a baby. I'm mad at myself that I waited this long to do it.

Goal #5: Spend NYE with my family in our jammies...and stay awake till midnight! I'm hoping to last all the way to 12:00am without sleeping. This one will be tough!

Have a great New Year!

Five Things I Believe

Christmas Day is in a couple of days, and my mom recently told me that some schools in New York were banning the image of Santa Claus because they deemed Santa a "religious figure". Um..say what? Santa Claus a religious figure? I don't know about that. Nowhere in the bible is a jolly man with a red suit mentioned...or maybe I just missed that part. The conversation got me thinking about my own belief system, because there are things that I firmly believe that others do not. Does that mean we can't be friends? I hope not. But it does mean that I operate my own brain, and don't necessarily hop on the bandwagon just because it's now universally, or legally, accepted.

Believe - to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so.

So here goes, 5 things that I believe:

1. Jesus is the reason for the season. I believe that Jesus Christ dies on the cross for my sins, and that he rose again on the third day. I don't need to see pictures, or other artifacts as "proof", it's just something I believe. He is the reason my family is celebrating Christmas on Friday.

2. Life really is what you make it. Maintaining a positive attitude will add years to your life, and greatly reduce your stress levels. I try to remain calm in any situation and look for the good, or the silver lining, in any difficult time. It doesn't always work (hey, I'm human and am entitled to a meltdown or two), but I find that I am generally happier when I make the conscious effort to be happy. It's very easy to get angry, so I just focus on the positive.

3. Traveling is good for the soul (and the best form of education). If I could travel year-round, I really believe that I would. Visiting new places and cities is my favorite thing in the world to do. It really doesn't matter to me how far I go, but visiting somewhere I've never been is definitely my happy place. And all the better if my family's with me.

4. People will forget what you said, but they'll never forget how you made them feel. I know this from experience. So many of my family members and friends think that I'm this tough girl with a no-nonsense exterior, but only few know how truly sensitive I am. It sucks, but I do remember how people have made me feel when they took a jab at me. I try to think about what I'm going to say before I say it, to prevent other people from feeling bad.

5. There is a "RIGHT" way to do things, and a "WRONG" way to do them. This one is totally subjective, of course, but I experience serious anxiety when someone is doing something differently than the way I would have done it. I know it sounds weird, but once I formulate a plan of action in my head, to me that's the way it has to be done. A point of contention in my marriage, for sure, but it's something that I don't think I can change at this point. Believe me, I've tried.

Have a Very Merry Christmas with your families, all!

The Spirit of Giving

'Tis the season for GIVING!

Christmas is such a wonderful holiday. Aside from celebrating Jesus' birth and spending time with family, one of my favorite things to do at Christmas is watch my friends and loved ones open their gifts. I spend so much time trying to find the perfect present for someone, and it is so gratifying to see them open something that was chosen specifically for them.

Kids are super-fun to watch too. They love everything they get! Hardly ever a complaint.

I try my best to give the perfect gift, but a few years ago I failed miserably. Failed and I knew it. Why? Because my sister told me so, that's why.

Here's the scenario.

Back in 2009 or 2010 (in the heart of the most recent recession), many of my family members, including myself, were under some level of financial strain. We collectively decided to make that Christmas a "light" holiday and not spend more than $15 on one person. Tough to do, but doable. Everyone was on the same page knowing that each gift was purchased on a tight budget. No one thought they'd be getting diamond earrings or anything.

Now normally, even if you royally screw up a gift, the recipient is gracious and thanks you anyway, right? Well,not when you're giving a gift to my sister.

I was buying a few things on the LTD Commodities website (and if you've ever visited the site, you know the items can be priced pretty cheaply). I ended up finding these glass beaded necklaces to give my sisters and purchased one for each of them.

I wish I could find an exact picture of the necklace, but this one will have to do. The one I purchased was very similar to this one, except I think the pendant had a flower on it.

I was filled with nervous anticipation watching her open the box. I fully expected to hear a "Oh, thank you!", or at least a "that's nice". What I got instead was a "Er...what is this?"

Admittedly, I was crushed. I think I even almost cried. I felt so bad that she didn't like the gift. Could she have been more gracious about it? Sure. But in the end the outcome was the same. She just didn't like the gift. It was, by far, the worst gift I had ever given.

With Christmas coming up in about two weeks, I am reminded of this crappy gift, and vow to do my best to prevent a repeat of that year. I still look forward to purchasing gifts for my loved ones, and now pay even closer attention to things I think they will like or will use. And I will stay away from glass beaded necklaces!

O Christmas Tree

I love putting up the Christmas tree every year. This year was definitely a challenge, as our pre-lit lights literally went out on the tree. Do you know how hard it is to take off those strands of lights??? I love our tree so much and I didn't want to toss the tree, just because most of the lights stopped working - which is exactly what my husband wanted to do. He warned me that it was a tedious job, but of course I didn't listen. Our tree has 2 parts - the large base, and the small top. Just to get the light strands taken off the teeny tiny top piece took me an hour and 20 minutes! I'll tackle the bottom half next year, but the bottom line is - we kept the tree!

This year's tree - still looking for a good topper.

My ex-mother-in-law always put up a gorgeous tree. Every year had a different color scheme and she would spend lots of time and money buying new ornaments, bows, and ribbons. Was her tree beautiful? Absolutely. It looked like something out of a magazine. But there was one thing that her tree definitely wasn't, and that is: personal. My family's tree probably won't ever be listed in any magazine, but my tree is full of memories, not just ornaments.

I took some photos of my favorite ornaments and thought I'd share them with you. I'm trying to get used to my digital camera again, so please excuse the super unprofessional look. My husband is always on me about having such an expensive camera that I never want to touch, so I'm planning on re-familiarizing myself with this bad boy in 2016.

The Book Tree

I got this ornament at an ornament exchange party that I attend every year. At this particular party, I had the good fortune of having the very last number for our elephant exchange. That meant that I had to open the last box and I had the unique opportunity of being the last person that could trade in my box for another one that was already opened. I had my pick of them all! And you should know that all guests at this party take their ornament purchasing skills very seriously. The minimum value is $10.00, so you can imagine there are some really nice ornaments to pick from. I opted to stick with my box and ended getting the one I would have wanted most anyway. I'm an avid reader (I surpassed my Goodreads goal for the year back in September) and received an Christmas tree made out of the pages of a book. LOVE this ornament!

The Glass Tree

I love to travel. I would go just about anywhere - especially if I've never been there before. My "thing" is to purchase an ornament from each city I visit so that I have a memento of my travels that I get to revisit every year on my tree. This particular tree came from my trip over Labor Day weekend to Pigeon Forge, TN. There's a hotel there, The Inn at Christmas Place, with a GIANT Christmas shop associated with it. I purchased a lot of ornaments there (including my pick for this year's ornament exchange), but this one is by far my favorite. It's a gorgeous blown glass ornament that my sister also wanted to buy. But, of course, this just so happened to be the last one they had. Luckily she conceded and let me have it. Small victories.

The Glass Heart

I have had this ornament since 1998. Originally, it came in a set of 12 from LTD Commodities, but this is the only one I have left. It means so much to me because it's one I purchased the very first time I was pregnant, a time before I was a mom. In fact, I purchased this ornament the first year after I moved out of my parent's home. My first foray into adulthood. Not many ornaments last for so many years - we all know that the other 11 in this set didn't - but I would be absolutely crushed if something happened to this one.

Baby's First Ornaments

What tree would be complete without baby's first Christmas ornaments? These ornaments are from 1999 and 2010. I'm just realizing that they are both bear ornaments. That was totally unintentional. Funny though. Next year I'll be adding TWO more baby's firsts to the tree. Maybe I'll look for two more bear ornaments. Ha!

My First Ornament

This ornament is, by far, the oldest ornament on my tree. This golden beauty has been around since 1977! I am the only one of my four siblings that has their own personalized ornament, and I can't believe my mom still had it! I reclaimed it a few years ago and it's new home has been on my tree. I just hope my daughter carries the tradition on and hosts it on her own tree one day!

Do you have a favorite ornament story? Is your tree filled with personal mementos too? I'm sure I'm not alone in this eclectic decor.

December Love

The first of December seemed like a great day to start a brand new blog. I've been wanting to start anew for awhile now. In fact, my last blog post from my first blog was written over three months ago. I wish I knew exactly what happened, but I think my disinterest stems from feeling like I "had" to write another post. I have spent quite a bit of money over the years on my original blog with hosting fees, blog design fees, and general blog maintenance so I had to monetize it as best I could. After awhile, I found that more and more of "me" was taken out of my blog, and I was just writing one sponsored post after another. Now I'm not knocking sponsored content by any means, but I do feel like I started saying yes far too often, and my "personal blog" started to become less and less about my life and my family.

Last Year's Christmas Tree - 2014

So that brings me to today, December 1st, 2015. It's not exactly a new year, but it's the start of a new month...and the funnest month of the year, in my opinion. There's so much to love about December - from the holiday gatherings, to the festive lights and decorations seen throughout the neighborhood, to holiday shopping and cocktail parties. It is absolutely a magical time. I honestly get so bummed mid-January when the streets go dark again when everyone puts their holiday lights away. Winter in the Chicago area can be downright gloomy and depressing, and the absence of holiday lights kind of kicks that off for me.

One of my favorite things to do in the weeks leading up to Christmas is driving around, trying to find the grand holiday light displays. We haven't been out yet this year since I've been sick since Thanksgiving - and being pregnant on top of that hasn't helped. Hopefully we can see a few new ones this year though. Here are some pics of displays we saw last year. So beautiful.

Naper Lights at Naper Settlement in Naperville, IL

Mooseheart Holiday Lights in Aurora, IL

Gorgeous Home in Geneva, IL

Illuninations at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL

Holiday Lights in Rosemont, IL

Zoo Lights at Brookfield Zoo

The video is from the Larsen Light Show in Elburn, IL from last year. This enormous single-family home puts on the best display in the area, and probably in Illinois - hands down!

I don't know how much I'll be able to get out - having twins in about a month and a half hinders movement a bit - but I will try to see a couple of new displays. Stay tuned - I'm sure I'll post them here.

I hope you'll stick with me on this new blog journey. While I can't promise that I'll never monetize (a blog has to evolve at some point, after all), but I do promise that I will bring you a more authentic me and share with you all the craziness that is sure to ensue next month.