Sorry for neglecting you lately.  I’ve been overwhelmed with life and let my blog go.  I promise to be better.  Promise.

Anyways…..

I love Christmas.

Who doesn’t?

I love creating new traditions, making old traditions new with the love of my life, and being with family during the holidays.

My mom loved Christmas.  I see her in everything that is Christmas.  I decorate with some of the very things she use to place around the house.  There are angels everywhere, literally everywhere during Christmas.  I can always find her with me, but even more so during Christmas.

Christmas 2 years ago!

Here are 25 things I would like to do this year for Christmas:

(List adapted from Defrump Me)

1. Create a Pandora station or iPhone playlist with our favorite Christmas songs.

2. On Thanksgiving afternoon, start a new tradition with the littles of making Christmas ornaments.  We can use them to decorate my dad’s tree or just something to take home for their own trees! Okay, so we didn’t do it this year.  But…we could do it any afternoon….right?  

3. Participate in a local charity drive where we get a chance to give to others.  We use to do this every year when I was a kid and it was one of my fondest memories.

4. Movie night with favorite Christmas treats.

5. Have a cookie decorating party with the littles.  Mom use to always do this with us when we were kids!

6. On December 1st travel with my love to pick out our Christmas tree and then drive through Reynold’s to look at the Christmas lights.  (This will be our 3rd year to do this and it’s one of my favorites!) I think this year we’ll be bumping it up to the night before due to some other festivities and the 1st falling on a Saturday.  Still….a tradition just the day before.  

7. Visit a living nativity scene.

8. Go on a train ride, particularly Polar Express.  (Thanks to Michelle for already setting this up!)

9. Decorate a gingerbread house.  (I’ve never done this!)

10. Visit the circle downtown to see the tree and take pictures with the toy soldiers.

11. Make a Christmas card for a soldier.

12. Decorate our Christmas tree while sipping hot beverages and listening, or even dancing, to Christmas music.

13.  Bake a Christmas treat and visit an older loved one who needs encouragement or cheer.

14.  Plan out my special New Year’s resolution and get everything ready.  (I already have it figured out and so excited to put it in action!)

15.  Write our New Year’s resolutions on a slip of paper and put them in our stockings.  Next year we can see how well we did with them!

16.  Go shopping for Christmas ornaments and buy a special one just for Mike.  We do this every year and although our tree may be filled to the max it’s something I absolutely love.

17.  Attend a Christmas play or musical production put on by a church.

18.  Make Christmas cards for friends and families.

19. Open a present on Christmas Eve with my guy.  Some day this will be new pajamas for the little ones.  I have some friends and family that do this and I just love having new pajamas for Christmas morning!

20.  Have a simple potluck Christmas party (maybe ugly sweaters?) with some of our best friends.

21.  Attend a candlelight service with Mike at a local church.

22.  Have a “favorite things” party with girlfriends or at one of our Girls Night Out events!

23.  Spend Christmas day with everyone we love.

24. Try out Christmas at the Zoo with just the two of us or all the family.

25. Avoid using gift tags but instead label presents with a picture of that person.

What are you going to do to make Christmas special this year?

Feeling merry and bright,