Christmas Cat

Thought I'd share a little Christmas joy with y'all!

:-)



12 Days of Christmas: Day 2-6

So I went to the doctor this morning. I have the flu. It is miserable!! But I have all the time in the world to blog. I figured since I am a week behind in the challenge, I will just do several days and try to catch up!


Day 2: Black Friday/Shopping Tips and Tricks

Well, since Black Friday has come and gone, I guess I will just do some general shopping tips. They aren't very good, but here we go!

• Make your list in advance and watch for those items to go on sale
•  Compare prices before you buy
• Set a budget for each person on your list
• Clearance racks!!

Day 3: Most meaningful gift/best gift you've received

One that sticks out in my mind is when my Mamaw and Pawpaw gave me the entire FRIENDS collection on DVD. It's my favorite show, and I have watched the seasons in order many times since then. I know that I will always love this gift!

Day 4: Tips/Tricks to a Budget Friendly holiday season

Two words. Dollar Store. You would be surprised at the cute stuff you can find there. My mom swears by it. We got all of our wrapping paper here. 9 rolls for $9, you can't beat that! They had similar stuff at Target for $3-4 a roll!

Doug and I got our Christmas decorations last year during the after-Christmas sales. We racked up. So if you can wait on any purchase, you will get some sweet deals after the 25th!

And one of my favorites- Secret Santa! Instead of doing gifts for all of your friends or coworkers, draw names and have a fun party instead!

Day 5: Favorite Holiday Movie/TV Show Special

My must-watch movies every Christmas include:

"The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!"

I just watched this last night....such a feel good movie!

I love ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas



And I watch this marathon every year



Day 6: Gift ideas (what do YOU want?)

Well, I made my Christmas List a few weeks ago. Most of the items are pricey so I expect to wait a while before I get some of them! But the Eclipse DVD comes out this weekend so I will definitely treat myself to that :)

12 Days of Christmas Blog Challenge

Aly and Molly are hosting a fun little blog challenge!

It actually started about a week ago, but I couldn't do it because I was out of town for Thanksgiving. But I decided I would just get a late start!

Here are the topics:

Day 1: Christmas/Holiday traditions

Day 2: Black Friday/General Shopping Tips and Tricks

Day 3: Most meaningful gift/best gift you've received

Day 4: Tips/Tricks to a Budget Friendly holiday season

Day 5: Favorite Holiday Movie/TV Show Special

Day 6: Gift ideas (what do YOU want? We all have family/friends reading our blogs...so let them know!)

Day 7: Holiday Craft/DIY (If you don't make anything, what do you WISH you could make?)

Day 8: Least favorite thing about the Holidays

Day 9: Favorite Holiday recipe

Day 10: Favorite Christmas Songs/Caroles

Day 11: New Year Resolutions

Day 12: Show us your decorations (indoor/outdoor)

Day 13: Favorite Cookie Recipe

Day 14: Oprah's Favorite Things: What item(s) would you want if you were in the audience?

If you love Christmas, then join in the fun!

Day 1: Christmas Traditions

I love Christmas mornings at my parents' house. We would wake up and look through the gifts that Santa brought. Then we read scripture of Jesus' birth, sing happy birthday to Jesus, and blow out the candles on whatever we were having for breakfast. Then we would open the rest of our gifts and stockings. I just think that is a lovely tradition that I definitely want to carry on with my own family. I think it is so important to remind everyone (especially kids) that Jesus is the reason for the season, not Santa, or gifts, or food.

My family also loves games. All of us are very competitive (except for my mom- she is the peacekeeper) so we always play a few board games whenever we are together.

When I think of Christmas Eve, I think of watching The Christmas Story marathon until I can fall asleep. And I watch Elf every year...it never gets old!

Doug's family also has some wonderful traditions that I have enjoyed for the past 2 years. They have a White Elephant gift exchange, which I LOVE, and his Aunt Ginger plans lots of games for all of the kids to play. I thrive on competition, and I usually have a hard time letting kids win (whoops!) Some of these games include guessing how many M&Ms are in the huge jar (winner gets the M&Ms!), Christmas trivia, Christmas charades, pass the gift, and my favorite from last year, one-handed gift-wrapping! (Doug's cousin, Avery, and I were the champs of this one! :)

This year is very special because it is our first Christmas as husband and wife! I am so excited to carry on these traditions and to create our own. Since I will be heavily drugged on Christmas, we are going to pick a day before then and pretend that it is our Christmas morning.