It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas. . .

Hello my beautiful readers!!

December is my favorite month of the year. Even though I hate the weather, because the snow/ice is horrible to drive in and I hate the wind and cold, my birthday is in December and of course, Christmas is in December!! I love Christmas shopping for friends and family, it makes me so happy when I see someone open their gift(s) and genuinely love it. Receiving gifts is an added bonus. ;)

This year has been a little bit different because it's the first Christmas that I'm not living at home. As you know, Tom, Lexi, and I moved out of my dad's house in August and we're in an apartment now with our roommate Phillip. I have to admit I'm a little sad because it doesn't feel like Christmas usually feels being on my own. I miss being at home and having my family around all the time. I miss decorating our house together like we do every year, and everyone being in such a good mood around this time of year. It's a little lonely being by ourselves. Thankfully we're going to spend Christmas Eve with my mom's side of the family at my Grandma's, and then we're going to Tom's mom's house afterward. We're spending the night at my dad's house on Christmas Eve so we can all wake up together Christmas morning (mostly for Lexi) and open gifts and go out for breakfast. Normally we spend Christmas Day with my dad's side of the family but my cousin won't be here on Christmas Day so we're going to celebrate with that side of the family a few days before Christmas. Our apartment complex is having a Christmas party on the 21st so we're going to that as well. I'm pretty excited about that, they throw really nice parties with all kinds of food, music, and there are tons of kids for Lexi to play with. The thing I'm most excited about for this Christmas is that on the 28th of this month, Tom, Lexi, and I are driving down to South Carolina to spend a few days there and have a late Christmas with my mom and my oldest daughter Nevaeh. I can't wait!! I miss my baby so much and can't wait to hug her and hold her. I see her every few months and talk to her all the time but it's not the same as physically being there with her and holding her in my arms.

I always do the majority of my Christmas shopping last minute. I guess it's the procrastinator in me, but this year I surprised myself and I can actually say I'm almost done shopping and I still have 8 days left before Christmas. (When I say last minute, I mean last minute, as in, 2 or 3 days before Christmas.) I do shop for some things throughout the year though, for example if I see something on sale that I know someone would love, I pick it up then. I bought something wayyy back in the spring for my the girl that was my best friend at the time, (I don't know what to do with that now though, it's way too late to return it.) and I bought quite a few things for Lexi and Nevaeh during the year. Of course living on our own now, finances are super tight, so it's easier for me to grab what I can for people during the year and then buy whatever else I need right before Christmas.

As for "Christmas traditions", we've been doing some really cute stuff with Lexi (and we'll be doing some more stuff with Nevaeh when we see her later this month). I babysit my friend Brittany's son Adrian, and Lexi, Adrian, and I have been baking a lot. I bake Christmas cookies/brownies/cupcakes and then I let them decorate them. It's a cheap little project but they have so much fun and it keeps them busy. I also bought a gingerbread house from Walmart and I think I'm going to do that with them today. In Schiller Park every year they have a few streets that they specially decorate. One is Candy Cane Lane, Snowflake Lane, Gingerbread Lane, etc. and every house on each block has whatever the block's name is on their lawn and/or house. They decorate it really nice and we always used to drive over there around Christmas Eve to see the decorations. I think we're going to do that with Lexi this year since she's old enough to see what's going on now. I'm excited about that because I used to love it when I was young.

Other than the Christmas preparations, things have pretty much stayed the same. My birthday was on December 3rd and it was OK. My dad took me to Applebees which was nice and I got a few gifts. It still wasn't the same though, I was really homesick that day. Tom has been working like crazy, which is great because we need the money, but it's been lonely since I don't really have a best friend to talk to anymore. Thank God I have my mama because we sit on the phone for hours at a time laughing non-stop. I'm really blessed that I have her, I don't know what I'd do without her. I've been looking for a job too, but it's hard because a lot of jobs right now are seasonal and I want a permanent position. In the meantime to make some extra money, I've been babysitting my friend Brittany's son, Adrian, who I mentioned earlier, and of course doing online surveys. They've been sending me a lot of cool products to test out lately. They sent us diapers (which we didn't need anymore because Lexi is potty trained), 6 different new Bath and Body Works lotions that aren't in stores yet, food, baby lotion, etc. I'll write a separate blog soon about my survey stuff in case anyone is interested. I'm still working out, trying to tone up my body and lose a few pounds. I'm determined to get to the point where I feel confident and sexy again. I'm not fat, but I don't feel sexy anymore. I have been seeing some positive results though. I've been taking pictures and when I get to the point that I want to be at, I'm going to blog about my experience, how I lost the weight, what I did, what I ate, and I'll show before/after pictures that I've been taking almost every month. :)

Well, this ended up being a lot longer than I expected, whoops. ;) Thanks for reading, don't forget to comment!! You don't need a Blogger account to comment.

xo, Sarah