5 Things I Learned in 2021 {01.03.2021}

 

Hello and happy Monday friends! Today is my first day back to work in two weeks and I am struggling.  It was so nice to take some much needed time off work, but it's always so difficult to go back to work after a long break.  Today I thought I would share some of the lessons I learned in 2021.  Last week I did a post with all of my favorite photos from 2021 which highlighted a lot of great things that happened last year.  Today's post will be a compilation of all the things I learned while we were going through the entirety of 2021.  So here are the five things I learned in 2021.

1. Grace is of utmost importance.  2021 brought with it a lot of things that required me to offer grace to myself and others.  It seems like the year brought out the worst in a lot of people which made it hard to be loving and kind at times.  When I found myself frustrated with family, friends or myself, I would try to step back and remind myself that I don't know the whole picture and it's important I give them grace and understanding.  When I was feeling particularly disappointed in myself, I would step back and remind myself that perfection is not the goal, the goal is forward motion.  Giving grace to others also allowed my to give grace and patience to myself.

2. It's okay to not be okay.  I learned a few months ago at my session with my counselor that counseling/psychologists/psychiatrists are one of the most demanded professions right now.  This is because so many people are simply not okay and have not been throughout the pandemic.  This one was hard for me in 2021, but it all came to a head in September when I had such a bad panic attack I had to go to urgent care because I was afraid something was wrong with my heart.  I had been denying so long that I was not okay that my body manifested the biggest warning sign it could.  I'm happy to report that I've gotten the proper help I needed and I'm starting 2022 in a much better head space.  And I've accepted that it is okay to not be okay.  

3. Less clutter = clearer headspace.  Over the last year I have been working to remove clutter from my life.  This looks like reducing my stuff down to only what I need versus keeping things just because I can (this even goes so far as to unsubscribing from companies from which I no longer need to receive emails).  There is nothing more frustrating to me than when I go to look for something and I cannot find it because everything is a mess.  Having a space that is more organized and less cluttered has allowed me to really free my mind up for other activities that bring me joy.  I'm not 100% done with everything, but we've got plans to get it finished next year and I'm excited.

4. Your health, your wellbeing and your loved ones come above all else.  Kevin Liu said this best in his 21 Life Lessons I learned for 2021 post.  2021 has made me greatly realize the importance of reminding my friends and family how much I love them.  I know I talked about it before, but my mom was hospitalized with COVID in January and my friend lost her mother in May.  These two events made me realize how very much I take my mom's presence for granted.  It has forced me really focus on those that my life would be forever changed if I didn't have them anymore.

5. Actions speak louder than words.  This is such a cliché saying, but for me this year has really shown me that actions really do speak louder than words.  When we were going through the unimaginable of losing a pregnancy, how people responded showed me who I could really lean on when I was going through something big.  That's not to say that the people who didn't show up how I needed them to "failed", it just showed me that when push comes to shove I know who I want in my corner when I'm going through something difficult, and who would be better off loving from afar during a difficult time. 

Those are the five big things I learned in 2021.  I hope you enjoyed reading this post.  I am going to be back tomorrow with a Tuesday Things post so be sure to stop by! 

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Disclosure: Some of the links in the post above are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. Read my full disclosure policy here.

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2022 Goal Planning {12.31.2021}

Hello and Happy New Years everyone! I hope you have some fun plans for tonight.  We're having a quiet night at home together and I'm excited to just be able to relax.  Tomorrow we're starting 2022 by spending time celebrating Christmas with Justin's family and I'm excited.

I wanted to pop on to talk a little bit about my goals for 2022.  Every year I put together a list of things that I plan to accomplish in the coming year, and my like everyone else I tend to not stick to them so this year I am going to try and be as specific as possible to find ways to stick to my goals in 2022.  For now, I am going to break them down into four categories: Health, Wealth, Personal and Business.  So let's get started!

Normally I would be putting something on here about finally losing all the weight, but this year I am going to take another approach.  Instead of focusing on losing weight, I want to work on falling in love with my body again.  This will look like exercising my body to improve mobility and mental health, drinking an appropriate amount of water every day and fueling my body with healthy foods.  As health is more than physical, I am also going to work on mental health as well in 2022. 

Exercise:

For exercise, I am aiming for 30 minutes of any exercise a day.  This could look like going for a walk, taking a yoga class on YouTube or hopping on my Peloton for 30 minutes.  I don't want to do anything too crazy, but need to make sure that I move my body every day - making sure some days I push myself a little harder and others I listen and take active rest days.

Water:

The old idiom is that you need to drink 1/2 your body weight in water a day, but I have actually found that I make myself ill when I try to drink that much.  For now, I am setting my goal to 80oz {or 2.36 liters for non-US friends} of water a day.  If I get to the point where I am consistently doing that much and feel I need more then at that time I will increase the amount.

Fueling my Body:

For me, food is a source of comfort and has been for years.  For 2022, I want to work on readjusting my relationship with food and focus on how food is fuel versus comfort.  This will look like eating healthier meals at home and not ordering out as much as we had previously.  And if we are going to eat out, try and order a healthier option.  This also means limiting my amount of caffeine a week to help keep my anxiety levels down.  I also need to make sure I take my vitamins - I take Vitamin D, Prenatal vitamins, Omega 3 and Probiotics. 

Mental Health:

If 2021 taught me anything, mental health is just as (if not more) important than physical health.  Between our miscarriage and all of the stress we had last year, I was not in a good headspace mentally and it just got to the point where I was completely shutting myself in.  In 2022, I am going to continue doing the work I started in 2021 to make sure my mental health keeps moving in the right direction.  This will include continuing my monthly sessions with my counselor, communicating my mental health needs to those around me and making sure I acknowledge when my anxiety is bad and do what I need to to do give myself a break.

In 2021, Justin and I worked very hard to pay of the remainder of our credit card debt and I can say that we were able to finally do that; however, we had a little hiccup at the end of the year when we were both feeling sad and did a little damage that we need to fix early in 2022.  It's nothing major, but still something that needs addressing.

In 2022, I would really like to see the following three things happen:

1. Pay off all credit cards again (which should be no problem as it wasn't a lot in the first place).
2. Finally pay off my student loans.
3. Pay off my car.

Another goal we have is to get Justin a new car in the Spring.  He has had his car for 11 years and it is about time that we go ahead and get him a new one.  We have our eye on a Chevy Blazer and I am so excited.  I'm ready to have a bigger car.

Once we meet our goals for 2022 financially, we are going to look at starting to save a 6-month emergency fund.  This means that we would save enough money that if something happened and we were both unemployed we could live comfortably for 6-months.  We will definitely not hit that goal this year, but if we can get started I'd be thrilled.

Personal goals are one of those that are usually all over the place.  Personal goals usually include things goals that I have for myself and goals that I have for our house so I will include both in my life.

Goals for myself

In 2021, I had set a goal to read 40 books and I managed to only read 12.  There is no reason that I could not have read more, but I just was not motivated.  So for 2022, I am giving myself the same goal to read 40 books which is about 3.5 books a month.  The only difference between this year and last year is I am putting together my list of 40 books now so I have a plan.  Be on the lookout in a few weeks where I will share all the books I have planned to read in 2022.

The next goal is relating to skin care.  I am horrible about is taking care of my skin.  Thankfully, I've never had any major issues with my skin, but I do end up with crazy dry patches which could be easily solved by regular care outside of just washing.  For 2022 my goal is to improve my skin by washing and moisturizing my skin two times a day and doing 2-3 face scrubs a week.  If we can swing it financially, I'd also like to get regular facials.  I'm thinking every 2 months would be good, but it will depend on how our budget is panning out.

In the last few months, I have really come to enjoy posting blog posts more regularly, so I have given myself a goal to post 3 times a week for the entirety of 2022.  This will include some new and fun topics and also include some of my regular posts that I was doing prior to Blogmas.  If you have any ideas of things you'd love to see me post, please let me know! I'd be happy to do more things that you're interested in reading.

I have been working hard to try and post more on my Instagram, so I have set my goal to get to 500 followers by the end of 2022.  If you don't already follow me, be sure to check my out: https://www.instagram.com/lifewithmejackabee/.  If I can, I'd like to do a post a day for the entire year, but my main goal will be to post 4-5 times a week on my main Instagram and post regularly on my other accounts. 

The last goal I have for 2022 is to do better at maintaining our home.  I got into a decent routine when we both started working from home so I would like to make sure to pick that back up in the new year.  I actually have a weekly cleaning schedule that I try to stick to so I will be picking that back up again.

In August I started a Facebook Group where I share deals that I find on Amazon.  When I started the group, it was really more so for me to have a way to make a little bit of money on the side.  However, over time I started really enjoying doing the posts and really liked getting to meet new people through my group.  I am planning to keep that group going in 2022 and have set myself up with some goals for next year:

1. Have 500 members total in the group by the end of 2022.  As of today I am at 91 members, so I'd need to get 409 more members to hit my goal. 
2. Earn $300 total in 2022.
3. Expand my offerings for deals.  Right now I have 2 opportunities to share deals with the group, but there is one brand with which I'd like to be an affiliate so my goal is to be an affiliate with them by the end of 2022. 

If you're interested in joining the group, check it out here: Shop with Me, Jackabee.  Every month I do a giveaway for those that participate and as we hit new member goals I will be doing giveaways as well.

If you made it this far, thanks for sticking around! I know it was a lot to read, but I am excited to see what 2022 will bring for us.  I love the start of a new year and look forward for a fresh start.  But I am also so thankful for 2021 and all the lessons it brought with it.  To keep myself accountable for 2022, I am planning to do a monthly check in post toward the end of each month.  I created myself a little tracking sheet on Excel where I can log whether or not I completed the goal for the day.  Once I get it all set up, I will also be using a bullet journal to track everything.    

Well that is everything for today! Do you have any goals for 2022? If so share them here in the comments or over on my Facebook Page. 

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Disclosure: Some of the links in the post above are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. Read my full disclosure policy here.

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Favorite Photos of 2021 {12.30.2021}

 

Hello and happy Thursday Friends! I hope your week is off to an amazing start and you are looking forward to New Years Eve tomorrow! We are going to have a pretty quiet holiday tomorrow, but I am glad to be able to have some quiet before we go back to work next week.

For today's post, I thought it would be fun to share my favorite photos from 2021.  In a given year I can take anywhere from 1,000-3,000 photos, so it was hard to narrow down everything, but I thought it would be a fun way to do a quick recap of our year and all the great things that happened.

Well that's everything! I know I threw a photo of our ultrasound in there, but while there is a lot of heartbreak around that particular photo, I am so thankful that I have it.  Fingers crossed 2022 will be our year to become a family of 3 humans and 3 cats.

Come back tomorrow and see what goals I have for myself for 2022.  I'm working through them all and trying to come up with a solid plan. 

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Disclosure: Some of the links in the post above are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. Read my full disclosure policy here.

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tuesday things {12.28.2021}

    

Hello and happy Tuesday friends! I hope you are enjoying a break after all of the holiday festivities over the last week.  Thankfully Justin and I have the week of this week so we will be relaxing at home this week and doing a few things here and there.  I'm also meeting my friends brand new baby girl today and I am so excited.  

Today is the last Tuesday Things for 2021.  How in the WORLD are we in our last week of 2021? It feels like this year has flown by, but I am so ready to start 2022 and look forward to all the exciting things that it will bring.  So let's get started on five random things over the past week.

1. My friend gave me a cross stitch kit that days "Doing My Best" and I have to say I was very excited to receive this gift.  I love doing cross stitch but it has been very long since I've had an opportunity to work on a cross stitch so I cannot wait to finish it.  I started working on it last week but I am excited to see how it turns out.

2. I had a ton of fun doing Blogmas this year! I think it's something I am going to do every year because it was so inspiring and really helped me have a creative outlet.  Did you enjoy Blogmas? I'd love to hear what you think in the comments below.

3. Justin did such a good job with my Christmas gifts this year.  I'm honestly a bit overwhelmed by how generous he was with everything.  Over the next week or so I will be making my way through everything and testing a few things out.  

4. Last month we went through and reorganized my jewelry.  I saw my friend using a peg board from Ikea to hang her jewelry and loved it, so we copied the idea and put my jewelry in my master bathroom so I would have access to it.  I'm hoping this will make me more inclined to try other jewelry instead of wearing the same things every.single.day.

5. Our middle kitty turned 9 on Sunday! It's so crazy to me that we've had a few of our cats for 9 years now - it feels like we just got them, but in all reality they are moving into the senior pet category. In my head they should be living another 9 years but only time will tell. 

Well that's everything for this Tuesday! I hope you have a great rest of your week. 

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Disclosure: Some of the links in the post above are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. Read my full disclosure policy here.

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Blogmas Day 25: Merry Christmas {12.25.2021}

Hello and welcome to the very last day of Blogmas! I cannot believe we made it through all 25 posts and we are down to our last week of 2021! This year sure has been crazy.  After today's post, I'll be taking a few days off to enjoy time with friends and family, but will resume towards the end of the month.

For today, I just wanted to pop by and wish you all a Merry Christmas.  If you do not celebrate Christmas, then we are wishing you a Happy Holidays filled with love and joy.  Every year for Christmas we spend the morning together eating Monkey Bread and exchanging gifts just the two of us.  This gives is the opportunity to have a quiet morning together before we make our way out to spend the rest of Christmas with our families.

Once we have had a chance to get our day going, we will usually make our way to the movies with my parents.  With the exception of last year, this is something we've done for a long time.  I am not quite sure if we will be seeing the movie at the theater or be watching a movie at home this year, but we will be watching a movie with my parents.

After the movie is done, we make our way to his parents house for dinner.  A few years ago we started the tradition of bringing Chinese food over to his parents so we will be doing that again this year.  We will usually then play a card game or spend time watching a movie with his family as well.  

Once we've seen everyone, we head home for the night to enjoy a Christmas movie and some quiet time at home.  If we're feeling festive, we will go out the next morning to look for good deals on Christmas decorations and wrapping but that all depends on how we're feeling.  

Well that is everything for today! May you have the best day ever.  See you in a few days. 

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Disclosure: Some of the links in the post above are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. Read my full disclosure policy here.

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Blogsmas Day 23: Things to do when it's too cold outside {12.23.2021}

Happy Thursday friends! I hope your week is going well and you're looking to a fun weekend ahead! We're heading to my parents tonight to do our family Christmas with them.  I'm excited because we usually have a delicious dinner and enjoy great company with them.  And we get to see my brother and his wife which I love.  

With the weather getting colder, I put together a list of things you can do on a cold winter day.  This idea was actually taken from a post I did several years ago, so if you've been around for a while this may look a little bit familiar.   

Things to do when it's too cold outside

1. Sleep, sleep, sleep.  If you have no plans for the day, why not put your favorite pajamas on and get your nap on.  Give your brain a chance to catch up on all of the sleep you've been denying it the last few week {or even months}.

2. Connect with your friends.  Have you been so busy lately that you have not been able to catch up with your friends? Why not abuse Skype, Facebook Messenger or FaceTime and catch up with as many friends as possible.  Maybe even entertain the thought of having a group video chat with your friends.  

3. De-clutter your closet.  If napping is not your thing, why not take some time to go through your closet and get rid of things that you no longer need and reorganize what you have left. 

4. Test your internet savvy-ness.  Now that you've gone through your closet, why not take some time and try to sell it online.  It is always good to have some extra cash to spend on things like mani/pedis or a nice massage.

5. Binge watch.  Now that you have some time to kill, why not watch a new show or re-watch one your favorite shows.  But be warned, you might not be able to leave your couch until you finish the entire season or show. 

6. Try a new recipe.  Why not take some time to pick a new recipe and give it a try? Look through your cookbooks, check out Pinterest or check out Food Network for inspiration.  Just make sure that you have all the ingredients handy before you start cooking.  I've actually got my eye on this pull apart bread for the get together with Justin's family next week.  

7. Read a book. Have you been reading a book for the past year? Today is your day! Grab that book and start reading away.  You might be surprised at how much reading you can accomplish in one day.  

8. Grab a game and start playing.  Do you have games that have been sitting in your closet for a while gathering dust? Why not break them out and get a good fun game going?  If you are looking for something a little different, check out 221 B Baker Street. 

9. Take a trip down memory lane.  Grab your old photo albums and look through old pictures of your family and friends.  Read through letters from family and friends.  Read your journal and laugh at how dramatic you thought everything was when you were 12.  You might be surprised at how much these little things warm your heart and soul.

10. Try a new exercise at home.  With the new year quickly approaching, now is a great time to start coming up with some fun ways to move your booty while you're at home.  There are so many fun YouTube videos out there - I'd totally check those out. 

11. Snuggle.  Grab blankets and pillows and snuggle with your partner, friend, furbabies or your blanket.

12. Have a dance party.  What better way to have fun and burn some calories than having a dance party in your living room? Put on the dancing music and shake your booty.

13. Take a bath and pamper yourself.  Why not draw up a nice warm bath, drop in your favorite bath bomb and pamper yourself.

14. Update your professional resume or portfolio.  Take some time to update it to reflect everything you are working on currently and make it more appealing to potential employers.  Once you finish that, take some time to update your LinkedIn as well (if you have one).

15. Redecorate a little bit.  Has it been a while since you've rearranged your furniture or updated your pictures? Take some time today to update your décor a little bit.  Even small changes can make your personal space feel more inviting.

16. Watch some DIY tutorials.  Is there something you've been wanting to try? Why not take time to watch a how-to and try it today? You have the time!

17. Make a fun little gift for a friend or partner.  Check out Pinterest for some fun and creative gifts you can make for family or friends.  There are all kinds of great ideas that do not cost a lot of time or money to make.  

18. Go sledding.  If you are brave enough to get outside when it's cold, then you're likely open to go sledding.  It's a great way to get some exercise, some fresh air and have a great time.

19. Have an indoor picnic.  Grab a blanket, pack yourself a little basket and make a picnic in your living room.  

20. Have a movie date.  If you have a movie that you've never seen but feel like you should have by now, this is the perfect time to do it! Grab some popcorn, set up the movie and enjoy it.  Want to make it more fun? Grab your partner or a friend and make it a marathon.

Well that's all for today! I hope you get some inspiration for some fun activities to do while it's cold outside.  Come back tomorrow for the second to last Blogmas post.

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Disclosure: Some of the links in the post above are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. Read my full disclosure policy here.

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Blogmas Day 22: Wrapping Christmas Presents {12.23.2021}

 

Photo Credit

Happy Wednesday friends! I hope you are having a wonderful Wednesday so far and are looking forward to a fun weekend ahead.  We are heading to my parents house tomorrow to celebrate with my family and I'm excited to get some time with them.  

Today's post is going to focus on wrapping Christmas presents.  I know some people have some traditions they do around wrapping presents.  In our house, we kind of just wrap the gifts as we get them.  The one thing that we are particular about is the fact that we use one paper per family.  So the gifts my family receives will all be wrapped in one paper and the gifts we give to his family will all be wrapped in another paper.  It helps us keep all of the gifts straight every year.  

We also try and use one paper for our gifts to each other as well.  This year Justin ran out of paper when wrapping my gifts so he ended up using the entire roll plus finishing off another paper that we had stored away.  This year I didn't buy him a new paper; rather, I just used one we had last year.  I'm guessing we will end up using it again next year because there is a bunch leftover.  

I wanted to get creative this year with my wrapping  but ended up totally forgetting about it and wrapped my gifts like I normally do.  What I really wanted to do was something like this:

I really love that it looks elegant and uses less tape than a normally wrapped gift.  The other fun idea I saw was to use tea towels as wrapping for smaller gifts so that you are creating less waste when giving gifts.  I tend to prefer gift bags when giving gifts because people will often hold onto the gift bags and reuse them when giving a gift to someone else.  Do you do that? I don't know how many times I've saved a gift bag and reused it for a gift for someone else. 

Well I think that is everything for today! Come back tomorrow to see some fun things that you can do when it's cold outside. 

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Disclosure: Some of the links in the post above are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. Read my full disclosure policy here.

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Blogmas Day 21: First Day of Winter {12.21.2021}

Happy Tuesday friends and happy first day of Winter! I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that we're starting the winter season and we're only four days away from Christmas.  Did you know that the winter solstice is the day with the fewest hours of sunlight in the whole year, making it the “shortest day” of the year? It's crazy to think that we will start getting longer days ahead until we reach the summer solstice.  I can honestly say I am so happy that the days will be getting longer because I am tired of it being dark at 5 pm. 

For today's post I am sharing my Winter 2021/2022 Bucket List.  This is a list of a things I'd like to do this winter and throughout the rest of 2021. Some of these will overlap with my holiday bucket list items, but some of them are new.

Winter 2021 Bucket List

1. Go skiing or snowboarding.  We have a few local ski slopes so I'd like to get out there and try skiing again.  I haven't gone skiing since I was a teenager and it seems like it's probably a good time to try skiing again.

2. Stay at a cozy cabin.  If you have some extra funds (or maybe some gift cards) why not book a local cabin and do a fun weekend getaway where you can just enjoy a comfy cozy time.

3. Build a fort and spend the night in it.  I love doing the fort sleepover with our friends so why not do it in the winter and cozy up to the fireplace and enjoy a night in the fort.

4. Have a snowball fight.  Once Michigan gets some snow I'd love to get out there and have a snowball fight.  I love being out in the snow, but it feels like it doesn't come as much as it used to and I miss it.

5. Declutter a room in our house.  I've been purging a lot of stuff lately, so why not keep on the purge train and keep things going by tackling one room in our house? I find it really relaxing when I can come home to a house that isn't filled with things we do not need/use.  It's fun to be able to give some of that stuff away too.

Well that is it for today! I hope you enjoyed this post and have some fun ideas planned for this winter.  Come back tomorrow where I talk about wrapping Christmas gifts. 

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Disclosure: Some of the links in the post above are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. Read my full disclosure policy here.

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Blogmas Day 20: Christmas Tree Reveal {12.20.2021}

Happy Monday Friends! It's hard to believe we are only FIVE days away from Christmas.  Today's post is going to be a quick little post where I am sharing our Christmas tree with you all! Every year we make our way to a local Christmas tree farm to cut down our tree with Justin's family and it is one of my favorite traditions that we have wit his family.

Typically Justin and I would look for the biggest, fattest tree that we can find on the lot, but this year we wanted something a little bit narrower so that we'd have a little more room in our living room.  Right now, the tree sits in the living room to the left of our fireplace.  We used to rotate the location from one side of the fireplace to the other, but for the last few years we've been keeping it to the left side of the room. 

Every year, we get the tree home and let it sit in the stand for a few days because when the tree is all tied up the branches tend to get stuck up in that position.  This allows the branches to open up and settle a little bit before we decorate the tree.  This year we ended up having to wait a little bit longer because it was snowing when we got the tree and the tree was very wet.  So we ended up letting the tree dry before bringing it inside, then had to let it sit for a day to open up. 

We decorate our tree with soft white lights and miscellaneous ornaments that we've collected over the past ten years.  I know there is always some debate about themed trees or hodge podge trees, but this tree is always mismatched and I love it.  We do have a white tree in our dining room that has matching ornaments, but that was just because I love having multiple trees in the house.  It's so much fun coming down stairs and seeing the lights in the house.

Well that's our tree! I really love how pretty our tree is this year and love seeing the ornaments and all of the fun memories that come along with seeing them.  I hope you enjoyed this post.  Tomorrow is the first official day of winter, so I'll be sharing a fun post relating to that!

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Disclosure: Some of the links in the post above are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. Read my full disclosure policy here.

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Blogmas Day 19: Bad Habits to Break this Holiday Season {12.19.2021}

 

Happy Sunday friends! I hope you had a wonderful weekend and are looking forward to a fun week of Christmas festivities.  This week we are having a low-key week with the exception the few days around Christmas.  I'm looking forward to having some quality time with our family over the next week and finally getting to give our gifts to everyone.  I loved shopping this year and look forward to giving everyone the gifts.

For today's post, I thought it would be a good idea to share some bad habits to break as you prepare for the Christmas holiday.  The holidays are always filled with a lot of fun and excitement, but they also come with chaos and stress.  So I figured it might be good to share some bad habits to eliminate during this week and as you go into the new year.

Bad Habits to Break 

1. Constantly comparing yourself to others.  With the holidays, it's easy to get sucked into the need to be the biggest and the best for everything including gifts, decorations or even parties. This can also include comparing yourself to others - either in the gifts you receive, things that they have versus yourself.  When you focus on what you don't have, it's very difficult to be grateful for what you DO have.

2. Stopping your self-care routine.  During the holidays, it can be very easy to fall out of your routine for self-care.  This includes your regular skin care routine, your workout routine or anything that you do to keep yourself steady as you go through a busy time in your life.  Whatever self-care looks like for you, it's important to not fall out of your routine during the holidays. 

3. Putting others happiness over your own peace.  There is so much pressure around Christmas to attend this event or donate your time or exchange gifts or whatever it is that someone is expecting of you.  If you like partaking in these types of things, then you should absolutely partake in them.  However, if you are being pressured into something that you believe will interrupt your peace, it is important to step back and make sure you are comfortable with that disruption.  Remember, it is perfectly acceptable to say no thank you to whatever it is that will disrupt your peace.  

4. Stop putting things off.  Are there things that you wanted to get done before the holidays? If your answer is yes, then you should absolutely go ahead and do them.  This could be chores or plans or anything that you wanted to get done.  Procrastination can absolutely cause more stress.  And let's be honest, that thing you are putting off will probably take you 15 minutes to complete.

5. Not giving yourself grace.  If you are able to give others grace for the holidays, then why do you have such a hard time extending that same courtesy to yourself? It's really important that you recognize that things may not go as planned and it is totally okay.  Grace is so important, especially in the chaos of the holidays

Well that is everything for today! Thanks for taking time to read my blog - I really hope you are enjoying the content and enjoy reading everything.  Come back tomorrow to see the next Blogmas post.  Only 6 more days to go!

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