Friday, December 5, 2014

T'is the Season to Spread the Love

Y'all!! Who else cannot believe that we've made it through the first whole week of December? Yeah... that happened. I've barely started Christmas shopping. Thanks to Amazon I've been able to get a few things for the kids and my nieces and nephews in Jersey. I'm no where near being close to done though. I still have the secret Santa for my dad's side of the family to shop for. My dad, my mom, Josh's mom. The list is just too long.
our tree this year. Minus ornaments. because I'm lazy
Can we talk for a moment about the Secret Santa for my dad's side of the family though? Good cause we're going to anyways.

I have a big family. My dad is the 4th of six. My paternal grandparents had ALL BOYS. Six boys. That's madness. Each of my uncles has at LEAST 2 kids. So yeah... big family, y'all. So for Christmas to try and save everyone some money we do secret Santas. Great idea, right? Well.... it would be if you didn't have Grandma Linda running this three ring circus.

Normally... well, on my mom's side of the family... the name drawing process is only for the adults 18 or older who WANT to participate. Don't have the dough this year? No problem. You can sit on the sidelines and ooh & ahh over everyone else's gifts. All the kids get something though. That's just how it's done. My dad's side of the family though? Everyone draws a name. EVERYONE. My little cousin that's not even in prek yet? Yep, he has to pick a name. And the kids don't pick kids names. Zander this year has picked one of my aunt's names. AKA his great aunt. I'm sorry but it bugs me. It doesn't make sense. I don't understand how we're going to say "yeah, Zander really thought you'd love this bottle of lotion for Christmas!" This is the one tradition that I'm kind of a scrooge about. I feel like if the kids are going to be in there, at least make it to where they pick for the other kids. And make it to where they're old enough to understand what "choosing a toy for someone" really means. If Ainsley were to be let loose in the toy aisle at Wal-Mart to pick something for my baby cousin, she would go to the baby dolls and pick something for her. I think four is a good minimum age to start having kids be in the secret Santa / name draw. Once you hit middle school, you should be allowed into the adult name draw. Not because you're an adult but you can pick out something your aunt / uncle might like. #justSayin.

#SorryNotSorry. (Thanks for reminding me, Amanda < <honorary blog love shout out!>> that we don't have to apologize for every little thing we say / do!) That was on my mind and needed to be said. I feel like the title of this post should have been calling me out for being a scrooge. I'm done being a scrooge now, I promise. Tomorrow I'll be getting my first REAL haircut since May. Because apparently drunken Thanksgiving haircuts don't count? Anyway. Stay tuned on Instagram for new selfies tomorrow. #sorrynotsorry


Linking up with Meagan for Blogger Love Fridays!
(on time this week! whaaaat?!)
All The Joys Friday Favorites
Here are just a few of my faves from this week.

+ Elizabeth // Simply Complex Mom. Y'all firstly, I'm SO happy to have Liz on my sidebar this month. Her blog is absolutely amazing. If you're not following along already, WHY not?! Do it! This week, "The Meanest Mommy" (in the WHOLE WORLD) really hit home with me. As moms we hate to hear this. However, hearing it makes us realize, "hey, we're doing something right here". Ahh-Mazing!

+ Lindsay // Bourbon, Lipstick, & Stilettos. How many of us out here online shop for Christmas? *Raising my hand*. How many of us either worry about someone stealing your info or have actually had info stolen? *Raising my hand some more* I'm terrified of this. Daily. Online shopping is so easy (and I don't always like braving the crowded malls). I give to y'all: How to protect yourself during Holiday Shopping! Ta-Da! Lindsay is so great.

+ Jenn // Hello Rigby. All around blog land you've probably been seeing TONS of posts for what to get the man or woman in your life. But what about your cute little furbabies? Jenn has you covered! Gift ideas for your pets! If my cat wasn't such a snob (and actually played with toys. lazy bum) I'd totally get her that little track thing. Your pets are covered, y'all!

+ Faith // Life w/ Mrs G & the Artist. I don't know about y'all, but I'm not crafty. I rarely have pinterest worthy posts. I'm not creative. So when I see stuff like THIS Christmas craft with minimal paint and supplies, I remember there's hope for people like me. We will definitely be trying these!

+ Kerri // Hey Kerri. Thinking of offering sponsorship's on your blog? Not sure where to start? Well, thankfully Kerri has you covered! A few things to be mindful of before you start announcing your sponsorship opportunities! A+ post with some great advice!

What were some of your favorite posts for the week? Be sure to link up with Meagan and share! Have a great weekend, y'all.
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27 comments :

  1. The family Secret Santa sounds like a good idea! Looking forward to seeing your hair.

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  2. So much to say: we do the name drawing with my dad's family, too, and it's the same deal. This year we included a cousin- who isn't born yet (she'll be here the week before Christmas). We include all the babies and I think it's so silly! Rant over. Can't wait to see your haircut! I know you need some "me time" and a new haircut always does the trick. And of course, thank you for including me!!

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  3. It's good to know that someone feels my pain! ugh. an unborn baby? really? that's rough! and YES I'm looking forward to getting my hair cut. get it thinned out for sure! my pony tail is heavy

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  4. Are you following along on instagram!?! LOL

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  5. I LOVE the idea of having Secret Santa's but I totally LOLed at you being all like "yea Zanda thought you would love this lotion". Thanks for making me chuckle girl :) and of course thank you so much for including my post, glad you liked it :)

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  6. Thank you sooooo much for sharing my post! I love the idea Secret Santas as well, but your ideas/boundaries/age limits are great. I can only imagine what might girls might pick, or what others might pick for them haha And Amazon, oh sweet Amazon. Yup. We have a pretty close relationship much of the year, but especially Christmastime. Have a beautiful weekend, pretty lady! xo

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  7. hahaha so glad I could make you laugh today! :D and YES I did love your post! sooo great! Happy Friday girlie!

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  8. you're SO welcome! I love all of your posts so sometimes it's hard to just pick one during the week! I'm glad other people get where I was coming from w/ the secret Santa. lol.
    I hope you have a wonderful weekend as well!! xoxox

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  9. Your tree is so sweet!! :) I love colored lights on a Christmas tree. I grew up with always white lights, which ARE pretty, but since X and I got married, we've always done the colored - it's so fun. I totally agree with you regarding the drawing of names. At least you guys draw actual names though- we do this on my mom's side and X's fam but we just get a gender gift, no names - which is very hard because personalities/tastes are so different and most years I feel like I'm JUST buying a gift, there's nothing personal about it. Kind of a waste of money I feel (because I can't tell you how many years now I've gotten a travel coffee mug, which IS cool but not when you have like 7 of them hahah) ;)

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  10. My dad's side of the family used to do the white elephant thing where each person would bring one wrapped gender neutral gift. we'd pick #'s and the #1 would pick a gift, unwrap it and sit. #2 could then either open a new gift or TAKE #1's gift. a present could be taken up to three times before it was dead. it was fun until people started doing gag gifts (josh got three boxes of cereal for Christmas one year...) or complaining about it. So we went to the name draw. so yeah, it's hit and miss with big families I think.
    I'm with you though- I love the colored lights! even the outside has colored lights! :D

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  11. nice to see you're FINALLY getting a real haircut! haha

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  12. I meant to tell you when we talked yesterday! Finally!!! I'm nervous. I want to keep the length. Dear hairdresser, don't go crazy with the scissors

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  13. OH! my stylist taught me a trick, "the ponytail trick" when your hair is wet, you pull it back in a ponytail with your hand and slide down with your hand, when the resistance stops is where you cut!

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  14. Ugh! I'm so glad I'm not having to participate in the secret santa at Brian's parents house. The kids get to pick names too... so bad.

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  15. I love secret Santa but I'm right there with ya! I think the kiddos should all get something and those of you who are 18 and older participate! And yay for haircuts! I got mine cut for the first time in months just last week and it feels SO good!

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  16. It's been since may for me. I'm going to need some wine coolers or something to calm my nerves before I go in tomorrow. I need someone to keep me from chickening out. I'm nervous because it's NOT JOSH'S COUSIN doing it!!! whyyy did she have to move to Jersey?? hahaha sorry... freak out over. :P

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  17. it's the worst. I don't get it! and my kids don't have jobs so we're having to spend $40 dollars ($10 per person) instead of just doing $20 and the kids just automatically get something. UGH. Grandma Linda and her crazy ways

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  18. Yeah, I don't like that. That doesn't make any sense at all. I understand you want to include the kids but thats not a way to do it. Oye. At least you can try to have fun in hopes that the parents at least help the kids a little.

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  19. THANK YOU! zero fun at all. Zander doesn't understand "this is for aunt denise" or whatever. lol.

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  20. your tree is so cute!! i've never heard of little kids being involved in secret santa...i can totally see how that's not your favorite! i just got a new hair cut (hadn't had one since january) and it's amazing what it can do for your confidence! enjoy :)

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  21. I love the whole secret santa thing.

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  22. Great posts and yes we have some similar ones!! FYI, my dining room tree isn't decorated yet...I love trees with just lights!

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  23. My mom's side of the family does a $10 gift exchange on Christmas Eve, and you can opt in once you're middle-school age.


    You linked up some great posts here!

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  24. Thanks sweetie! I'm trying to stay positive about the haircut. I need to rememer to stay strong and tell them exactly what I want! LOL.

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  25. I'm really enjoying ours with just the lights but Zander keeps bugging me to put the ornaments on this weekend. lol

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  26. middle school age sounds just right! I could handle middle school age! LOL. I'm coming to your mom's house! HAH ;)
    and thank you!! I hope you have a great weekend.

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  27. Great post! Kerri's made a lot of lists this week - just shows how great it is! Thanks for linking up, as always!

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