Procrastinator's Guide: Getting into the Christmas Spirit

 We are in the home stretch! The holidays are in full swing and I am trying to top last year! Which isn't hard because we didn't get the tree up until the week before, I didn't wrap the gifts, told the kids Santa got too busy. No gingerbread houses, nothing. Last Christmas was rough. Even though the kids don't remember it, I do. This year I put the tree up early, started shopping early but there is still much to do, so here is what my family is doing to spread the Christmas cheer. 

1. Making cookies for "Santa" or just for fun. Im not a master baker so I got cookie mix and jazzed it up with chocolate and sprinkles. Since my Kids still believe is Santa they are making their cookies extra special for him.

2. Christmas Music, I know sounds obvious but we like to have a Christmas music battles with all of the Christmas Classics. Its so fun because the kids dance and learn the music we grew up with and the music our parents grew up with

3. Holiday Movies, I feel like it's my duty to teach my kids all the classics I learned growing up. My favorite is White Christmas and we have a movie marathon every Christmas Eve, so we will watch White Christmas along with Home Alone, Jingle Jangle, and  the Christmas Chronicles.

4. Decorating whether is a month before or the week of is fun. Over the years, I have collected trees, candle house and a whole lot of Christmas decor that I love. I know people do themes each year but that's too much work for me. I do buy three new ornaments a year. There was a time we couldn't afford to decorate like we do now so its fun taking the kids to pick out new ornaments for the tree.

We also have two trees. One that is a little more polished and one in the basement that the kids decorate.

5. Bible stories, this time of year it is important for me to teach the kids the meaning of Christmas. We have a children's Bible that we read stories from every week. And this week we will read a story everyday.

Remember, Christmas is about spending quality time with the fam. I didn't buy a lot this season,. We have spent so much more quality time with the kids, this going to be a holiday to remember. Our tradition has always been to cook an amazing brunch and order Chinese for dinner. Do the things you enjoy. This season can be so depressing and with COVID things have been difficult.

The spirit of Christmas and the holidays are rooted in taking a time to enjoy the moment.

Let me know what you traditions are. How are you spending the holiday season?

Happy Holidays,

Meka

Procrastinators Guide: Last Minute Shopping

 Okay... I have been trying to be good this holiday season by trying not to go crazy but these deals have been crazy. Here are a couple more things I'm grabbing for the kids and the hubster, and maybe even a couple pieces for me. After this I am really throwing my wallet in the ocean. Are you guys still shopping? Or are you done?

Let me know what you guys are getting into

Xo-Meka

The Big Move...

Do you get anxiety during the holiday season? Well, I do and besides therapy one of the ways I manage it is to organize and clean. Four times a year, I deep clean my house and rearrange everything, and when I say everything I mean everything. I move furniture to breathe new life into the house/space. But, before I can start moving stuff, I plan.

I go on Pinterest to get ideas of what I want to do with each space. We have been in our home for a little over a year and we are finally starting to get settled. Not to sound crazy, but we just unpacked the last box. I love that our house is over a hundred years old, so I like to decorate in a manner that pays homage to the home but with a modern twist. And thinking back on it, the best idea was hiring movers when we sold our last home. When we moved into our first house, we had to drive to three different places and two states to collect all of our belongings. It was a complete nightmare that I swore we would never relive that time.

So, this time around I wasn't going to leave anything to chance. Movers were the best idea. And, with that being said I know if I ever need movers again I will be using the New Age Moving Co.. They are a full service moving company that offer piano moving services, residential, commercial, and they even do labor only services, packing services, and more.

The company caught my eye because the owner, Armand Gasbarro, is a young entrepreneur that has put together an amazing team that values customer service. And, that's really important for me since I have had a couple bad experiences in the past. 

Now, I have a plan and have movers in mind, if needed. It's time to purge. I get rid of anything I haven't used in 4+ months. I was thinking about getting rid of some furniture and this is where I would need movers because we don't have a truck and it would be less stress hiring a company to just come and pick everything up. Mr. Prince is still debating on whether I can't purge his favorite broken chair but we'll see what happens. 

After everything is purged, I usually donate everything to a local charity.  Chris's clothing and shoes, I donate to A Little Bit of Heaven because its a men's shelter. I have been dropping off gently used items for a couple years. I'll be donating all the boys and my items to Margaret's Village. I'm way too busy to think about selling anything but that is also an option if you have the time and patience. Plus, since it's the holiday season it feels good to give essential items to people that are truly needed.

Last, I move furniture around to see if it might be a better fit somewhere in the house. When I'm done everything looks better than it did before and my nerves are calm. Plus, the house is fully decorated and ready for Christmas. The holidays are rapidly approaching and anything I can do to calm my nerves and make my space less cluttered is a win for me.

With the holiday season here and the pandemic still present it's important to do things that make you feel good. Depression and anxiety are real things that affect millions of people that see no light at the end of the tunnel. I have learned the importance of finding a good therapist and constantly purging and figuring out what items are important to me and make me feel good. We all need something that make us happy.  For me, maintaining a minimal type of lifestyle where everything must have a purpose coupled with weekly therapy has helped me cope with trauma in my life that I wasn't dealing with that was affecting my life in a negative way.

So, how are you coping? Is there anything new you are doing to calm your nerves during the pandemic?