*Merry Christmas... from our little family to yours*

We hope you and your family have a very 

Merry and Blessed Christmas this year!!

*Tag You're It... Christmas Style*

Merry Christmas Eve All!!!!

Because I am the world's worst (ok maybe not the worst, but close to it) blogger and have had ZERO time these past couple of weeks I am finally getting around to the Christmas Tag post that Elizabeth from Army Ever After tagged me in oh almost a week ago. In fact I so bad that I didn't even realize that she had tagged me in it until a few days after I was tagged in it.  Here's hoping that 2014 will bring more time for blogging (both reading my favorite blogs and posting things of my own!) as I have so many post ideas... so many pictures on my cell phone that I want to use for posts and so many promised blog posts that I really need to get on this.  But for today I am going to work on the Christmas Tag post because well tomorrow is Christmas and I want to make sure that I get this up before Christmas!

1. What do you love most about Christmas time?  Geez... this is a tough one.  There is so much that I love about Christmas time, but what I think I love the most is having the time to spend with all of my family and friends celebrating the joy and magic of the season.  The hubby and I get to spend a few days with each family reflecting on the past year and overall just having a good time together.  I love to see the joy on our families faces when we give them meaningful gifts that they will treasure for the rest of their lives. 

2. Do you celebrate the season in style or is Bah-Humbug for you?  IN STYLE obviously!  As much as fall is my favorite season, Christmas may very well be my favorite holiday.  I love putting up on tree so that the house smells like fresh pine.  I love decorating the house with ornaments, stockings, pine, etc.  My house definitely has a TON of decorations up and I love each and every one of them! 

Just a few of my Christmas Decorations 

A few more of our decorations

3.  Are you leaving anything out for Santa this year so that he remembers to leave your presents?  As we don't have kids we won't be leaving anything out for Santa... but I do remember always leaving him cookies and milk as a kid... plus some carrots for the reindeer!!! When we would wake up in the morning I remember seeing the empty milk glass, cookie crumbs on the plate and the very bottom of the carrot sticks... I wonder which one of my parents actually ate the carrots.... 

4. What is the gift you are most looking forward to giving?  Every year we give everyone in the family a unique Christmas ornament and I love seeing their faces as they open them up.  This year some of them are extra special as we purchased them on our honeymoon.  It is so fun to give our families these ornaments and then to see them on the tree the following year.  We so enjoy remembering what Christmas we gave the ornament to them for and reminiscing about whatever Christmas disaster happened that year (because yes, there is almost always some sort of Christmas disaster every year... from trees falling over, to forgetting to put ingredients in pies, to ornaments breaking before they get opened... never a dull moment). 

5. What is your all-time favorite Christmas movie?  All time it is probably "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer" .... but I also love the Hallmark Channel Movie "The Christmas Card" and will not turn it off if I see it is on.

6.  What is your all-time favorite Christmas song?  I absolutely LOVE "Silent Night"!! I also enjoy the "Christmas Shoes" song... makes me cry every time!  The hubby's favorite song is "All I Want for Christmas is You"... the Mariah Carey version... any other version he does the thumbs down on Pandora.  He is crazy but I can't help but love him!

7. If given the opportunity would you participate in an "Ugly Sweater" party would you and what sweater would you wear? (peruse one on the internet or even one from your own closet)  I would ABSOLUTELY go to an ugly sweater Christmas party... in fact I have always wanted to go to one... perhaps I will host one next year!  I love owls... so I would actually kind of like this ugly sweater T-shirt!

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8. Have you started any Christmas traditions this year that  you plan on carrying forward?  Every year we buy Christmas ornaments for each member of the family and we also always go to cut down our own tree.  We have been doing this ever since we have been together and it is something that we will probably continue to do for the rest of our lives.  Unfortunately we didn't start any new traditions this year... just carrying on ones from previous years.

The Hubby cutting down our Christmas Tree

The Hubby & Me after we cut down our tree!

9. It's Christmas morning... what does it look like outside where you live?  Well with the way the weather has been recently it is hard to say what it will look like.  Normally it is cold, but sunny... sometimes there is snow on the ground.  But seeing as it was just 70 degrees the other day in PA, I am unsure of what to expect this year... but the weatherman says we might get some snow today... so maybe a White Christmas morning?!

10. You just found yourself standing under the mistletoe... who comes up to give you a kiss first?  The hubby of course!! He actually did that to me just the other day when we were at my parent's house! 

Now... TAG, you're it!!  If you are reading this blog consider yourself tagged... but I am also going to tag some of my favorite blogging friends!

Tag Ladies... can't wait to hopefully read your posts!! 

Ashley from Our Mitchell Moments

Erin from Sugar Crumbs

Ashleyrose from A Nelson's Nest

Amanda from From E to V

Elizabeth from Get Busy Living

Trish from Olive Oil Overdose

Maddie Rose from Always Maddie Rose

As always... another edition of who I am thankful for.  Today I am thankful for my hubby.  Throughout the 7 years that we have been together he has ALWAYS been there for me.  He has been my rock.  He has seen me through some of the toughest things that life has thrown my way and he has helped me through all of it.  He is my best friend.  He is the one I can always turn to.  He completes me.  I can't imagine my life without him.  So thank you hubby for being one of the best men that I know.  I love you! 

The Blogmopolitian Quiz

So as I was browsing some of my favorite blogs yesterday I came upon a post entitled "The Blogmopolitian Quiz" and I was immediately intrigued.  It seems that Erin over at Two Thirds Hazel has put together a Cosmo quiz for those of us in the blogging world.  I mean who doesn't love reading the celeb's answers to the Cosmo quizzes... best way to learn some interesting stuff about whoever is on the cover.  Well I decided to take a stab at this quiz... so here you go....

I feel like this is kind of boring compared to the celebs, but oh well... I still had fun filling it out!

Before I go, today I want to say thank you to my parents and to let them know what they mean to me (if you read yesterday's post here ... it will all make sense as to why I am ending with this)

Mom & Dad, Thank you so much for everything that you have done for me throughout my 29 years of existence.  You have made me the woman that I am today.  Without your love and support I don't know where I would be or what I would be doing.  You taught me what it was to be kind, to be loving, to cherish  every moment.  You instilled in me so many great values that I hope that I can one day pass along to my future children.  I know I don't say it nearly enough, but thank you for being such amazing parents and role models to me.  I love you both! XOXO 

What Happened to the Mantra "If You Can't Say Something Nice, Don't Say Anything at All."?!

I finally have a day off, finally finished writing all of my wedding thank you notes and was all set to write a blog post about Part I of our Honeymoon in Paris.  But before writing my post I decided to catch up on reading some of my favorite blogs and came upon a post that made me rethink everything that I wanted to write today.  Instead of filling you all in on what happened during my honeymoon, I want to talk about something way more important... bullying.

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When people think of bullying I feel like quite often they think of name calling, people being mean to each other, people picking on the "little guy" and things of that nature.  People think of bullying happening in school with children or in college with students being mean to one another.  But people, wake up... bullying is NOT something that only happens with children, adult bullying is a serious problem as well.  While bullying between children is often more physical than verbal/mental... adult bullying usually takes on more of a verbal form.  According to www.bullyingstatistics.org, "The goal of an adult bully is to gain power over another person, and make himself or herself the dominant adult.  They try to humiliate victims, and 'show them who is boss.'"  Often adult bullies were bullies as children or were bullied themselves as a child. Unfortunately it is hard to do things about adult bullies because well most people don't want to go down the road of taking legal action in order to make the bullying stop.  

Bullying has always taken on many forms... physical, mental, verbal, and now with all the forms of technology out there, "cyber bullying".  As of late I have come to realize that "cyber bullying" is a big issue.  

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People take to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, their blogs, other people's blogs, text messages, emails, etc. to at times do nothing but trash talk each other and that is not okay.  These social media outlets while they can do so much good, can also do a lot of harm.  They can make people feel like lesser of a person, they can make people question their decisions, they can make people do crazy things.  I would like to believe that people will only use these things for good, but we all know that isn't true.  I know people will criticize me and say that if people put their life out there in the social media world that they are opening themselves up to to whatever anyone has to say about it... good or bad.  But... Whatever happened to the mantra "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."?!

Why do people feel the need to comment on a picture saying that someone is ugly? Why do people feel the need to comment on a blog post and tell someone that they are living their life in the wrong way? Why do people post statuses about others demeaning them?  When did the world become a place with so much cruelty?

I am not saying that I am above all of this.  I know there have been times where I have said things that I shouldn't have, and usually after I make those comments I immediately regret making them and wish I can take them back.  None of us are above "bullying" at times.  But what matter is what we do about it.  I have decided that starting today I am going to make sure that I remind someone daily of how special they are and how much they mean to me or others around me.  

Today I want to take the time to let Kaitlyn of Wifessionals know how much her blog has meant to me.  Kaitlyn wrote a blog post yesterday that broke my heart and is what prompted this post today.  From following her blog for the past 6 months or so I have formed an opinion of Kaitlyn that was nothing but positive and I was so hurt to read her post and find that she has been the victim of cyber bullying.  Kaitlyn has such a huge heart and is someone who I believe would do anything for her friends and those that she loves and cares about.  She is the one who started the amazing Cara Box exchange that I participate in.  She is mamma to a beautiful little girl.  She is a woman who cares about her friends and family so much.  She does not deserve to be going through what she is going through.  So today I am thanking Kaitlyn...

Kaitlyn, Thank you so much for all you have done for me.  Without realizing it you have helped me to make some amazing new friends through your Cara Box exchange that I probably never would have met otherwise.  You have made me feel more comfortable in the blogging world.  You have made me realize that it is ok to open up on my blog and talk about what I really feel.  Whether people criticize me or not, I am who I am and I will always try to remember that.  Thank you for being you.  Thank you for sharing your stories and for being an amazing mom and friend.  I wish you the best as you continue on the journey of life.  I am sure that God has some great things in store for you!  Please don't ever lose hope and know that although some people may want to bring you down, there are so many others that you have inspired to do great things.