Christmas is almost here!

Hey Everyone! 

It's almost Christmas time, is everyone ready? I am ready for Christmas to be here and thankfully I have been done shopping for the last 2 weeks! 

Every year I try and start planning Christmas presents around October. This is because I live in Texas, my parents live in Utah, and my sister lives in Nebraska. So I have to plan ahead and buy early so I can have things wrapped and shipped the first part of December. 

I will sometimes buy things online and have it shipped directly to them, and tell them they can't open it until Christmas (my Sister and Mom hate it). But sometimes there is just that order that has to come to me because it either has stuff for multiple people or I just ordered it super early. 

So what I do to stay organized is create a list of each person I am buying for and then write down how much I am spending. Then I will write down at least 6 ideas for each person and how much each of those items are. By doing this I can eliminate things and have some kind of idea while I am shopping. By the second week of November I will have a final shopping list. 

Then when Black Friday sales come I am able to go through my list and get what I want for each person. After I have ordered for each item I will check it off and then I will know what and who I still need to buy for. 

I do this with my husband and daughter also. I will make my husband tell me at least 10 things he wants for Christmas and then eliminate and order. I have done this for the last couple of years and I have found that it has been much easier to stay organized and I am not so stressed by what I am buying, how much I am spending, and when it needs to be shipped. 

This system also really helps me stick to my budget. When I budget for Christmas I plan on $50 a person or $75 for a couple or family. Now my daughter and my husband is different because we will always spend more on each other. But we also do set a budget and will try and stick to it. 

I think next year for Christmas I am going to do the 4 gift rule for my daughter. 
1. Something to read
2. Something they need
3. Something they want
4. Something to wear

I like this plan because I will know what I plan on buying and can set a budget to each one. 

We set up our Christmas tree the first weekend of December and I absolutely love it. I have to say that it is one of my absolutely favorite things about Christmas. Especially at night when I can plug it in and turn off all of the other lights and just let it shine. 

When my husband and I celebrated our first Christmas together we bought just a small 3 foot tree and put it on a end table in our living room. When we had our daughter I wanted a bigger tree, so we bought a 6 foot tree and have decorated it every year. Last year we have had our daughter start helping us decorate. We will hand her an ornament and let her choose where she wants to put it. We will also hand her the ornaments she has made from day care and let her choose where she wants to hang them. 

Every year I buy a new ornament for each of us. This was a tradition that my did when I was growing up. Each year we would get a new ornament. I started this tradition when I got married and definitely love it when I had my daughter. It's really nice to see each different set of ornaments from the years. 

This years ornaments I got from Target. They are metal raised stars that have white/clear glitter on it and a string. And the best part was that they came in a pack of 3 and it was only $5! I love when I get anything for a good deal! 

I grew up in Northern Utah and every year for Christmas we would always have snow. Well I now live in Texas, since 2014, and I really miss having snow for Christmas. In 2016 we went to Utah for Christmas and were there for 4 days and it did not snow until the Christmas Eve night/Christmas morning. I was so excited and loved it, but I did not like having to shovel it and clean off the cars (the only thing I don't like about snow). 

Christmas is my favorite holiday. I love the music, the decorations, the family time, and just the overall feeling of the Christmas spirit. 

Christmas music is my favorite thing about Christmas! All of the different artists and their takes on all of the songs! The last couple of years I have been more into the Pentatonix Christmas albums. 

I know this isn't a book review but I have not read any books this week due to studying for school. Unless you want a review on my textbook: Essentials of the U.S. Health Care System.

I hope everyone has a great Christmas! 

Erin