I didn’t wake up with presents under the tree, but I still woke up with holiday glee! Today my husband and I are taking a little mini trip to enjoy some indoor water parks, swim up bars, and some shopping! See, Christmas can still be fun when you’re 30!
I’m currently waiting in the longest Starbucks line ever to get us some coffees for the road, and I’m honestly not even bothered by the line. I’m just enjoying the fact that it’s a peaceful holiday, and I get to enjoy all of my favorite things this holiday! I love water parks and shopping, and I especially love when I get to do those things with my favorite person!
The sun is shining through the sliding glass door across the room as I type this at my standing desk. It is Christmas eve, and although most may be wishing for a white Christmas, I am grateful that we are not getting any snow this year. This is definitely a selfish wish simply because my husband and I are taking a little mini-Christmas vacation tomorrow and we have to drive a couple hours away, so I prefer to have some clean roads for the trip!
I know sometimes weird feelings come up for me during the holidays, and this year has been a little of the same, but also a little different. Sometimes I find myself playing the comparison game: you know, wishing I had the huge family that got together with fun Christmas outfits and had kids running around screaming with joy. This year, I still do not have these things, but what is different is that I am just feeling at peace; I am feeling that I can fully lean into faith and know that I can trust in divine timing in my life, as it has all worked out better than I could have planned.
This holiday season, I have very close friends of mine who are pregnant, and another close friend who just welcomed her new baby to the family less than a month ago. I am absolutely overjoyed for all of them, especially because my pregnant friends have wanted to be pregnant for a long time! It also just gives me hope for my own future family planning, as sometimes I let fears creep in regarding that topic. I can’t lie, I have had moments where part of me is like “OMG I need to get pregnant now and start our family now!” but I quickly recognize that I am lost in comparison, and instead I just focus on leaning into the joy of how amazing this is for all of my friends!
We’re in the last month of the year, and I am feeling some weird closure around 2025 that feels weirdly final. I feel like I have learned a lot from repeated lessons this year, and one of the most often repeated lesson is that I should always just lean into faith over fear. I know that my thoughts and emotions can be a bit more extreme, so when I get stressed/anxious, I often catastrophize and get myself all worked up and it is always for no reason. In the end, things will work out how they are supposed to, and no matter what, I can always handle it. Life is chaotic and tragic and full of so many feelings, but it is also immensely beautiful and magical all at the same time.
As I go into 2026, I want to be my own best friend. I want to hype myself up the way that I hype my friends up and cheer them on. When my negative self-talk comes in and tries to make me feel stupid and ruminate in the failures, I know that it is just remnants of the traumatized me, and I just have to give myself love and grace. I do not hold anyone else to the insane, perfectionistic standards that I have created for myself, nor do I deserve to have that pressure on myself either. Being a perfectionist just breeds stress and tension, and I am letting go of this as I keep leaning into faith and divine timing.
2026 is a “1” year in numerology, which is looked at as a fresh reset- a true new beginning. I am all about signs from the universe and leaning into angel numbers, and I am leaning into that energy of new beginning and using it to boost my motivation! I am working on a creative project and I want to lean into that more in the new year, especially because I always feel so happy after I’ve made progress on it! It is also is a fun way for me to let go of perfectionism, and just focus on authenticity and joy.
It has been a while since I have made a longer post on here, and today felt like a great day to take some time to just reflect. It has been an interesting year, and I am excited that my husband and I are going to have a fun Christmas together and this will hopefully be the start of a new annual tradition! Sending love to everyone who needs a little extra this season, and I hope your holiday season brings you love and peace.
Christmas doesn’t look too different for us this year, other than we are recovering from the flu. I definitely still have it considering I still have a low-grade fever this morning- and I would not wish this illness on anyone. My husband and I have been miserable with battling inconsistent temperatures, congestion, cough, sore throat, body aches (more like zaps for me), and overall we are just exhausted.
His symptoms started a week ago today and he still is not 100%. My symptoms started on Monday so I am only technically on day three and it feels like it’s been a week already. We are blessed to be off work, be at home together, and have access to healthcare/medicine. Our Christmases are normally pretty chill, so in that regard, it’s not much different at all.
Sending healing, abundant vibes to everyone this holiday. May we remember what is truly important in this lifetime and give lots of gratitude for these blessings (hint: it’s not the material gifts).
Writing this from my bed, because my husband has influenza A and this morning I woke up with a sore throat, body aches, and my post nasal drip trying to choke me out. I’m so very blessed to have good bosses and be in the situation we’re in. The fact that we were able to get my husband seen and diagnosed in under two hours is a blessing, and I’m just glad we’re able to rest it off and take care of ourselves.
I know this is only a couple days before Christmas, but it honestly works for us because we don’t have any Christmas plans other than stay at home! Holidays are typically pretty uneventful for us, other than the white elephant gift exchange we do with my family every January. We know that once we have children the holiday seasons will be much busier, so for now we just enjoy the peace and quiet together.
Even though I don’t feel great, I do feel very grateful🤍 Yeah, yeah, it was kinda lame, but I mean it!
The weather today has kept me feeling quite lazy, which makes me happy that I decided to go grocery shopping last night. I had today to just relax; my boyfriend and I went out for breakfast at our favorite place which always makes the day a good one! I love just spending time with him. He recently starting listening to Dr. K on YouTube, which in turn means I have been listening to him as well.
Dr. K is a psychologist and he does streams with gamers/streamers and discusses mental heath. The videos are typically 1.5 hours or more, but honestly when I am listening the time seems to go so fast. He does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and I honestly feel like I have been learning so much more about how the mind works and what questions I should be asking myself. I am excited as I get to see my therapist this coming Friday and I feel like I am truly in a good state of mind where I can make some good progress.
I have been busy crafting and adding new items to my Etsy page; I’m definitely having fun making different Christmas Sweatshirt designs and thinking of gifts to make my friends/family. At the same time I am also being conscious of money so that I am not super stressed after the holidays are over, and I am not overspending on anyone. My boyfriend and I have tattoo appointments the day after Christmas, so those are our gifts to ourselves for this year! That reminds me, I need to email my tattoo artist! I hope everyone has a good upcoming week and you’re all finding a way to relax during this holiday season.
Just chilling in my car on my lunch break since none of us can eat in the break room (too many people without masks), and reflecting on the fact that every Thursday I am supposed to leave at 5 and always end up staying until 5:30-6pm due to how busy we are… unfortunately I don’t think today will be much different.
The good thing is I’m off tomorrow and am dropping off a surprise pre-christmas gift to my best friend and her son, so I’m excited about that! Also a good friend of mine is going to come visit and I get to give her the gift I made for her! It’s a cute Margarita glass with a mini margarita for her!
I’m loving the Christmas season this time around as I’ve said before, but I am genuinely happy being able to make all these gifts for people and it’s so fun! I can’t wait to see everyone’s reactions to their presents. I’ve attached the margarita photo to this post- let me know what you think!
On Friday one of my best friends got married in her backyard; after many months of rescheduling and re-planning her perfect day she managed to pull off an incredible wedding. It was absolutely beautiful and so intimate and it honestly made me want a backyard wedding (Plan A is still Aruba though).
This is the first wedding that I have ever stood in and it was such an honor to be part of such a special day. I was very emotional during the First Looks and the Ceremony (as were all the bridesmaids), and once they finally said their vows the pressure was lifted and the energy felt light and everyone just celebrated together.
It was so nice to have a taste of normalcy and fun- we were all drinking and dancing the night away and it all felt how it should. I will cherish this memory and continue to think positively about the future.
As November closes out I am looking forward to Christmastime and holiday cheer as I create fun gifts with my Cricut! I want to continue to get better at my craft and make fun gifts for people I love!
I hope everyone had a wonderful day. This was my least favorite Christmas ever, and I plan to do it much different next year.
This year my parents and I decided not to do presents, which I was fine with because I need to save money and we’re all adults. My boyfriend and I also decided not to do Christmas presents because we want to invest in a new bed within the next few months. I only got gifts for one friend and her child, which was fun, but I just wish I would have done more.
I always love giving people gifts and I feel like that really helps to keep me in the Christmas spirit. I told my boyfriend that next year I would like to do gifts again, and he said that was fine.
Another thing I want to do next year is get a child or two off of a giving tree or angel tree. Or maybe donate to a local animal shelter. I feel like I should be giving more and I would feel better. I know I don’t have to wait for a certain time of year to do that, it just seems like a good time.
Well, Christmas is over so New Year’s eve is next which I’m looking forward to. I’m ready to say goodbye to 2019 and not look back. Don’t get me wrong, I had some positive changes in myself as well as my career, but overall I just feel that 2019 had a lot of sadness and stress. I just know that 2020 will be much better. ♡
From Dark to Light 