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Archives for December 2017

A Christmas Gift Guide FOR TEACHERS!!

Victoria and I are wrapping up our first week of The Most Wonderful Time of the Year link up with a post on gift guides!  Erica from Whimsical September is cohosting today, so be sure to swing by her blog because she has made some really great gift guides the last couple of weeks!

Today’s post won’t be full of pictures and links because I had my small group Christmas party last night and didn’t have time to make a really great post.  Today’s post will be full of ideas!



A couple of disclaimers:

  • Teachers DO NOT expect any gifts ever, so we are always so surprised and appreciative of anything we receive!
  • Gifts for elementary teachers won’t work for secondary teachers because your child most likely has one teacher in elementary and multiple in secondary, so gift prices obviously go down.
Gift Ideas for Elementary Teachers:
  • A gift card to get a basic manicure–these are $15 or less and will be much appreciated!!
  • Luxury lotion
  • A themed gift basket set–nails, coffee, teas, movie night, etc.
  • Gift cards to anywhere!!

Gift Ideas for Secondary Teachers:
  • $5 gift card to Starbucks
  • Redbox gift card with a box of movie theater popcorn
  • monogrammed tumbler
  • coffee cup with box of hot chocolate
  • Bath and Body Works soap or lotion
  • Cookies from a local bakery
You don’t have to spend a ton of money to make a teacher feel loved and appreciated!  Hopefully some of these ideas work well for you!  I typically shy away from making homemade goodies for the teacher unless that teacher knows you personally.  I hate to say this, but a lot of teachers don’t eat food given to them by students if we don’t know the parents and how clean they are.  It’s hard to want to eat food from a kid that we’ve seen pick his/her nose in our class.



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A Christmas Day in the Life!

It’s day three of The Most Wonderful Time of the Year link up with Victoria and our guest cohost today is Nicole Cole!  When Victoria and I were coming up with this years topics, she suggested this one and I thought it was the BEST idea!  We all love a good day in the life post, but I’ve never seen one done during the Christmas season.

I documented Saturday because I knew it wold be a normal Saturday during the holiday season.  To see the rest of my Day in the Life posts, click here.

I usually wake up on the weekends somewhere between 6:30-7:15ish, so this was normal for me.  I like getting up early (but not too early) because I like to enjoy the mornings and feel like I have more time during the day!


I let Dustin sleep in since he had gotten in late the night before from his hunting club.  I turned on the Christmas lights and the lamps since it was overcast outside.  I made coffee and turned on the Hallmark Channel to watch a little bit of whatever Christmas movie was on before Dustin woke up.  He woke up a little before 8 so I made him whole grain blueberry muffins.


I had a lot of errands to run that morning so I went ahead a meal planned first so I could finish my errand-running by hitting up the grocery stores last.  


I took the sheets off the bed to wash them while I was gone.  I was hoping I wouldn’t run into many people while I was out–joke was on me because look at the next picture…


I thought I would hit up Bath and Body Works when they opened because it was their annual candle day–all 3 wicks for $8.95.  I didn’t realize it would be so crazy at the store!  I barely made it in the store to look at the candles and thankfully the ones I wanted were all in the same back corner.  I took this picture while I was in line…at the very back of the store.  There was another line just like it on the left side.  By the time I left–and it took me one hour–the line was out into the mall.

**Funny story about last year’s candle day:  I had my endometriosis and appendix surgery that day.  I kind of remember/Dustin told me that once I got home and woke up from my first nap, I wanted to order candles.  He brought me the computer and I think I randomly clicked on a few candles and he ordered them.  I had no memory of that, so when I got the BBW package in the mail a week later, I was so confused!


After BBW I swung through the Chick-fil-a drive through because I had a card for free nuggets.  Then I went to Hobby Lobby and then the grocery store.  Once I got home and got everything unloaded, I put the sheets back on the bed.  I snapped this photo so y’all could see what I put up with 😉  The clothes on top of the chest are Dustin’s that are clean and he won’t put away.  The bag on the floor to the right of the chest is from his hunting trip, and he’s got clothes on the floor on the other side of the chest that y’all can’t see.


I ran 2.25 miles that afternoon since it was cooler outside but not freezing.


After my shower, I was pretty much ready for a nap!  I didn’t want to watch any football that day since AL wasn’t playing, so I laid on our bed and ate a Reese tree while watching a Hallmark movie I had recorded. #livingthelife


Dustin and I were going out that night for dinner and to return a few purchases, so I got ready.  Don’t you love my lounge clothes/this is a shirt I bought for a dress up day at school so I only wear it when I’m not leaving the house?!  I get lots of comments about how thick my hair is, so I thought I’d snap a picture of what it looks like before I tease it.  It’s pretty thick naturally, but teasing it adds a little more volume.  Notice the candle burning?  That was one of my purchases from this morning!


I got to pick the restaurant so we went to one of my favorites–BJ’s Brewhouse!  Dustin is a creature of habit and always orders the same thing when we go places, so he got the jambalaya.


I always like trying new things, so I ordered the flatbread nachos off the appetizer menu.  It wasn’t what I was expecting so I won’t be ordering them again haha!


We went and returned something to GAP and had to exchange something at Belk, and then I wanted our picture in front of the massive Christmas tree!  I love the Christmas decorations that malls have during this time of the year.  We went to an outdoor mall, so they also have giant reindeer made from white lights–it’s so pretty!


We finished the night in Barnes and Noble.  I had a gift card from my sister and I needed to get my book for my January book club meeting.

I think we left the mall close to 10 that night and as soon as we got home I went to bed–it was a tiring but fun day!

Come back tomorrow for a Christmas Gift Guide link up!  I’m going to be showing you a gift guide for teachers!

  • December 7th Christmas Gift Guide cohosted by Whimsical September
  • December 11th Christmas Card cohosted by Taz + Belly
  • December 12th Holiday Home Tour cohosted by Michaela Noelle Designs
  • December 13th Favorite Holiday Party Recipe cohosted by The Queen in Between
  • December 14th Favorite Meaningful Holiday Memories


Holiday Entertaining Tips

When Dustin and I built our home two years ago, we built it with the purpose of hospitality.  It’s so important to me to have our home open to our friends and family.  There’s nothing better than having a home full of laughing people who feel comfortable and who know they are loved and wanted!

Today’s prompt for The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is on holiday entertaining.  And Victoria and I are so excited to welcome Catherine from Classic Catherine as our guest cohost today!  This couldn’t have come at a better time because tomorrow night I’m hosting the Christmas party for my ladies’ small group.  I have always wanted to host a friends’ Christmas party but my friend group is spread throughout the state.


Even though a lot of these tips will be for holiday entertaining. most of these are ones I use throughout the year whenever I host people!

1. Set the atmosphere with music and lights.
Have Christmas music playing in the background before your guests arrive.  I suggest a Christmas jazz or piano Pandora station. Turn all of your lamps on because low light is so much better than the harsh over head lights most people have.  And of course, have your Christmas lights on!

2. Candles, candles, and more candles!
Since this isn’t something that you’re going to be cooking majorly for (mine is finger foods), it’s okay to have scented candles lit.  If you aren’t a fan of scented candles then just get unscented.

3. Make sure the area for food is easily navigated and flows well.
In our next home I’m going to build a huge island in our kitchen, but we don’t have that right now so I’ve learned which areas of the kitchen have food and which counter has the drinks. I think it’s important to make it flow well so that everyone is in line and in order getting food instead of cutting each other off.  And it makes it better to go back for seconds!

4. Set the table.
This doesn’t have to be fancy at all.  My tablescape for tomorrow night is simple but welcoming.  Even if you use paper plates, still make the table look nice with an easy centerpiece.

5. Make sure everyone knows the dress code.
You don’t want to throw a holiday party where half the guests show up in nice clothes and half show up in tacky Christmas sweaters.  Even if your dress code is dressy casual, make sure your guests know it.  There’s nothing worse than looking out of place because you underdressed–I like to say it’s better to be overdressed, but you may not want that either if this is a small affair haha!

6. Make your home cozy and inviting.
Welcome your guests with a smile.  Make sure they feel comfortable enough to feel at home, and that they know where the bathrooms are.  You want to focus on enjoying your guests instead of feeling like you’re putting on a show and enjoyment happens when your guests feel comfortable and welcomed!



What are some of your holiday entertaining tips?

Come back tomorrow to share your Christmas Day in the Life!