holidays

Blogmas, Day 12: Champurrado, Pan Dulce, & a Movie

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Image courtesy of Adobe Stock

I love this time of year, when the weather cools down, the holiday lights come on, and you can find people selling champurrado & tamales. Well, this year is a bit different, but the craving is still there. The only time I’m really in the mood for any of it (tamales, champurrado, and pan dulce) is during the holiday season. There is something about the thick, masa- and cinnamon-flavored chocolate that pairs so well with the slightly sweet bread topped with vivid colors. It’s one of those things that warms up your body and soul. Sounds cheesy, I know, but it’s true. Much like watching Disney’s Halloween Treat in October, nothing beats a mug of champurrado and pan dulce while cozying up and watching Mickey’s Christmas Carol. No matter what people say, you’re never too old for cartoons.

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Blogmas, Days 7-11: Motivation…or Lack Thereof

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The Christmas tree at Primm.

First off, Happy Hanukkah. For those of you who celebrate Hanukkah, I hope you have a wonderful and safe festival week 🕎 It has been five days since my last post. To be honest, I haven’t had the motivation. Between being in a creativity drought, and not feeling all that great, there just hasn’t been the drive. On the plus-side, I’ve been working on some new projects that should be taking off before the end of the year. We are also working on editing a few videos, which is admittedly taking longer than anticipated, but we’ll have those up before the new year.

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Blogmas, Day 5: Wrapping Alternatives

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Wrapping paper can be beautiful. I used to love going to the after-Christmas sales to get the, often glittery or metallic, rolls of paper. It always made me a bit sad that such pretty paper would just be tossed aside, even though it was fun to see the kids tear open their gifts. I still have quite a bit of it, so I’ll use it up as the holidays pass. If you have extra, you can use it to create decorations, create a backdrop for pictures, line your shelves (with the glitter-free kind)… get creative! What happens when you run out of wrapping paper? Or maybe the item you are gifting requires a different kind of wrapping material. There are alternative methods that are inexpensive, or even free, that are more sustainable than wrapping paper. You could reuse wrapping paper, but that also means you have to be careful when unwrapping gifts.

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Blogmas, Days 3-4: A Wish List

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I had to sit and think hard about this post. There was a lot of wavering on whether or not to post a wish/gift list given the state of the world. It somehow seemed inappropriate, yet when I thought more about it, there is nothing wrong with wishing. Perhaps I’m reading more into it than is necessary. I don’t want it to come off as selfish. I also don’t want anyone to think that I’m promoting going out, especially with the current goings on. If you have the resources to shop online, practically anything can be delivered. Deliveries can also be made to you loved ones, which is convent, especially now. If you are curious about my (admittedly short) list, read on.

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Happy December! + Life Update

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Another month has gone by, and we’re almost to a new year. I’ve started to do a pantry clear-out to use up everything we have. It’s so easy to overbuy, and even with a stricter stay-in that started yesterday, we have plenty of dry goods and shelf-stable items. Even though I’m low-waste, I’ve put that aside in favor of keeping with safety guidelines. Also, side note, if you are feeling guilty about accumulating more waste than normal, don’t. You can’t help the current state of things, and an increase in waste materials is to be expected. You are doing the best you can. Enough with that. Let’s crack on!

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Blogmas: Day 25, Merry Catmas!

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I took this at Disneyland back in 2015. The same
arch can still be seen during the holidays.

And no, the title isn’t a typo 😉. Our holiday mostly revolves around family, WoW, and our cats. This year is a bit different since Grandma is visiting other family. We normally head over to her house for Christmas dinner. This year there will be around 10 (maybe less) for dinner, which is okay by us. As far as gifts go, my fiancé already knew what he was getting, so there’s no surprise there. I, on the other hand, have no clue. We got our fur babies some of their favorite food and treats, which they’ll love.

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Blogmas: Day 24, One More Sleep ’til Christmas

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Image courtesy of istockphoto.com

Lately, I’ve been playing holiday-themed movies while I work. I still have yet to watch A Christmas Story, Friday After Next, and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (the Boris Karloff version). We also used to watch that Rudolph block of stop motion films, but haven’t in awhile. It seems like yesterday we were getting ready for BlizzCon, and now we’re about to usher in a new year. This year, Christmas is going to be a little bit different since my grandma will be out of town. Usually we have Christmas at her place. I wanted to do a WoW-themed dinner in celebration of Winter Veil, but unfortunately that probably won’t happen now. Well, maybe we’ll put together something for New Year’s Day.

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Blogmas: Day 23, This is a New Day

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Most people make resolutions for the new year. I tried that, and it just doesn’t work for me. Every day you wake up can be a new beginning. Whether it’s starting a new hobby, trying new foods, or setting new goals, we can treat each day with the same gusto. Instead of waiting for the new year to come around, I’m going to try to get out of my comfort zone in some way to see how it changes my perspective on life. Tomorrow is not a guarantee, so it’s best to make the most of your time on this planet.

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Blogmas: Day 22, Three More Sleeps

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It’s three more sleeps ’til Christmas! It’s kind of sad. For many, so much thought and time goes into decorating and preparing for the holidays, just for it all to abruptly end. Maybe it’s because Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are all back-to-back. Sometimes I wish that the holidays were more spread out. It’s a bit like being on the freeway in a “hurry up and wait” scenario: Loads of work, and then BAM, it’s all over. The decorations come down and the festive spirit of the holidays is retired right along with the decor. This year, I haven’t really felt that “holiday spirit” at all. Maybe it’s partially because of how busy we’ve been, and partly because that spirit doesn’t seem as prevalent when we’re out and about. I miss the days where store clerks would say, “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays”, when you left. Maybe I’m just an old soul…

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Blogmas: Day 4, Catmas

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Image courtesy of pexels.com

We have two beautiful girls. Now that they are used to each other, we see how our youngest keeps our older cat young. She is more playful, and even though they’d never admit it, they love each other. Every year we get our girls something. Last year we got them tents. Well, it started out as one for the baby, but our oldest cat took it over. We got a second tent, and (you guessed it) the eldest took that one over as well. This year we opted to go the food route for their gifts. PetSmart had a BOGO sale on their favorite treats, so we picked up two tubs– one for each kitty. What will you get your fur baby this season?