A Christmas Story

I cannot believe how fast this week has gone by. We have less than 2 weeks until we make the trip to California for Christmas at home! Yikes. And get this, there is still no snow here. What the actual heck. Tomorrow we are supposed to go sledding but since it isn't supposed to snow for at least a week I don't see that happening any time soon. 

Good news, as of today there are only 18 days until Christmas!

Tonights advent calendar activity was to watch a Christmas movie, so we went with....

A Christmas Story!!

Classic.

Actually, this is a movie that I did not grow up watching(I think my parents weren't super into it) so I hadn't even seen it until I was in college. But I love it. I think it is so funny. So in the spirit of Christmas I thought I'd share my top 7 favorite scenes from the movie(in no particular order). You're so welcome. 

1. "I Can't Put My Arms Down!!"

Living in Rexburg where it often gets into the negatives, I have felt like Randy many times in my life.

2. "Daddy's Gonna Kill Ralphie"

I just love the innocent truth to this scene. Randy is so concerned for his big brother after Ralphie got into a fight, that he hides under the sink and cries. And can we talk about how good of a mother she is? She rocks.

3. "Jingle Bells"

So much of this reminds me of our family. The singing at the top of their lungs, the look on the dad's face while the children are yelling in his ear, and the inevitable car trouble. Ah, good times.

4. "He looks like a Deranged Easter Bunny"

Um, yeah. Classic scene. It's hard as a child to appreciate the weird and strange gifts you sometimes get from family members, and this just sums it all up.

5. Mall Santa

Terrifying. Just terrifying. I mean, how many of us have pictures of ourselves as little kids crying or screaming or looking absolutely horrified on santa's lap. This scene shows what kids see when they sit on Santa's lap and it is awesome.

6. Soap in the Mouth

I was an angel child so I never actually got soap in my mouth, but I did see my older siblings go through the ordeal. The parents reaction to the F-dash-dash-dash word in this movie, is just hilarious.

7. Chinese Restaurant

In the movie a whole bunch of dogs get into the house and destroy the turkey so they end up going out to eat at a Chinese restaurant. The chopping off the duck's head gets me every time. Great ending to a great movie.

What do you guys think of this movie, fans or no? 

Sugar Cookies and Hot Cocoa

It has been a wonderful weekend full of Christmas Cheer at the Greer's place.

On Friday we made and decorated sugar cookies;

I found the link to an awesome recipe here and it really is the best sugar cookie recipe ever. Thank you Katrina! I even got Michael to help me make the cookies which is a rare occurrence. Then we got our supplies all together and got the party started.

It took a few tries but we eventually got the icing down; it was super runny and would spill over the edges after two minutes, making a big mess. We ended up with some really cute cookies though, and my favorite one was my wreath cookie (bottom right-ish).

Then Saturday night we all got together for homemade hot cocoa and the Polar Express. 

My sister and brother in law took the reigns for tonights event which was great because I was crazy busy all day with internship stuff. More to come on that later!

They gathered all sorts of additions for the cocoa for us to try, including peppermint chunks, dark chocolate squares, cinnamon sticks, orange shavings, marshmallows, Nutella, and peanut butter. Unfortunately I only got to the peppermint with dark chocolate before I was stuffed. Maybe next time we'll have to do samples in shot form so we can try more, because that stuff was rich! We enjoyed our hot chocolate while watching The Polar Express-who doesn't love Tom Hanks, honestly.

 I am so grateful to have family so close this time of year to enjoy all of these fun festivities with. It really wouldn't be the same if Michael and I were living far away from any other family. What are some fun family traditions you guys like to do? Happy counting down to Christmas!

25 Days of Christmas!

Its officially Christmas time!! I am so excited! I have finished about 95% of my christmas shopping already, which means that I can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the christmas season. This year I made an advent calendar to help me stay organized and make the most out of the month. I found this tutorial here and ended up with this baby:

Not bad right? I love it. 

So for the next 25 days I'll be sharing our christmas adventures with you all. 

And.....

Today was the first day!

It is officially 25 days until Christmas!

Today's Event: Decorate the Christmas Tree

The perfect activity to set the mood for the next 24 days. And let me tell you, i am pretty obsessed with our tree this year. I started planning for it a few weeks ago, and decided to go with a silver and gold, rustic christmas theme. (My husband thinks themes for Christmas are stupid, but I love). I started with these ornaments:

and found the idea for the pinecone ornaments, which I obviously had to recreate as soon as I saw them. They are my favorite things about the tree this year! Then I added some gold sparkle icicles and viola! Day one complete! Here is the finished product:

What do you think?

Merry Christmas Season Everybody! 

10 Tips for a Successful Thanksgiving

The Holidays are the best time of the year. There are so many wonderful things that accompany the holidays and the main thing is the food. It can be really easy to get caught up in the holiday spirit and get swept up in the mass amounts of food. How many of us have stuffed our faces on Thanksgiving until we felt like we could literally burst open? GUILTY. But when you've been working hard all year toward your fitness goals, the last thing you want to do is ruin all your progress in the 2 months of the Holiday Season.

I am not saying that you can't splurge a little and enjoy yourself and some delicious treats. I am simply trying to say that it is possible to do that without completely derailing your progress. Here are 10 tips to help keep you on track during the holidays and have a successful, delicious Thanksgiving. 

1. Don't go into the meal starving: COMMON MISTAKE! But eat like you would every other day and you are less likely to overeat.

2. Bring your own Health Option: Whether it is a dessert, salad, veggie tray, or fruit platter, you will feel much better if you eat something healthy along with all of the junk. 

3. Don't drink your calories: Egg Nog, Cocoa, Alcohol, Sparkling Cider, you name it. These drinks ADD UP FAST and before you know it you have had as many calories from drinks as you have from the meal itself.

4. Eat normally the rest of the week: Leftovers are inevitable. But that doesn't mean you need to eat a Thanksgiving sized meal every day for the next week. Be smart about your leftovers. 

5. Don't completely restrict yourself: It is a holiday and a happy time. Don't make yourself miserable by restricting yourself to lettuce and carrots while your family eats potatoes and stuffing. Be choosy and "splurge" on your favorites, and leave out the things that you don't care as much for. 

6. Reduce portion size, so you can try everything: This is a simple way to keep the calories low. Try a bit of everything if thats what you want. Just keep the sizes small and reasonable and you wont feel so stuffed.

7. Get your family members active: Participate in a turkey bowl, go for a family walk or run, hit the gym post meal. Whatever sounds fun. Our family likes to play basketball together before we have pie. Just get up and get active. 

8. Eat slowly and wait for seconds: Often people go for seconds for the "good stuff" when they're not even hungry anymore. Eat slow, enjoy the meal, and visit with your family. And if you feel that you do want seconds, wait 10-15 minutes first, and if you are still hungry after that time then go for seconds, but if not then skip out. This is a great way to avoid over-indulging. 

9. Limit extras: Gravy, Dressings, toppings, etc. can add a lot of extra calories into your meal. It's fine to have them, just be aware of how much you are adding and don't totally drown the potatoes in gravy.

10. Remember your hard work and stay true to your goals! Think sensibly and smart, and recognize that just because it is holiday time, doesn't mean you HAVE to have the pie or cookies if you're already full. Think of your progress and your goals and you are more likely to make good decisions.

Can you think of any other good tips to help control your holiday meals? Let me know, and I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!