We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post. “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates  Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a  means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated  sites.” You can read my full disclosure by clicking on the disclosure policy in the menu above.

My December Bucket List

My December Bucket List

December is here, and I am ready to jump into everything that is the Holidays and Christmas! For years I worked in retail, and because of that, my holidays were hectic!!!! I would wake up on Monday mornings, and hit the road, returning late Saturday Night. Spend Sunday Morning with my family at church, catch up on emails Sunday afternoons while watching Christmas movies or Football, and then clean, prep, pack, and leave Monday morning. It made for a very crazy holiday season but also taught me to plan my December Bucket List early and be intentional about the time I spent with family and friends.

Now I am a full-time blogger and work from home. But, as a person who likes to be busy, and have a life filled with projects, I still must make a December Bucket List, and be intentional about ensuring that I do the things that say Holiday to me. And, I also talk with my kids and grandkids to make sure we are including events and moments that matter to them. The worst thing in the world is to wake up January 1^st and know that you missed the most important things to you and your family because you allowed the hustle and bustle to take over, and moments were lost.

With that in mind, I have collected my thoughts, and formed my December Bucket List for 2018! I am excited as I look over the list and have blocked time out on my calendar to ensure I create quality time this December to truly experience the holidays and create lasting memories of time well spent. I hope this inspires you to do the same.

Wrap Presents to make them special

I am fortunate in two ways when it comes to wrapping presents. First, I love to wrap presents!!! Second, I have daughters that love to wrap them as well! For years I would offer to wrap family members gifts because I enjoyed the process so very much. Now, I don’t have a lot of time to wrap presents and for the last 10 years, my two daughters have done most of the wrapping. And, they are amazing at it!

Whether you enjoy wrapping gifts or not, I think it is always special to wrap at least a few of the gifts yourself, create beautiful bows, and hand write the “To/From” which is what we call the gift labels. I remember at an early age seeing my Mother’s handwriting on the gift and it really mattered to me. One year, I remember seeing my Father’s writing. That was a special moment too! I am not saying spend loads of money on fancy wrapping and bows, just carve out time to wrap a few special presents. And then, if your kids want to wrap the rest let them, even if it is not perfect. It is a great act of service.

We have a long-standing tradition in our family of writing out crazy, funny or mysterious gift tags. For instance, when giving a book, it is sometimes FROM the Author. Or, one year when I gave my brother a shoulder massager, I wrote the tag FROM A Good Night’s Sleep. My Mom started the tradition years ago and we have always loved it. One of our traditions is to open each present one at a time. Having the unique tags adds to the anticipation. You can read more about our Christmas Traditions HERE. The funniest To/From ever was when my Mom gave a present to my brother and signed it FROM A Passing Good Guy. None of us remember what the gift was, we just remember who it was from because we all cracked up.

“I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”

My December Bucket List

Take my picture with my family

This year on my bucket list, I am going to make sure I take pictures and selfies with my family, not just of my family. We often take one group picture at our Christmas Celebration. We all love it. But, to be truthful, I don’t like having my picture taken. I am sure that there are others out there who understand, and maybe some who don’t.

Recently I looked through my social media feeds and my camera roll and realized that I am not in nearly enough pictures with my family. I am so thankful that I have photos of loved ones who have passed away to look at. I need to leave that gift for my family as well. So, regardless of my messy hair, or runny mascara, I am going to take my picture and post it this December.

Cull the Christmas Decorations

December is the perfect time to cull the Christmas Decorations. We have about 15 bins of Christmas Decorations, and then various items that can’t fit into the bins because of odd shapes. And, we have too much! When we decorated the tree this year, I realized that for our tree, we have about 4 times the decorations that are needed. We had a wonderful time decorating, but I realized that it is more difficult to see the special memories and beautiful ornaments, because we have too many.

In addition, there are items that are truly threadbare and need to be disposed of this year. There are some items like the 100-year-old angel that needs a bit of repair. I will repair it. The hand knit Santa who is 90 years old, I will fix his moth-eaten glove. But there are quite a few ornaments that no one claims, no one looks for, and have no value. Those will be taken to the thrift store in hopes that someone else will enjoy them on their tree. Culling the decorations, I believe will make each one that we keep a little more special.

Look at the lights, and thank the neighbors

Every year on Christmas Eve we drive around looking at Christmas Lights. You can read more about our traditions here. So of course, we will do it again this year! But, for the rest of December, I want to make sure to take time to really enjoy the lights, and the beautiful decorations that our neighbors put up. I want to be in wonder and awe, and take a moment to really experience the season, instead of running through on autopilot. And, I am going to thank my neighbors for making our neighborhood such a wonderland. You can read more about how I thank my neighbors here.

Watch my Favorite Christmas Movies

I LOVE Christmas movies!!! I love the positive messages as well as the Nostalgia. For years I have been Watching Holiday Inn, Miracle on 34^th Street, and A Charlie Brown Christmas, in addition to about 20 others. My Mother loves Hallmark Christmas Movies, and so I try to sit and watch a few with her each year. My Kids love the animated movies from the 1970’s so we watch those. And my Granddaughter has become a huge fan of Mr. Grinch, so we will watch the Grinch as well!

My all-time favorite Christmas Movies are It’s a Wonderful Life and Christmas with the Kranks. I love the timeless tale of It’s a Wonderful Life. Every now and then we all need to watch George Bailey’s journey to remind us how important each one of us is to the world. And Christmas with the Kranks is a hysterical modern-day journey of Skipping Christmas written by John Grisham. It is not like any of his other novels but was made into the comedy Christmas with the Kranks.   I highly recommend both movies.

Sent out a few Christmas cards

I love to receive Christmas Cards in the mail, but hardly anyone sends them anymore. Today I received a Christmas Card and was so excited to receive the first one!!!! It was from our Electrician. Which is cool. But I would like to receive them from friends and family. This past Christmas I received a Christmas Card from a High School Friend who I had not talked two in over 25 years. She had been very faithful about sending cards over the years, but never any additional information. This last Christmas she sent her phone number, said she would be in the state and hoped we could get together. I immediately called her, we met up a few days later, and it was as if no time had passed.

This year, I am going to find out peoples addresses, and send them Christmas Cards. They won’t be expensive, or handmade, or super amazing. But they will express Holiday Greetings from our family. I hope everyone enjoys them.  And of course, I am not sending them to receive some in return. I am sending them because I really enjoy receiving them, and hope others will as well!

“I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”

Jib Jab

Have you ever given or received a Jib Jab? JibJab.com is an online company where you can choose a scenario and song, then input pictures of friends or family, and jibjab will turn it into a fun music video that can be sent via e-file. It is hilarious! I love using it, and love hearing from those I included in the video. It’s on my bucket list because it really makes me laugh, and I enjoy laughing.

Singing Carols and Listening to Christmas Music

I love to sing Christmas Carols and love to listen to Christmas Music. And, truth be told, I love to sing in the grocery store, department store, mall, anywhere I hear Christmas Music. So, wherever I hear Christmas Music, I am going to sing along. And, I am going to enjoy it. And I am going to listen to my Christmas Playlist, Christmas Radio, Christmas songs wherever I can find them and fully enjoy this month!

My December Bucket List

Have hot apple cider in Holiday Mugs

I have always loved Hot Apple Cider. I enjoy warming it on the stove with cinnamon sticks and cloves. Sometimes I add Cranberry Juice as well. It is a lovely treat and perfect for cold nights, in front of the fire, spending time with family. Or, when curled up with a good book. I enjoy the way it makes the whole house smell like Christmas. We live near a small-town apple ranch that produces freshly squeezed Apple Cider. It is the perfect Cider to warm and enjoy.

Make old family recipes

I recently looked through the old recipe boxes that we rarely use any more. There I found amazing recipes from friends and family members that have passed away. Looking at the recipes made me remember holiday parties, trays of treats given to our family, and church potlucks from the past. I picked out several of our favorites and am going to plan time to make these old recipes. Then, I will share Homemade Caramels, Christmas Cookies, Pumpkin Bread, and of course, Hot Crab Dip! I can’t wait to share them with loved ones and remember times gone by. It is always good to honor the past. You can read about some of our other family recipes here.

Get dressed up at least once

I have gotten out of the habit of getting all dressed up. Not sure when or why that happened, but this year I am going to make a change. I am going to choose a few times throughout the holiday season and get really dressed up. Well, dressed up for me. LOL. For instance, put on a full face of makeup, curl or straighten my hair, and put on a nice outfit with accessories. You might think, well, isn’t that normal? Nope, I have become a bit too casual, so I need to include Getting dressed up on my December Bucket List.

“I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”

See Christmas through the eyes of children

You may have read my post on “Why I want to be just like a 4-Year-Old” If not, you can read it here. I truly want to see Christmas through the eyes of a child. Sometimes, we get to adulty. And when that happens, we need to step back. This last weekend my 4-year-old granddaughter spent 2 hours putting all the non-breakable ornaments on the lower branches of the Christmas Tree.. Everyone else helped with the higher more breakable ornaments.

Then, the first thing the next morning Ellie asked me if she could put more ornaments on the tree and decorate the whole house!!! Then she decorated 4 low shelves with soft unbreakables, and 3 shelves on the top of the hutch with breakables. I am so impressed with the love and care she used to put each item lovingly where she believes they will be just perfect for the season. She also “fixed” a couple I said we would discard. It was really a good time and made me realize, I need to step back from adulting, and enjoy all of the wonders of the season, even if just now and then.

Remember the Reason for the Season

Sometimes we get so busy celebrating the holidays and prepping for Christmas that we forget what it is all about.  The final item on my December Bucket List is to be intentional, and remember why we celebrate Christmas. I know people have many reasons for celebrating Christmas, but for our family, it is to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We are going to keep this in mind this year as we go through this special season, spend an evening reading and thinking about Luke 2:1-20 which share the story of Jesus’ birth.

So, that’s my December Bucket List. I am sure other things will come up, plans will change, and more will be added, but this is my must do list for December, and I can’t wait to walk through every moment of it with my family and friends. I hope that you will take a moment and write down your December Bucket List, and then truly enjoy this magical season of light. And may I be the first to wish you Happy Holidays, and a Merry Christmas!

Follow me on Social

Remember to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest, and subscribe to this blog to receive additional ideas on how to give your time, talents, and money to make the world a better place.

Read about my Christmas Wishlist Here, Ideas for Last Minute Gifts to Say Thank You here, and my Best Christmas Ever Here. I would love to know your must do December Bucket List Items, so please share them in the comments below.