I spent 3 hours on this post in the past, all for my computer to glitch and then for the site to save the version that deleted everything, ugh it is sooo frustrating. I will try to recreate it but I’m afraid it just wont be the same.

11.1.18-The stockings were almost hung with care, and it was still weeks away from Thanksgiving. We got started early this year and it came as a blessing in disguise because we were able to clean out the attic and find a ton of Holiday tubs, 70% of the attic space to be exact. I got a chance to reminisce when I found a tub marked Childhood Room. It brought back so many memories of the holidays with my family. They always made it a point that no matter what we would have the holidays together and find the time to experience some of the many traditions. Although it is a time for sadness too as we don’t have some of those people with us anymore when the time arises. We still think of them and tell the stories that help us all to continue that grieving process individually. Happy news would be that we are so close to being done with the project next door. Stay tuned for an entry on just that soon😏

11.4.18-October brought so much fun🎃 The carnival, trick or treating with the kiddies that I tag along with, costume parties, and work parties. This year I was Sarah from “The Craft”, a Witch, and a She-Devil that I accompanied with a black wig, red lips and a red tail. We had so much fun with the little’s and just hanging with friends and family. Philip and I both carved pumpkins, mine took so long that he was able to do two separate carvings. We ate candy corn, the pumpkins are my favorite though. Oh and the Carnival was a blast. We date nighted to dinner and then headed to the Ferris Wheel. I got a fried strawberry shortcake with whip cream and OMG it was delicious, Philip ate 65% 😒. We had tons of bon fires, and the night of Halloween we sat out front of the house and greeted the 4 car fulls of trick or treater’s. We live in the back of a huge neighborhood so we were lucky to get that. All in all it was a magical month.

12.2.18-November we visited festivals except the Seafood one, most of ya’ll know I don’t eat anything that comes out of the sea. The McIntosh festival was so much fun, we bought crafts and food truck yummies. The art work was amazing this year but super pricey. One painting was a field of sunflowers done in oil pastel for $1500.00, I was actually shocked. Thanksgiving was a little different this year, we went to my moms instead of my aunts for lunch and ate at a local restaurant where our meal was cooked and served to us, along with wine or beer. It was delicious, and we didn’t have to worry about cleaning up or cooking, or the worry of bringing a dish. However it did mean we only had a select time to enjoy one another’s company as we sat at a table. In the past we would switch up the seating from inside to outside, play games and if at my aunts sometimes even swim if it was nice enough out. After we said our goodbyes and got our family selfie, we rushed to Philip’s moms. We had the turkey, the dressing the everything really, including a bon fire with some great tunes. All the pies you could imagine and Philips step brother brought a pumpkin cheesecake. Delicious. The night ended with us in bed with a good movie wondering how we could even think of eating a meal the next day🦃 I missed my dad, he went to my aunts this year to be with that side of my family. It was nice to be able to set day plans with my mom though and see them through for that experience. For some of us holidays are a bit erratic. Since I can remember we have always visited multiple families. My mom, my dad, philips mom, and sadly we miss out on the rest of philips family parties and dinners because they always overlap one of the above obligations. I couldn’t imagine if Philips dad didn’t live with us and we had his festivities to attend too. I can honestly say we always try, and most of the time, make everyone happy. We go to the extent to make sure plans are plans and we make sure we can be around everyone at some sort of time. Traveling makes things just a bit tricky, which was our case this year. In other news, Carter turned 6 this year and we got to visit Chuck E Cheese. I have to say I really think Philip had just as much fun as Carter, it was a good time for us all!!! One of my favorite festivities during this season is one we started last year, Friendsgiving. Since we can remember the same group of friends and their munchkins that have come into the world have always been so close yo our hearts, we’d do anything for them. We decided what better way to see one another then host a dinner at our house where we always provide the meat and some desserts, and everyone else brings a side dish and dessert, or two. I can thank the punchbowl website for that. It allows me to create an invite, send via email and has a dashboard where my guests can add what their bringing, who they r bringing, and any comments if need be. It is magical, for the second year we were able to see what was missing and fill in the holes, and have never had double dishes. Philip thought he was going to get out of a smore’s sit down with the kids until our godson walked in asking Uncle P about them🤣 Luckily the store is a 5 min drive around the corner😏. We had a few cancellations from our main guest list due to sickness and family functions, but we made the best of it and really all enjoyed ourselves. Every year I find a token to give out to each household as a memory of the time we got together. Last year I had koozie’s printed and this year due to our slim budget I made some handmade gifts that had the Friendsgiving2 title. The season always reminds me of how thankful I am for the growing friendships and families I have with those closest to us. I cant wait for Friendsgiving the 3rd, or next years November.

1.1.18-December, ohhh do I wish it snowed in Central Florida☃️ Maybe with all this Global Warming that will be one thing we can expect next year¿¿A girl can hope¿ The holidays came and they went, kinda quickly I feel. My soul sister is having a baby, Savannah, super soon and we teamed up and threw her a baby shower for the books. It was awesome we mixed Harry Potter Princess, she loves Harry Potter, with her favorite Disney Princess’. It was a hard combo at first, but we made it happen and it really turned out great. She was beautiful and I tried to not put her to work too much and instead utilized the man of her house, Ryan, aka Daddy to be. The craft portion of the shower helped me find inspiration for my Christmas gifts. I made individual wood signs for my family members and tagged the back with my handmade logo, PPB and the year. This year the Hubs and I made tons of Christmas cookies and decorated them with all the candies and sprinkles. We hung Christmas lights, my husband even marked our roof with a heart and our last name in the center of it. It was adorable and he was so proud until on the 20th day of Christmas the I and the R went out…that sucked. Sometimes hard work just gets the best of us all…lol.

I applauded his efforts though and thanked him for his creativity. I might of even told him if he keeps it up at this rate we may make it on that Light Fight show they air every year on tv. Christmas Eve was a blast as usual, we partied at my moms and Philip won the poker game, we split the earnings, duh. Her house was decorated so cute she has this modern Christmas tree that is one of my favorites I’ve ever seen. We exchanged our gifts and I’m always so thankful that no matter how old we get we always have something under the tree. My mom played Cards Against Humanity with us and we laughed so hard my ribs were hurting all night into the next day. The food was delicious and the sweets were on point. We didn’t get home till midnight and it was all so worth it. The next day was blissful chaos as I was clearly hungover on our travels to Palm Coast. We did Christmas day at my dads and my aunt and cousin came over to join in on the fun. The food was all cooked from scratch by my stepmomma, and it was 5 stars superb. We played a few games of Family Feud and were quite stunned to learn the game was made in 2015 but had some references from the 80’s. It wasn’t fair to us young-ens in my opinion…lol. December finished off beautifully with some family photos. We bought our last jug of egg nog that should get us through January, and have tons of candy to go with it, from our stockings. The New Year will be here before we know it and I can happily say that through these seasons I have no regrets. Tis the season, until next year!🎄