Today I’ll keep it short and sweet because we should all be celebrating with our loved ones.
Thank you all for being one of the best gifts I could ever receive. You all mean the world to me and I hope you’re all having the best holiday season ever!
I’ll be back soon with more posts before the new year! But for now, let’s all be in the moment. Enjoy every little thing.
Love lots. Share hugs, kisses, stories, and hot chocolate.
Merry Christmas from my family and I!
Before I get into today’s post, I have some side notes. I want to let everyone know that there was a slight scheduling mishap with my last three posts. For some reason, they never went public! But they’re up now, so check out My Winter Bucket List , Stocking Stuffers for College Students , and Photos I Want to Take This December! Also, I know this post is going up a little later than usual, and that’s because I really wanted to get this up TODAY but I also wanted to spend some time with my family relaxing. And again, finals are coming up so I’ve been hitting those books any chance I get!
Today I wanted to give you guys a little update on what I’ve been up to and how I’ve been feeling. I don’t want this whole blog to just be me talking about how I’m doing, but sometimes I like to check in and write in my “digital diary.”
Lately I’ve been doing pretty well. Things really seem to be looking up for me. Sure, little things have pushed my buttons here and there, but I haven’t let anything get to me for long.
I got to see an old friend of mine for the first time in almost two years, which is so crazy to think about! Andy had been in Japan doing his tough guy USMC thing and hadn’t been home since before we graduated high school. It was so much fun getting to see him and other old classmates of mine!
I’ve been focusing a lot on school lately, which is good for me. I was letting my poor mental health dictate whether or not I attended class or completed assignments for so long that my grades were taking some hard hits. I had to really buckle down for a couple weeks and study like crazy. I have finals tomorrow and Tuesday that will really be make it or break it for me. Keep your fingers crossed or send prayers if that’s your thing. I’ll be welcoming of whatever positivity you throw at me!
In other news, I’ve met someone. He’s really freaking cool and I can’t think of a single time that we’ve hung out where we haven’t been dying laughing together. Good signs, right?
I don’t want to say too much yet because I’m sure once the time is right, I won’t shut up about him. I guess you’ll hear more soon!
Quick thanks to everyone who has been keeping up with everything I’ve been doing on Instagram and Twitter while I’ve been taking my sporadic breaks on here! You guys are awesome!
Anyone who knows me knows I love taking photos. My friends get so annoyed with me when I always have my phone out ready to snap a picture! I just really love getting to look back at pictures from special moments because it takes me right back there.
For December, I’ve decided to make a checklist of photos I want to take so I don’t miss out on anything. I figured- why not be that annoying girl behind the camera if that means I get to carry the memories with me forever?
The Christmas tree
Gingerbread house
Shopping
Gifts under the tree
Christmas cookies
Snowfall
Family Christmas party
First gifts being opened
Christmas lights
All my family by the Christmas tree
Friends on New Year’s Eve
The last second of 2019
Confetti
Disclaimer: Some of the links provided are affiliate links, meaning I will make a small commission at no additional cost to you when you make a purchase. Thank you for your support!
Last year I posted Stocking Stuffers for College Students and it seemed to be well received. I thought I would go ahead and update that with some more ideas for 2019! CLICK HERE to see last year’s post!
Candy
I think this one is a given. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who doesn’t get some sort of candy in their stocking. Hershey kisses in those candy cane plastic tubes are super cute and festive. I love those. I don’t really care for regular candy canes that much, but they also serve as pretty cool stuffers too.
Movies
Walmart always has the $5 movie bins, so you could potentially strike gold and get some classics in the stocking! It’s always fun to watch a movie when there’s time off between classes and homework assignments, so getting a new DVD can also serve as motivation to get assignments done early.
Socks
Everyone knows you can’t go wrong with socks. I just bought some cute pairs at Walmart today- $5 for two pairs. It’s inexpensive and bound to contribute to many comfortable nights down the road. This is an especially good gift for those who are older because comfort is so much more important to us than flashy presents. Especially when we’re walking on cold floors and through 20 degree weather going to class.
Chapstick
Winter is infamous for drying out lips. If you think this is boring, you can always opt for cake batter, pink lemonade, or root beer flavored chapsticks. These may not be conventional, but they sure do come in handy.
Scrunchies
This one is definitely directed toward females, but it’s such a good idea I couldn’t ignore it. Scrunchies are coming back and they’re so cute! You can get so many different patterns and materials, making each one so unique. They’re perfect for days when you sleep in late but still want to make yourself look a little put together. They can pull so many outfits together, even when you forget to brush your hair!
Nail Polish
Getting new nail polishes can always brighten someone’s day. They’re so cost efficient and fun to get creative with. You could go with red, green and blue for the holidays, or you could pick any other color under the sun to add to someone’s collection! It’s so much cheaper (and more convenient) to paint your nails yourself than get them professionally done when you’re dealing with a student’s budget.
Gift Cards
If all else fails, gift cards are the way to go. My family usually goes for the iTunes gift cards that can be used for apps or music. For college students, perhaps gift cards for near by restaurants would be just as valuable.
Earbuds
What college student couldn’t use an extra pair of earbuds? I know I always misplace my AirPods and could use an extra pair of earbuds as backups.
Face Masks
After a long day of classes and homework, we deserve to pamper ourselves!
Pura Vida Bracelets
I’ve seen Pura Vida bracelet becoming popular lately. I have a ton myself and I know a bunch of people who are starting a collection! They have more than just bracelets, too. I catch myself drooling over their necklaces a lot. And good news! If you CLICK HERE, you can get 20% off your purchase at puravida.com, or you can use my code “MEGANNROSECRANS20” at checkout!
Card Games
If your college student has games like Cards Against Humanity or What Do You Meme?, try getting some expansion packs! Games get old after too long of playing with the same cards. Instead of buying a whole new game, save some $$ buy giving those old games a facelift!
Winter brings out the lazy in me, that’s for sure. The cold weather makes me want to curl up in bed with hot chocolate and watch Hallmark movies. I think that the world should just shut down during the winter months. But this year I want to get stuff done, ya know? You can only relax for so long before relaxing gets exhausting. So here’s what I hope to do this winter!
Catch Snowflakes on My Tongue
Make a Christmas Playlist
See Christmas Lights
Make Homemade Hot Chocolate
See Santa
Decorate a Gingerbread House
Learn a New Skill
Decorate Cookies
Watch a Christmas Movie with My Family
Spend Time at Home
Celebrate New Year’s with Family and Friends
Journal Throughout the Month
Take Lots of Pictures
Finish Blogmas 2019
Work on My Blog More
Get on the Dean’s List
Work Harder on Creating Content
Finals week is next week and saying I’ve been overwhelmed would be an understatement.
I have so many papers and study guides to get completed. My head feels like it’s going to explode. I let the days fly by and totally lost track of time. Guess who’s really behind. Me. I’m behind. That’s who. *nervous laughter*
So I pretty much wanted today’s post to just be a short little heads up that blogmas might be super short posts until I’m through with finals next week.
Lame post, I know. But I had to get it out there somehow, right?
Ok, carry on with your day! See you tomorrow!
First, let me disclose that I am not an avid movie watcher. But something about holiday movies really gets me.
I recently got Disney+ and I’ve been really excited to watch their holiday movies with my friends and family this year! I’ve done some perusing and I have a list of the movies I’m dying to snuggle up and watch while the snow falls outside!
1. Noelle
“Kris Kringle’s daughter is full of Christmas spirit but wishes she could do something important like her brother Nick, who will take over for their father this Christmas. When Nick is about to crumble like a gingerbread cookie from all the pressure, Noelle suggests he take a break and get away… but when he doesn’t return, Noelle must find her brother and bring him back in time to save Christmas.”
2. The Santa Clause
“On Christmas Eve, divorced dad Scott Calvin and his son discover Santa Claus has fallen off their roof. When Scott takes the reins of the magical sleigh, he finds he is now the new Santa, and must convince a world of disbelievers, including himself.”
3. Miracle on 34th Street
“An elderly gentleman named Kris Kringle creates a stir when he’s hired as Macy’s in-store Santa Claus for the holiday season.”
4. The Ultimate Christmas Present
“When 13-year-old Allie Thompson and her best friend Sam happen upon a weather-making machine discarded by none other than Santa Claus, they use it to cause a snow day in Los Angeles. But when the machine gets out of hand, it threatens to ruin Christmas.”
5. Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
“Mrs. Potts recounts another ‘tale as old as time’ about a Christmas that almost wasn’t, thanks to scheming composer Forte who is determined to keep Belle and Beast apart forever.”
Chapter 12 of 12.
Hello December!
We’ve made it to yet another year’s end and that means it’s time for Blogmas! Last year was my first attempt at Blogmas and it was such an epic fail that it pained me. But this year I’m back and better than ever!
This year needs to be different. I’ve grown and changed a lot and I really think I could redeem myself after last year’s utter flop.
I suppose today is sort of a cheat day by announcing Blogmas instead of doing an in depth post, but oh well. Let’s count it!
Time to get into the holiday spirit, right?!
Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. Food is 100% up my alley so this holiday was practically made for me! But before I start licking plates clean, I want to go into who/what I am thankful for this year.
I can’t thank my family enough for everything they’ve done for me. In the last year, I’ve gone through a lot of struggles and they’ve been by my side through it all. They make bad days good and good days even better. I’ve always been able to call on them whenever I need a shoulder to cry on or someone to laugh with.
My best friends from home have been holding it down for years. They’re some of the best people I could ever surround myself with. They always drop everything they’re doing to make sure I’m good and I can’t say thank you enough. I have so many great memories with them and I hope to make a lot more in the future.
I’ve met so many awesome people in college and they’re some of the greatest friends I could ask for. I could trust these people with my life. I was so blessed to have met these people in my classes.
Having a good education is very important to me. I am so lucky and blessed to be able to further my education at Cleveland State University. It’s almost always a stressful headache but it’s all been worth it at the end of the day.
Everyone who takes the time out of their day to read my posts are AMAZING! I am so unbelievably thankful for each and every one of you! It feels like I’ve made so many friends through blogging and I hope I can keep doing this for years to come.
What are you thankful for this year?
I hope that you and yours have an amazing Thanksgiving full of great food and even better memories!
If you’ve been following my Blogmas posts, you probably can recall that I am not a huge fan of Christmas movies. To be completely honest, I don’t consider myself a fan of most movies. I hate having to pay attention to something for extended periods of time. I know, I know, I’m totally lazy. It just makes me feel like I’m wasting my time. However, there are a few holiday movies that I can actually sit through. If I like these movies, I’m sure everyone else can find something to like about them too.
First, let’s get all the classics out of the way.
One of my first favorite Christmas movies. Tim Allen kills it. And the magic of the story is so fascinating. I just really love this freaking movie. A lot.
Alright… don’t attack me, but I had never seen this movie until two days ago. It started when my sister played (and killed) the role of the mother when our hometown put on a production of A Christmas Story. That was my first time ever hearing the plot. Then, my boyfriend invited me over on Tuesday to help him put up Christmas decorations (yeah, he’s a procrastinator), and I was “rewarded” with a late night screening of A Christmas Story. I think it was easier for me to get through because I just thought about my sister’s lines versus the lines in the movie. But I really liked the story and purity of the movie. It’s super cute. Even though I almost cried when the dad’s turkey got eaten by the hounds. Spoiler alert, I guess.
Just like any other Hallmark storyline. Girl meets guy, guy is a butt, girl changes guy, girl and guy fall in love and live happily ever after. But this time… IT’S CHRISTMASSY. I really hate that all Hallmark movies have the same basic plot, but I can never take my eyes off the t.v. whenever one is on. I quickly became obsessed with this movie for no apparent reason. But since it’s not so much of a classic, I guess I’ll sum it up for you real quick. The girl, Jessica, comes to a small town to film a movie. She’s staying in a hotel owned by the town’s mayor, who is a …butt… and while she tries to keep it civil, they end up being a little more than civil, if you know what I mean.
Maybe I’m biased because I love Melissa Joan Hart, but this movie is so good. I first saw this when I was 10 (I think) and I think about it every Christmas season. It’s about a girl who is basically a miserable failure and doesn’t want to disappoint her family when she comes home for Christmas, so she kidnaps some guy and forces him to pretend to be her boyfriend. I’m just so interested in it because guess what… spoiler alert… THEY FALL IN LOVE. And I think we all know, that would NOT happen in real life. So I guess that’s why it’s on Freeform and not Crime Watch Daily.
Another Hallmark movie. I’m sorry. If you’re looking for a painful romantic comedy that will make you feel a whole bunch of different ways by the end, this is the one.
I’m trying to get into the holiday spirit this year, so if you can think of any more Christmas movies that I should check out this year, let me know!
Does anyone else get stressed out over gift giving? Don’t know what to get someone?
I worked really hard on a video that was supposed to be posted today, but in WordPress’s good fashion, it won’t upload… even after 2 whole days of loading. You could say I’m a little distraught. But instead of moping, I buckled down and prepared a replacement post for everyone. In yesterday’s post I said I’m not very good at making gift guides, but I decided to challenge myself today. I chose a few different categories and compiled some different gift ideas that your loved ones would be sure to love. I even added some purchasing links for you guys! I hope you enjoy!
A Bullet Journal
They read enough books, so maybe it’s time they create one of their own!
A Kindle
For the readers on the go who can’t always get to the bookstore.
Amazon Gift Card
So they can get some new books for their new kindle 😉
https://www.amazon.com/gift-cards/b/?ie=UTF8&node=2238192011&ref=nav_cs_gift_cards
Custom Photo Books BY YOU
Shutterfly offers printed copies of books you can create by yourself!
https://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books
Fitness Apparel
It’s always a confidence booster to know you look good while you’re working out!
Water Bottles
You can never have enough water while you’re at the gym, so why not have some cute water bottles by your side?
Tennis Shoes
A new pair to a gym-holic’s collection is always exciting!
Duffle Bag
Obviously it would be helpful to have something to carry all the new gear in!
Earbuds
It’s a little rude to play your pump up playlist loudly for everyone to hear, so a pair of earbuds could really come in handy.
Phone Strap
Can’t work out with your phone in your hand, can you?
Morphe Eyeshadow Palettes
Morphe has AMAZING palettes that any makeup lover can’t live without.
24G GRAND GLAM EYESHADOW PALETTE
Brush Sets
Can’t apply the shadow without brushes!
https://www.morphebrushes.com/collections/sets/products/eye-slay
Travel Bags
I never realized how important travel bags are for makeup until I had to haul all my makeup everywhere I went.
Face Masks
A great way to pamper your skin after wearing lots of makeup.
https://www.sephora.com/product/sheet-masks-P429529?icid2=products%20grid:p429529:product
Hi guys! So as you may have noticed, a holiday podcast was not uploaded today. I have some bad news…
Technology hates me today.
My laptop lost all of my pre-recorded podcasts. I didn’t notice until it was too late to re-record everything. And if that wasn’t enough to make me feel completely defeated, I also can’t upload the video for tomorrow. I’ve had the same page up for hours trying to get tomorrow’s video to load in order to draft it for the next day, but it seems like nothing is working.
I plan to leave the page up overnight in hopes that it will somehow upload by tomorrow and be able to be posted on time, but just in case it doesn’t work out for me, I’ll have a back up post ready to go up at the regularly scheduled time. I promise.
Since I can’t post a podcast today, I decided I could do a gifting guide. Then I realized I’m awful at that. So then I thought it could be fun to come up with some super inexpensive ideas for stocking stuffers. Stockings are always the first thing my family goes to when we wake up on Christmas morning. It’s like pregaming without the alcohol.
So here’s a list of stocking suffer suggestions from yours truly. Enjoy them, or don’t. It was a last minute idea so my feelings won’t be hurt too bad.
Candy
I think this one is a given. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who doesn’t get some sort of candy in their stocking. Hershey kisses in those candy cane plastic tubes are super cute and festive. I love those. I don’t really care for regular candy canes that much, but they also serve as pretty cool stuffers too.
Movies
Walmart always has the $5 movie bins, so you could potentially strike gold and get some classics in the stocking! It’s always fun to watch a movie when there’s time off between classes and homework assignments, so getting a new DVD can also serve as motivation to get assignments done early.
Socks
Everyone knows you can’t go wrong with socks. I just bought some cute pairs at Walmart today- $5 for two pairs. It’s inexpensive and bound to contribute to many comfortable nights down the road. This is an especially good gift for those who are older because comfort is so much more important to us than flashy presents. Especially when we’re walking on cold floors and through 20 degree weather going to class.
Chapstick
Winter is infamous for drying out lips. If you think this is boring, you can always opt for cake batter, pink lemonade, or root beer flavored chapsticks. These may not be conventional, but they sure do come in handy.
Scrunchies
This one is definitely directed toward females, but it’s such a good idea I couldn’t ignore it. Scrunchies are coming back and they’re so cute! You can get so many different patterns and materials, making each one so unique. They’re perfect for days when you sleep in late but still want to make yourself look a little put together. They can pull so many outfits together, even when you forget to brush your hair!
Nail Polish
Getting new nail polishes can always brighten someone’s day. They’re so cost efficient and fun to get creative with. You could go with red, green and blue for the holidays, or you could pick any other color under the sun to add to someone’s collection! It’s so much cheaper (and more convenient) to paint your nails yourself than get them professionally done when you’re dealing with a student’s budget.
Gift Cards
If all else fails, gift cards are the way to go. My family usually goes for the iTunes gift cards that can be used for apps or music. For college students, perhaps gift cards for near by restaurants would be just as valuable.
These are just a few ideas of inexpensive gifts you can stuff in your college student’s stocking this Christmas. Keep an eye out for more ideas based on things they use a lot and could always use more of.
