Well, hello there, beautiful people! The holiday season is coming to a close as we welcome the new year and it's really a bittersweet feeling. I'm kind of happy that the holidays are pretty much over because I am so over the stress of holiday shopping. But it kind of sucks because school is going to be starting back up again soon and I am loving my vacation so far. Saying goodbye to the holidays also means saying goodbye to the family members that you only get to see a few times a year. It also means that you probably have way too much leftover food and you probably have no idea what to do with it. Did I mention that school is starting up again? Yeah...

               Christmas is by far, my favorite holiday! I love being around my family and Christmas is usually the only time that I get to see a lot of them. I'm not going to pretend that getting a couple of holiday gifts isn't pretty great, either. But the best part of the holidays is, hands down, the FOOD!
My family has a pretty random tradition when it comes to what we eat on Christmas Day: we eat tons and tons of Mexican food at my aunt's house. Every. Single. Year. I don't know why we do because I don't think anyone in our family is remotely Hispanic, but we love Mexican food. I don't remember a single Christmas where we didn't eat it. And who could blame us? Look at this nutritious plate of Mexican goodness!

That cheese dip though...

               After eating way too much food, I usually join my family in my aunt's basement for games (and to take advantage of the mini bar). This year, we played Hedband, Taboo, and the Logo Game. Playing games like these always reminds me how competitive I can be, but we had a great time!



              A few years ago, two of my cousins and I added a new event to our family Christmas tradition: going to the movies! It's so much fun for me! There are so many films that are released on Christmas Day and I love going to see them. There's always a positive holiday atmosphere at the movie theater during the holidays, so it's a great time to go see a movie with the family. However, this year, we didn't go to the movies on Christmas Day (we went the next day). Instead, we went bowling at QC Family Entertainment, which is a really cool bowling alley/arcade/bar & grill.

Left: Those socks though... Top Right: My "curtain call" after FINALLY getting a strike Bottom Right: My gorgeous cousin focusing rather intensely on her bowling ball

                The next day, my family and I went to the movies and saw the amazingly talented Mark Wahlberg in The Gambler. I'll admit, when I heard about the plot of the movie, I had pretty mediocre expectations on how well I thought the movie would turn out to be, but it was a great film!

                 Spending time with the people you love is always a great way to end the year, and an even better way to kick off the new year. Speaking of which...

Special New Year's Announcement!!!
I've decided that I want to start 2015 off with a challenge. I'm super excited to see where this blog goes next year and as a way to get serious about blogging, I've come to the conclusion that I am going to do the 30 Days of Blogging Challenge for the month of January! I figured that putting up a post every day for a month would be a great way to kick off the new year on the blog. I found out about the 30 Days of Blogging challenge on Pinterest and got super jazzed to try it out!

               Comment down below and let me know what your holiday traditions are and what you have planned for New Year's.

With love from your girl,
Shatece