Yay!  Welcome to the first day of a Sweet-Me Christmas!  We are so excited to share with you our ideas to get on track, so that you can celebrate Christmas the entire month of December, instead of feeling rushed and stressed.

Let's talk about what it is we really want for Christmas.  My goal this year is to have a simple, joyful and meaningful Christmas.  I want to stress less, and embrace joy more.

What will be your holiday approach this year?

This time of year, we are focused on our blessings.  With Thanksgiving just around the corner, our hearts are turned towards gratitude.  I can't think of a better way to start the Holiday Season.

To truly appreciate Christmas we must first be thankful in mind and heart.  The true spirit of Thanksgiving is often skipped over to get the the Christmas celebrations.  I love Thanksgiving.  I love taking time to be with my family and friends and sharing our joy and blessings with one another.  I love the feeling of going to bed at night with a heart full of gratitude.  How blessed I feel to have a dedicated time to focus my energy on being truly grateful and happy for my life.  Thanksgiving always sets the tone for our Christmas.  It helps my kids to remember that Christmas is not about gifts under the tree with their name on it.  Christmas is about so much more!

Christmas memories are compiled of family, friends, faith and tradition.  Christmas gives us a feeling of love, hope and happiness.  Families come together, communities serve together, and good cheer is spread between strangers.

Every year, we get excited about Christmas,  yet, once the hustle and bustle of the season begins, it is so easy to get caught up in the things that are not  true to our Christmas values.  We let the stress creep in.  We start to feel like we don't have enough money, enough time, enough presents, enough decorations.  Soon the excitement of  of Christmas turns into stress and pressure.

How can we stop feeling overwhelmed during the Holidays, and start feeling overjoyed?

Set our Christmas Values and Christmas budget!  Knowing what our values are helps to set a course for true Christmas cheer.

With every present you buy, treat you bake, room you decorate, are you staying true to your Christmas values?  Are your resources and energies being spent on creating a Christmas season that you and your family will enjoy and cherish?

This season, we are going to start off knowing what we want for Christmas.  Think of your Christmas pasts.  What has made the season special?  Were you spiritually fed during the holidays?  What stress did you feel?  Did you wait until the last minute?  Did you enjoy the season?  What do you want to focus on this Christmas?  Ask your kids, what they liked best about last Christmas.  Make this a family discussion so that everyone is on board with how this Christmas will be spent.

Make a list of some of the values you want to focus on this year.  Figure out what is important to you, and hold on to that.  If we start off the season knowing what we want to get out of it, it will help us to keep our calendars from being too full, our time from being to stretched and our budgets from being blown.  Set a reasonable budget, with your Christmas values in mind.  Do you want to spend most of your budget on gifts?  Do you want to take a family vacation for Christmas?  Do you want to spend more on others than each other?

There is no right or wrong to how you choose to enjoy the Holidays.  The most important part is to choose to enjoy them.

This Thanksgiving, what are you most thankful for?  The things you are most grateful for, are what you are going to want to focus your Christmas values on.  Show your thanks and appreciation for your many blessings by celebrating the spirit of Christmas.

Decide to embrace the spirit of love, peace and joy of the Christmas Season.

Take time today and think of what you really want this Christmas, and let that guide you as you purchase gifts, decorate your home, and plan out your holiday events.  Do you think that having a clear purpose of your Christmas values will help you to more enjoy the magical, exciting month of December?  How do you think this exercise will help you to have a more meaningful Christmas?  Let us know!  We want this to be something we can learn from and help and share with others.  Let us know what you are going to focus on this year!

Much Love,