Diving into December

I love and hate December. The holiday season brings so much joy into my life. I absolute love the season of giving, participating in acts of kindness, and spreading holiday cheer.

I'm also obsessed with all things Christmas, and anything Disney + Christmas has a special way into my heart. I definitely need to go to Disney World for Christmas one year to see all the magical decorations on display.

December is a super busy month for everyone in my life though. Work is certainly hectic since I am stationed at a Starbucks in a mall. There's good days and certainly days I want to forget, but I am a workaholic. I thrive off of the rush and love a good adrenaline boost. Catch me working as many hours as I possibly can as well because I'm definitely saving up for big things to come in the future.

My home is also stressful at times as my mom is the midst of finals, and my dad has a million work projects going on. I always need to remind myself to not allow my emotions to adapt to their current situations.

On a more generic note.. please be mindful and treat those with kindness while your out and about this holiday season. Your customer service workers, healthcare heroes, restaurant cooks and waiters and retail employees are dealing with a ton of people, working a ton of hours, and are under extreme stress at times. Your college students and professors are stressed to the max and many people are fighting their own mental/physical health illness'

What I don’t love is certainly the colder weather as I am that weird person who LOVES the heat of summer. I’m already missing my sunshine walks and can feel my productivity and motivation to be active, dress up and do fun things dwindling because of the cold.

I need to understand myself that I don't have to be busy/active 24/7 and it's alright that right now I don't have much to do in my evenings. I don't have a treadmill, outdoor walks are freezing, mall is unenjoyable to walk around some days, and I don't have a gym membership. A lot of my friends don't live near me anymore and I don't have my drivers license to go places I want all the time.

Activity definitely takes a hit this time of year which is something I personally struggle with. I'm making every intention to recognize this and be mindful with myself. It's a season of life that will pass and may not even be a concern in years to come.

I am excited that many of my friends are coming home for the holidays or will be on winter breaks shortly though , so I can fill up my own personal cup with some social interaction away from work.

I'll also be spending a lot of time prepping for fantasy gymnastics and getting ready to watch my favorite sport for the next few months. For those of you who don't know, I was a former writer for College Gym News. I hope one day I have the opportunity to work for the platform again, but it was just too hard to balance with my Disney College Program schedule last winter. I barley watched any NCAA gymnastics which Is why I am making time for it this year. It's something that brings me joy, passion, and fits a potential career for me.

Speaking of potential careers, I have officially submitted all my applications to graduate programs. The only thing left is waiting for all my letters of reccomendation to be sent by my recommenders to the programs. I am excited and slightly nervous for what's to come with graduate schools. I am eager to find out where I'll end up, what assistantships, jobs and other opportunities I'll have, where I'll be living and my newfound schedule.

The wait to find out about assistantship and program admissions is certainly going to be painful. The decision I'll have to make will be challenging, but it's also an exciting time. I applied to seven schools and the closest is 10 hours away from my home in Connecticut. I've never visited a single one of the schools I applied too before either, so that's something.

I will likely be traveling a bit this spring if I have a top two decision showdown to visit the campuses to make a decision. Ultimately finances are the biggest concern for me and I'll end up with the option that financially makes the most sense for me.

I am thinking about doing some solo travels to visit some friends and maybe do a trip somewhere for me If I can. I said this on my Instagram the other day, but I envision a life for myself where I can travel freely, relax on the beach, discover the cutest cities, find the best coffee shops, and divulge myself into the culture.

My other big goal for December is to work on creating more social media content, continue collaborations with my favorite brands, and focus on establishing myself with this blog and my social platforms.

I'm planning some stuff for the new year, and some stuff I want to add into my content when I began graduate school. Somethings are just hard to film when your living in your childhood home with four people. I definitely miss having my own bathroom at times (for storage reasons honestly) and a beautiful Florida lit kitchen! The extra hands are certainly appreciated for some of my recipes though. Also aspects of my life are currently not as exciting as I wish, but I know there's more to come in the new year.

I'll continue working on vulnerability, continue crafting recipes and continue working on my personal wellness and physically for finances o set myself up for the life I want going forward.

But I'm optimistic about the weeks to come. I love wrapping presents, I love decorating the house and I love car rides to see all the gorgeous Christmas light displays in the area.

Here's to the holiday season! Set boundaries where you need them, enjoy the goodness of the foods, create some acts of kindness and remember to treat everyone with respect because you never know what someone is going through.