Beautiful Crazy Life: Thoughts from Today

The tired mother's holiday creed via lisajobaker.com

1. This post by Lisa Jo Baker. If you don't read her blog regularly, I definitely recommend bookmarking it. She always has good things to say, but this post came at just the right time. I've said it many times before, and I'm sure I'll say it many times again: I LOVE this season of the year. The holidays, the cool weather, the chaos. However, it IS easy to get wrapped up in the comparison trap--you simply can't do it all. You can't attend every holiday party AND purchase the perfect gift for every person on your list AND wrap each and every present with Southern-Living-like flair AND be super creative with that dang Elf on the Shelf AND keep your house spotless for surprise guests AND everything else that comes up during the holiday season. Or maybe you can, but I certainly can't. And that's OK with me. I'll spend this season relishing the time with my girls and making new memories with them.

2. Holiday fitness. Every year I see it happen. January 1st rolls around and everyone wants to lose the weight they've gained over the holidays. Let's take a proactive approach--let's work a little not to pile on as many pounds over the holidays. Monica at Run, Eat, Repeat is hosting a 25 Days of Fitness Challenge. Runner's World coordinates the #RWRunStreak each year. Create your own challenge! Just MOVE during the holidays! (Notice that I didn't say eat less. That would just be wrong!)

3. This book.

Photo borrowed from Mile Posts.

Kristin Armstrong, who blogs at RunnersWorld.com, is the author of this book, Mile Markers. I haven't read too many books on running (I'm a blog kind of girl), but of the ones I have read, this is my favorite! If you have a runner, or wanna-be runner, on your shopping list, this is a great gift! It can be found here.

4. Gifts that give back. Me to We is a company that sells handmade jewelry, scarves, and clothing.

http://missteeneasternsaskatchewan.com/files/2011/06/Me-To-We-hands.jpg

Each purchase gives a gift to the Free the Children community, from clean water to food, medicine, or school supplies. In addition to this, for every person who signs up for their email list, Me to We donates 25 liters of clean water to a family in one of their impacted communities. So why not do a little double-gifting and purchase a few Christmas gifts for good?

5. Seventy degrees in December. I'm not a big fan of cold weather, but it doesn't quite feel like the Christmas season when it's this warm and muggy! Bring on the cool, weatherman!