Photo courtesy of Viktor Hanacek on Picjumbo

If you know me, you may know that I kind of detest Winter. I'm not a fan of the cold at all. Or the ice. Or the snow if I have to be in it. But I live in Ohio, so I have to find ways to make the most of it, and I actually have. Honestly, I don't think I'd actually mind Winter as much if the temperature stayed above 20ºF, and there wasn't slippery ice. I'm not Elsa, so the cold really bothers me. I'm also not coordinated on ice, by any stretch. But Winter is practically here, and it'll be here for quite a few months. So I have to try to make the most of it.

That being said, I don't think this Winterlicious Questions Tag could have come at a better time! So thank you to my wonderful friend Mari for tagging me to do this; you can check out Mari's responses to these questions here.

Photo courtesy of Karolina Grabowska on KaboomPics

Holiday traditions can sometimes vary a little bit, or even a lot a bit, from family to family. They can also change a little bit over the years as well, as new traditions get added and some fall to the wayside. In my family, things also tend to change a little bit from year to year as well, primarily just the timing of certain things, particularly when we get the tree up and start wrapping gifts. I honestly don't think we've ever had a specific date when we'd get the Christmas tree up and start wrapping presents. Not gonna lie, I'd love to make a tradition of setting up the tree the day after Thanksgiving so that we can enjoy it for longer. There's actually a lot of holiday traditions I'd like to start. Maybe I should start some of them on my own, even if no one else will join in. Maybe? I already have my own traditions for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day that I tend to do solely on my own. So why not?

That being said, even though plans may vary from year to year, there are still a few traditions in my family that are pretty constant. And I always look forward to them. Even the ones that don't seem like fun. I actually find a little joy in some of the "boring" or chaotic ones, some of them are actually enjoyable to me for some odd reason. And even if they aren't enjoyable, they still mean that the holiday season is upon us, and Christmas is one of my favorite holidays. Although it's in a very tight race with New Year's Day. Honestly, I think New Year's Day is my favorite holiday, but Christmas and New Year are so close that it doesn't really matter.

Anyway, I always enjoy hearing about the holiday traditions that others have, whether they're quite similar or very different from mine. I've always found it interesting how others choose to celebrate the holidays, whether they celebrate Christmas or something else. So I decided, why not share some of my holiday traditions?

Photo courtesy of Terri Cnudde on Pixabay

Although I wouldn't quite call myself a foodie, I do love food. I look forward to any holiday where there is food involved. Especially holidays with foods that I wouldn't typically have any other day, such as Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. Although, in my household, we sometimes have a big dinner on New Year's Day rather than on Christmas. Either way, I still look forward to that special holiday dinner whenever it happens. The only thing is, it's extremely easy to overeat at holiday dinners. I've been known to get so excited at dinner time that I'll pile so much onto my plate that I'm lucky if I can finish what I put onto my plate. So much so that I actually won't have room for dessert! 

No, seriously, I'll actually have to pass on dessert because I'm so full my stomach can't take anymore. Even though it always makes me sad to pass on dessert, I have to listen to my body telling me to stop at that point. Unless I want to make the discomfort in my belly even worse, or even get sick. I'm not passing on dessert to cut back on calories, or anything like that. I do like to indulge a little bit during the holidays. If I can, I will often have my dessert the next day if I'm too full after dinner. But I'd prefer to have room for dessert after dinner when everyone else is having dessert. I'd also strongly prefer to avoid digestive discomfort and the feeling of being so full that it feels like I can't move. So it's better if I  avoid overeating in any way that I can, while still enjoying the holidays. 

Photo courtesy of Jazmin Quaynor on Unsplash

Although I'm not a beauty blogger, nor am I the best at makeup, I still have a love for it. Ever since I knew makeup was a thing, I had a little bit of an interest in it and wanted to wear it. Although I'm personally way more into fashion than makeup, I feel like they kind of go hand in hand. Both are an art form to me, and a great way to express myself. I absolutely love doing my makeup before changing into my outfit for the day when I go out. And provided I give myself plenty of time to do my makeup, and I don't have to rush, doing my makeup can even be super relaxing. I love getting creative, so as long as I wake up early enough and don't procrastinate on getting ready, I love really taking the time to create a fun look.

Anyway, that being said, when my friend Mari tagged me to do this makeup questionnaire, I just had to do it!

Photo courtesy of Karolina Grabowska on Kaboompics

I personally love keeping in touch with my inner child, regardless of how old I may be. I still shamelessly enjoy my favorite books, movies, and TV shows from when I was a young child, as well as some of my favorite childhood treats. I also still like to partake in some of my favorite childhood activities. Just because I'm in my mid-20s doesn't mean that I have to give up everything from when I was a kid! Honestly, I don't even mind being a little bit on the childish side, and I actually hope I always feel this way. Why should I ever fully let go of my childhood? I'm fully aware that I can't actually fly off to Neverland with Peter Pan, so I do have to be at least somewhat of an adult. But who says I have to fully grow up and leave behind everything I loved as a child?

One of my favorite things about Christmas is that it really helps to bring out my inner child. I often still feel the same way on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning as I did when I was a child. Honestly, I still feel pretty much the same as I did as a child all throughout December. Although, now I have more appreciation for all the work that goes into getting ready for Christmas. There is so much work that goes into decorating, wrapping, and everything else that you don't really think about when you're a child, and your main job is to fill out your wishlist to Santa. Although I did get to help a little bit with putting the tree up when I was younger, and even a little tiny bit with wrapping presents. I always offered to help wrap my own presents, but my mom wouldn't let me wrap my own, LMAO!

Anyway, aside from helping out a little tiny bit with decorating and wrapping, my main duty in December was to write out my wishlist to Santa and put it into my stocking. However, as I've gotten older, I've stopped doing that. Honestly, I rarely even put much thought into what I might want for Christmas anymore. In a typical holiday season, I may be able to think of one or two items at the very most that I'd love to find under the tree, but that's about it. But when I saw my best friend Mari's wishlist to Santa, I felt inspired to revisit my days of making a wishlist to Santa. Just to have a little bit of fun!

Photo courtesy of Viktor Hanacek on Picjumbo

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Winter is NOT my favorite season. Winter doesn't even make the top five for me, and there are only four seasons. As soon as the temperature starts to drop and the leaves start changing colors in Autumn, I start dreading Winter. I absolutely despise Winter with every fiber of my being. And in Ohio, Winter loves to come early, and overstay its welcome. Seriously, you might as well forget about counting down to Spring, because it doesn't matter what the calendar says here. It really does not matter. You really can't trust that Winter is gone until at least mid-April, but even that is questionable.

Many people still look forward to the first snow of the season, though. Even if they do end up getting sick of it rather quickly. Yet I start complaining at the very first mention of snow. All I can think about when I hear that there's even a chance of snow is trying to shovel it, as my fingers are going numb from the cold through my two pairs of gloves. Let's also not forget about the ice, and having to use extra caution just to walk, let alone drive. Or, if you wear glasses, you know all about how your lenses fog up the second you step back inside on a cold day. All of that, combined with the lack of daylight, makes Winter absolutely dreadful. At least where I currently live. Honestly, I could go on a full-on rant about everything that makes me despise Winter, and that rant would be a mile long.

But the thing is, complaining about Winter is not going to make it go away. I also don't currently have the means to relocate to someplace warmer, so I'm out of luck there. Which means I'm going to have to just deal with it. So I might as well try to make the most of it unless I want to be in a grumpy mood for the entire season.