Happy Sunday Everyone! After a few busy days, I'm looking forward to having a lazy afternoon with Eliot watching football and relaxing on the couch. Now that things have settled down a bit, I thought it was time to recap my 2022 Holiday Bucket List.
As usual, things were absolutely insane for Eliot and me during most of the month of December due to our business and our busy season. Add in lost electricity on top of Hell Week, and you've got an extra spicy mix of not to festive fun. Add in some family stuff: Mom, Dad, and Nana were in a bad car accident, then they all got sick, Mom and Nana were in the hospital, and Nana's health was quickly declining... and you've got an extra difficult emotional holiday season on top of that.
Needless to say, this holiday season was quite a rollercoaster. Now that it's over, I'm pretty impressed that Eliot and I still found some time to enjoy the season. Christmas Day was not my favorite, but the rest of the season definitely made up for it. So let's take a look at the positive parts of our 2022 holiday season!
Melissa's Holiday 2022 Bucket List
FOOD
1.) Drink Hot Cocoa
I wasn't able to accomplish this... it wasn't super important in the scheme of things.
2.) Bake Cookies
I wasn't able to do this, but that's ok. I make cookies a lot anyways!
3.) Drink a Holiday Cocktail
I'm a little bummed out about this one... but oh well.
4.) Make Peppermint Bark
I had planned to make some of this for our neighbors...
5.) Make Treats for our Neighbors
We decided to postpone our holiday party until sometime in the new year.
6.) Decorate Gingerbread Cookies
I didn't even give this one thought. We simply didn't have the time to do it.
7.) Peppermint Frosty from Wendy’s
I'm a little sad about this... maybe next year!
8.) Cookie Butter Donut from Dunkin Donuts
This were delicious... I really enjoyed them!
9.) Dairy Queen Peppermint Blizzard
I didn't get one of these either, although I probably would have just tried Eliot's though!
10.) Friendly’s Peppermint Ice Cream Sundae
Again, this is too much peppermint for me, but Eliot and I might have split one.
TV & MOVIES
1.) Watch New Hallmark Christmas Movies
I was very careful with my wording on this one. I wanted to watch all of the new movies, but I knew that a would never happen in the holiday rush. I think I watched like 5 movies out of the new 30-40 movies Hallmark premiered. Eliot and I have a lot on the DVR so I'll watch them at some point when I have time to actually enjoy them!
2.) Watch Our Favorite Hallmark Christmas Movies
Sadly, I didn't really watch many of my favorites... but we did record a bunch of them!
3.) Watch The Santa Clause
I didn't get to watch this, but I'm hoping to next year!
4.) Watch The Santa Clause 2
I didn't get to watch this, but I'm hoping to next year!
5.) Watch The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
I didn't get to watch this, but I'm hoping to next year!
6.) Watch the New Santa Clause Series on Disney+
I did watch the new series on Disney+. I really enjoyed it and I'm glad that they are going to be making another season of it! I'll have to watch it and the movies next year!
7.) Watch Elf
"Santa, I know him!!!" I love this movie and I was sure to make time to watch it!
8.) Watch Frosty the Snowman
This is a classic and I was sure to watch it.
9.) Watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
This is my favorite Christmas movie... Rudolph was my childhood.
10.) Watch Noelle
I love this movie as well and I made sure to make time to watch it!
11.) Watch Same Time Next Christmas
I didn't get to watch this; I couldn't get our Hulu account to log me in.
12.) Watch The Grinch
I didn't get to watch this... although I did record it!
13.) Watch A Muppet Christmas Carol
I'm not sure if I've ever seen this before, but I watched it and really enjoyed it!
14.) Watch Midnight at the Magnolia
This is a favorite to watch between Christmas and New Years.
15.) Watch the Disney Christmas "Parade" Christmas Morning
We didn't catch the morning release, but we did watch the replay on Freeform!
16.) Watch A Christmas Prince
I didn't get to watch this, but I have seen it before.
17.) Watch A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding
I didn't get to watch this, but I have seen it before.
18.) Watch A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby
I didn't get to watch this, but I have seen it before.
19.) Watch Falling for Christmas
Eliot and I did watch this together.
20.) Watch Holidate
I didn't get to watch this.
21.) Watch The Princess Switch Movies
I didn't get to watch this.
22.) Watch Beauty and the Beast Enchanted Christmas
I haven't seen this in years and I really enjoyed watching it again!
23.) Watch Mickey’s Christmas Carol
I didn't get to watch this.
24.) Watch Prep & Landing
We watched this while we were home over Thanksgiving with my family.
25.) Watch Prep & Landing: Naughty vs Nice
We also watched this while we were home over Thanksgiving with my family.
26.) Watch The Nightmare Before Christmas
I didn't get to watch this, but I'm determined for Eliot to see it sometime!
27.) Watch The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
I didn't get to watch this.
CRAFTS
1.) Make a Hanukkah Craft
In all of the rush, I didn't have time to craft anything.
2.) Make a Christmas Craft
In all of the rush, I didn't have time to craft anything.
3.) Take Christmas Photo(s) for Our Christmas Cards
Eliot and I didn't take formal photos, but I had planned to use our photo with Slugger for our Christmas Cards. But I never ended up sending any this year.
4.) Make Christmas Accessories
In all of the rush, I didn't have time to craft anything.
5.) Make a Wreath
In all of the rush, I didn't have time to craft anything.
6.) Make Christmas Decorations
In all of the rush, I didn't have time to craft anything.
EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
1.) Play the Dreidel Game
We were not able to do this.
2.) Donate to Toy's for Tots
Eliot bought toys for the Holiday at Hadlock event and then we forgot to bring them with us. Oh well, we've got a head start on next year!
3.) Read a Christmas Book
I was not able to do this.
4.) Wear Christmas Pajamas
Eliot and I did wear matching Christmas pajamas, but I didn't take any photos of us.
5.) Send Christmas Cards
I really wanted to do this, but in the end, it just wasn't as important to me as being present in the moment with my family and trying to enjoy the holiday.
6.) Listen to Christmas Music
Eliot and I did listen to a lot of Christmas music while we worked on Etsy orders.
7.) Light all Eight Candles for Hanukkah
We weren't able to do this. Our menorah is back in storage.
8.) Wear an Ugly Sweater
9.) Have a Family Game Night
Eliot and I had a game night with my cousin Luke and his wife Rachel.
10.) Hallmark Movie Writing Class
I took an online class on how to write Hallmark Christmas movies.
11.) Play Hallmark Christmas Monopoly
We weren't able to do this.
12.) See a Special Event (Theater, Show or Concert)
Eliot and I went to see Disney On Ice when it was in Portland.
13.) Watch/Attend a Christmas Tree Lighting
We weren't able to do this.
14.) Attend Holiday at Hadlock
15.) Ring in the New Year at Walt Disney World
We ended 2022 and started 2023 off at the Magic Kingdom.
16.) Make New Year’s Disney & Blog Goals for 2023
17.) Make Personal Goals for 2023
I don't post these goals publicly, but I made 23 personal goals for 2023!
DECORATIONS
1.) Hang a Wreath on the Front Door
Eliot's Mom bought us a wreath for Christmas.
2.) Drive Around to Look at Christmas Lights
Eliot and I did this pretty much anytime we were out after dark. I love Christmas lights!
3.) Decorate Outside with Inflatables
4.) Go See a Christmas Light Display
Eliot and I visited the L.L. Bean Northern Lights Christmas display on my birthday!
5.) Buy New Decorations for Our Collection
Eliot and I picked up a bunch of new items this year... inflatables, door greeters, etc.
We also got to do a few things that weren't on my bucket list...
Things Not On Our Bucket List
1.) Watched Olaf’s Frozen Adventure
I didn't have this on my Christmas list, but it's one of my favorite Disney shorts!
2.) Watched Prep & Landing- Secret Santa
This is new, and I watched it as well.
3.) Watched Winnie the Pooh A Very Merry Pooh Year
I've never seen this before, but it was really cute!
4.) Have Jelly Donuts (for Hanukkah)
Eliot bought me a few rounds of jelly donuts over Hanukkah.
5.) Watched Hometown Holiday
I watched this during the day and I watched it again with Eliot a few nights later.
And there you have it! We were able to do 31 of my original 65 goals... and I also got those five extra things in. So that's a grand total of 36 out of 70 things... or just over 50%. Honestly, that's not bad considering everything that was going on. It's also not bad considering I didn't really utilize the month of November when I usually do.
I'll definitely be ready to rock and roll once the calendar flips to November this year. I'll have to get a head start on my holiday goals if I'm going to have so many! °o°