12.01.2014

Holiday Traditions + A Chance For You To Give Back (and Win $50!)


Growing up, I was always a big fan of family traditions. I love how I can look back throughout the years, and they are some of my most treasured memories that I will never forget. They always stick out in my mind and provide me with such happy thoughts!

One of my favorite traditions, hands down, was decorating our Christmas tree as a family and making a whole night out of it by watching Christmas movies and listening to holiday music during the process. I knew when Billy and I got married that I wanted to continue this tradition (no matter how busy our schedules are at the time...no excuses!), but also add a twist to it. Our first year in our house together (and being married), we decided that every year we would exchange Christmas ornaments with each other as well. It's a small gesture, but one that is special to us.

Billy has always been far better at gifting ornaments than I am. For the first year in our house, he got me a personalized "Our First Home" ornament that I love. For our first year married, he got me a wedding ornament with our wedding date on it...and so on. You get the idea. :) Not only are they adorable, it's also so nice to look back at all the ones he's given me and what that year represented for us...
 

This year with a baby on the way (and possibly making his debut around Christmas!), we are obviously really excited to be able to include Camden in these traditions (maybe a baby ornament is in my future) in the upcoming years.

Welcoming our first child soon is reason enough for me to feel extremely thankful this holiday season! When we put up our tree the other day (who else has their tree up already?!), for the LAST time as just the two of us, it was so special. We reflected on all the years we've been together and how our family will be growing in just a few short months...it was so nice and something I'll never forget. Plus, our tree is looking pretty good this year, if I do say so myself...

 

Another tradition that we talked about doing last year (but never got the chance to implement) is volunteering to help serve meals to families in need. I knew this year that needed to change! We've been so grateful for our families' love and support these last 8 months with our pregnancy that we knew we wanted to give back in some way. I never really knew how to go about signing up to do this, but I'm happy to say that this year we found an organization early on that we could do this with, and will be helping at our local shelter this Wednesday.

If you're wondering about how you can help this holiday season, I'm here with a solution...

New York Life is donating 25 meals to Feeding America for every tweet that includes #KeepGoodGoing and #FeedingAMillion. How awesome is that? A short tweet, that can take less than a minute to prepare, will serve 25 meals! You can also visit New York Life's website to share your own photo for their Keep Good Going campaign. Such a great idea...get on it folks! (Just make sure to include both those hash tags!)

Now, for your chance to win a $50 Gift Card AND a $50 donation in your name to Feeding America on behalf of BlogHer, share with me in the comments: What are you family's holiday traditions?

*Through 1/9/15, New York Life will donate $2.50 for each approved post, with a minimum of $25K & a maximum of $100K. 
 See full terms and conditions at NewYorkLife.com/CelebratingGood. Find info about Feeding America at feedingamerica.org.


Sweepstakes Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry. 
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 72 hours to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 12/1/2014 – 12/31/2014.
Be sure to visit the New York Life brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

123 comments

  1. Christmas starts in our home the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The day is taken up by purchasing our tree, cutting the bottom, stringing lights, hanging decorations, and adding cheer all over the house! rebecca.s.adams@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. going to a local tree farm to pick out our tree, then decorating the house and the tree with music playing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is so amazing and I am so glad i get to help too... We have a few traditions - we buy a real tree (and pick it out altogether), we decorate the house together, we enjoy advent calendars together, we bake Christmas cookies together, we host a friends Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve and then family lunch on Christmas Day. We exchange a Secret Santa gift instead of gifts for ALL adults.
    x

    ReplyDelete
  4. And the tweet - https://twitter.com/Cals_Rosie
    x

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love that you put your tree up early! And how easy it is to give back, of course. As for tradition: we always listen to Mannheim Steamroller when opening up presents on Christmas morning. Oh the memories :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. We also have a tradition of adding a personalized ornament to our tree each year. I love when I decorate the tree and see all of the past ornaments, and how our family has grown from just the two of us to the four of us now!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Our only tradition is a christmas eve dinner with the family

    ReplyDelete
  8. tweet https://twitter.com/LuLu_Brown24/status/539446339231182850

    ReplyDelete
  9. Baking cookies with my aunts and cousins - it's a huge day filled with laughter, love, and lots of sugar!

    ReplyDelete
  10. We do the Elf on the Shelf with the kids. It's a fun tradition that they look forward to.

    ReplyDelete
  11. We always put our tree up the day after Thanksgiving. And growing up, my mom would let me open one gift on the evening of Christmas Eve.

    ReplyDelete
  12. We love listening to Christmas music, going out to pick out tree at a tree farm, and going out to look at all the lights in neighborhoods to see the displays. Christmas is so much fun!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Tweet Entry
    https://twitter.com/JewelWood/status/539451594106867713

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is so great and loving your tree!! I am big on our traditions too, like always opening new pjs on Christmas Eve. But the great thing is always creating your own traditions. We started one this year to continue every year of putting together a present box for a child in need. :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. We decorate the tree together as a family after Thanksgiving while listening to Christmas music & then it's a Christmas movie night that evening around the lit tree!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. My mom & I always bake every year & give them as gifts!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Mine is similar to yours... Every year since we've been born my brother and I have received a hallmark ornament from our grandmother. Even noe thet she can't get out to get them, we still buy one each year. It's so much fun every year to get them out and remember all of them.

    ReplyDelete
  18. decorating the tree is about our only tradition.

    ReplyDelete
  19. i LOVE traditions. we always open stockings first, in order of oldest to youngest, and then we have the same breakfast of christmas casserole.

    ReplyDelete
  20. On Christmas Eve we go to a candlelight service at church followed by a nice prime rib dinner.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Our tradition is to bake Christmas cookies and share them with friends and family members

    elena150980@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  22. https://twitter.com/ElenaIstomina/status/539522262710235137

    elena150980@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  23. Love the tradition of helping serve meals! And love the ornaments! We don't have any traditions yet, but last night I baked cookies and we decorated the tree together, so maybe that can be our tradition! Among many other things!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Our holiday traditions include a huge family meal, gathering toys to donate to toys for tots every year, and we also love crafting and getting the house all done up.

    Nicole.ddziedzic at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  25. Tweeted: https://twitter.com/lil_lady_dz/status/539563545298341888

    Nicole.ddziedzic at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  26. Baking cookies and picking out a Christmas tree :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. We decorate the Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving.

    ReplyDelete
  28. tweet:

    https://twitter.com/mami2jcn/status/539578083079376897

    mami2jcn at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  29. I enjoy decorating the Christmas tree with the help of my kids.
    kellywcu8888ATgmailDOTcom

    ReplyDelete
  30. tweet
    https://twitter.com/Kellydpa/status/539627085736984577
    kellywcu8888ATgmailDOTcom

    ReplyDelete
  31. We love Listening to Christmas Music! We all love getting together making hot chocolate and driving to the Tree Farm to pick up our Christmas tree. We love driving around our town looking at all the light displays-and we have so much fun making our Holiday Cutout Cookies!
    jewelwood55(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  32. Tweet Entry
    https://twitter.com/JewelWood/status/539788110490787840

    jewelwood55(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  33. We open our gifts one at a time. The youngest child gets the first gift. After they open it they pick out a gift for someone else. The chain goes on until all gifts are opened. I love doing it this way, because we all get to see what everyone else received!
    dmarie824 at aol dot com

    ReplyDelete
  34. tweeted - https://twitter.com/dmarie824/status/539848112022372352

    ReplyDelete
  35. Once I went off to College and moved out I missed making Christmas Cookies and I knew my mom struggled getting them done. I then made it an Annual Tradition to do Christmas Cookies in Carrollton (my hometown). The first Saturday in December we all go to my mom and dad's house and bake all day long! It is my favorite Holiday event and I can't wait to do it this weekend!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Picking out Christmas trees at a local farm and cutting them down together.
    onefrugalgirl AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  37. My family always goes to my Aunt's house for the day after christmas to celebrate the holidays and her birthday.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Our daughter's b-day is in December, so right after her party, after family and friends leave, we always decorate the house together for Christmas. Then we have all of our family over again for Christmas Day lunch.
    madelinebrubaker {at} gmail [dot] com

    ReplyDelete
  39. Tweet link: https://twitter.com/shala_darkstone/status/541331800132300800
    madelinebrubaker {at} gmail [dot] com

    ReplyDelete
  40. Opening one gift on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas Day!

    ReplyDelete
  41. It's important to think of others during this time of such bounty.

    ReplyDelete
  42. We drive around on Christmas Eve looking at lights and then come home and drink eggnog and open one gift.

    s2s2 at cox dot net

    ReplyDelete
  43. https://twitter.com/susan1215/status/541755795315363840

    s2s2 at cox dot net

    ReplyDelete
  44. We pick up the tree and decorate together as one of our family's holiday traditions.
    tcarolinep at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  45. -https://twitter.com/tcarolinep/status/541791812717776896

    ReplyDelete
  46. Wow--what a great program from New York Life! And what a beautiful Christmas tree, with ornaments you'll treasure as the years go by. Lovely.

    As the years go by, I'm finding this time of year more and more difficult. We put up a wreath, and we'll exchange gifts, and I'll make us a special meal on Christmas, but that's about it. Still, it will be nice, and we'll be together.
    {notheranneother [at] gmail [dot] com}

    ReplyDelete
  47. I shared your sweet blog post and the New York Life promotion on Twitter; here's the link:
    https://twitter.com/NotherAnneOther/status/542339847093248000
    Thank you! Oh, and thanks for the info on how to enable my email account in my Blogger profile; I also added a profile picture. Here's my email address, though, just in case:
    {notheranneother [at] gmail [dot] com}

    ReplyDelete
  48. We read Scripture as a family before we open our presents.

    ReplyDelete
  49. we always decorate cookies and gingerbread houses together and string popcorn for the tree pryfamily5@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  50. picking out our Christmas tree

    dlatany at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  51. https://twitter.com/sweetums82/status/543061541780590592

    dlatany at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  52. we purchase same pj every Christmas and take a silly photo.
    tina19820115@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  53. https://twitter.com/HappyTina0115/status/543108137583005697

    ReplyDelete
  54. Our favorite holiday tradition is to make Christmas cookies together while listening to Christmas music.

    mummytotwoboys@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  55. tweeted https://twitter.com/mummytotwoboys1/status/544239436280496128

    mummytotwoboys@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  56. My mom always cooks breakfast for our entire family on Christmas morning. It is the only time of the year she cooks breakfast (lol) so it is a funny, special thing our family shares and enjoys. :)

    ReplyDelete
  57. OUR FAMILY NOT ONLY SITS AROUND THE DINNER TABLE ON HOLIDAYS, WE COOK TOGETHER =) afjackly@oakland.edu

    ReplyDelete
  58. https://twitter.com/kytah00/status/545359404753620992 afjackly@oakland.edu

    ReplyDelete
  59. Our family tradition is matching pajamas on Christmas Eve and reading The Night Before Christmas to our little ones before bed. :)

    ReplyDelete
  60. Great giveaway. Our traditions are pretty basic. We go to church Christmas Eve, drive by the house that has a gazillion lights, and open family gifts that night. We open Santa gifts on Christmas morning :)

    ReplyDelete
  61. We love baking cookies together as a family!

    Thanks for the chance to win!
    wildorchid985 AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  62. https://twitter.com/WildOrchid985/status/545716715565629440

    wildorchid985 AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  63. Christmas morning we bake cinnamon rolls and play holiday music while we open our socks.
    adrianecoros(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  64. We like to bake cookies for friend and neighbors.

    ReplyDelete
  65. https://twitter.com/rubylorikeet/status/548567616378245120

    ReplyDelete
  66. we love to make christmas breakfast

    ReplyDelete
  67. https://twitter.com/purplelover04/status/548590017929809920

    ReplyDelete
  68. We love to bake cookies and visit train gardens!
    Shiebs24 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  69. We like to bake lots of Christmas cookies for everyone.

    rhoneygtn at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  70. Baking enough cookies to feed the entire neighborhood, opening a single gift on Christmas Eve and driving around to see the beautiful lighting displays. There is so much more, but most of it is being done by my children in their own homes.

    willitara [at] gmail [dot] com

    ReplyDelete
  71. Tweet - https://twitter.com/willitara/status/549283434892255233

    willitara [at] gmail [dot] com

    ReplyDelete
  72. My favorite tradition is having a treasure hunt on Christmas morning for the kids. We leave clues around the house they follow to find their big gift.

    eswright18 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  73. tweeted
    https://twitter.com/eswright18/status/550030985912664064
    eswright18 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  74. Make the same entree for Christmas Eve ( stew) and Christmas Day (ham ) every year.

    ReplyDelete
  75. https://twitter.com/Attea2d/status/550041681396260866

    ReplyDelete
  76. Christmas eve pizza

    fmd518 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  77. One of our family traditions is the we go to Mass on Christmas eve and meet up with my brother and his family and my Father. We’ve done this for years and after mass, everyone comes to our house for a light dinner.
    Thanks so much
    rickpeggysmith(at)aol(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  78. We go out for a Denny's dinner after mass on Christmas Eve.

    ReplyDelete
  79. I love baking and decorating Christmas sugar cookies with my daughter. It's really messy, lol but lots of fun.

    ReplyDelete
  80. baking cookies together as a family

    ReplyDelete
  81. We make an ornament every year with the kiddos pics on it!

    coriwestphal at msn dot com

    ReplyDelete
  82. Tweet: https://twitter.com/coriwestphal/status/550110041333051392

    coriwestphal at msn dot com

    ReplyDelete
  83. One of our favorite traditions is baking roll out sugar cooking and decorating them.
    thank you

    ReplyDelete
  84. Tweeted https://twitter.com/JalapenoMama/status/550165115475988482

    ReplyDelete
  85. We make and decorate Christmas cookies.
    austma7@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  86. We use Christmas ornaments passed down from my grandparents on our tree every year. I like using some of the ornaments that I remember seeing on their tree when I was young.

    ReplyDelete
  87. On Christmas morning, we put a lit candle in a cupcake and we place it in front of the manger and sing Happy Birthday to baby Jesus.

    ReplyDelete
  88. Our holiday tradition is to bake cookies on Christmas eve

    JOE GERSCH
    JOEBISSY@mail.com

    ReplyDelete
  89. There are no family holiday traditions =/

    ReplyDelete
  90. We cut down our Christmas tree and decorate it together. We have dinner with the family.

    ReplyDelete
  91. we have a yankee swap on christmas eve
    POKERGRL8 at gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  92. https://twitter.com/aes529/status/550322637785006080
    POKERGRL8 at gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  93. One of my favorite holiday traditions is when we pack up in the car close to Christmas and drive around town, looking at all the lights and decorations that people have put up :)
    anastasia2013@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  94. Tweeted :) - https://twitter.com/Enter_Now/status/550329710283350017
    anastasia2013@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  95. We bake cookies on Christmas Eve and watch Christmas movies and then have family get togethers Christmas Eve night and Christmas Day.

    motioncitycutie(at)aol(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  96. We usually have our Christmas two to three days early, as our sons travel to other relatives on Christmas Day. My husband and I go out to dinner on Christmas eve.

    ReplyDelete
  97. All of our holiday traditions seem to surround food. I guess that is not that uncommon. LOL Some of my fav foods that we ONLY make this time of year are our smokey maple bbq veggie meatballs, smoked gouda fondue, and veggie sausage cheese balls! :-D
    Angie
    14earth at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  98. I tweeted here: https://twitter.com/MsTofuFairy/status/550363681381699584
    Angie
    14earth at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  99. We bake Christmas cookies every year.

    rounder9834 @yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  100. tweeted
    https://twitter.com/thomasmurphy40/status/550379932439052289

    rounder9834 @yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  101. We like decorating the tree, baking and and picking a new ornament every year.

    ReplyDelete
  102. To bake gingerbread cookies

    tbarrettno1 at gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  103. tweet https://twitter.com/ChelleB36/status/550390571143929856

    tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  104. Baking Christmas cookies and decorating the tree.
    MCantu1019 at aol dot com

    ReplyDelete
  105. We love to get in pajamas and drive around and look at Christmas decorations! tracietrump40@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  106. We like baking the traditional goodies with the kids and enjoying holiday movies together.

    ReplyDelete
  107. Tweet
    https://twitter.com/clc408/status/550403853766905857

    ReplyDelete
  108. One of our family traditions we love is going to my grandmothers house for Christmas dinner and we all open presents with the family after dinner
    tweety800265(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  109. https://twitter.com/disneyfan40/status/550409055429476354
    tweety800265(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  110. We started a new tradition this year of ice skating at the zoo on Christmas night. Thankyou

    candieluster(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  111. We eat chinese food and decorate the tree each year.

    wlbellows at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  112. Tweet: https://twitter.com/electricstar/status/550411541217304577

    wlbellows at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  113. We love to watch Its a wonderful life every year..I love that movie :)

    ReplyDelete
  114. https://twitter.com/klp1965/status/550414250531758080

    ReplyDelete
  115. our holiday tradition is to have a big family dinner together
    stigay at comcast.net

    ReplyDelete
  116. Our favorite family tradition is decorating the tree. :)

    SeasideMermaid@twc.com

    ReplyDelete
  117. Our traditions include putting up the tree and decorations during Thanksgiving weekend, baking lots of cookies and making candy and making a big turkey dinner for Christmad Day.

    lahlstedt at gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  118. Going to Christmas Eve service, coming home to hot chocolate and opening one present.
    Thanks for the contest.

    slehan at juno dot com

    ReplyDelete
  119. we enjoy decorating the house and tree for Christmas

    debbiebellows (at) gmail (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  120. i posted a tweet here:

    https://twitter.com/bellows22/status/550448540951273473

    debbiebellows (at) gmail (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  121. https://twitter.com/slehan/status/550449162354171904

    slehan at juno dot com

    ReplyDelete

Leave some love: