Author: Cami Grace

2025 Christmas Bucket List

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I cannot believe the holiday season is here! I am feeling more festive this year than I have in a while, and that is a welcoming feeling! I came up with a Christmas holiday bucket list to make sure we get out and enjoy some fun holiday cheer.

The nice thing about this list is that you can decide how festive you want to be! There are some years I’ve had to give myself grace and allow myself to do the bare minimum. You don’t have to go crazy; every effort, no matter how small, can still make a difference.

So here we go! Scroll to the bottom for the printable list! I also have a blank option for those who would like to create their own. As you will see, my list is not completely filled out. I like leaving space to write in some extra things we think of later, and it’s also a reminder that it’s okay to make space and not do it all.

~ Attend a Local Holiday Event

This can be a going to a holiday market or craft fair, attending Christmas play or The Nutcracker ballet, or whatever is going on around your town. If you have Facebook, the event page is a great place to look to see what is going on locally or visit your city’s web page visitors guide. Our local library puts on quite a few events as well. We have a couple ideas in mind for our family, so stay tuned to see what we decide!

~ Decorate for Christmas

Here’s an easy item to check off your list! We had to get rid of A LOT of Christmas decorations when we moved years ago, so every year since we try to buy one Christmas decoration to restock our home. Every year our home feels a little extra cozy.

~ Listen to a Daily Advent Podcast

This is turning into my one of my favorite traditions. The kids gather their blankets by the tree and we turn off all the lights except for the Christmas tree and we listen. It feels so peaceful and special. <3

Even if you haven’t started, it’s not too late to catch up! Here are some great options:

  • “We Wonder” podcast. I would say this is a great podcast for anyone around age 8 and over. I listened to this last year with my son and we both enjoyed it. This advent series is an older one so you will need to scroll to find the dates.

  • “Countdown to Christmas with Zach” podcast is the one we chose this year. Londyn is still pretty little so it’s been a great option. I love that he shares facts about the meaning of certain Christmas decorations. It gets them thinking about the real meaning of Christmas and they can even get involved by calling to leave a voicemail with their answers to the questions he asks!

“Making Space: An Advent Devotional” by Susan Narjala. I am also going through this advent devotional series this year.

~ Make Hot Chocolate and Watch a Christmas Movie

This is a simple item that you can check off your list without much effort! I personally love the movie “The Holiday” and my kids favorite is a tie between “The Star” and “The Grinch” (2018 cartoon version).

~ Make an Ornament

A simple Google search pulls up lots of ideas! Decorating a gingerbread house has also crossed my mind!

~ Bake Christmas Cookies

This can be as simple as letting Pillsbury do all the work and buy pre-made cookie dough or baking cookies from scratch and elaborately decorating them. I usually land somewhere in the middle, but I’ve had my share of years that I chose the easy route…and no one cried.

~ Drive Around to look at Christmas Lights

Last year we had the kids get in their Christmas jammies, got them hot chocolate, and drove around to the different neighborhoods with the best Christmas light displays. Our daughter was only 2 and a half, but she still remembers it so well and can’t wait to do it again!

~ Attend a Christmas Eve Service

The Candlelight Christmas Eve service is my absolute favorite! I would invite each you you reading this to come with me if I could! We have traditionally ordered a pizza and watched a Christmas movie after. I’m looking forward to doing this again!

So there you have it! I would love to know what’s on your Christmas bucket list!

Here are the printable lists:

Christmas Bucket List (Pre-filled)Download

Christmas Bucket List (Blank)Download

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I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season! I would love to know what favorite holiday traditions are!

Much Love,

Cami

A Week In The Life

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Just for fun and for a little something different, I’m sharing a little week in the life. Just a snapshot each day of what our week looked like from the last week of July/ beginning of August.

So here it is…

~ Saturday

Library day! We joined the summer reading program at our local library and we were able to cash in on the “half-way there” prize! Of course we also checked out more books. ; )

~ Sunday

A little afternoon walk. I love this view of the creek.

~ Monday

A hot air balloon on an early Monday morning. Not something we see everyday!

~ Tuesday

I don’t typically let my dog up on our bed, but I wasn’t ready to get up yet so I let our Sadie girl cuddle up.

~ Wednesday

My favorite summer work outfit.

~ Thursday

Summer sunsets are the best!

~ Friday

Taekwondo day for our son. It’s been fun to see him learn so much.

~ Saturday

A little birthday celebration at Olive Garden! Cheers to 39!

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Happy August everyone! I hope you all are doing well and enjoying your summer!

Much Love,

Cami

2025 Summer Bucket List

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It’s here! Our 2025 summer bucket list!

I’ve said it before but I will say it again (and again) – I am so glad I do these bucket lists! It’s so easy to get caught up in the never-ending to-do lists and forget to have fun. This serves as reminder for me to have with fun with my kids!

We have some traditional items on our list, but we also added some fun new things as well! So here we go!

See below to print your own copy!

Bucket ListDownload
Blank Bucket ListDownload

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I hope you all are having a wonderful summer! What’s on your summer bucket list?

Much Love,

Cami

Meet Sadie!

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I was adamant we were not going to get another dog. Until one day…

It was Mother’s Day. We went to church and I planned on doing a very motherly chore of organizing my “baby” girl’s clothes that afternoon. On the way home from church my husband mentioned “Hey! Let’s go to the animal shelter!”, with my son agreeing in excitement.

This wasn’t completely out of the blue. We sometimes alternated saying “let’s go to the shelter!”, but one of us (usually me), would decide against it. This time, however, this time felt special. Not to mention organizing my daughter’s clothes felt completely unappealing.

I made my family promise me they weren’t going to be upset when I said no to getting a new dog. Once agreements were in place we were on our way.

At the animal shelter we noticed there was a meet and greet room just before the hall that leads to the animals. Sitting inside, all alone, happened to be a cute, adorable, black and white 3 month old puppy.

We were for sure not going to get a puppy. I was already trying to potty train my little girl and I didn’t want to have to potty train two at the same time. Regardless, since we were there just to look, I told my kids it was ok to go in and play with her a little.

What I wasn’t expecting, is my son who gets slightly nervous when animals jump, to be completely okay with her. This puppy proceeded to say “hi” to all of us and then came over and sat in my lap and put her face next to mine. Oh dear…my heart melted.

We eventually left to see the other dogs and then decided it was time to go home. Just before leaving the shelter, I couldn’t stop myself from going in to love on this little puppy just one more time. On the way out I looked at my husband and told him that it was actually really hard to say no to her.

No sooner than we got home and closed the door, everything in me felt like we had to go back and get her. My family was already hooked on her and they were no help in trying to talk me out of it. For one last effort, I called my sister, who I knew for sure would talk me out of it. After she listened to me tell her all about this puppy, what I wasn’t expecting was her to actually do the opposite. Not even an hour later and we were driving ourselves back to the shelter.

We came home with our Sadie.

Currently – June 2025

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June!! Hello and goodbye to this month. How are we through 6 months of the year already?! In so many ways it feels like my year is just beginning. It’s summertime and a fresh start all at once {Insert refreshing deep breath here}. I’m here for it, even if it feels like half the year has managed to slip by.

January was nice. I spent a lot of time doing my yearly reflection of what I hoped for the year, and, per usual, by February a lot of that went out the door as I was getting into the busy season with work. March and April was spent mostly in survival mode between work and family life. May was a recovery month and getting my home and life back on a normal track. And now June…lovely, refreshing, revitalizing, June.

We have officially entered our summer schedule, which means a slightly later start in the morning. I keep having to remind myself that our summer only started 2 weeks ago and there is plenty of time left to enjoy the season.

We are planning a few fun outings this summer, but overall it will likely be a more quiet summer this year and that’s ok. We will make the best of it!

Here’s what else we’ve been up to…

Currently Watching

Pride and Prejudice on Amazon Prime

I watched the entire “series” once already and I’m watching it again. Such a classic! I watched it years ago but I didn’t have the appreciation for it back then as I do now.

Currently Reading

Finished! “Eragon” by Christopher Paolini

I liked it and would give it about 3.5 stars. It sometimes felt a bit repetitive with the fighting scenes, but otherwise it was good.

Which then brings to the next book in the series that I just finished, “Eldest”.

I have not picked up the 3rd book yet, but it’s coming.

I’m finally getting back to “Atomic Habits“, by James Clear.

I have become extremely lax in keeping with my routines and habits over the last couple months and it is really starting to show and bleed into other areas of my life. It is far past time that I get myself and my home back into shape!

Currently Making/Baking

Chicken Strip Salad Wraps!

This is the easiest recipe! You can get whatever salad mix you like at the store, and your favorite salad dressing. Buy some breaded chicken strips and bake as directed. I let the chicken cool a bit and cut it into pieces. Place however much salad mix you would like on a tortilla, spread the chicken on top, drizzle your salad dressing on and wrap it all up! Sometimes we get potato wedges for a side as well. It’s a great summer meal!

Current Favorite

Spending so much quality time with my family!

It’s easy to get caught up with daily life, but I am so thankful to be in a season that I can finally slow down and soak in more family time.

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Thank you for being here in my very sporadic blogging journey. I hope you all are doing well and are having a wonderful start to your Summer!

Much love,

Cami