Christmas is my favorite time of the year, even though I often feel some stress in those last days of trying to find the perfect gift!  During the holidays, or any stressful time, I have a few favorite activities that I lean on for self-care. The first, and most helpful, is spending time with my fiancé and our families.

I am extremely family-oriented and always do my best to spend as much time with family as I can. I can always depend on my fiancé for a good laugh, my parents and brother for good advice and conversation, and my nieces and nephew for fun and games.  I have an extremely big family, and I wouldn’t have it any other way! Spending time with family reminds me to be grateful and thankful, no matter what stress I am feeling.

When alone, I find self-care in the form of coloring and listening to a great podcast. I recently purchased new crayons and a new Christmas coloring book that I have been working on. It has ornaments, Christmas tags (that you can use on presents!), and other fun pictures. Activities like this as well as practicing gratitude will always give me peace of mind.