Refreshing Recess - Holidays at Home

Hey everyone! Well, finals are finally over and the break from school has arrived! Each school is different, but I have three weeks of vacation until the next school quarter begins. It has been so nice to take a break from the stress of school and relax at home with my friends and family. So while I am home, I have to take advantage of all the things I can only do at home! Of course, I had to make a trip to Disneyland! Being only 20 minutes away from my house, its the perfect way to celebrate the holiday season. Everything throughout the entire park is decorated, including a holiday themed parade and fireworks show. I love Disneyland as it is, but the holiday spirit makes it a unmissable experience! 

The Disneyland Castle decorated for the holidays 

Mickey Mouse! A Disneyland must

Another tradition I have with my friends at home is an annual Christmas baking party! My friends and I each bring our own recipe for a delicious dessert but there is one catch--everything must be made from scratch! This makes the experience much for fun and meaningful, plus provides a little challenge! I love trying all my friends creations while we dance around the kitchen to holiday music. We even have extras to bring home to our family! Holiday baking--especially from scratch--is a must for any winter break for me.

My finished creation! Chocolate Hazelnut Puppychow YUM

Baking party with my besties

I am having such a fun holiday break celebrating with my friends and family. Check out the video below for highlights from my break leading up to Christmas!

How do you celebrate the holidays with your friends and family? Let me know in the comments below!

xoxo

Tis the Season

Hey everyone! Pweft! This weekend will finally be a relaxing one for me because I finished all my college applications! Most of the regular applications are due by January 1st, so I had to finish everything this week. I am very excited because now I can spend my rest of my Holiday Break doing other fun activities with my family and friends.

Ice Skating at the Del

A couple days ago I celebrated Christmas with my family. I traveled down to San Diego to have Christmas dinner with my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousin. It was delicious! We even ended the diner with a chocolate cake shaped like a yule log. The next day we went down to the famous Hotel Del in Coronado and ice skated right next to the beach! It was so fun to be able to experience two different climates. Just be careful if you fall--since it is so warm the ice melts fast and leaves puddles of water!

Disneyland with my Friends

I have been doing a lot of other fun things over the break with my friends too. On the first day of Holiday Break my friends and I went to Disneyland! Since I live so close to Disneyland, I can go with my friends for an afternoon or night. We went on all my favorite rides like the big roller coaster called California Screaming and the ride that drops you up and down called Tower or Terror. It was fun and a great way to start off the Holiday Break Season!

Gift Exchange with my Friends

I've also had Christmas baking parties, like I talked about in my last blog, along with a big Christmas gift exchange. All my friends bought presents for each other to celebrate the holidays and we went to dinner and gave them out. I got so many great things like my favorite perfume and a pink necklace.





I hope all of you have a wonderful rest of holiday season! What do you do on holidays with your family and friends? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo

Holly College-y Christmas

Hey everyone! This last week at school has been pretty hectic because it is the last week before the two week Holiday Vacation we have here in the United States! All high schools have at least two weeks off around this time to celebrate Christmas, New Years, and all the other holidays and most colleges have up to a month off! Because of this large time frame off of school, its the perfect opportunity to spend with family and friends, especially if you have been away at college until now.

For students like me who are in the middle of college applications, Holiday Break is the final time to finish and submit your applications. Since almost all applications are due to schools by the beginning of January, the days off school beforehand are perfect for checking over your applications and making sure they are perfect before you submit them. Once you have submitted all your college apps, you can celebrate by getting together for the holidays with all of your family and friends! I know I will be! I already had a cookie party with all of my friends, where all made and traded different cookies and desserts we made from scratch together. It was delicious!

What do you plan on doing during your Holiday Vacation? How much time do you get off school? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo

Its the most wonderful time of the year

Hey everyone! Happy holidays! Today was Christmas eve and my family got together to exchange presents, make treats, and eat a gourmet dinner. It is always so fun to see your family, which is one thing that makes this holiday season so enjoyable. My grandmother who immigrated from Norway to America and we celebrate Christmas every year with many Norwegian traditions. We always make a Kransekake, which is a Norwegian almond cake, and decorate it with many beautiful colors. Don't forget the Norwegian flags!
We also open one small Christmas present in anticipation for tomorrow. We have to wait for Santa to come during the night, a great American tradition, before we can open all our presents on Christmas morning. Although we have many traditions, we make new memories each year that last a lifetime.

What traditions do you have during the holidays? Let me know in the comments!




xoxo

Holiday Happiness

Hey everyone! This week is a great time for American high schoolers because its winter break! Since the holidays are just around the corner we get two weeks off from school to celebrate! We begin our break the week before christmas and then go back to school after New Years. Its a great time to relax before the hectic holiday season, along with doing many winter activities like skiing trips and seeing Christmas plays. Many people travel during these two weeks off from school, either to the mountains or a tropical location. I love to downhill ski, but many Americans are into snowboarding! Either way, they are both fun activities to do during winter break.

Disneyland ride!

Christmas Pajama Party

Some other fun things to do around this time of year is go shopping for Christmas gifts or have holiday parties with friends. Also, winter is a great time to go to Disneyland! I live only 20 minuets away from Disneyland, so this vacation is a perfect time to go. In the winter, Disneyland is filled with holiday decorations, including a huge Christmas tree and snow falling on Main Street. Its the perfect way to kick off the holiday spirit.

What do you enjoy to do on your vacations from school? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo

Holiday Helpers

Hey everyone! Since the holidays are coming up, our school likes to help those less fortunate. Every year, our school has a canned food drive where students bring in cans and packaged foods to donate. We work with South County Outreach, a charity which collects and distributes these foods. We love getting in the holiday spirt and helping other feel the same way. We even have competitions between classes to see who can raise the most! We also host toy drives, through Toys For Tots, which collects and distributes toys for presents for all the less fortunate children. Its such a great feeling to help others and is one of the best part of the holidays. The holidays are just as much about giving as they are receiving.

Here is a video our school made to talk about the can food drive! Last year we collected 8,500 cans.

Do you do charity at your school around the holidays? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo