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I'm Back, So Let's Talk + GIVEAWAY!

(If you want to see the Giveaway, skip on down to the bottom...)

So as all Holidays are, December has been a crazy month...  Fun! But crazy none the less.

The month began with a birthday trip, for meeee!
To Pigeon Forge and Dollywood for a weekend to see the Christmas lights!
If you would like to see more details about this trip, you can see the first two days here, the third and fourth days here, and my haul here!!

Besides that, most of my time in December was devoted to Christmas play practice at my church every Wednesday and Sunday night, and then some in between!


On the left you can see one of the stage arrangements, simple, but we were happy with it!  On the right is my brother and grandmother sitting at the the edge of the stage before the curtains opened.  We  have done a set of plays the past few years, where we all play the same characters each year.  This year my brother decided he wanted to write the play, so they let him!  We all kept the same rolls as before, and just did a stright continuation from last year!  Keep in mind, my brother is 11... and he wrote a real play with a plot and humor and Christian message! We were all so proud of him, and it was a hit!

This is us all sitting around, listening to the Christmas story during the play

So we might look a bit crazy, let me explain... There is a part in the play where we were supposed to dress up to impress a guy, and we had the bright idea to wear our prom dresses with tons of gaudy jewelry, and flannels with boots to keep the country look going! Cute right! ;)

This is me, squished in between my boyfriend and best friend in the world. Can you see our drawn on freckles??

And then came Christmas!
We spent Christmas Eve early in the day at my dad's parents house
This is me and my Papaw... I love this picture!

And then we went to my Mom's parents house with all of my great big family!
Plus Maze of course!  This is me sitting in his lap, reading the Christmas story out of the Bible to my family!

My family does quite a bit of singing... My grandfather is the song leader at our church, and my great uncle plays the guitar, but the rest of us definitely enjoy singing with them, even when we don't sound so great.  While we were singing Christmas songs, my mom noticed that the strap was being held on to my Uncle's guitar, with a bread tie! Hey, whatever works!

And then we started playing Minute to Win It Games!
With this one, you had to throw marshmallows in your partner's mouth.  This is my grandparents playing, but Maze and I won!

Next we had to unwrap Hersey kisses, while wearing oven mitts...

And then we stacked cups! This is my ultra competitive cousin, who people get confused with me all the time.

Finally we played a game where we had to stuff pantyhose with balloons, and then my dad put the pantyhose on the heads of the two oldest men in our family!  They are now the head reindeer and the  pantyhose are their antlers!

And then came present opening time!  Here I am staring at a ferris wheel cupcake stand my cousin got for me! I love it!! It even moves when you place cupcakes on it!

Maze and I <3

The annual family picture + a stuffed pig

On Christmas, my family celebrates by spending the entire day in our pajamas, playing with our new toys!  So there wasn't much to photograph that day...

And then it was time for some after Christmas shopping!!
Kaitlyn and I shopped until we were completely broke...

And then came New Years!
I spent it with some of my best friends at a bonfire!  One of our friends brought a Polaroid camera,  so we had some fun with that, and toasted in the New Year with sparkling Apple Juice!

Other than that, I've spent the majority of my time since Christmas working and going to school!
Do you like the Princess Carriages we made??

This semester I am taking American Literature, Developmental Psychology, Business Management, World Civilizations, and American Government!  After this semester I will only have 9 hours of classes left before I have my Associates degree (a semester early I might add!) and will be transferring to Appalachian in the Spring of next year!

Now... on to what you all really care about, the giveaway!!
This giveaway is in honor of a few things: Christmas, New Year, reaching 10,000+ views, and the fact that I just love you all!!
I wanted what I am giving away to reflect the goals and ambitions of this blog...

First: Planning!
You will be receiving a sticky note set that can be inserted into a binder, stickers for your planner (or whatever you like!), and a little pocket planer

Second: Beauty
You will be receiving three Nivea lotion samples, a Flower nail polish in May Flowers, a Bath and Body Works hand sanitizer in Vanilla Cupcake, a Lavender bath salts (by the Etsy shop naturliebe), Jolly Rancher Blue Raspberry Lip balm, Model Co Illusion Lipliner, and a combination eyebrow spoolie and eyeliner brush by Crown Bush

Third: Baking 
You will be getting this adorable cupcake recipe book, that I have a copy of and love!

Fourth and finally: Travel!
In this category you will be receiving a travel makeup bag, and a mini Bath and Body Works shampoo, conditioner, and lotion set in White Citrus!

To enter all you have to do is follow the instructions on the giveaway entry box at the top of the page on the sidebar!
Sorry, open to US only...

I love you all, and hope the entries will start flooding in, because I can't wait to get this prize out to one of you lovely ladies!

Let's connect!
And if you wouldn't mind to sign up with my referral links... 
Swagbucks - This is a site where you earn points to get rewards, and it really works! If you want an invite you can e-mail me (allenfamilyvacationplans@gmail.com ) or paste this referral link (swagbucks.com/refer/beachbabe15 ) in the box when you sign up!
Influenster - This is a site where you sync up all of your social media accounts and they will send you products to review based on your interests: www.influenster.com/r/263573 
Groupon - A shopping website where everything is super cheap! https://www.groupon.com/visitor_referral/h/d386c409-a4af-4dd4-b2a5-d7536fd1aa5e
ipsy - A $10 monthly subscription service where you receive makeup tailored to your personal interests https://www.ipsy.com/new?refer=v6hzz 

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