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Winter is an amazing season filled with amazing things. I wanted to compile a list of my top 10 favorite things about winter that make it my second favorite season, following fall! I hope you enjoy this Gif story. 1. CHRISTMAS MUSICI'm gonna Jingle Bell Rock Around The Christmas Time Is Here Comes Santa Baby It's Cold Outside all month!  2. WE CELEBRATE JESUS' BIRTHDAY!I absolutely adore everything about Christmas, especially carols and re-tellings of Jesus' birthday. Even though most scholars agree that Jesus was probably born in the Spring, I still love celebrating his birth around this time each year!  3. THE FOOD OF THE SEASON
4. CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!Listen. I'm in love with all of the Christmas light events happening this year. I want to go to all of them!  5. COOL WEATHERAnything but snow, because it literally turns to ice in 2 hours where I live, and I'm not trying to fall!  6. GIVING GIFTS I KNOW THEY'LL LOVEI've always LOVED giving gifts because it gives me the chance to show the people I love that I'm listening and really want to provide them with something they can use and will love for years to come!  7. HOT COCOANeed I say more?  8. CHRISTMAS MOVIESDon't worry, you can expect a TON of Christmas movie reviews and suggestions right here on TheOpinionatedOne.com OR on Twitter!  9. TONS OF GET-TOGETHERSThis time of year features tons of get-togethers for me at least. The hubby has a Christmas thing, I have two Christmas things, then we are going home to have even more Christmas things. So EXCITED!  10. CUDDLING!!!!!!!The cold weather is the perfect time to snuggle with your favorite person, or animal.  CONCLUSIONI hope you enjoyed this Gif story. What do you love about winter/Christmas? Let me know in the comments below!
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If you aren't a blogger and you're curious to know what life is like as "one of us," I hope you find this entertaining. If you are a blogger, I'm sure you can relate to at least one of these things! If you like this, I hope you'll give it a share so we can all have a good laugh! 1. TRYING TO FIND A SQUARE-INCH OF CLEAN SPACE ON A COUNTER TOP OR DESK IN YOUR HOUSE TO TAKE A PHOTO FOR YOUR LATEST BLOG POST 2. THAT FEELING WHEN YOU'VE FINISHED WITH BLOGTOBER OR BLOGMAS 3. THAT MOMENT WHEN YOU RUSH TO YOUR COMPUTER WHEN YOU GET IN FROM WORK OR A DAY OUT SO YOU CAN WRITE ON THAT BLOG POST TOPIC THAT INSPIRED YOU 4. WHEN YOU FINALLY GET TAGGED FOR A BLOGGER PEER AWARD 5. WHEN YOU DECIDE TO WRITE ABOUT A NEW SUBJECT THAT YOU'RE TOTALLY UNEDUCATED ON 6. WHEN YOU TRY OUT A RECIPE FROM PINTEREST FOR YOUR BLOG BUT IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THE PICTURE 7. WHEN YOU NEED TO GO TO THE CRAFT STORE FOR THINGS FOR YOUR BLOG, BUT YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER SAYS NO 8. WHEN SOMEONE YOU KNOW IRL SAYS: EW, YOU HAVE A BLOG? 9. AND WHEN YOU GO ON TWITTER TO RANT ABOUT SAID RUDE PERSON AND YOUR FOLLOWERS NEED TO KNOW EVERY DETAIL 10. WHEN SOMEONE LEAVES A WELL-THOUGHT-OUT COMMENT ON YOUR BLOG POST 11. LAUGHING AT YOUR OWN BLOG POST TITLES BECAUSE THEY'RE SO PUNNY 12. WHEN YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO FOR YOUR NEXT BLOG POST, BUT THAT FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBER WHO READS RELIGIOUSLY SENDS YOU IDEAS 13. WHEN YOUR PETS, KIDS, OR SIGNIFICANT OTHER TRYS TO INTERRUPT YOUR BLOGGING TIME 14. YOUR WALLET AFTER PAYING FOR SUPPLIES FOR YOUR BLOG POSTS 15. CONSTANTLY CHECKING YOUR GOOGLE ADS ACCOUNT TO SEE IF YOU'VE EARNED ANY MORE MONEY FROM AD CLICKS 16. GETTING WORRIED THAT YOUR CONTENT ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH WHEN YOU SEE YOU HAVEN'T EARNED ANY MONEY 17. GETTING REASSURANCE FROM FELLOW BLOGGERS THAT YOU DON'T SUCK AND YOUR READERSHIP WILL CONTINUE TO GROW IF YOU STAY CONSISTENT 18. AND FINALLY...HOW YOU FEEL KNOWING THAT YOU'VE WRITTEN AND SCHEDULED YOUR BLOGS FOR THE WEEK! CONCLUSIONI hope you enjoyed this fun post, and I hope it was relatable enough to my fellow bloggers! Did I miss anything? Tell me what else we struggle with in the comments below!
 Today’s blog post will be a love letter to fall…in the form of gifs. I hope you enjoy today’s blog post. If you do, please take some time to leave a comment, like my page on Facebook, or follow me on my social media platforms! Without further ado, here is what I love about fall: * All gifs used in this post were found on Giphy.com 1. IT ISN’T 1,000 DEGREES OUTSIDE I live in North Carolina, where the summers are long, hot, and humid. Even when it is 80 degrees outside, it feels like it’s 100 because of the humidity. So, fall is my favorite season because it’s nice and cool, but not too cold!  2. MY FAVORITE HOLIDAYS HAPPEN IN FALL By far, Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love the décor and the trick or treaters and the movies! But, I also love Thanksgiving and the opportunity to gather the whole family around the table. If you’ve been following my posts from the beginning of blogtober, you’ll also know that my birthday is on the very first day of October! All the best things happen in the fall!  3. THE LEAVES ARE STUNNING I love the red, yellow, and orange leaves that grace the limbs of the trees. In North Carolina, there are a ton of trees! So, I love being able to go out and see the vibrant colors. This may seem weird, but I also love naked trees. Seeing the framework of the tree when it isn’t covered in leaves is beautiful!  4. CINNAMON IS A FALL SPICE Listen, I know we all enjoy our cinnamon apples and cinnamon rolls year-round, but I love the festive coffees and desserts that come along with the fall season. My favorite drink right now is the Iced Almond Milk Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks. It has only 180 calories, but I don’t treat myself to it often!  5. PEOPLE ARE LESS SELFISH…UNTIL BLACK FRIDAY At least up until Black Friday, people tend to be more grateful and less selfish as it nears the holidays. I like that! It will last until the day after Thanksgiving, when crazy shoppers will rip through stores like my cat rips through carpet.  6. THE FOOD MAKES MY YEAR I am such a foodie, it isn’t even funny. I love food so much, and fall is food season! I can’t wait for Thanksgiving Dinner. Life hack: If you want more thanksgiving dinner, get married and go to your in-laws for second dinner!  7. SCARY MOVIES ARE MY JAM Seriously, if you know me at all, you’ll know that scary movies are my favorite! Lately, I’ve been watching those horror shorts people make on YouTube. Some of them are super corny, but others are great!  8. SEEING FAMILY PHOTOS ON SOCIAL MEDIA Fall is super pretty, so a lot of people take their family photos around that time. I love seeing the creative photo ideas. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. On the other hand, watching brides take photos outside in their dresses gives me a panic attack. I know you want a Tumblr country wedding with the run-down barn and autumn leaves, but have you seen yourself wrangle your wedding dress over mud puddles? I didn’t think so, Emily!  9. WEARING SLIPPERS I don’t know about y’all, but the house I’m staying in right now has hard wood floors, which is great for my destructive cat! But, it can leave my tootsies cold in the fall. I love putting on my slippers or a thick pair of socks. It is something that makes me comfortable that I can’t do year-round without getting too hot.  10. LOWER ENERGY BILLS Speaking of the weather, I love that the expensive electricity bills from the summer are practically cut in half when fall rolls around. That means I have more mula to spend on Christmas gifts and fall activities!  11. CUDDLING UNDER THE COVERS When it starts to get cooler outside, I love to cuddle under the covers, either with my cat or my husband (lol)! I find myself in the summer being too hot and reluctantly pushing them off of me. But in the fall, bring on the cuddles y’all!  12. FOOTBALL GAMES I still go to football games at my university when I can. We actually have our homecoming football game in October. It feels nice and cool outside and I love sitting near the band and cheering on the team. There is something inherently “fall” about football games, and I don’t get tired of it.  13. THE BUGS GO INTO HIDING…FINALLY
14. DECORATING MY HOUSE I look forward to decorating my house (at least the inside) during the fall season. Since we often head back toward our families for Christmas, I normally like to get the Christmas tree up right after Halloween. It gives us the chance to enjoy our decoration for a bit before they are taken down.  CONCULSIONSo, there you have it. Those are the 14 things I love most about fall. What do you love about the fall season? Let me know in the comments below!
It’s my birthday today. If you’re reading this, the best present you could give me is being here on my blog and interacting with me, so I hope you’ll take some time after you finish reading today’s post to comment on this list! So, for my birthday this year, I wanted to share 25 life lessons I’ve learned in my 25 years on Earth! 1. MONEY IS MONEY, NO MATTER WHAT FORM IT IS INI remember when I was a child, I was embarrassed when my Nana scrapped together several dollars in quarters for me to use on a movie ticket. So much so that I decided not to go to save myself the embarrassment. But, $7 is quarters is still $7. You should never be ashamed of how much money you have and in what form it is in.  2. PEOPLE LEAVE OR STAY UNINVOLVED FOR THEIR OWN REASONSI always used to tell myself that I was the cause of people leaving my life or being uninterested when, in fact, it was those people who decided to leave my life or stay uninvolved. Now, I refuse to get upset when someone decides to take off. It doesn’t happen often, so I know it is that person’s heart rather than my personality.  3. DON’T LET SOMEONE USE YOU FOR YOUR CREDIT SCOREJonathan and I once rented a house with a “friend.” We knew him personally, but we admittedly didn’t know much about his finances. He ended up signing on to a lease with us after using my credit score to be able to rent. He often had money troubles and ended up leaving the house with a ton of his junk left in it, which resulted in a long night of cleaning and throwing stuff away from Jonathan and I.  4. YOUR AGE DOES NOT LIMIT YOUR WISDOM OR CAPABILITY You often hear people make comments about how someone is naive because they are young. But, being young doesn’t mean you are naïve or any less capable than any other person. By the time I was 23, I was the features editor at a newspaper. My age didn’t stop me, and I’ll never let it stop me in the future.  5. CHANGE YOUR FREAKING OIL I’m not too savvy when it comes to cars. I got my car when I was in college, and rarely had much money to take care of it. Instead of getting my oil changed, I would just put more oil into the car. That resulted in my car breaking down on Christmas Eve the first year I was married when I was on my way with Jonathan to his family’s house. Just. Change. Your. Oil. People.  6. YOUR FAMILY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER When I was in middle school or high school, my mom and brother saw a turtle trying desperately to cross the road. They asked me to get out and move the turtle along, but I decided instead to shoo the turtle in case it was a snapping turtle. 10+ years later, it is still a topic of discussion when turtles come up.  7. SIMILAR SITUATIONS DON’T ALWAYS END THE SAME Just because similar incidents happened in someone’s life and it didn’t end well, that doesn’t mean the same will happen to you. Every life, every person, and every situation are different. Only God knows how it will work out.  8. MARRY YOUR BEST FRIEND Of all the relationships I’ve been in (three to be exact), I’ve never had more fun or felt more loved than I do in my marriage. That’s because Jonathan and I are best friends and were best friends first. I guess it is true what they say: the third time’s the charm!  9. LIFE IS BETTER WITH GOD IN ITAt the time of writing this, I woke up with a splitting headache. I decided that I would listen to some Christian music and my headache slowly drifted away. God will always be there for you, even in the darkest and hardest of times. I wish I would have stuck by Him more when I was a teen and young adult.  10. BUT NOT ALL OF HIS PEOPLE ARE GOOD Good is an arbitrary word, really. Christians aren’t always so Christian. This is something I’m still struggling with. In the past two years, people have refused to shake my hand, demanded to know where I’d been, not tried to get to know me, and so forth. But, that won’t shake my faith. That just means we haven't found the right place yet. Don’t get me wrong, there have been some wonderful people who have come into our lives.  11. EVERYONE NEEDS TO LIVE IN A CRAPPY APARTMENT AT LEAST ONCE I firmly believe that everyone, at least once in their lives, has to live in a crappy apartment to understand life. Have you ever had a panic attack after seeing a giant roach crawl across your wall? Have you ever had a pipe burst and had the crappy management team do absolutely nothing about it? No? Then, do you really appreciate your current and better situation?  12. PROTECT YOUR HEART AT ALL COSTS At the end of the day, you have to live with yourself. There is no use in making yourself miserable because of some stupid boy or a bad family member. If someone is toxic to you, remove them. Don’t keep putting up with people who make your mascara run.  13. PRACTICE SAYING “NO” I still struggle with this a lot. If I could tell my younger self something, it would be to practice saying “no.” I love people, my job, my family, and myself. But at times I need to say no to hanging out, doing more than my job description, visiting when I don’t have the money, or buying something for myself that I know I can’t afford.  14. SPEAK EVEN WHEN YOUR VOICE SHAKES When I think back on my years, I think about the times where someone tried to best me, but I spoke up and talked back. Some of the most influential people in the world, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and others all spoke up when they felt something was wrong, and they changed the course of history. I refuse to be a door mat, no matter who’s dishing it out. No matter if it is a church official, family member, coworker, etc. Know your worth and speak up.  15. JACK BLACK IS THE FUNNIEST MAN ON EARTH. FIGHT ME. There are only a few people who I love so much that I’ll see anything they are in. Jack Black is one of them. I love him so much. Not like a creepy “I stan this guy who is like 20-30 years older than me.” More like, “I wish he was my dad,” lol. He would be such a cool dad. Is that weird?  16. EVERYONE EDITS THEIR PHOTOS. EVERYONE. Until recently, I would get really bummed when I saw these gorgeous women on Instagram and wonder how they could be so flawless. The answer: they can’t be. Not naturally anyway. So, I am now a strong believer in photo editing before uploading. Sue me.  17. CATS LOVE CARPET… A LITTLE TOO MUCH I knew that cats really liked to claw at carpet, but I wasn’t prepared for my cat Rum Tum to rip a hole into the carpet at the house we were renting with the credit score moocher. She ended up being kicked out of the house and had to live with my mom and grandparents for a few months until we moved. I’m happy that our current residence has hardwoods.  18. HEAR PEOPLE OUT Even if you think that what they’re saying isn’t worth much, or if you think they’re having an emotional response, listen. Their words may help you better understand a situation or realize something you didn’t realize before.  19. WASH YOUR DISHES AS SOON AS YOU FINISH USING THEM If you’re not fortunate to have a dish washer, washing your dishes after you finish using them will help you keep your kitchen clean. I have gotten into the habit of taking some extra time after breakfast to wash my pan, plate, and fork. It keeps the sink free of dirty dishes and leaves me one less thing to worry about later.  20. SPLENDA IS FROM THE DEVIL Maybe it is the way I used it, but I tried to substitute Splenda for sugar in a cookie recipe and the cookies tasted SO awful. I would never do that again. I think stevia may be a good option. But, if you have suggestions, let me know.  21. MOST PEOPLE REMEMBER YOU FOR ONE THINGIt doesn’t matter if you were young and dumb or if you’ve changed your stance or feelings about it. No matter what, you will always be remembered for one thing in someone’s mind. One moment that will forever define how they perceive you. Lovely.  22. DRINK WATER OR FEEL LIKE CRAP Gone are my days of surviving on potato chips and Pepsi. I’ve noticed that when I drink hardly any water, I feel like crap. It’s called dehydration people. Be like Bobby Boucher and stay properly hydrated to avoid withering away into high fructose dust.  23. BEST FRIENDS DON’T NEED TO TALK ALL THE TIME My best friend Jeremy lives in Georgia and we don’t always talk, but I can always hit him up to vent or to visit. My best friends Lauren and Tyler have a jobs and lives and we don’t get to talk super often, but we are always down to hang out together. Your relationships should be about the quality of your time together, not the quantity of it.  24. SKINNY DOESN’T ALWAYS MEAN SUCCESSFUL My weight has always been a point of stress for as long as I can remember. I have told this story before, but I actually had a “friend” tell me she never thought I’d be successful, find a husband, or have children because of my weight. Look at me now, chick!  25. POLITICAL DISCUSSIONS ARE WORTHLESS. DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME. Most people who have strong enough opinions on politics to write about them on the internet are very concrete in what they believe. So, arguing with them about their stance is pointless and causes unnecessary stress. It can also ruin friendships and relationships. Just stop.  CONCLUSIONWell, that’s my list of 25 life lessons I’ve learned in my 25 years. I hope you enjoyed and maybe learned something from my life! Maybe I’ll make this a yearly tradition.
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