Christmas Cheer Exchange

Blogmas Day 18
Today I'm linking up with Mattie and Olya for the Christmas Cheer Gift Exchange. These two lovely ladies hosted a Secret Santa amongst all of us bloggers. I was excited to join in because I knew that it would give me a chance to get to know a few ladies better. I was assigned Liz Jo over at Sundays with Sophie. It was the perfect match, because I wasn't as familiar with her. This exchange gave us the perfect opportunity to get better acquainted. The moment I found out I was her Secret Santa, I began stalking her blog {yes stalking} to find out more about her. I had a blast picking out gifts that I thought she love. If you can't tell from my wrapping job, I got really into everything. I ended up giving Liz Jo three gifts…one from her Wishlist...a gift for a fellow baker..and a gift to help this Super Mom to relax. To see what's in the packages below, you can read Liz Jo's post here. 

Now comes the part where I'm supposed to share what my Secret Santa gave me for Christmas and the answer is…N-O-T-H-I-N-G. 

I received a message from my Secret Santa announcing when my package would arrive. When nothing showed up, I sent her a friendly message to let her know. She told me all was well and gave me a different delivery date. But once again, nothing came. This happened again and again. And it turned into a cycle of me not receiving anything and not hearing from my Secret Santa>>>me contacting her>>>her giving me a new excuse and delivery date. 

I started to feel like a complete idiot for continuing to trust her every time. Finally, it got to the point where I knew nothing was ever going to come. Every time I made contact, there was a different reason why it hadn't arrived yet. The whole thing just felt a bit shady because my Secret Santa never contacted me to tell me that things were going to be delayed. It was always me initiating the conversation. I really wanted to believe that maybe it just got lost in the mail. But the lack of communication was too much of a red flag. 

The thing is guys, I could care less about the actual present. I would have been over the moon to simply receive a card from the dollar store or a well thought-out email. Really, I just wanted someone to put in some effort. I went out of my way to get to know the person I was assigned and give my person the perfect gifts. And I'm glad I did. I had just hoped that my Secret Santa would make the same effort for me.

It is still possible that something will arrive in the next few days, but you guys, I'm not holding my breath. I would be happy to eat my words here, but we had almost a month to get our gifts sent out. I know things happen that may be out of our control, but I have been getting bad vibes about this situation from the very beginning. And sometimes you have to go with your gut. 

Regardless, I'm still thankful for this experience because I loved getting to know Liz Jo and I've made a new blogger friend. And really that was the reason I did this. Looking on the bright side of things, my goal in participating in this exchange was definitely accomplished. I'm also grateful to the sweetest hosts Mattie and Olya who offered to send me a gift themselves, which really is not necessary. But it was sweet none the less. I'm really looking forward to just moving on. I'm excited to see how everyone else did with the exchange and connect with more bloggers in the future.

Follow along with Blogmas to see more holiday fun everyday this month

Bloglovin//Instagram//Facebook//Pinterest