I first started Hallmarking the winter of 2009. It was just before New Years. Domingo and I were vacationing in D.C., and killing time before meeting family for dinner when we wondered into a hallmark store. It wasn’t even an ornament from the current year’s collection I first picked up, but the previous year’s “Welcome Friends” the store still had on hand for a steep discount.

Hallmarking combined many of my great loves: shopping, bargain hunting and Christmas. Since I was new to the hobby there were lots of great ornaments that fit my ascetic found cheaply on eBay and Amazon. A few years after I picked up that first “Welcome Friends” ornament, however, I began to exhaust that supply.

It wasn’t long before the only deals to be were after Christmas sales. That worked fine, up until I started have multiple kids, and couldn’t always make time for in person shopping. Last year, at 39 weeks pregnant I opted to just order online from Hallmark.com after the holidays. The ornaments were on sale, but I had to pay shipping. I paid effectively the same price as if I had bought in store at full price before the holiday, and didn’t even get to enjoy the ornament that year. Anticipating not making the after Christmas sale again this year, I purchased online from Hallmark.com, paying both full price and shipping.

The truth is, now that I don’t have time for the bargain hunting aspect, the hobby isn’t nearly as enjoyable. It’s feeling more like an obligation and less like a joy. So for now, I’m likely stopping our hallmark tradition.

Another tradition that’s changing this year is Black Friday in person shopping. The biggest driver for this change is time, and lack there of.

We always intended our Thanksgiving tradition to be putting up the Christmas decorations after the kids go to sleep. There’s something magical about waking up to a fully trimmed tree and festive house. We haven’t met that goal since 2013, and with multiple trees it’s even harder. Nicole is already starting to question the existence of certain mythical entities, so this may be the last year to really embrace that Christmas magic while she still believes.

We’ve been having better luck snagging deals online shopping anyway, and last year’s experience was pretty miserable (though I won’t be pregnant again during any future black Fridays!) So this year we’re committing to online Black Friday shopping only.

As far as traditions go, ones based on shopping are the least worth preserving anyway.

The mild winters in California have really grown on me. I miss the snow from the east coast, but can get used to the lack of cold! Though this is only our second holiday season as husband and wife, we’ve been working on a few holiday traditions.

In terms of Baking I make Grandma’s Cinnamon Rolls and Peppermint Bark.

My secret for world famous pepper bark (or at least colon family famous peppermint bark) is to use old candy canes. Seriously. I know it sounds weird, but older candy canes are softer, almost chewy. The softer texture, and same great taste, allows you to have bigger chunks of peppermint in the bark. I also use two layers of chocolate, dark and white. So yummy!

Sorry, the recipe for the cinnamon rolls is a family secret. It’s my Grandmother’s recipe that has been passed down through three generations now.

I wanted to have a new Christmas ornament each year to represent each of us. Specifically, I was hoping we’d each pick out our own hallmark ornament, since I find them so adorable. It seemed like a great idea in 2009. In 2010 there were no ornaments we liked, so we turned to ebay to find older ornaments for our 2010 tree. This year was another bust. After two years in a row struggling to find ornaments, I gave up. We’ll still do purchase new Hallmark ornaments, but they’re more Christmas theme. So much for my grand plan of one to represent each family member over the years. I did end up making a 2010 and 2011 ornament, so maybe handmade ornaments can be our tradition instead?

Another we tradition for us is that we don’t exchange Christmas gifts. We buy gifts for friends and family, just not each other. It’s partially because we typically shop together, and partially because we’re not usually in want of anything by Christmas thanks to our black Friday adventures. We enjoy the hunting for a deal together, more than unwrapping shinny paper. Once we have kids, “Santa” will make sure everyone gets a present.

We don’t really have spring or summer traditions. I do want to make an anniversary craft project each year, and our anniversary is the first weekend in Spring. However, I have no idea what to make this year! I have been thinking about it for months and I am still coming up blank!