First thing, I love their coffees.  They have amazing fresh roasted coffees that come in amazing flavors and varying roasts.  My personal favorite is the Cinnamon Sticky Bun flavored coffee.  Go to their online shopping page and browse the flavors.  Most 12 oz bags are $8.00.

Second thing, I love their cause.  Jumpy Monkey employs people with disabilities.  Here’s what their About Us page says:

In June of 2003, Jumpy Monkey was acquired by Opportunities Unlimited in Sioux City, Iowa. Opportunities Unlimited (”OU”) is a rehabilitation facility that provides services to individuals that have sustained a traumatic brain injury, taking them back into the main-stream of life.

Successful rehab rates throughout the ten year history of OU, have risen to points as high as fifty percent. OU is an organization that truly lives its mission statement of “Maximizing Personal Potential Through Dignified and Purposeful Living.” One of the many key factors in the rehabilitation process is our vocational services where clients are able to again become a part of the work force and earn a paycheck.

Jumpy Monkey coffee roasting has become one of the key contracts serviced through the OU vocational area. In summation, with your purchase of Jumpy Monkey products, not only are you receiving a high quality, high value product, but you are also assisting in the employment of people with disabilities. Come pay us a visit, we would love to show you what we have to offer.

Not surprisingly, the coffee is roasted in my homeland of Northwest Iowa and employs some amazing Iowans.

The best part of waking up....

However, families naturally evolve: babies are born, loved ones pass on, folks marry in and people move away.  My family is no exception.  I live in Dallas, my brother’s family lives in Florida and the majority of my relatives are back in the Midwest.  Unfortunately, a mega-trip to Iowa is not feasible every December and my family understands.

Over the last two years, this complicated geographic situation has given me the idea to come up with some of my own holiday traditions.  I’m not sure what the final catalyst was—if it was the fact I’m becoming more and more like my mother every day OR if it was that my apartment seemed to lack the magic of my home in Iowa—but whatever it was, I’m glad it happened.  Here are some of the holiday traditions I’m beginning:

• Christmas Tree – to me, there is something seriously lacking in my home during the month of December if a Christmas tree is not present.
  • Last year, I went to Wal-Mart and procured a 6’ pre-lit artificial tree for approximately $25.  To dress it, I bought a silver tree skirt, blue balls, gold balls and silver balls (all purchased at a discount store, for example Garden Ridge).
  • I have also purchased a few ornaments of my own throughout my adventures.  Seeing these on my tree reminds where I’ve all been and how I’ve changed over the past few years.  One of my favorites is a little lobster ornament from Rhode Island.

My Christmas Tree

• Decorations – I come from a home where no room is spared from holiday décor, so naturally I had to put some things out…
  • I used the leftover gold and silver balls from the tree and put them around the apartment.  Right now, I have some ornaments in the center of the dining room table.  Last year, I scattered some around picture frames on my bookcase.
    • NOTE: Men do not seem to understand the need to have Christmas balls on the table or anywhere else besides the tree.  I am not good at articulating my reasoning for this, but I’ve stayed adamant that they are indeed necessary.
  • Last year, I also purchased a garland (cheaply at a discount store) to string over the fireplace I had at my old apartment.  This year I have put it over an archway in my current place.  I really love how festive garlands make the apartment look.

• Movies – When I was a kid, I LOVED the Christmas movies they used to show on TV.  Frosty and Rudolph were two of my favorites.  As an adult my tastes have changed a bit, and here are my favorites:
  • Love Actually
  • Elf
  • The Holiday
  • Christmas Vacation (it’s amazing how funny it as an adult, because I actually understand the jokes)

• Music – There is something about Christmas music that really puts me in the holiday spirit.  I don’t have any CDs of my own, so I put together this play list on GrooveShark:

• Ogling at Christmas Lights – there are some unbelievable homes in the DFW metroplex, and seeing them all lit up is incredibly impressive.  I get annoying excited by driving around and seeing how creative people can be.

These are just some of the things I have begun doing to create my own holiday traditions.  No matter what your background, I’d love to hear how you have begun your own holiday traditions.  Please share!

I wanted to share my list on Trina Left Iowa just in case any of my readers were thinking of buying me a gift or need gift ideas for a fellow twenty-something female.  I found that Target.com had some great tools and lists for different personality types – my favorite lists for females were Corporate Diva and Urban Gourmet.

• Plain Ts – these from Forever21 are my favorite for sleeping or just hanging at home
  • Color: any color will do
• Cardigans – solid, traditional cardigans I can wear to work. Long sleeves or ¾ lengths are ideal.
  • Style: similar to this Old Navy one:
  • Color: I’d really like a gray one, but I’m pretty open
• USB Heating Gloves – yes, they are gloves to warm your hands when plugged into your laptop…genius.  My office is incredibly cold, and I can’t cover my hands when I’m typing.
• Yoga Sport Dallas Gift Cards – any amount helps to get me to practice hot yoga regularly (I really love hot yoga; the physical and mental benefits are invaluable).
  • Their site: http://yogasportdallas.com/
  • Link to the gift card site: https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/asp/home.asp
• Exercise Clothes – sweat-wicking fabric tops, bottoms, etc for exercise/yoga
  • Where: I get a lot of them at Target or discount stores (Ross, TJ Max, etc)
  • “Yoga Gear”: any will make me happy!
    • Hot yoga makes you really sweaty, so nonslip mat towels like Yogitoes (off-brands of this would be great) are helpful.
• IKEA Gift Cards – I LOOOVE Ikea
  • Purchasing: in stores or through IKEA Direct at 1-800-434-4532
• Drop earrings: simple dangley, drop earrings. Example of one at Target.
• Perfume: either Burberry Brit or Harajuku Lovers Love – both can be purchased at Target for exceedingly less than department stores….I’m not sure why this is, and I’d love for someone to explain it to me…

For William and I:

• Roasting Pan with Rack – a roasting pan with rack but doesn’t have to be fancy.  This KitchenAid one is pretty fancy but is an example of what I’m thinking of
• Tie Rack – a cheap rack for hanging ties
• Herb growing kit – one that can be used indoors.  Something like this one at Target (doesn’t have to be so big).

Please share any of your gift wishes or ideas.

My time in the “welcome to corporate life” academy was the highlight of my post-college life, and the people I met there have forever changed the course of my life.  This Thanksgiving, I will be sitting next to several of these beloved people and thanking each of them for their presence in my life.  I am so grateful to have my friends from Boston and London visiting Dallas this weekend.

For those academy darlings who are not in Dallas to feast at Dave’s, I miss you and am thankful to have you in my life too; especially you, Tommy McD.

As for my primary family, I will be missing you all and hope we are all together soon (preferably during a warmer time of year up north).  Make sure to have a few of the following for me: my mother’s Iowa corn, Aunt Margie’s cream puffs, Aunt Gail’s pumpkin cookies, Aunt Jo’s potatoes, Uncle Gordie’s blue pop (wink), Uncle Richard’s pear wine (careful though…), Aunt Arlene’s turkey and Aunt Tina’s amazing salads.  Brett and Derek, you can have my dessert.  I actually miss you all…not just the food…I swear!

To my hometown loves, I feel a pang of sadness in my heart when I think of the festivities going on at Sportsman’s this week.  Please have a few beers for me, and tip the bartender if she is sporting her Thanksgiving shorts…oh, you know which ones.