Every family has their holiday traditions, some are typical and some are down-right quirky. Whether it is wearing your most tacky Christmas sweater, always baking a certain food, or driving around to see Christmas decorations, they all make you feel at home. Unfortunately, some college students don’t have the luxury of making it home during the holidays and many may feel sad and not into the holiday spirit. If you are going to be in Kingsville or Corpus, away from family or with your entire family and need something to do, we have a solution for you!  

Global Connect presents the 2012 HO-HO Hay ride! The members of our team have put together a hay ride that will take you through the most beautifully decorated areas of Corpus Christi during the holiday season. Anyone is welcome; especially students that can’t make it back home for the holidays. What better way to raise your spirits and get you geared up for the holidays! We will have candy, refreshments, Christmas carols, and more on our adventure through the city. Come in your best Christmas spirit wear, Santa hats and all! If you would love to go but can’t get to Corpus, the Blue and Gold bus can take you there! The hay ride is completely free; all you have to do enjoy t decorations. Don’t forget your cameras because you will want to remember this once in a lifetime hay ride! So come join for a night filled with fresh air and holiday spirit that is good for the whole family! 

With the holidays just around the corner, many people begin to feel a mixture of emotions. To some, there is a sense of excitement and joy when Christmas is near. For others, the holidays bring a wave of stress. We all remember when we were little kids and how much excitement and anticipation came with Christmas. We longed for so many simple toys and it didn’t matter the price of each present as long as there were tons of wrapped presents under the tree with our name on it! As a little kid the only thing there was to do to prepare for Christmas day was to make sure there was a nice warm plate of cookies and a glass of cold milk for Santa. If only things were still so simple…

Buying gifts, wrapping gifts, making sure to buy gifts for everyone without leaving anyone out! Then comes the holiday dinners…buying food, preparing food, being the outgoing entertainer of the evening, and not to mention the awful cleanup after everyone goes home. In addition to already being stuffed full of delicious food, I, along with many other people that can relate, then have to go to another family members house for yet another round! My number one stress of the holidays is getting the energy to get off the couch after a long day and big meal at my mom’s, then making my way to my dad’s for another huge and delicious meal. Don’t get me wrong, the food and spending time with family (at least the family that we like) is all fine and dandy…but can’t I just be a little kid again and just bake some cookies and set out some milk?? 
Although the stresses of the holidays can be overwhelming, there are a few things that may help relieve the stress. My family has come up with a great way to relieve some of the stress involved with buying presents for everyone. Every Thanksgiving, the adults in my family will draw names to determine who they will buy a present for that Christmas. We usually put a low spending cap on the present as well so no one feels like they need to out-buy someone else. This is one very simple way to relieve some of the holiday stresses. Another thing that my family does is to have sort of a pot-luck Christmas. We usually have holiday dinners at my mom’s house so she tends to cook the large items, like the turkey and ham. Everyone else in the family will bring a side dish, and usually it’s the same thing for everyone each year. These two suggestions will help with some of the major stresses of the holidays, but there are still many things that just can’t be controlled. Things such as traffic and weather are unpredictable, and the best way to cope with those is just to expect the unexpected. These types of events often can send someone over the edge when they are already stressed out. A snow storm or traffic at a standstill is not the end of the world, I promise! Try a couple of these simple suggestions this holiday season to relieve your stresses. Happy Holidays!