Hello there! (Update 10/20/23)
My name is Anita, I have been married for 17 years to an amazing man, Tony. We have two kids, Ailey and William. We also have a rescue cat, Ralph, and Pomeranian puppy, Pancake. My husband and daughter love to pick gifts for these exchanges and while we put everyone's likes, I do not expect you to purchase something for everyone. I like to have my profile fully filled out so that it makes the different exchanges easier to see likes, dislikes etc.
I bid on and won a cricut at my local goodwill, only paying $25 for an explore air. Anything to use with this would be extremely helpful. I grabbed some items from dollar tree and a few vinyl on clearance at target. Kids are excited about trying to design their own shirts, but that will be a bit because I have no idea what I am doing. Youtube videos have been a huge help though.
Anita: Mom Birthday: July 6th Likes: Amy Brown, & Anne Stokes Art. (I collect anything from them and display it in my office, I also collect enamel pins) I like the disney princesses, especially the more adult styles of them. Belle is my absolute favorite and have a quarter sleeve tattoo from beauty and the beast. I love anything beauty and beast. I love to read, but only read ebooks on my Kindle. Mainly check out books via overdrive through the library, but absolutely love getting a kindle unlimited subscription, when they have sales. I love literary/bookish items with Pride and Prejudice being my all time favorite book, followed by Kresley Cole as my favorite author. I love historial romance and fae/shifters/fantasy romance. But not time travel. I love mythical creatures such as dragons, fae/faeries, death/grim reaper, and over all love fantasy/horror. I like all styles of them, chibi, cutesy, "realistic", gory etc. I love world of wonder figurines or pretty much anything from them. I like scrump & stitch from lilo and stitch, love porgs/ewoks and have a smoothie daily to help get in my protein. I just chopped my hair into a pixie and would love headbands or other things to accessorize it. I work from home in the health care industry and love decorating my office. I wear an M/L in shirts and bottoms or size 9. Size 8 to 8.5 in shoes. socks, anything spicy, lavender, slime, stuffed animals or pillows (but love pillow covers)
Health issues: I had bariatric surgery March 31st 2022 and have went from 255 lbs to 135 lbs. Currently maintaining my weight as it’s suspected that I have 15+ of extra skin and so now focusing on toning instead of losing. I have severe anemia and have iron infusions weekly until I can have a hysterectomy and blood transfusions as needed. (Twice in last 3 months but trying to hold off on more to encourage my body to produce more)
I still love to cook and learning how to cook for the family without a ton of leftovers, currently just try to freeze or eat leftovers the next day. I found an instant pot at goodwill and would love accessories for it. It's a learning curve and still can't cook rice without burning. haha. I love kitchen items, and am always baking, cooking or just being in my kitchen. Kitchen is Star Wars and beauty and beast themed when possible, and red if given a choice on color for appliances. I love anything that is high protein. Favorites include popcorn jelly belly, Biscoff cookies, kinder hippos, & Ferrero Rocher. I use the zero sugar flavoring packets in my water sometimes, but will admit watertok has me intrigued. I do get nausea from plain water since surgery, but a little lemon of tiny sips (shot glasses) helps. A mini fryer, ice cream maker (with freezer drum) and dehydrator are on my list of gadgets to find at goodwill. I cook several times a day, because you either save money with your time or spend money with your wallet. We don't have much extra and so we budget groceries and save money by making just about everything from scratch. This puts me waking up at 7am and going to bed after midnight sometimes but it is a schedule that works for me and I relax more on the weekends.
With being on a health journey I have slowly realized that quality over quantity is so much better. I tried some nice chocolates for the first time and omg one of them satisfies any sweet tooth and its not too bad because its one here or there versus eating several or even a bags worth of the cheaper chocolates. As such I would love to try your local chocolates/candies. I share it all with my family and we love trying new things.
Tony: Dad Birthday: November 10th Likes: Favorite movie is Aliens! He watches this at least 3x a week. He started collecting the film cells and absolutely loves the two he has (Star Wars return of the Jedi, & empire strikes back) He would love more, but they not in the budget right now. Etsy has a lot more selection than amazon. He received a handmade alien embroidery and omg its become one of his most prized possessions. He also loves the Mandolorian especially the the phrase “this is the way”, Darth Vader is his favorite Star Wars character, enjoys all things horror, loves “vinyl stickers” to put on the car and little knick nacks that can go on his dashboard, especially bobble heads & made by robots figures.
He loves the lazy egg (Gudetama) and loves watching horror movies, especially It, Predator series, Alien series, scream series, Star Wars, Star Trek (yes he likes both) etc. Venom is his favorite anti hero, but also loves batman, joker, Star Wars, Vader, Boba Fett, Freddy, Jason, Pinhead, Michael etc. He loves to stainless steel tumblers and uses a few daily. Favorite tv shows are Futurama, Rick and Morty, & Mandolorian.
Health: He has follicular thyroid cancer which has metastasized to his lymph nodes and possible spine. He was able to have bariatric surgery 7/12 and total thyroidectomy with neck dissection 08-17; but still has thyroid cancer has they didn't get it all but not candidate for surgery due to left vocal cord paralyzed in last surgery. He has had several emergency surgeries this last year for a total of 6 surgeries in 2022. Spinal tumors in T-12 and s-1 drs want to remove due to being precancerous in biopsy but lighting up on pet, shape and calcification makes his dr think they are cancerous. However, Tony is tired and has paused all treatment. Some days are good but others not so much; he does this every few months and have found that no amount of push will make him go to the dr before he is ready. This is extremely stressful to him especially as his dad passed away on the operating table due to heart complications. He also has a smoothie daily to help with protein intake. Likes to try things from different cultures, and experience new foods. He loves chocolate, especially the fruit and nut bars. Boxes of chocolate light him up like no other, especially the caramels and cream filled ones.
Ailey: 13, daughter Birthday: November 17th Likes: She loves Horror movies, she watches at least one a day, and her favorites right now are Scream (all 6 of them), are you afraid of the dark, halloween, it & conjuring universe. She is learning to play the Alto Saxophone in band at school and loves it. She practices daily. She is decorating her room to be a horror theme, Kuromi and stitch. She loves to play the switch, with Dance 2022 being her favorite. She loves lilo and stitch, pusheen, Kumori, squshimals & Skelanimals. She is always painting or drawing something. She prefers to use acylic paint. She shops at hot topic as much as possible. Although she does love her accessories (belts size L, headbands, necklaces, bracelets (no earrings), arm warmer sleeve things, etc). She wears a size large in tops and a Large in bottoms or dresses. She no longer likes anything frilly, rainbow, unicorns or mermaids. But is loving some of the dresses from hot topic. Her favorite color is any shades of purple, or blue and loves to dye her hair all sorts of shades. Favorite sweets are gummies, Japanese style sweets, krabby patty gummies, and really any type of gummy, especially the filled ones. She absolutely loves BOBA Teas and would love to make them at home, her favorite flavors are Taro, & honeydew but wants to try Lychee or almond. She gets one after a long day of appts. She has started painting in art class and would absolutely love an easel, and acyclic paint set for her room. She loves Air Insanity in Rochester, MN its her and her brothers favorite place to play. They sell online gift cards: https://airinsanity.com/shop/
Health: Ailey has an intellectual disability, and will be in a resource room for all core subjects in 7th grade. April 18th our life forever changed. She had an mri for headaches and they found a tumor in her mid vermis (near brain stem). It is suspected to be low grade glioma but they are unsure what exactly it is but does have a T2 flair and is inoperable. We moved to be near the Mayo Clinic and they have been amazing. They are very concerned with her vision as the papiladema has not been able to be controlled and are discussing either putting in a pressure monitor fora few weeks or putting in a shunt. They think this is due to IIH and not the tumor as the location shouldn’t cause these issues. She is taking everything like a champ, and is being so brave. She doesn’t want to be the “cancer kid” and as such has decided not to tell anyone at school besides the facility and her best friend only knows she has some medical things. She has had an increase with bullying this year which impacted her mental health. She is currently enrolled in a php program and comes home nightly. She will be in this program for 6+ weeks then slowly transition back to school full time.
William: 12, son Birthday: December 28th Loves: TMNT, Jurassic park/world, dinosaurs, action figures, batman, avengers (His favorites in order: Hulk, Spiderman, Captain America, Thanos), power rangers (especially the original and the dino ones). He really loves animals, especially zoo type, and cows. Parasaurolophus, pachycephhlosaurus, & Ankylosaurus are his absolute favorite Dinos. William wears a mens M or boys 18-20. He loves animal, & dinosaur shirts. But the more realistic graphic tees versus the cartoon. (remember those tye dye style shirts with the realistic animals on them from way back when, he will wear them until the image has almost disappeared. but they can be hard to find at a good price) also loves avengers, power rangers, TMNT and jurassic park style shirts. Peanut m & ms and reeses cups are his favorite candy (but not the miniature Reeses they must be a full size cup lol). He really loves the 12” and 6” action figures, especially the vehicles for the 6”. Has started to get into Star Wars and asks for the Mandorlian or Star Wars ships when he sees them. No stuffed animals please as he has been tearing the cotton out of them lately. Started loving TMNT lately and wants anything he sees lol
Health: William is nonverbal, and has low functioning autism along with Lyme disease. Mentally he is 4-5 years old and does not understand safety to himself or others. He has been through many surgeries and just graduated from being a tubie (gtube dependent) after 9 years. He is our miracle preemie, who has defied doctors expectations every step of the way. He is thriving at his new school and has recently started using his AAC with Lamp to talk more. He just had stomach surgery and will be having right hip surgery resulting in a spica cast for 9-12 weeks prior to christmas. He is still diapered and 140 lbs 5ft 2” so having a belly button to thigh cast is going to be difficult for everyone. But trying to get everything in place to make the best of it.
Ralph is an orange tabby rescue is 4 and loves to lay around, his favorite toys are anything stuffed with catnip. He is very much a lap cat and loves beds to lay on. Yeoww is his favorite cat toy brand.
Pancake was gotten by my bil but did not get along with his pit bull. So we originally were going to help find him a home. But everyone fell in love and so we have kept him. He is a mix but not sure what hes mixed with. He loves to be held and follows Tony anywhere he goes. He loves all treats and snacks. Hes teething so the harder treats are the most useful. Anything for him would be appreciated. small toys with squeakers or natural chews are his favorite. LOVES YAK CHEESE. Not a fan of biscuits.
I love to support homemade or small business items; and while I mention everyone in my family please do not feel like I am asking you to gift us all, I am just putting everything in one place to pick and choose from for the different exchanges.
I always have some sort of wax warmer going; and love an assortment of scents. Bakery/sweet are my go too & absolute favorites. But typically buy assortments/mystery boxes and enjoy all scents depending on my mood. I typically buy walmart brand or wax de-stashes on Etsy. I love trying new brands. Ava's country cupboard is my favorite but do not like anything with her strawberry (its too artificial smelling). Her breads, tea blends and sweet bakery are my favorites of hers. Pink sugar anything in any brand is always a hit. :)
Questions? Just Ask :) Sorry for the novel but figured since it goes for all exchanges, more is better than less; or at least that is what I figured. Email: AnitaV1988@outlook.com and I can print if you send something digital. (hp ink monthly is the best if your in the market. $5 a month and can print 100 pages (even full color and they send new ink when needed)
Wishlists below can give you some ideas. Under $20 wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1XH7HYP69XYZI? Over $20 Wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2H3XW1BCUBAT9? Etsy wishlist: https://www.etsy.com/people/obu1kli0/favorites/anita-s-wishlist?ref=cl_share_button
