Okay... deep breaths... where do I start?! Brace yourselves; this might get long.

I wasn't even sure what to truly expect from this redditgifts theme because it was pretty much whatever you wanted it to be, right? Well, everyone, I have to say I was NEVER expecting to receive one of the most thoughtful gifts I've EVER received. My Santa surely knew they were making something special, but maybe didn't realize how much it would mean to me.

Upon returning home from work, I spotted the box on the counter and knew this was the gift from my 300th Exchange Extravaganza Santa. I was SOOOOO excited to see what it could be because they had communicated it was taking them longer to ship for they needed to complete my gift. Complete? That already had me intrigued. I noticed it was quite heavy for the size of the box. WHAT COULD IT BE?! I turned the box upside-down to access the only visible seam and sliced that open. This ended up being a perfect way to discover all that's inside.

The note grabbed my attention first and I read it through before continuing on this journey. My Santa stated they made my gift by 3D modeling and laser cutting. That REALLY had my curiosities peaked and I thought, "what in the hell have they made?!" I knew from the note they carried out the 300 theme with pennies. Love it! Out I pulled a plastic baggie filled with pennies. Not just your standard penny, folks. These babies were PRESSED. WITH A "MY LUCKY PENNY" SAYING. WOT. Oh, and I pulled out three bags of them in total. 100 pennies in each, I assume. YOU MEAN TO TELL ME, SANTA, THAT YOU PRESSED ALL OF THESE PENNIES FOR ME?! I'm already done. In the note, they mentioned I could keep all the pennies and be the luckiest person ever or share the luck with others.

First of all, lucky pennies are symbolic of my brother for me; he passed away a little over seven years ago when I was nineteen. He was one of my best friends and I'll always remember him finding and picking up the lucky-side-up pennies wherever we went and since his passing my mom and I continue the tradition in his honor. You couldn't have possibly known that detail about me, but I'll forever cherish this collision of exchange fate. ;) Secondly, one of my favorite things is passing on little moments to make others smile or participating in random/intentional acts of kindness. It could be sending a card to a stranger, leaving notes and a few dollars in books at the library, spare change at the laundromat, helping out a loved one, etc. and you best believe these lucky pennies will be making their way as far as I can reach! I'll be sure to add them in the cards I send out in r/randomactsofcards and I'll drop a few in spots about town. This is such a great gift in itself and for that I thank you SO, SO much.

Did you think I was finished? WRONG. Moving on from the 300 lucky pennies... Next I pulled out a bubble wrapped mystery and as I'm unveiling what's inside I hear something fall. I set down the mystery item and pick up the straggler that was so eager to be free from the box. Another penny. Okay, let me just place that back in the ba.. oh.. wait. It's a different penny. This time it's one with a unicorn pressed onto it. SCORE! This was such a cute gesture and made me smile even wider. I return to the mystery bubble-wrapped item and see it's a box. The lid was open from me gracefully unwrapping (which I'm sure is how the penny fell out) and I see the image of this themed exchange inside. This is what my Santa was talking about in the note!! How cool is that?! I turned it around and saw a note on the bottom of the box with our usernames and a message. How sweet?! I flipped the box over to its top and... wait. No. OH. MY. GOD. It's a fucking Pomeranian and it reads, "Hannah's Treasures." This is where I lost my shit. The lucky pennies already got me and here's an image of a Pom that looks just like my sweet baby. I was so worked up I started crying in Spanish.

You guys... my dog is everything to me. He was so graciously gifted to me by a family I was a nanny for a little while back. He actually started off as their dog, but he became SO attached to me. They're dear friends of mine and Sheldon is still a big part of their lives even though I don't work with them as much (their mom is a SAHM now). I wouldn't have it any other way! I never knew having a dog would impact my life so greatly. Anxiety has always been something I've dealt with and especially so since my brother's passing and a couple other personal events. I'm happy to say that since having Sheldon in my life panic attacks are few and far between. This pupper has helped me in more ways than I could've ever imagined. He's my little pal and the greatest thing that happened to me in 2016. My treasure.

Santa, you completely blew me away with this gift. I think it also made me realize what a softie I've become, haha! I'm not really the crying type, but you totally got me with this... or did you sneak an onion in the box???? Thank you endlessly for bringing a smile to my face, tears to my eyes, and reassuring me there is still good in the world. I couldn't have had a better match. <3