Hey all!

I wanted to say that my Secret Santa, who did not identify themself, really went the extra mile this year. The gifts they sent me were so well thought out I'm somewhat at a loss for words. So I figured I'll just walk you through my experience with the Secret Santa Exchange.

For my likes and dislikes I mentioned that I was into physics, had just completed grad school, would be starting a new job at CERN next year, was into Warhammer Fantasy, that I've been working on my Warhammer Vampire Counts army for many years, and that I was into darker sci-fi and fantasy novels. Also, I mentioned that I would be travelling for the holidays and wouldn't be home for a large portion of December and January. It was probably information overload in retrospect. However, this was the first Reddit exchange I ever participated in so I didn't really know what to write.

My Secret Santa contacted me shortly after matches were available to find out some more information about my likes and dislikes. I really felt they went above and beyond what was required/expected. They also wanted to make sure my gift would arrive before I left for the holidays; which I felt was very thoughtful of them. They really worked hard to send this gift to me on a short time-table. And I think they deserve some recognition for all the time they put into this! Anyway...on with the story.

So today their gift arrived. They had printed out this nice custom mailing label with the Reddit alien dressed as Santa Claus and the Reddit alien peaking out of a box with an up-vote arrow on it. I thought this was cool and showed they put a lot of time into preparing my gift (see first photo for custom mailing label).

I opened the box to see several items, my first view of the box contents was pretty cool (second photo). The first thing I noticed was the awesome hat with an atom on the front! This is soooo cool, I've been geeking out all night wearing this hat (it's like 80 or 90F out too...). I would later learn that one of their family members made the hat specifically for me, by hand, in a letter they placed for me to read at the bottom of the box.

As I was taking the hat out of the box, I noticed they had placed two items inside of the hat. The first was an old plastic pill bottle filled with Gallium (third photo), a metal that melts at 85F. The second was a Vampire Counts Cairn Wraith which I can use as a Hero character for my Warhammer Fantasy Vampire Counts army (fourth photo). These two gifts I felt were really cool.

I feel that the Gallium in the bottle really shows that my Secret Santa went out of their way to "know me," some may think it's geeky/nerdy, but I think it's really awesome! I think the Cairn Wraith shows they really wanted to get something that they know I would love; and they definitely succeeded. With this gift my Santa has allowed me to inspire terror in the hearts of my opponent's units during Warhammer games with their gift of a Cairn Wraith!!!

Underneath the hat was a gigantic bag of Warheads Sour Candies (I love these!) along with a copy of Veronica Roth's Divergent novel (fifth photo). My Secret Santa mentioned that they felt Divergent was a darker version of the Hunger Games; so it sounds like this novel is right up my alley. I can't wait to start reading this book. I plan on taking it with me while I am travelling for the holidays. This is way cool.

Underneath the candy and the novel was a nice letter that my Santa had written for me. In this letter my Santa talked about how they hoped I would like the gifts they sent me (hint: I love them, they are awesome) and wished me luck in starting my new job at CERN next year. The letter is shown in the sixth photo along with a compilation of all the gifts they sent me.

I'd really like to thank my Secret Santa. I feel they went above and beyond the call of duty, and really went the extra mile to make my first Reddit Secret Santa Exchange a fantastic one. I want to do a special shot out to their family member who hand made the hat for me (along with my Santa for mentioning it, and including the hat).

This was really awesome. Whoever you are, you're amazing.

TL;DR My Secret Santa put in a lot of time this year, gave me some amazing gifts, and left me speechless. Thanks so much whoever you are. I wish that you have someone just as wonderful for your Secret Santa.