A Holly Jolly Christmas

Melissa tagged me on this one, and it was so much fun!!

I just love Christmas!! We're going up to the mountains to choose and cut our tree today with some friends and I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!! We're also going to have lunch at the Dan'l Boone Inn which is doubly exciting. They have some of the best country cookin around! They catered our wedding rehearsal, and I haven't eaten there since, so my tummy is ready for some fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and fried apples!

But, on to more informative things. :)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I LOVE to wrap and try to do most gifts that way, but I usually use gifts bags for gift cards, etc.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real. I love real trees. One of my best childhood memories is our tree. We were really poor growing up and couldn't afford to buy a tree, so daddy always went out in the woods and cut down a scrawny little cedar tree and we had the big bulb lights, which really weighed it down. I remember thinking, "I can't wait to have one of those pretty trees." But now that I get those "pretty trees," I'd just love to have my little old cedar back!


3. When do you put up the tree? The Saturday following Thanksgiving.


4. When do you take the tree down? Usually the 26th or 27th of Dec. Since it's real and I put it up at Thanksgiving, it's pretty well dried out by then. Wouldn't want to burn the house down!


5. Do you like eggnog? Used to, but now, not so much.


6. Favorite gift received as a child? A green plastic ride-on pedal tractor. Mama & Daddy still have it and my kids love it too!!



7. Hardest person to buy for? My Daddy. He never wants a thing, except this year he wants a Harley (ha!) and we might get him a helmet and have "Paw" airbrushed on it! I'm not thrilled about him riding a bike, but since he NEVER wants anything, it would be a special treat for him to get something for himself. :)

8. Easiest person to buy for? My friend Heather. We pretty much have the same taste in everything (I guess that comes from spending the first 18 years of your life joined at the hip....love you Heath!).

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, several different kinds. My favorite is one I got in Mexico, and it's inside a clay pot and everything's 'rough-hewn' out of clay. It just looks so humble.


10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail


11. WORST CHRISTMAS GIFT U EVER RECEIVED? Hmmm, are there bad Christmas gifts? :)


12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Elf (I love Will Ferrell) with The Polar Express coming in a close second.


13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually after Thanksgiving.

14 . Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Hmmmm, I don't think that I have.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? My Nanny's fried apple pies (she only fixes them at Christmas and they're absolutely, hands down, the best I've ever had).

16. Lights on the tree? I personally like clear lights, but the kids love color (and blinking) so that's what we've had for the last three years. We ARE the National Lampoons!

17. Favorite Christmas song? Beautiful Star of Bethlehem


18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Travel. ugh. We spend lots of time in the van at Christmas!


19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer'? Yes, but I have to sing the song.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? People fighting over parking spaces at the mall (saw it happen yesterday).

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? We don't really have a theme....we have lots of Hallmark ornaments that people have given the kiddos and some ornaments they've made, so our tree is just a hodge-podge of ornaments. :)


25. What do you want for Christmas this year? For those who might be out of work to still be able to have Christmas....there are so many people out of work this year who may not be able to afford a special Christmas dinner or gifts for their kids and it just breaks my heart. We have much more than we deserve at our house, so we're really cutting back this year.

Thanks so much for the tag Melissa...loved it! Now I tag whoever would play to play along in this fun little game......and I'm off to pick out a Christmas tree!