Christmas Tag

Was on my sister's blog and thought it was fun.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper & nice ribbon. I love wrapping presents. There’s nothing nicer than a prettily wrapped gift under the tree.

2. Real tree or Artificial? I LOVE real trees. They are the best. But after having a 9 month old (Finley) who got into the tree and tried to get to the water, I decided I was done with real trees & kids. The next year we got an artificial tree and honestly I LOVE our tree. I was very particular about it as it had to look just like the real trees we had in the past. We found one and it was worth every penny and looks real.

3. When do you put up your Christmas Tree? The Sunday right after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? Like February. Ok, not really, but I wish I could leave it up forever. It usually goes down in January - preferably the last day of the month.

5. Do you like eggnog? Only my mom’s eggnog; really, it’s more like a starbucks milk steamer. That thick stuff from the store makes me want to gag.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? The year I got my green-eyed, red-haired cabbage patch kid. I was the only one in my family to get one that year. It made me feel so special. I was like 6.

7. Hardest person to buy for? Ryan's dad, Peter was always the hardest person for us to buy for.

8. Easiest person to buy for? The kids. They are so happy to get anything. I’m super excited to see them open their presents. That is what Christmas is all about!

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, we have most of the Willow Tree nativity that’s been given to me piece by piece over the years. I am not really a collector of them though. Not my thing.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? The gift of nothing, aka the Christmas where I didn’t get anything on Christmas morning. I was 12 and when I woke up I didn’t get one present, just my stocking. I cried and when my mom asked what was wrong, I told her that I didn’t get any presents. Turns out that she had forgotten my bday which was a few days earlier and had given me my Christmas presents instead then and just forgot to replenish for Christmas. It was an honest mistake, but that was the worst Christmas ever.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The old ones– Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, Year without a Santa Claus, Jack Frost, etc. Not a fan of the Miracle on 34th Street. Never got into that.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Like September, sometimes earlier. If I find it on sale, I get it. The only problem is that I forget I buy stuff so come wrapping time, I find myself guilty of overspending on the kids. Oh well. You are only a kid once right?

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? You betcha!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? As a kid I loved the gumdrop tree that we did each year. You know, that plastic tree that you stick all the green, white & red gumdrops on the branches? I loved that as a kid. Stephens candy cane hot chocolate is the BEST drink after being outside, Turkey, Ham, or a new favorite (since marrying Ryan) - Rolladen (German dish of thinly sliced meat wrapped around a pickle & slice of bacon, cooked till it melts in your mouth - YUMMY!!!)

16. Lights on the tree? Yes - but not colored whites. I only allow white lights on the tree.

17. Favorite Christmas song? All of Sufjan Steven Christmas set. It has played year round in my car for the past 2 years (yeah, we are lazy and need to change our cds). But they still sound special this time a year. It’s great. But I love Christmas songs sung by the Jazz Greats. Most of my cd’s are in that vein.

18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? I always seem to forget one. But really, it's all about Rudolph right?

19. How do you countdown the days until Christmas? We have an Advent calendar that we forget about and play catch-up about every 4 days.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? We have neither on our tree and probably never will. I like it without.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We exchange presents with Ryan’s family on Christmas Eve, but Christmas morning is when we open Santa and our immediate family gifts. Its OUR day to just chill and wear our PJ’s all day long. I love it!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Being that we have snow, the annoying people who drive their SUV’s at top speed thinking they don’t have to slow down. Ticks me off.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Our tree is a hodgepodge of all the hallmark ornaments Ryan got as a kid, his mother‘s german ornaments, ornaments I bought during the college years, and ornaments we‘ve collected as a family. In a strange way, it all works really well.

24. Favorite food for Christmas dinner? Grandma Ila’s rolls.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? For Finley to be potty-trained & an elliptical trainer

26. Christmas or X-mas? Christmas

27. Have you ever been smooched under the mistletoe? Yep, once.

28. Icicles or ribbon on the tree? Ribbon - hand-tied bows in really nice fabric

29. Favorite holiday memories? My favorite memory of Christmas was the year I found my mother’s lost wedding ring. My dad was reading from the scriptures and I noticed something sparkly in the corner of the room in the carpet and stopped paying attention to him. I got yelled at, but when the reading was done I went to investigate the sparkly item and it was my mom’s ring. I remember her crying when I took it to her.

30. Real or Fake snow? even though I hate driving in snow - I love the way real snow makes Christmas seem more real. And we have LOTS of it right now J