1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate. I think if egg nog wasn't so fattening I would enjoy it more, but it's so rich that I can't drink much without feeling sick.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa hasn't worked in our home long enough to decide. So far, the big gifts don't get wrapped.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White all the way.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope.
5. When do you put your decorations up? After Thanksgiving - we usually put the tree up right after Thanksgiving so we get the most mileage possible out of the tree and effort behind putting it up :)
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| Tim and Elle sort ornaments. |
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Seeing my uncle dress up as Santa and visit us. He would bring us oranges, too. I also remember one of us pulling the tree down (I think it was my brother) and while that was memorable, it wasn't exactly good.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I actually don't remember. I know I was probably around 8ish?, but I don't remember it being a huge deal. I remember my brother finding out, because he discovered that the Easter Bunny wasn't real and kept adding it up, like "I always wondered how he could get across the oceans all in one day."
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Nope. We had to wait. We got stockings in the morning but had to wait until after church and after my grandparents and uncle(s) arrived to open our gifts. It was maddening. Tim and I usually open our gifts to each other on Christmas Eve around midnight - his birthday is Christmas Eve, so after he opens birthday presents we open Christmas presents :) We try to open the rest in the morning.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? We've had a pre-lit tree for the last three years. It has white lights, and we each put on "our" ornaments (childhood ornaments, Tim puts up his IU basketball/Reds/Bengals stuff, I put up my Steelers/Sidney Crosby stuff/ones my grandpa made, etc.). Tim started a tradition of getting me an ornament for each year the year we got engaged, so I usually try to put those up myself (Tim put some up this year because I was trying to distract Elle). Then we split the "us" ornaments - whether they be super sentimental or just decorative, we go through them and talk about who gave us the ornaments from our first year of marriage, which ornaments are from Elle's first Christmas, etc. This year we left the bottom of the tree pretty bare because of Elle. That basically just means we didn't use the super cheap shiny ball ornaments that we usually sprinkle throughout, so it was no big loss :) We top the tree with a country-ish star that might have to be retired after falling a few times this year (did I mention one of my cats has been climbing halfway up the tree?). We have a pretty red velvet skirt under the tree, too (basically it's just a blanket for the cats' naps, apparently).11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I like it when I don't have to drive or fly. If I'm just going to be home for a lazy weekend, I love to watch it fall outside while I curl up under a blanket. I also say this as a person who has never had to bundle up a small child to take out in the stuff :) I've lived in Florida for five years, so I've seen snow only once or twice in that time, and I don't miss it that much.
12. Can you ice skate? I wouldn't qualify what I do as ice skating. I've only gone a handful of times in high school and college, and I don't know if I ever let go of the side rail.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I have a really bad memory ... I know I've gotten a lot of awesome gifts, but nothing stands out as "favorite Christmas gift ever."
14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Family and traditions. It's hard being away from our families, but we've tried to incorporate some of our family traditions in to the holidays and make our own new traditions. It's interesting being married to someone who celebrates his birthday the day before Christmas (and his parents' anniversary is actually Christmas day, too!). We always make sure to call/iChat with our families.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Hi. Pumpkin pie.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? I love putting the tree up right after Thanksgiving. Tim and I make hot chocolate and open our gifts to each other together, which is really nice since things can get crazy on the actual holiday. We've also gone to the beach on several Christmases, which has been fun. And I like playing "Santa" for Elle - I'm excited that this year and the coming years she'll have a better grasp of the holiday, and I'm looking forward to sharing the "reason for the season" with her and seeing the anticipating and joy for her, too. This will be the first year Tim and I have a mutual church to go to, and I am extremely happy about that.
17. What tops your tree? A star.
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Give.
19. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? I like them, but I don't like to have them very often.
20. Favorite Christmas show? Movie? Not big on either. Maybe I just need to find the right one - suggestions?
21. Saddest Christmas Song? This might be ridiculous, and I like the song, but "Have yourself a merry little Christmas" makes me sad. I think it's because I haven't gotten to celebrate Christmas with my family in so long, and it makes me remember all of our family gatherings - gatherings that included many family members who are no longer with us.
22. What is your favorite Christmas song? I like to belt out a solid "Jingle Bell Rock" and have always loved "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." I also like cheesy pop Christmas music. (Sue me.) Really, I like almost all Christmas music. I've already started singing songs to Elle in the car. (I think she hates it, but that hasn't stopped me yet.)
