CHRISTMAS QUESTIONS:

Another wonderful questionaire thanks to my friend Meredith- http://elliekateandpeyton.blogspot.com/ Definitely check out her blog! She has the sweetest family and her blog is always inspiring!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? definitely paper! then you can have fun with ribbon.

2. Real tree or Artificial? unfortunately artificial- im SUPER allergic to real trees. Fortunately with artificial you can buy pre-lit! ;)

3. When do you put up the tree? The day after thanksgiving....it would be August if it were up to me. haha!

4. When do you take the tree down? well, one year it was March...last year it was Feb...this year i'll shoot for January-ish ;)

5. Do you like eggnog? LOVE LOVE LOVE eggnog! With whipped cream and nutmeg....sweet goodness.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My barbie motorhome! I'll never forget waking up and coming in to see my dad, looking like he had NO SLEEP (cant imagine why;) putting all the tiny decals in the motorhome for me! Later in life was my full size keyboard for the praise and worship band!

7. Hardest person to buy for? well, it used to be my sister- but now she registers for gifts- haha! This actually is a tremendous help! Probably my dad because we get him the same thing every year- cologne and gift cards....exactly what he asks for. Every year I want to be creative and get him something special and different though!

8. Easiest person to buy for? Ryan- I write down hints all year of things he wants! I can NOT WAIT for Christmas morning. That man is going to be jumping around the house! :)

9. Do you have a nativity scene? actually no! I want one though, but haven't found one I really like. Also, our house doesnt have a ton of extra space to put a large scene, so it would need ot be smaller.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? MAIL! I love getting christmas cards so much it's kinda scary. EVERY day i can NOT wait to check the mail and see all the cards! I save them all and look through the past years' cards each christmas. This was our first year to send cards so I was VERY enthusiastic about the whole process.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? oh dear. a vest with teddy bears all over it. Not long ago. ha!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? White Christmas by far!!! I LOVE that movie so much. My sister and I can perform the entire song "Sisters"- choreography and all.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually after Thanksgiving. This year I started MONTHS ago and was done BY thanksgiving- determined to not stress this year!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? oh yes. haha. but normally within our family to where it's a running joke of "who will get it this year" type thing.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? My Grandma's butter almond toffee bars, her cheese grits, or mom's soup on Christmas day.

16. Lights on the tree (colored or clear)? Clear on the tree. Colored on the house.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Christian- O Holy Night. Other- Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. (is that the actual title?)

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home...always home. We would love to go to Houston some year though to spend Christmas with Ryan's Brother Austin and his family.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? name, yes. spell correctly- probably not. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, aaaaaand RUDOLPH! :)

20. Angel, star or ribbon on top of tree? Finally got a tree-topper this year...a beautiful star! One of my favorite Christmas memories will always be making our tree-topper when Kelly and I were LITTLE. We made it out of cardboard, covered it in foil, and sprinkled it with glitter. I think it's still on the top of my parents tree. :)

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Used to be Christmas eve- now Christmas morning. I like doing one Christmas eve, and the rest the day of.

22. Favorite children's Christmas song? Santa Clause is comin' to town.

23. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? TRAFFIC, people forgetting what Christmas is REALLY about (im guilty), and traffic. haha

24. Favorite ornament theme or color? I have collected the Happy Holiday Barbies from my Grandma for Christmas since 1992 so I love those, but now my mom has been collecting shoe ornaments and beagle ornaments that look like our dog. Ryan thinks we have the girliest tree ever with barbies and shoes all over it! The beagles are OUR favorites tho!

25. Turkey or ham on Christmas day? neither! Mom makes vegetable or potato soup on Christmas day. Christmas Eve is usually ham though.

26. What do you want for Christmas this year? Already have it- Ryan's home this year :)

27. Does anyone in your family dress up as Santa? nope

28. Age you discovered who Santa was? not sure the exact age...sometime around 2nd grade i think. I cried a LOT! Still loved believing though...and pretending I believed. Dad would shake bells up on the roof- it was so fun! Ill never forget that! "santa" always left us a card in our stocking telling us the TRUE meaning of Christmas though- the birth of Jesus. Very neat how our parents kept the TRUTH alive, but let us have fun believing as children.

29. Eggnog, hot chocolate, or apple cider? Eggnog latte from Starbucks. ok ok just eggnog. i like eggnog. a lot.

30. Traditional colors (red and green) or other colors? traditional all the way! I do LOVE when people mix in fun one's though....such as- the Chesapeake trees! LOVE those lights. For our house though- traditional...mostly clear inside.

31. Do you have any Christmas decorations on your roof? yes, the big multi-colored bulbs. Very fun- reminds me of childhood, except we had all red. Another favorite memory- I was Dad's helper with hanging lights. I would hold them and unstring them for him....not sure if I helped at all but he made me feel like I was and I LOVED that!

32. What is your favorite holiday treat? Eggnog latte's. And Tamales from Pecos, TX...a new tradition Ryan and I are starting on Christmas night.

33. How does Santa get into your house? Chimney or magic key? ummmm not sure yet. haha. So far he uses his key to our house.

34. Do you prefer gifts or gift cards? if they know me well- gifts! If not, money! I'd rather not have gift cards unless it's to a restaurant :)

35. Favorite children's Christmas Cartoon? hmmmm this is hard....I have to go with the first one I thought of- Claymation Christmas....Rudolph!

Now YOUR turn! GO! :)