holiday traditions meme

i borrowed this idea from postcards from insanity. the christmas season is my favorite time of year. i hope everyone will join in the meme fun!

1. wrapping paper or gift bags? i definitely prefer to wrap presents. but gift bags are so handy. i wrap most gifts, but the odd shaped ones go in gift bags.

2. real tree or artificial? we have an artificial tree. one year i just had to have a real tree. it was absolutely gorgeous! but as i watched my beautiful tree die i was heartbroken. seriously. so i vowed to stick with artificial after that.

3. when do you put up the tree? usually the tree goes up the weekend after thankgiving. we're running a little bit late this year. but hopefully the tree will be trimmed tonight.

4. when do you take the tree down? pretty quickly after christmas. i love having the house decorated for christmas. but by the time the festivities are over, i'm ready to get things back to normal.

5. do you like eggnog? i don't think i do. i'm sure i have tried it in the past, but i am not a milk drinker and eggnog definitely reminds me of milk.

6. favorite gift received as a child? my cabbage patch preemie, lynnea elberta! i still have her packed away somewhere.

7. hardest person to buy for? my dad. i try to find fun gadgets for him, but it's definitely a challenge every year.

8. easiest person to buy for? the girls. i could shop and shop for them.

9. do you have a nativity scene? yes, it's a beautiful porcelain with gold trim set.

10. mail or email cards? i didn't know people emailed christmas cards! i love to send them, but even better i love to receive them. i also love to get family newsletters. but i've never done one.

11. worst christmas gift you ever received? i don't think the person who gave me my worst gift reads my blog, but just in case i better not mention it. i hate to hurt people's feelings.

12. favorite christmas movie? the original miracle on 34th street and a christmas story. i have never seen it's a wonderful life and every year i swear i will watch it, i even have it. so this year-i will watch it, i promise!

13. when do you start shopping for christmas? probably mid-november. this year i've done all of my shopping online which has been nice and easy.

14. have you ever recycled a christmas present? i can't remember a specific time that i've done this, but i probably have.

15. favorite thing to eat at christmas? i love all of the yummy cookies and treats!

16. lights on a tree? white lights. and i don't mind if they twinkle as long as they all twinkle in an orderly fashion. what i mean is, i like when they all twinkle as opposed to one strand twinkling, then the next.

17. favorite christmas song? i could never pick just one-i love them all! the traditional ones sang by bing crosby and frank sinatra and the newer ones by mariah carey and the trans-siberian orchestra.

18. can you name all of santa's reindeer? of course!

19. angel or star on the tree top? angel. though my current theme for our tree is sweet treats and our top is sort of a sugar plum angel.

20. open the presents christmas eve or morning? we have a family gift exchange on christmas eve with my grandparents and a friend of the family. and we always open our traditional christmas jammies on christmas eve. on christmas morning we open our gifts from each other, my parents and santa. santa delivers our gifts to my parents house because they have a chimney. so we have a sleepover with them.

21. most annoying thing about this time of year? i love it all! even the years that i do christmas shopping at the stores, i don't mind the crowds. it's all part of the excitement!

22. favorite ornament theme or color? like i mentioned we have a sweet treats theme on our tree, peppermint colors and gingerbread characters. i love it, very whimsical.

23. favorite for christmas dinner? my favorite meal is our christmas eve tradition of appetizers. my dad makes his famed "loaded nachos", they are so good!

24. what do you want for christmas this year? i have a very hard time making a list for myself. i'm so focused on getting the perfect gifts for everyone else. one thing i did come up with this year is my very own nintendo ds.

ok, so you know all about how we spend our christmas! i'll include a picture of my only real tree, so you can see how beautiful it was.

i'm not tagging anyone for this one, if you want to participate drop me a line in the comments so I can go check out your family traditions!