Recently I've had the honor of sharing some of my time with a very special person. This person comes over, plays with my children, plays Spades, eats Double Stuff Oreos with me, and teaches an old(er) dog new tricks. I love having fun with her...quoting "French Kiss" and various other Meg Ryan movies. We often even play "Guess the Movie Quote" over Google Chat while she is at work (Shhhhh! Don't tell her boss!). Our latest adventure? Teaching Heather how to crochet! I think I come by it rather naturally (my mom did used to have her own craft business and the fine art of the one-needle was one of her specialties). I was told that I caught on rather quickly...which of course made me beam (but probably because I have to be good at everything I do or I won't do it...just ask Julie North about my attempt at Pilates!).
So, to you, my new and dear friend Lauren, I say thanks! Thanks for being my movie-quoting, Oreo-eating, crafting, sarcasm-spouting, Olive Garden-appreciating, (occasional) baby-sitting, Judy Garland-loving (ha!) kindred spirit! My life has been enriched!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
I stole this from (hey...why is this in bold? I undid the bold!) the Living Proof Ministries blog...Beth Moore and her two daughters, Amanda and Melissa, gave their answers. I love reading their blog...it makes me feel like they are friends of mine. Anyway, here are my answers:
1. Fresh Tree/Fake Tree? Fresh! Unfortunately, we gave up the fresh smell for the fake convenience 2 years ago. :( Maybe I'll get a wreath, just so I can have the smell in my house...
2. Favorite Ornament- Wow...there are a ton...but it might just have to be the one that Johnny and I got when we first got married. It's a Hallmark one (I always have loved those), and it's two foxes sitting on a log (log, I don't have a log--oh wait...that's for a later answer!), holding hands and it has the year (2001) and it says "Our First Christmas Together". I love it!
3. Favorite Christmas Song- O Holy Night...by just about anybody. The top versions are (of course) Mariah Carey, Point of Grace, and Celine Dion. I have to be honest...The Mariah Carey "Merry Christmas" album, Point of Grace's original album (you know, before Terri left and the group went downhill...sorry...it's true) and Amy Grant's "Home for Christmas" play on continuous rotation starting at 4 am on Black Friday (because I refuse to listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving).
4. Favorite Tradition- There are so many! Every year on Christmas Eve (after the Christmas Eve service), we always have spaghetti and meatballs (we started this when I was 10 or so). Then we watch White Christmas. When that's over, we all go to separate rooms to wrap presents, watching "A Christmas Story", catching it wherever it is in the 24 Hours on TNT. When I was little, my dad and I used to have wrapping paper tube sword fights when we were done wrapping. Now they make them too flimsy. A couple years ago, we also started the tradition of watching Christmas Vacation on Thanksgiving after dinner. I believe this one started during the Hughes/Yocum/Lyle/Oliver/(What was that kid's name who was a youth intern who lived with the Olivers?) Thanksgiving of 2005.
5. Favorite Gift Ever Received- Pre-marriage? My guitar, hands down. Post-marriage? Probably my sewing machine...even though it took me 3 years to learn how to use it after I got it!
6. Favorite Christmas Meal- Well, since we were always traveling to Kansas City on Christmas night, we usually stopped at one of the Hardee's in the middle of the turnpike...I vividly remember getting Muppet character stuffed animals during several of these meals! When we actually made it to KC before dinner, we would eat shrimp and my grandma's potato rolls...and I would drink chocolate milk. I think the venue had more to do with that being a favorite. Now we don't really do up Christmas dinner...but this year, we may have turkey again, since we get a free one from Johnny's work every year. We'll have to see how tired my mom and I are that day.
7. Favorite Christmas Cookie- My Aunt Linda's sugar cookies! MMMMMMMMM!!!!
8. Favorite Place to be- At home, with my mom, Johnny and the young'uns. We decided awhile back that Christmas Eve and Christmas morning would always be at our house and we'd do the grandparent thing Christmas night or whenever there was enough room in the inn, so to speak.
9. Favorite Memory- I really can't even narrow it down. I LOVED getting up Christmas morning, trying not to see what was under the tree yet or in my stocking yet as I made my way down to wake up my parents so we could start everything. This was tough, considering we had a split level and I slept on the top floor and my parents were on the bottom! That's a lot of visual temptation! Then we'd go upstairs, Mom would make some coffee, and I'd go to town! The tree was always first. Whatever was unwrapped was from Santa and what was wrapped was from my parents. We usually spent a good two or three hours up there. After that we'd go downstairs to the family room and dig into our stockings. Dad always got soap-on-a-rope, Mom always got Jontue perfume, and I always got one of those fake M&M candy canes...you know...the clear tube full of fake M&M's with the red plastic hook at the top? Every year. Of course, there was also always a little Lego set in there, and lots of other cool little things, along w/ holiday Reese's, Hershey's miniatures and York patties.
More recently, one Christmas we spent in Buffalo, with Johnny's dad and his step-mom and all her kids. Memaw (Nancy, his step-mom's, mother) read the Christmas story and then Matthew, Johnny's step-brother, played the guitar and we sang Christmas carols. That was a neat time, pre-kids.
OH! I'm totally forgetting the 2nd Christmas Johnny and I were married! It SNOWED!!! It was the best ever! And I got Johnny a kitten! It was so fun...the lady who I got Alley from brought her over around 7 am Christmas morning and Johnny was still asleep. I snuck back in w/ the kitten and plopped her down on his chest. He loved it! Of course, she lives at my mom's house now, and J.J.'s allergic, so we'll never recreate that memory...but it was still a good one!
10. Favorite Christmas Movie- Being the movie buff that I am, there are too many to narrow down as my favorite. I've already mentioned a few: Christmas Vacation, White Christmas, A Christmas Story. But there's also Elf ("I like smiling...smiling's my favorite"), Home Alone, Miracle on 34th Street (the original, w/ Maureen O'Hara--the mom from the original Parent Trap--and Natalie Wood), The Best Little Christmas Pageant Ever (remember that one? With Hot Lips Houlihan from M*A*S*H* in it? And those grungy, mean kids who turn out to learn the real meaning of Christmas), any of your claymations (Rudolph, Santa Clause is Comin' to Town), Frosty the Snowman...what else? Holiday Inn, Emmit Otter's Jugband Christmas, Muppet Christmas Carol. You'll notice one that's NOT in the mix: It's A Wonderful Life. I HATE that movie! 2 hours of depression for 5 minutes of happiness does not make for fine holiday fun for me! I have to agree with Phoebe on this one: " It just kept getting worse and worse. It should have been called, 'It's a sucky life and just when you think it can't suck any more it does.' "
So there you have it...my extremely long list of Christmas memories. I have TONS more, but it's almost 2 a.m. and my little boy will be waking me up in about 5 hours...plus I'm sure Hadley will be waking me up sooner to eat! YES!
1. Fresh Tree/Fake Tree? Fresh! Unfortunately, we gave up the fresh smell for the fake convenience 2 years ago. :( Maybe I'll get a wreath, just so I can have the smell in my house...
2. Favorite Ornament- Wow...there are a ton...but it might just have to be the one that Johnny and I got when we first got married. It's a Hallmark one (I always have loved those), and it's two foxes sitting on a log (log, I don't have a log--oh wait...that's for a later answer!), holding hands and it has the year (2001) and it says "Our First Christmas Together". I love it!
3. Favorite Christmas Song- O Holy Night...by just about anybody. The top versions are (of course) Mariah Carey, Point of Grace, and Celine Dion. I have to be honest...The Mariah Carey "Merry Christmas" album, Point of Grace's original album (you know, before Terri left and the group went downhill...sorry...it's true) and Amy Grant's "Home for Christmas" play on continuous rotation starting at 4 am on Black Friday (because I refuse to listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving).
4. Favorite Tradition- There are so many! Every year on Christmas Eve (after the Christmas Eve service), we always have spaghetti and meatballs (we started this when I was 10 or so). Then we watch White Christmas. When that's over, we all go to separate rooms to wrap presents, watching "A Christmas Story", catching it wherever it is in the 24 Hours on TNT. When I was little, my dad and I used to have wrapping paper tube sword fights when we were done wrapping. Now they make them too flimsy. A couple years ago, we also started the tradition of watching Christmas Vacation on Thanksgiving after dinner. I believe this one started during the Hughes/Yocum/Lyle/Oliver/(What was that kid's name who was a youth intern who lived with the Olivers?) Thanksgiving of 2005.
5. Favorite Gift Ever Received- Pre-marriage? My guitar, hands down. Post-marriage? Probably my sewing machine...even though it took me 3 years to learn how to use it after I got it!
6. Favorite Christmas Meal- Well, since we were always traveling to Kansas City on Christmas night, we usually stopped at one of the Hardee's in the middle of the turnpike...I vividly remember getting Muppet character stuffed animals during several of these meals! When we actually made it to KC before dinner, we would eat shrimp and my grandma's potato rolls...and I would drink chocolate milk. I think the venue had more to do with that being a favorite. Now we don't really do up Christmas dinner...but this year, we may have turkey again, since we get a free one from Johnny's work every year. We'll have to see how tired my mom and I are that day.
7. Favorite Christmas Cookie- My Aunt Linda's sugar cookies! MMMMMMMMM!!!!
8. Favorite Place to be- At home, with my mom, Johnny and the young'uns. We decided awhile back that Christmas Eve and Christmas morning would always be at our house and we'd do the grandparent thing Christmas night or whenever there was enough room in the inn, so to speak.
9. Favorite Memory- I really can't even narrow it down. I LOVED getting up Christmas morning, trying not to see what was under the tree yet or in my stocking yet as I made my way down to wake up my parents so we could start everything. This was tough, considering we had a split level and I slept on the top floor and my parents were on the bottom! That's a lot of visual temptation! Then we'd go upstairs, Mom would make some coffee, and I'd go to town! The tree was always first. Whatever was unwrapped was from Santa and what was wrapped was from my parents. We usually spent a good two or three hours up there. After that we'd go downstairs to the family room and dig into our stockings. Dad always got soap-on-a-rope, Mom always got Jontue perfume, and I always got one of those fake M&M candy canes...you know...the clear tube full of fake M&M's with the red plastic hook at the top? Every year. Of course, there was also always a little Lego set in there, and lots of other cool little things, along w/ holiday Reese's, Hershey's miniatures and York patties.
More recently, one Christmas we spent in Buffalo, with Johnny's dad and his step-mom and all her kids. Memaw (Nancy, his step-mom's, mother) read the Christmas story and then Matthew, Johnny's step-brother, played the guitar and we sang Christmas carols. That was a neat time, pre-kids.
OH! I'm totally forgetting the 2nd Christmas Johnny and I were married! It SNOWED!!! It was the best ever! And I got Johnny a kitten! It was so fun...the lady who I got Alley from brought her over around 7 am Christmas morning and Johnny was still asleep. I snuck back in w/ the kitten and plopped her down on his chest. He loved it! Of course, she lives at my mom's house now, and J.J.'s allergic, so we'll never recreate that memory...but it was still a good one!
10. Favorite Christmas Movie- Being the movie buff that I am, there are too many to narrow down as my favorite. I've already mentioned a few: Christmas Vacation, White Christmas, A Christmas Story. But there's also Elf ("I like smiling...smiling's my favorite"), Home Alone, Miracle on 34th Street (the original, w/ Maureen O'Hara--the mom from the original Parent Trap--and Natalie Wood), The Best Little Christmas Pageant Ever (remember that one? With Hot Lips Houlihan from M*A*S*H* in it? And those grungy, mean kids who turn out to learn the real meaning of Christmas), any of your claymations (Rudolph, Santa Clause is Comin' to Town), Frosty the Snowman...what else? Holiday Inn, Emmit Otter's Jugband Christmas, Muppet Christmas Carol. You'll notice one that's NOT in the mix: It's A Wonderful Life. I HATE that movie! 2 hours of depression for 5 minutes of happiness does not make for fine holiday fun for me! I have to agree with Phoebe on this one: " It just kept getting worse and worse. It should have been called, 'It's a sucky life and just when you think it can't suck any more it does.' "
So there you have it...my extremely long list of Christmas memories. I have TONS more, but it's almost 2 a.m. and my little boy will be waking me up in about 5 hours...plus I'm sure Hadley will be waking me up sooner to eat! YES!
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