What is your favorite Christmas movie?
I LOVE THEM ALL! If I absolutely had to pick, like, if you were threatening to steal my jar of peanut butter or something, I'd probably go with Home Alone. And Home Alone 2, which is not cheating because it's basically an extension of the same movie. I could watch Kevin drop bricks on two guys who seem to have some kind of supernatural immorality (more on that here) over and over again. Never gets old.
Do you open your presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
It's Christmas morning. When we were younger, the kids of the family were each allowed to open one present on Christmas Eve, and I, as the oldest, wisest child, usually saved my present for the next day and then relished the fact that I had one more present to tear into than my brother and sister did. Anything to get ahead, man.
Do you have a favorite Christmas memory?
Believe it or not, flying out of town on Christmas day was actually pretty cool. The airport was so chill, because who wants to fly on Christmas Eve? and our pilot called himself our sleigh driver and I thought that was hilarious. Also, all of the lights looked so pretty from way up there. Then there was the Christmas that our neighbors got a Wii and we the entire time we had off of school playing tennis, bowling, and recovering from our various video game-induced injuries. Never have I been so thankful for someone else's present.
What's your favorite festive food?
Probably anything with sugar. That's a cop out, sorry. And I lied, because my favorite is definitely shrimp cocktail on Christmas Eve. We have a tradition of coming home from church on Christmas Eve and throwing ourselves a little party with chips and dip, Christmas cookies, shrimp cocktail, sparkling white grape juice, and a Christmas movie. The shrimp cocktail and bubbly, non-alcoholic wine make it classy and delicious.
 |
| Ok, and Christmas cookies, especially pretty ones like these, which taste like mint and chocolate. |
Favorite Christmas gift?
I can't say I've ever met a present I didn't like, but I think the most excited I've been about one recently is when I got a giant box of 120 crayons for Christmas. That was when I was 14, and I definitely spent the rest of Christmas break coloring and organizing them by color and making sure their points were always perfectly sharp. I've always loved crayons.
Favorite Christmas scent?
The smell of our live Christmas tree is so good! My parents are both allergic to it, but the smell is enough to keep them good naturedly popping allergy pills from Thanksgiving to New Years. Also, anything that comes in a red cup at Starbucks makes my nose happy.
 |
| My mom and I can be found |
Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions?
Oops, looks like I accidentally overachieved and already talked about some of those up there ^^^^, but wait, there's more! We also still put out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, along with a note. The youngest, my sister, is 12, but I guess we're not willing to let it go just yet. Personally, I'm pretty sure my parents encourage it because it means that they "have" to eat more cookies. I'm on to you, Mom and Dad.
Besides that, we've started a Christmas Eve tradition of taking Christmas presents to moms and nurses at the Beaumont Hospital, which is in the Detroit area. About 9 years ago, my brother, Jonah, spent about three weeks at Beaumont with something that's yet to be diagnosed by doctors. All we know is that it caused him to temporarily lose the ability to talk, eat, and move on his own, and that Beaumont took really good care of us while we were going through that time. For that reason, my mom has started using her cosmetics business to give something back to the people who were so good to my brother and the moms who are in the place where she once stood. (If you'd like more information or to donate, shoot me an email at alikat397@gmail.com and I can hook you up!) We always deliver the presents on Christmas Eve and visit with Jonah's nurses and therapists before heading downstairs for more drinks from red cups. What else?
Besides that, we've started a Christmas Eve tradition of taking Christmas presents to moms and nurses at the Beaumont Hospital, which is in the Detroit area. About 9 years ago, my brother, Jonah, spent about three weeks at Beaumont with something that's yet to be diagnosed by doctors. All we know is that it caused him to temporarily lose the ability to talk, eat, and move on his own, and that Beaumont took really good care of us while we were going through that time. For that reason, my mom has started using her cosmetics business to give something back to the people who were so good to my brother and the moms who are in the place where she once stood. (If you'd like more information or to donate, shoot me an email at alikat397@gmail.com and I can hook you up!) We always deliver the presents on Christmas Eve and visit with Jonah's nurses and therapists before heading downstairs for more drinks from red cups. What else?
 |
| We also take pictures with Beaumont's convincing fake trees in their convincing fake garden. |
 |
| Jonah's favorite part of the garden is the abundance of pillows. He's doing a lot better now, by the way - he talks like some people breathe and eats with all the enthusiasm of a teenage boy. |
What tops your tree?
An angel, of the crocheted variety I believe. We stuff it with a bunch of Christmas lights and it looks really, really cool.
As a kid, what was the one crazy, extravagant gift that you always asked for but never received?
Since I'm intensely afraid of failure and let-downs, I generally try to avoid asking for things that I know I won't get. I mean, I might wish for them in my head, but I never actually vocalize it - I guess that keeps it from sounding too real. For instance, there was the time when I asked for gift cards toward getting an iPod for Christmas and secretly hoped that someone would just buy me an iPod, which they didn't. They chose instead to get me the gift of learning how to save money, which is obviously waaayyyy more fun than the iPod I was able to buy five months later.
Since I'm intensely afraid of failure and let-downs, I generally try to avoid asking for things that I know I won't get. I mean, I might wish for them in my head, but I never actually vocalize it - I guess that keeps it from sounding too real. For instance, there was the time when I asked for gift cards toward getting an iPod for Christmas and secretly hoped that someone would just buy me an iPod, which they didn't. They chose instead to get me the gift of learning how to save money, which is obviously waaayyyy more fun than the iPod I was able to buy five months later.
What's the best part about Christmas for you?
Oooohh, oh. That's a toughie. (Is toughie a weird thing to say? I'm not even sure if I use it in everyday speech, but it looks even weirder in computer-print. Let's just go with it.) I love anything that makes life exciting and less ordinary than usual, so I totally embrace the novelty of the whole season. That means listening to all the Christmas music, painstakingly wrapping presents, doing as many Christmas - themed activities as humanly possible . . . if it's festive, I'm totally into it. If there's an option between a regular bag and a red, snowflakey bag at the store, you can guess what I'm choosing.
The biggest thing about Christmas for me is that it's the time when I celebrate Jesus being born - that's the original intent of Christmas, even thought that's not usually the main focus any more. I really like Jesus, and he's kind of a big part of my life, so celebrating his birthday is pretty meaningful, too!
What do you love about Christmas? Any favorite traditions?
Allie
P.S. I'm tagging Itunu, Katelyn, and Katie to answer these questions in their own Christmas post! The more Christmas in the blog world, the merrier, right?
Oooohh, oh. That's a toughie. (Is toughie a weird thing to say? I'm not even sure if I use it in everyday speech, but it looks even weirder in computer-print. Let's just go with it.) I love anything that makes life exciting and less ordinary than usual, so I totally embrace the novelty of the whole season. That means listening to all the Christmas music, painstakingly wrapping presents, doing as many Christmas - themed activities as humanly possible . . . if it's festive, I'm totally into it. If there's an option between a regular bag and a red, snowflakey bag at the store, you can guess what I'm choosing.
 |
| Festive Christmas activities include driving through the light display an a major road near us every year - one year, I even ran through it! |
The biggest thing about Christmas for me is that it's the time when I celebrate Jesus being born - that's the original intent of Christmas, even thought that's not usually the main focus any more. I really like Jesus, and he's kind of a big part of my life, so celebrating his birthday is pretty meaningful, too!
What do you love about Christmas? Any favorite traditions?
Allie
P.S. I'm tagging Itunu, Katelyn, and Katie to answer these questions in their own Christmas post! The more Christmas in the blog world, the merrier, right?
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love hearing from you - it's my favorite part of blogging - and I'll respond to every single comment!