TT18: Things I love about Christmas!

This lovely banner was created by: Yellow Roses Garden.

I am a Christmas freak. So in honor of my favorite holiday, I'm sharing thirteen things I like most about it!

1. The decorations. I put them all over my house. I haven't bought holiday sheets for my bed yet, but honestly I'm thinking about it.
2. The smells, I love the pine (mildly, I am allergic after all), cranberry, mulberry and all the baking smells.
   
3. Shopping and buying gifts for others. I love to find that perfect gift for those I love. I also buy everyone in my family a booby gift, these can be alot of fun to get as well.
4. Baking, I enjoy baking cut-out cookies. Even though I make dozens and my kids always offer to help but only end up decorating two a piece, I don't mind frosting and adding candies to them while sitting all alone for hours. I can be pretty creative after all. Do I sound  bitter?
5. Gift-wrapping the presents is fun for me as well. Especially since the kids are older and we don't have to wait until they go to bed on Christmas eve before we put them under the tree. Now if I can keep our new kitten off of them, we'll be all set.
6. Holiday songs, I love all the old favorites: Bing Crosby, Mariah, Harry Connick, Jr., etc. I have to play them everyday at home or in the car.
7. Snow, Snow, Snow! I love it when it snows during the holidays. Believe it or not it's 70 degrees here today but according to the weatherman, it's gonna start snowing tomorrow and should continue throughout next week.
8. Christmas movies are a must. We have to see them all. My one tradition is I watch "It's a Wonderful Life" on Christmas Eve. Everyone makes fun of me and they won't watch it with me. But I just know someday, they'll pick up this tradition and I'll remind them of all the years they wasted not enjoying it with me.
9. I just love the colors of Christmas, the greens, reds, golds, white and silver.  I
10. I make a killer egg nog. I got my recipe from a woman I met years ago. It's so thick and rich, it's like a milkshake.
11. There is no better time of year for the family to get all dressed up than at Christmas time. I love getting together and going to church on Christmas Eve.
12. After we open our presents on Christmas morning, we spend the entire day in our pj's and just enjoy our gifts and our time together. We have our nice dinner on Christmas eve so Christmas day's dinner is kind of laid back.
13. I love the idea that our Savior was born for us on this day. The story of the nativity is so beautiful and It's important that we remember what Christmas is all about. When my kids were younger we would have a birthday cake for Jesus. Now we read a poem or remember the True meaning of Christmas is. This is the most important tradition I plan on keeping.

   Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

   The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Comments

[KarenW]

Christmas is my favorite too and this year we get to go home to the States. I'm so excited!!!

[Jen]

I love the holidays...I am finishing up some cleaning now, as I need to get busy decorating...then, I can shop and wrap.

Happy TT!

[Barbara]

Oh!!! I love all of your list. This is my favorite time of the year. Thanks for sharing.

[Smurf]

Great list! I love smells and buying for others and a lot of the other things in your list! Happy TT!!

[prego]

There's a liquor called Ponche Crema that we have in Venezuela around the holidays. That always tastes like Christmas... and we eat these tamale-esuqe pies called hallacas. They're a pain in the neck to make, but I think I'm going to give it a shot this year.

Other than that? I just like the week and a half off of work.

p

[Jimmy Wilkins]

What I love about Christmas is being with all my friends and buying gifts for everyone. Its such a wonderful time of year even though it Texas we never get a cold Christmas, but sometimes it gets cold enough to put a fire on. Another reason I like Christmas so much is putting up the Xmas tree and the lights outside and seeing the whole street lit up at night full of color. I enjoy the smell of Cinnamon the fills the room up and how when you go to the mall all the kids with there parents saying " I want this for Christmas this year." I also like the Christmas parties being thrown from my friends and playing Chinese Christmas. The last thing I love about Christmas is since I don't have family to spend Christmas with I have wonderful friends that let me in as family to spend the holidays with. Its all about being together on Christmas day.

[Barbara]

It's a wonderful time of year.

[Caylynn]

Wonderful list. :) Those are all great things about Christmas. I enjoy wrapping gifts too - it's always enjoyable. I could do without snow, though. Or, if I could choose, I would have snow on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day only, and no snow the rest of the winter. ;)

Have a good day. :)

Caylynn & Dragonheart
http://caylynn.blogspot.com
http://dragonheartsdomain.blogspot.com

[Domestic Goddess]

Fabulous list. I love that you end it with the most important one!
Thanks for stopping by.

[Jenny Ryan]

I never feel like it's really Christmastime until I smell my first pine tree :)

[Ari (Baking and Books)]

Oh ! I love Christmas time too and for all the reasons you said. I think this is my favorite time of year, the beginning of Thanksgiving until the end of Christmas. I was looking forward to spending the holiday with my family this year (they are Christian) but alas, I have to be on a school trip for 3 weeks. Sob. No Christmas for me this year! (I know, its bad that I want Christmas but I can't help it, lol)

[brian]

I am very fortunate as I get to reap the benefits of Maryanne loving Christmas. Our house is so festive and her cut-out cookies are soooo good (hint-hint). She benefits too, however, as the more festive I feel, the more bling-bling she gets Christmas morning. Maryanne is defintely a Christmas person....