Steph always does the three things posts and I just love them! I was reminded that I wanted to do it too when I saw it on Laura’s blog earlier.
Christmas circa 1998
Three foods I always have around in December
1.Cookies
2.The popcorn tin that has the three different flavors (butter, caramel and white cheddar)
3.Queen Anne Chocolate Covered Cherries
Three things I love about Christmas
1.The magic that I feel this time of year
2.All the delicious treats
3.Christmas movies
Three things I hate about Christmas
1. Traffic and crowds.
2.When family members inevitably stress you out and make you feel guilty for having to split your time.
3.Fruitcake. Seriously, who eats that shit?
Three Christmas songs I listen to the most
1.All I Want for Christmas – Mariah Carey
2. Christmas Cannon Rock – Trans Siberian Orchestra
3.O Holy Night – There is something about this song when done right…that is just truly magical!!! I can remember getting goosebumps on my arms at a very young age while singing this and Silent Night in church and that feeling has stuck with me forever.
Three favorite Christmas Movies
1. Elf
2.The Grinch
3.Home Alone
Three Favorite Christmas Traditions
1. Baking cookies
2. Building a gingerbread house (new tradition we are starting this year)
3.When I was little, my favorite tradition was trading presents with my sister on Christmas Eve. We each got to open one thing (our gift to each other.) When Zoe is older, I want to give her one present on Christmas Eve too!
our first Christmas together
Three things I’ll do before the end of 2017 because I want to
1.Build a gingerbread house
2.Bake and decorate cookies
3.Watch all the Christmas movies
Three things I’ll do before the end of 2017 because I have to
1.Work
2.Put on real pants
3.Clean the house
Three words of the year for 2018 if I were a person who chose words of the year
1.Health
2.Savor
3.Treat
Zoe 2017/Nadine 1984 or 1985 (looks like I am around 2 or 3?)
Do you guys follow Alexandra? She is the sweetest and has been doing a Live Your Best Life link up the last two months and I have really been trying to incorporate some of her prompts into my life. Well, today she has a Christmas traditions link up. I just love Christmas time and hearing about what other people do for the holidays, so I thought it was the perfect time to link up for some holiday fun!
Growing up, my parents worked hard to give us the best life they could. We didn’t have a ton of money, and at one point my dad was working three jobs to provide for us. My sister and I never knew the difference though, because my parents spoiled us rotten at Christmas!!! There were always so many gifts under the tree, pretty much everything we asked for and then some. My mom always had lots of fun things in our stockings too. We watched all the Christmas movies, and there were several years that my dad really went all out with the outdoor decorations. He even made a custom Grinch scene for our yard. I know that presents and decor isn’t the important meaning of Christmas, but it is what made the season feel extra special to us as kids.
I want to carry on my mom’s tradition of doing fun stockings with my family. My mom always baked a lot of goodies around this time of year, my favorites were her iced sugar cookies. Hers are the absolute best!!! I want to introduce Zoe to that recipe and get in to the habit of making them each season with her. Baking always brings back such fond memories of just being in the kitchen, talking, goofing around, listening to Christmas music.
Another tradition I would like to start next year is the advent calendar. There are so many fun ideas out there for them. I really like the idea of having a little celebration each day leading up to Christmas.
When we lived in Pennsylvania, my parents would drive us past the Overly light display every year. It started out at the Overly house and then it moved to an amusement park one year, and now I think they do it up somewhere big like the fair grounds or something. Anyways, I used to love seeing all the light displays and drinking hot chocolate. I hope to find something like that to do with Zoe next year when she can see better out the car window!
As far as decor in our home goes, I like to keep it fairly simple with a fake tree and clear lights. I am not too big into the colored lights. That is just my preference, nothing wrong with them. I always hang stockings over the fireplace and we have some garland as well. Chris and I love Snoopy, so we have some Snoopy Christmas decorations as well, though I didn’t get it all out this year. I also have a pink Disney Princess tree that my mom bought for me a long time ago that I have now designated as Zoe’s tree. I even had it set up in her nursery for her last year before we welcomed her into the world.
I remember my mom buying us ornaments each year to save for when we were older. It was always whatever we were into at the time. I have Care Bear, Strawberry Shortcake, Rainbow Bright, Smurfs, Blues Clues, Lady and the Tramp, Barbie, Winnie the Pooh, Snoopy, Scooby….so many different things that I was into over the years displayed on my tree now. I plan to do the same thing with Zoe! Last year I bought her a 2016 ornament for her birth year. This year I am on the hunt for the perfect unicorn ornament since that was the theme for her first birthday. I want her to have these special memories every year when she puts up her tree, just like I do.
Each Christmas, we must watch Elf, The Grinch (both the cartoon and the Jim Carrey version), Home Alone, Home Alone 2, The Santa Claus, The Santa Claus 2, A Christmas Story and Bad Santa. I really love Miracle on 31st Street and usually find time to watch that at some point as well. I haven’t always watched Rudolph and Frosty as an adult, but I plan on introducing Zoe to them as well as Frozen.
Hard to believe these were from last year!!!
In the past, we always went to Chris’s parents house on Christmas Eve, his sister’s house Christmas morning for breakfast and my mom’s house Christmas night for dinner. This year we are doing things a little differently and we have moved dinner with my mom to the Saturday before. We also plan to host it at our house this year. I am not quite sure what will be on the menu just yet, but I do plan to make my homemade lasagna.
Sometimes traditions change over the years, and I think that is totally fine. You have to be willing to adapt to different situations. But I firmly believe in keeping at least a few of the same ones alive year after year! So tell me, what is your favorite tradition each year? What is your most fond memory from Christmas when you were a child?
Well hello there!!! Happy New Year!!! I took a bit of a blogging break the last two weeks and enjoyed the holidays and our vacation in Chattanooga, Knoxville and Gatlinburg.
Oh, and also the Alabama shut out over Michigan State! ROLL TIDE!!!
So I am going to do a quick recap of Christmas, Chattanooga and Knoxville today and come back tomorrow to see a lot of pictures in Gatlinburg. I will let the pictures do most of the talking!
Can we start with how sucky mother nature was to the south the week of Christmas?? Go home mother nature, you’re drunk. Tornado warnings during Christmas dinner was not my jam. Neither was 80 degree weather. Either way, Santa was extra nice to me this year!
The day after Christmas, we headed up to spend the weekend in Chattanooga and Knoxville. We had to hit up Taco Mac in Chattanooga. Taco Mac was one of my favorite places to hang out when I lived in Atlanta and Chris loved it too. When we were heading over there, we realized there was a World of Beer across the street, so you better believe we popped in to say hello there too. Beer flights for all!
We then headed up to Knoxville and checked in to our hotel and walked around town. We were just two blocks over from the coolest area of town that had a ton of shops and restaurants. There was even an ice skating rink set up! It was weird because it was 75 degrees and they had to keep clearing the rink to scrape out the water!
After walking around, we decided on Stock and Barrel for dinner. Burgers and Bourbon…what more can a girl ask for?!?!?!
If you are ever in Knoxville, I HIGHLY recommend Stock and Barrel. Our burgers and crab dip were amazing and the bourbon menu is huge! Plus, the prices aren’t ridiculous for what you get. We certainly needed that walk back to the hotel when we were done!
We had so much fun in Chattanooga and Knoxville and will certainly be visiting both cities again. Tomorrow I will be back with our Gatlinburg Shenanigans!
I love Elle’s Story Behind the Picture link up!!! Today I wanted to walk down memory lane and share some pictures from Christmas past!
Christmas 1983 – My first Christmas!!! This is my dad and I by our Christmas tree 🙂
Christmas 1984 – This is why I love the cold and snow. Look what I grew up in! I have so many memories of sledding and building snowman around Christmas when I was little. The second picture is my mom and I and this last one was taken in the back yard of our first house. It was located just outside downtown Greensburg, PA. I love to see how the houses covered in snow in this picture.
Christmas 1985 – This is my dad and I. My parents were young when they had me and got married. They didn’t have a lot of money so my dad had three jobs at one time, one of which was being a paramedic. I used to think it was so cool seeing him drive the ambulance!!! I was obsessed with the rescue helicopters that sat outside the building he worked in and he would always take me to see them. The helicopters were named Angel. So there was Angel 1 and Angel 2 and my dad would always let me know which one I was looking at. I remember one time he came and took me out for lunch at McDonalds and a emergency call came in and I got to go on the call with him. I used to think he was a super hero saving lives.
Christmas 1987 – This was my last Christmas as an only child! We had that white Christmas tree until I was in high school. I remember a few years my mom put purple lights on it because purple is my favorite color.
Christmas 1988 – This was Tracy’s first Christmas. I was so happy to have a little sister! I was constantly climbing in to her play pen and nap with her in the living room. I remember the Barbie that I am holding in this picture, it was Perfume Barbie and she came with a little bottle of perfume! And that dress she is wearing used to scrunch up so it could become a party dress!
Apparently, Christmas of 1989 was my rebellious years. Check out my midriff pajamas! This was also the year that my sister cracked her head open just a week before Christmas. My grandma and I were upstairs reading in bed and I asked my sister to bring me some apple slices. She ran back up stairs to bring them to me and tripped over her shoe lace and fell head first in to a piece of antique furniture with claw handles. One of those claws got her forehead. My mom and her best friend were downstairs in the kitchen when it happened and my moms best friend had to drive them to the ER because my mom was too scared. She couldn’t find where all the blood was coming from, it was awful!
My grandma stayed behind with me and I remember crying the entire time thinking that my little sister was going to die. She kept trying to calm me down but nothing worked until they brought my sister back home. She had to wear this nice little head patch for a few weeks.
Later I would joke that she lost some of her brains in that accident….sisters.
Ah yes, Christmas of 1992. The year I became a gamer girl! My grandma bought me a Super Nintendo for Christmas and I was so excited!!! My cousins and best friend had regular Nintendos
One of the famous surprised faces when we came out to see what Santa brought us! I used to love to ham it up for the camera….
Freshmen year of high school. Remember Starter? That was a Starter sweatshirt and I thought I was so damn cool.Michigan? BLEH!!! I only liked them because the guy I was crushing on did. So lame.
Sophomore year of high school, never too old to sit on Santa’s lap!
Junior year of high school. Old Navy performance fleece anyone? So my dad used to call me Dino sometimes. He thought it was so clever to get me a Dino in my stocking for Christmas. During Senior Week, you parents could come in and decorate your locker and my dad is really good at drawing, he drew this huge Dino in a graduation gown. It was actually pretty cool.
Senior year. I always helped out at my dad’s office Christmas party. That year, my mom and I were in charge of the duck game station. Also, you guys remember how big Billabong used to be? Gosh, I loved that shirt!!!
Well that was a fun trip down memory lane, thanks Elle!
Today I wanted to share with you some of my favorite things about Christmas!
My Christmas Decor:
Favorite Christmas Movies:
Elf
The Grinch
Home Alone 1 & 2
Family Stone
Miracle on 34th Street
Favorite Christmas Songs:
I have been sharing my favorite Christmas songs every Friday in my Friday Favorites posts for the past month or so now, but I have been trying to share songs you may not have heard so you have some new favorites! My favorite popular Christmas songs area….
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays by Nsync
2. My Only Wish This Year by Britney Spears
3. All I Want For Christmas by Mariah Carey
4. Trans Siberian Orchestra Christmas Cannon Rock
5. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Favorite Christmas Traditions:
Christmas Past
1.When we were younger, my sister and I used to exchange our gift to each other on Christmas Eve. It was supposed to “hold us over” until Christmas morning. My parents always hated how early we used to wake them up so we had a pact. Whoever woke up first would go to the other’s room and crawl in bed with them and goof off until it was an “appropriate time” to go wake up our parents. Usually we would wake up around 3 or 4 am and we would try and hold out until 6:30 to 7. My mom would stay in the room with us and my dad would go downstairs to set up the camera. I will share some of those gems with you next week when I link up with Elle for story behind a picture!
2.I have always loved stockings! One of my favorite things used to be to go through mine. My mom would always put the lifesaver story books in them and little toys and candy when we were younger. Once I got to be a teenage it was filled with cds and makeup..and the lifesaver story book. I haven’t had a stocking since I graduated college, but I told Chris I want to start doing them this year!
Christmas Present
3. With Chris, every Christmas Eve we head over to his parents house to bake goodies, have finger foods and exchange gifts with his family.
4.Every Christmas morning we head over to my sister-in-laws house for breakfast.
5. Every Christmas dinner is spent with my mom, step dad, step sisters, sister, brother in law and nieces and nephews at my mom’s house. We all exchange gifts and have an amazing dinner! She makes pierogies and traditional ham and sides.
Christmas Treats: I have to have these every year:
Queen Anne Chocolate Covered Cherries, Pizzelles, Peppermint Hot Chocolate, Reese Christmas Trees, my Mom’s sugar cookies.
Christmas Funnies:
What is your favorite Christmas song? Do you have traditional themed Christmas decor or a mixture of all your favorite things like me?
Christmas circa 1998
our first Christmas together
