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It has been a long time since I’ve written a questionnaire style blog post, but I have seen this wonderful Christmas-themed questionnaire from The Blended Blog all over the Internet lately and wanted to take a few minutes to reflect and share about the holidays.
1. Real or Fake Tree?
Fake all the way! We had a real one last year and not only did little pine needles fall all around our house, we learned after we got it that they are dangerous for pets. Needless to say, this year we went the fake tree route! I actually loved our minimalist Christmas decorations!
2. Favorite Christmas cookie?
Hands down, the Little Debbie Christmas Gingerbread cookies. I may have hoarded them in my house for a few months after Christmas…
3. Home on Christmas morning or travel?
This year, we’re traveling from Iowa to my hometown in Kentucky. This is my first time ever traveling for Christmas. As much as I’m looking forward to see my family, I’m not looking forward to the crowded airports, long flights, and stress of traveling… I’m already envisioning a low-key Christmas with Andy at home next year!
4. Clear or colored lights?
This is an ongoing debate in the Cummins household. I love the romantic look of clear lights, but Andy prefers colored lights. Our tree came pre-lit with colored lights, and we have colored lights outside because if Andy’s doing all the work of hanging them up, he should be able to pick them out. I might have to save clear lights for other times of the year as mood lighting!
5. Send Christmas cards?
Yes! I am a traditionalist all the way in regards to Christmas cards. I remember being a kid and couldn’t wait to grow up and get married and mail out my own family Christmas cards, haha! It’s a labor of joy for me to design our cards and mail them out. In fact, I have a blog post going up later in the week about how I design my own Christmas cards!
6. Favorite Christmas present received?
Oh wow, when I think about it, I can only remember a small fraction of every Christmas gift I’ve ever received. I remember receiving a pink luggage set during my freshman year of college for the study abroad semester I was planning to go on the previous year. That study abroad trip fell through, but that pink luggage has been with me on all of my travels since! I also remember during my first Christmas as a working professional the year after I graduated college, my sweet sister gave me a business card holder/name plate. I loved seeing it on my desk in my office! 🙂
But by far, my favorite Christmas gifts I’ve ever received are from Andy. Last year he bought me a personalized Bible with “Bailey Kay Cummins” embossed on it for our first married Christmas. The year before (which was just a week before he would propose), Andy gave me this scarf that he bought on his deployment to Afghanistan. Anyone that is familiar with our love story knows we met 6 months after his deployment. The fact that he was a single man and had no special ladies to give it to, yet still bought the Afghani scarf anyway is so amazing. That scarf is a reminder to me that God has plans for our lives, even when we can’t see them.
7. Favorite Christmas present given?
5 years ago, my sisters and I (mostly me) made this video slideshow for our Mom. She loved it! Mom cried. {Side note: When I was grabbing the link for this video, I had to walk down memory lane with Andy and show him some of my old video slideshows that he hadn’t seen before!}
8. Stockings or no stockings?
I love stockings! Our stockings are not fancy by any means, but they’re nearly identical to the ones my family had growing up.
9. Christmas PJ’s?
I’ve always wanted Christmas jammies, but have yet to convince Andy about it. Maybe someday when we have kids! We do have matching moose jammie pants though!
10. Favorite Christmas carol?
I’ve always loved Christmas carols/hymns and they mean more to me every year as I focus more on Christ’s birth during the holidays. When I was a kid, my favorites were Silent Night and Away in a Manger, but I think my favorites now are O Come, O Come Emmanuel or I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. And while not a traditional carol, I really do like Joseph’s Lullaby by MercyMe. Nearly 100% of the time from Black Friday until Christmas Day, my Pandora station is on Casting Crowns Christmas Radio and the radio in my car is on Christian radio.
11. Favorite Holiday Tradition?
I really love looking at the Christmas lights and reading about Jesus’ birth in the Bible on Christmas morning.
{RELATED POST: Christmas Traditions for Newlyweds}
12. Early shopper or last minute?
I am an early shopper for sure! In fact, I knew months in advance what I would get everyone and simply added them to my Amazon shopping cart when Black Friday hit. It takes the stress out of it with my shopping done so early, and now I can just enjoy the holidays!
13. Favorite Christmas movie or show?
I always loved The Santa Claus as a kid! A Charlie Brown Christmas is a classic. The Christmas Card is a cute one, too. Basically, all of the cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies are amazing. Oh, and I can’t forget the When Calls the Heart‘s Christmas special.
14. Favorite Holiday beverage?
I don’t do holiday beverages. Eggnog is of the devil. Why would I ever want to drink an egg yolk?!
15. Cookies and milk for Santa?
My sisters and I always left cookies and milk for Santa when we were kids! My mom always said that Santa hated milk, which is why the glass would still be mostly-full. Turns out, my mom hates milk!
