I love Christmas lights! My philosophy is the more of them the better! I love the part of National Lampoons Christmas Vacation when Chevy Chase's character, Clark Griswold lights up the house. He just goes to town with that staple gun! It's been a tradition in our family that the week before Thanksgiving I nag (also a tradition in our family, nagging women) my dad about the lights. He continually complains about getting them out of the attic, and then claims that there will be no lights being hung that year. Yeah Right!
I eventually get my way, by the nagging of course, and the day after Thanksgiving the lights are being hung. This is something I look forward to doing all year. Not because I love the lights, but I love spending the time with my dad. However, if he knew that he would probably prefer to just go to coffee. Yeah Right, I do love the lights!
I also love the fact that every year we hang lights, the morning is sunny and the ground is dry, but the moment we staple the first strand... monsoon. However, it is totally worth it when you are stopping traffic with your display of illumination! Oh wait, that is the family dog that escaped again, and people are trying not to hit him. One year, Webster, our dog, escaped the house whilst we were getting soaked hanging lights. A nearby traveling car stopped in front of the house and rolled down the passenger side window. The lady driving began to chew me out about not having the dog on a leash. I told her (tactfully) to mind her own business and keep driving. She continued to yell at me and said she was going to call animal services on us. I then said "Great, maybe they can catch him." We never heard from her again... no fruitcake, no card.... bummer.
My dad has had a break for the last couple of years do to having an apartment, but one of these days that will change, and I will be nagging once more!

And yes, the darn dog came back as he always did!

Not only do I show love through gifts, but also I feel love through gifts. When someone gives me something it shows me that person thought about me, and I feel loved and special. To me it's not about what is in the box, but the fact that I got a box at all! However, at Christmas, the element of surprise is important for the anticipation. But what happens to the anticipation when you know what's in the box? A fake face.

My facial expressions lie all the time. Most the time, people think I am frowning and angry, when in fact, I am concentrating or tired. That is why I get annoyed when people tell me to smile... but that is a different story. Anyway, I have a hard time controlling my expressions, but the worst experience was when Shanna and I were left at home while our parents went to Costco.

That was the year we opened ALL of our wrapped presents, looked at what we got, then wrapped them back up. You may be wondering how we did that with out anyone finding out. Well, we had an extra roll of tape, and sharp scissors. So, we sliced the original tape, carefully took off the paper and made sure not to crinkle it. After we checked out our gifts, we would carefully wrap it back up so it looked like we found it and put it back under the tree.

When our family sat down to open gifts, I felt like Barbie with that plastered fake smile on my face. However, it must have convinced some people, because our parents didn't find out until we told them years later. That was probably the worst Christmas ever!

"Secrets, secrets are no fun. Secrets, secrets hurt someone." -The Office
There are only certain secrets I can hold, and there are only certain people I can hold them from. I get over excited about the gifts I give and strongly anticipate the recipient opening my gifts. Shanna is one person I can't keep a secret from. It's always been my problem. I think she trained me during childhood. I don't remember a Christmas while we were little that I did not spoil a present for someone.

"Mom, we just went shopping! Guess what we got you?! A cookbook! Guess what else? A TOASTER!"- OK, so maybe it was only mom that wasn't surprised, but she was when she opened the "Moo Cow Creamer" purchased from the Awana Store!

Then there was the year Shanna made me compromise...
Shanna: "Do you want to know what I got you for Christmas."
Me: "Kinda. No. Well, kinda. No."
Shanna: "Come on. I'll tell you what you got, then you can tell me what you got me."
Me: "I don't think so."
Shanna: "OK, fine. How bout you tell me what I got, then I can tell you what I got you."
Me: "OK. I got you a Mary Englebreight poster!" -Darn it!

I love giving gifts. Christmas is my favorite time of year, because it is the only time when people freely accept presents. It bothers me when I try to give someone a gift (however small it may be) and have them say "oh, you shouldn't have," or "you don't need to give me anything." FYI, I wouldn't give you anything if I didn't want to. Because this is how I show love, I tend to over think what to give people at Christmas. I love getting people gifts that they will love or will be sentimental to our relationship.
Ever since I was young I always looked forward to giving Christmas presents. Unfortunately, when you are young and have no money, your gifts are slightly under appreciated.

Mom, do you realize how many verses I had to memorize in order to get you that "Moo Cow Creamer" from the Awana store? I'm sorry Webster (family dog) got to it before you got to open it. And yes, the candy that was inside was gulped by the dog, not me.

Tiffany, that bird shaped ornament- purple felt, stuffed with polyfill, hand stitched and complete with feathers at the tail. Yeah, that was a handmade masterpiece. I even hand puffy painted your name on the felt so Shanna couldn't claim it as hers!

Dad, I really thought you would love the stuffed animal snake I made out of your tie. It's not like I overstuffed it, you could have still worn it!

Shanna, I was always the most excited for you to open yours! Again, you never needed to say "you shouldn't have." I recited those verses especially for your gifts!

And that was a year I really felt like I over did it!