The Christmas Tag - The 12 Days of Christmas Link-up

Merry Christmas, friends!!  (Two posts in one day from me? what is this world coming to??)

Guys!  Christmas is coming!  The goose is getting fat!  Please put a penny... okay I'll stop.  (If you don't understand that reference... click this link xD)

This is a very exciting day because today! it! begins!  The 12 Days of Christmas is starting!!!!  For the past few years, I've seen these posts popping up around the blogosphere and wanted to participate, and so this year, when dear Faith put up a post about it, I said to myself, "Self, you've been wanting to do this for several years now... in the words of Nike, just do it."

So I did.  And here we are.

Am I crazy for choosing to do this at the busiest time in my life?  Probably.  But I want to talk about more Christmas-y things, and so while you probably won't get 12 posts from me (just setting honest goals for myself here, lol), I will be posting some pretty fun Christmas content! :D

Today, we're starting with something that I'm very excited about: The Christmas Tag!!  I was going through posts from some of the peeps last year (gleaning inspiration, you know?) and came across this tag and thought it would be perfect to start off this twelve day celebration! I'm not sure who started it or I would give them credit, but I'm sure they're an awesome person because these questions are pretty fabulous.



The Questions:

1) Christmas is a season of joy, hope, and light.  What's your favorite thing to make this season bright?
I love decorating, I love singing, I love dancing around and wishing people a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, I just love this time of year.

2) Reading of the Christmas story, lighting of the tree - what's your favorite Christmas tradition?
Every year, my church puts on a living nativity with 8 scenes, people drive through and hear the whole Christmas story. As of last year, I've been in every role but Joseph and the Innkeeper.  It's pretty exciting.  (Yes, I've been a wise man... I wore all purple, of course xD)

3) Festive old hymns or glorious new tunes - what are you listening to on repeat?
I have several Christmas playlists , but what I've had on repeat for the past couple of weeks is The Hound + The Fox's new Christmas album. This is my favorite song from it.

4) Fiction and nonfiction, classics and contemporary - which Christmas books do you love so much that you just have to re-read them every year?
There aren't many books that I can consistently read every year because every year is different, but I do like re-reading the Christmas story in Luke every year!

5) Trees and nativities, bells and bows - do you have a favorite Christmas decoration?
My mom collects nativities, and I love putting them all out every year!  They're all just so pretty. *heart eyes*

6) From the prophets to the gospels, the timeless story is woven - which Bible passage that speaks of our Savior's birth holds a special place in your heart?
I LOVE John 1.  For that living nativity I talked about, we have a CD that goes into every car at the beginning and a narrator (who happens to be my Dad) reads them the Christmas story, and the first scene starts with that.  It means even more to me since he passed away, and I can hear him read me the Christmas story whenever I want.

7) Glittery snowflakes and shimmering balls to angels and one-of-a-kind creations - favorite Christmas tree ornament?
I have this gorgeous Belle ornament of her in her pink winter dress holding a poinsettia and it's beautiful and sparkly and I love it.  And I mean, obviously any of our family ornaments that hold special meaning are beautiful too.

8) Red and green, silver and gold, even purple and blue! - what's your favorite color scheme this time of year?
I looove silver and blue... or silver and purple... or silver and gold... I just really love silver for Christmas, okay?

9) Between the old and the new, the classics and the cartoons - which Christmas movie do you come back to year after year?

White Christmas, always and forever.  It's probably the only one I consistently watch every year.  My sister and I watch it together every year at the beginning of our Christmas season (though somehow this year we haven't watched it yet? Don't know how that happened...)

10) Pies and cakes, cookies and sweets - what's your favorite Christmas treat? 
((I appreciate how this one rhymes, too, haha!))  I love anything and everything peppermint.  Particularly if it involves chocolate.

And that's about all I have for you on this First Day of Christmas!  I'm off to sing in the first performance of our Christmas musical!  What are you up to?

- Abby