Christmas Confessions

Today I'm stealing an idea from Stephany since her post was so much fun to read! You should read her confessions first, then check my Christmas confessions below.

Gifts

1. I truly enjoy giving Christmas gifts ten times more than receiving them. It's fulfilling to me to be able to make someone smile with a thoughtful gift that I know (or hope) they will love.
2. Sometimes my love for gift-giving gets me in trouble in the financial realm. If I've already bought one person a certain number of gifts (or reached a certain budget), but I see something that is just SO perfect for him or her, I have a really hard time not buying it!
3. My immediate family decided to draw names for gift-giving this year rather than everyone getting everyone gifts, and I had to fight a LOT of urges to buy gifts for the people whose names I didn't draw.
4. I volunteered to help stuff the stockings for my family this year so I could kinda "cheat" on the whole name-drawing thing and still give a few small gifts to each person. (Are you sensing the seriousness behind #1 and #2 here?)

Decor

1. I haven't had a real tree for Christmas since I was a kid, because my dad gets really sneezy from the pine needles. I don't miss it at all! And if I ever want to smell pine trees, I'll just buy a candle from Bath & Body Works. :-P
2. Joe and I don't really do much in the way of decorations for Christmas since we spend the holidays out of town and our place is already pretty crowded without adding a tree and tinsel and such. I'm okay with it for now, but once we get a bigger house -- even if we still spend Christmas elsewhere -- I am going ALL OUT with the decorations.
3. My little brother had a collection of reindeer toys/stuffed animals that started with one from my grandmother, and I was always a little bit jealous of him for it. I think I may end up giving my future house a LOT of reindeer-themed decor.

Music

1. I would listen to Christmas music all year if it didn't drive the people around me crazy.
2. Someday I really want to sing O Holy Night at a Christmas service or event.
3. Joe absolutely abhors Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmas Time" and Elton John's "Step Into Christmas"...and while they're not my favorites either, I still can't help dancing a little and singing along to them when they come on the radio.
4. In my college women's choir, we performed Vivaldi's Gloria -- the full choral version. Which meant some of us had to sing BASS. Granted, we kicked it up a few steps, but it was still extremely challenging and awkward. Still, that's one of my favorite memories from college.  

 Traditions

1. Growing up, my dad always read the Christmas story in Luke, and it remains one of my fondest childhood memories.
2. One of my favorite traditions with Joe's family is driving around their neighborhood to see the wonderful lights...but I kinda wish we could stop and walk around to see some of them more closely (and for some great family photo ops!).  
3. This year I'm trying out a new tradition with my family which I'm really hoping will be a success. I can't wait to share it with them! And, if it's a keeper, I may try it out on Joe's family, too.

I could come up with another hundred confessions, but here's my last one:  

I still haven't finished writing our Christmas poem! Better get on that.