Christmas in July!!
 

Does anyone else get CHRISTMAS FEVER in July?? Ohhhh - I do. I've been signing 'Let it snow' in my head ALL day!

This is my very first Christmas a) On my own :dizzy:, and b) With a live-in SO :hug: and c) bringing someone 'home' to meet my family for the holidays:judge:!! (Bringing him home for Thanksgiving, but celebrating Christmas at Thanksgiving with my family :thanks1:- then spending Christmas day alone at our place, and meeting his family at his parents house that night! :snowglo:)

I'm already getting SOOOO EXCITED! Oh, I just LOVE the holidays! :candy:

This semester I'll have an apartment with a kitchen, which most of our friends don't have, so I'm already trying to think of holiday treats to cook them as cheap gift ideas. (Recommendations??) :gift2:

Does anyone else get the unwaivering craving for all things WINTER during July? The Christmas trees, the snow men, the home made cookies? Mittens, hot cider, and ribbon? Maybe it's just my homesickness going to my head - but I cannot WAIT! :xcheer:

Awwww, Merry Christmas in July, Eskinomad! I can't say as I'm quite ready for it myself, but I do remember feeling that way when I was first out on my own, too.

Is it hot in the valley too? It sure feels that way out here in the suburbs and at the mine. I hate humidity. And YES, this is humid compared to WY.

Oh my gosh is it ever H-O-T!!!

My summer started out in May in Anchorage, where it was 45 degrees on a VERY warm day - then I packed my stuff and flew to Baltimore where I collapsed, sizzled, and burned to death before I even got off the plane - stayed there til mid-June and made my way to SLC a couple of weeks ago.

I have to say - it was MUCH worse in Baltimore (Humidity was through the stinkin' ROOF, and we had rolling black outs which did NOT help) but that's not to say it isn't SWELTERING hot here!


And Merry July Christmas to YOU Auntie G!! I can't wait to buy my first Christmas tree!!

My dad's favorite Christmas treat is a peanut butter fudge his mom used ot make every year growing up - but he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the beginning of the summer - so I'm trying my hardest right now to try and find a diabetes friendly recipe that could almost be the same. Trying to keep the holiday special for everyone, even when I'm away from home. Ohhhh, it just warms my HEART!

Um.........Fudge:drool:

It's a couple of days late but I noticed Lifetime was showing all its Christmas movies on the 4oJ

It's good to know I'm not alone on my pre-holiday hunt for Christmas spirit!

:santa: You could start that SPIRIT up by buying ME some :present: presents now.....;)

If you have any hallmark stores near you this upcomming weekend is Ornament Premiere. You should check it out. It's a sneak peek at the ornaments for this christmas you can also buy them. Free giveaways and goodies.

You know...it's been on my mind for about a month now. I always say I am going to do my shopping early and never do. This year I just may...I've got three more to buy for and don't want to wait until the last minute. And I had Silent Night stuck in my head a couple of nights ago, lol.

It feels like winter just ended, lol.

But I'll be spending the holidays in a new place this year. I'm very excited about that. I'm a little sad though..it's very pretty here in the fall. And I LOVE seeing the snow. I'm so happy I finally got to see some real snow in my lifetime, lol. I'm glad I have pics of it too.

I wish it was Thanksgiving though. I want some pumpkin pie!!!! OH..dh & I will be celebrating our 4 year wedding anniversary on Dec. 4th!!! I can't wait!!! So many happy things to look forward to.

Awesome tip about Hallmark!!

I definitely don't have the income to buy real presents for people this year. Poor college budget and what not. But I still can't wait for the first snow, and the Christmas lights!!


PS - Mmmmmmmmm, pumpkin pie!!! Ohhhhh, now I can't wait for Halloween, too!!! Who am I kidding - I'm just ready to go *home*!

Christmas In July
 

Just Thinking About Christmas Makes Me Smile. We're Spending Christmas In A Cabin In Tennessee This Year. I'm Constantly Looking At The Picture Of The Cabin On The Internet. I Think I Might Make It My Screen Saver. See Your Not The Only One Going Christmas Crazy. Lol

I already went to Hallmark.com and "wishlisted" all of the new ornaments I want. I start thinking about the next Christmas as soon as the last one is over. I really start to get antsy right about now. I've gotten several presents and DH and I have already planned our new yard decoration for this year (we make them ourselves.)

I also start watching my Christmas movies while I'm crocheting Christmas afghans in September. I can't wait for this Christmas!

I love the Hallmark ornaments too! I always get the photoholder Family one for the year. And , the Mother/Daughter photoholder when they do one. The photoholder ornaments are my favorite. The kids like the ones that light up or play music. We have one of Snoopy's doghouse that plays the "Peanuts" theme.

I'm in the process of making all my nieces and nephews a cross stitch Disney character ornament for their stocking.

Only 169 more days!:clause:

Well I work at Hallmark wish me luck this weekend haha. We already have people coming in trying to peak under our curtain.

WHAT!?...Real presents?...no $$$$

Kiddo one of the best presents I ever got was from my daughter 4 years ago when I turned 50. She gave me a hand written list of 50 REASONS WHY SHE LOVED HER DADDY! didn't cost her a thing...one of her favorite presents that I ever gave her was last CHRISTMAS...I gave her a collage of all the pictures I had of us together from when she was a baby until last year...almost 25 years worth (my son said "next year I want one!")...she copied it and gave that to me as a gift. It's in the archives here...I will see if I can find it. One of the best Father's Day gifts I ever got was from my son this year, he cut it out of ESPN magazine...Rick Reilly wrote it about what a lousy job his dad did being a father he played golf non-stop and was a drunk...my son handed it to me and said looks like "I owe you dad!"

Your a smart kid...I'll bet you have all kinds of FREE presents up your sleeve ;)

I agree! I gave DH a book of coupons for his birthday in March and he loved it more than anything he'd ever received from me! I put coupons like, "One week off of dog duty", "one week off of dish duty", "one weekend free of honey-do's" and etc. I'm not trying to assume anything, but I'm pretty sure he's doing the same for me. (We're doing Financial Peace right now, so we're on a STRICT budget to pay down debt.) You'll think of some great free gifts!

Holy BEARDED MAN, Gary!! The photo collage is a VERY endearing idea. And the coupon idea sounds fantastic for the SO. I only have one picture of me before the age of 14 though, so for my immediate family that lives 10,000 miles away I'm definitely going to have to get creative. Very, very, very creative. So it's a good thing I'm trying to plan early!

What kind of Christmas traditions does everyone have?

Beard has been gone for about 20 years I think...Angie wants the moustache to go...thinking about it, but I have had it for 37 years...not sure if I can live w/o it!

Every Christmas with my family, we spend Christmas Eve at church and then over to my dad's family's for presents. The first gift for everyone is always a brown paper bag with an orange or an apple, some nuts, a few penny candies and a dollar. This is to show us what Christmas was like for them when they were children.

Christmas day is with my mom's family. Being a mix of Japanese, Hawaiian, White and Hispanic, we eat lots of food from lots of cultures. The typical menu consists of; roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, lomi-lomi salmon, pork in banana leaves, poi, teriyaki steak, kimchi, takuan, tofu, white rice, spanish rice, tortilla soup and wontons. Needless to say, there are no desserts!!

DH and I have a tradition of going the first week in Dec. to the Nature Conservancy to cut down our Christmas tree. We wake up, go on a hike, eat a picnic lunch (in the truck if it's too cold) and then start hunting for a tree.

Awwww, that sounds LOVELY Kim!! I love the paper bag gift. That's really something special. What BEAUTIFUL family traditions!!!

Growing up - we never had any traditions, or were big holiday people. I'm hoping to really change this now that I'm on my own.

Your family's vibrant and ethnic twist on Christmas sounds incredible. Thanks for sharing!